On The Radio...

...community radio in Burbank, California to be precise.

Pulp fiction podcast site Well Told Tales have a small weekly radio show now, and tonight they're broadcasting the podcast of my supernatural short story, Hear Not the Murmur on the Wind. So, if you're free and looking for something to do on Saturday night around 9pm Pacific Time, why not head on over to 925kyhy and listen to the Internet feed...

Australian author Kris Ashton has this to say about my tale:

Finding a new angle in a ghost story is nigh on impossible, but Steven J. Dines has done it. It's a complex and sometimes confusing narrative (as the comments on the WTT site show) but if you follow it through the pay-off is intense.

Kris has a story called "The Pothole" coming soon to Well Told Tales. Check it out!

'Hear Not..." review and First Acceptance of 2009

Over in The Fix’s From the Podosphere section, Paul S Jenkins has this to say about my short story, Hear Not the Murmur on the Wind, which appeared on pulp podcast site Well Told Tales last month:

This is a ghostly revenge story, told from the viewpoint of the ghost, which is a common theme, but here given arresting atmosphere by good writing, complemented by J. B. Goodspeed’s reading. A man returns to haunt the wife who murdered him, but finds not what he expects. Short and effective.

In other news...my first acceptance of 2009 - the good folks over at Words and Images magazine have expressed an interest in publishing one of two flash fictions I submitted to them in November. We’re still finalising details at the moment, but I should have definite confirmation soon.

Clean Until the First Draft

The first draft of Clean Until the Final Act is done. At 4970 words it’s much longer than originally predicted, but you know what? I’m not complaining. All the elements are roughly in place, they just need aligning, and if I can do that, this could and should be one of my better stories. I’ll get to those edits in the next day or two and hopefully have this one ready to submit in a couple of weeks. Oh, and the title stays. I've been hoping it would.

So, what’s next?

Well, I’m switching from dark science fiction to the weird and the literary for my next short. It’s about a boy and a shark, that’s all I can reveal at the moment. Okay, maybe there are a lot of sharks - I'll find out when I get there. Once that's written I’ve got an idea for a children’s fantasy adventure (short story) that I’d like to explore further, and then there’s a possible collaboration with Brian G. Ross to be thinking about, too.

Busy times ahead.

Size matters...

A brief update, folks—Clean Until the Final Act edged over the 3000-word mark on Sunday. Although I have that good feeling writing it, I really have no idea if it will work for readers or not. See, I like to push myself, only sometimes I push too hard. I’m praying this is not one of those times. Yesterday, I (half-)jokingly told a work colleague that this story has the feel of being either a complete disaster or an eventual award-winner. Chances are it will turn out neither, but I think that about sums up the knife-edge it’s walking at the moment. Anyway, as I’ve said elsewhere, I am determined to bring this one in under 4000 (I already have three tough sells on my hands that are longer than that and I do not want another one), but it’s looking increasingly likely it will be too long. If this thing stretches over 4500 I can probably kiss half the potential markets goodbye. There’s never been a better time to use the right words…

Day 3 of 3...

Day 3 saw me continuing Clean Until the Final Act. The first draft now sits at 1700 words, with another 1000 of scene snippets, dialogue, notes, etc. I want to say more about this piece, but I don’t want to jinx it. I described it to my wife as trying to build a wall without mortar. All the bricks seem to be in the right place, but one nudge and the whole thing might fall...

So it’s back to the 9-to-5 tomorrow (actually, the 8-to-5)... If the past three days have taught me anything (or reminded me of anything) it is that I love to write. For a long time now I have neglected my duties as a writer by failing to apply ass to chair often enough. Why? The main reason was the voice in my head that kept saying, do you still enjoy doing this? Invariably, my answer was—I don’t know. In just these three days I have a new answer—a resounding and unequivocal YES! Previously, when I came up with an excuse—I’m not in the mood, I’m too tired, I’ve got this or that to do first—it wasn’t, not at its heart, a lack of interest in writing. It was simply Real Life and all its pressures, distractions, and depressions threatening to ruin my writing ambitions. Somewhere along the way, I forgot how good this shit feels, and how right...

The challenge for me now is to somehow bottle this feeling. To drink from it deep and drink from it often.

Day 2 of 3...

Day two I spent working on the first draft of a new science fiction short story, which has the working title of Clean Until the Final Act.

It's a strange and complex tale about a rest home android who witnesses the death of a resident under her care, Joe (also known as Triggerman Joe), a retired gun-for-hire or shooter. She starts hearing his voice. She becomes convinced that his is the voice of God, that Triggerman Joe is God...and so on. Like I said, strange and complex! 730 words of polished first draft complete so far and about twice that in notes, scene extracts, dialogue snippets, etc.

Day 1 of 3...

This week I'm taking three days off work (Monday thru Wednesday) for the sole purpose of kickstarting my writing. Here's how I spent day one...

Morning:
-Read and edited 2007 science fiction short story, The Bug in the Suit (6520 words)
-1 submission

Afternoon:
-Read and edited 2006 flash fiction, No Place for a Pink Angel (960 words)
-2 submissions

I spent a lot of time today trying to find respectable homes for The Bug in the Suit and The Manny Prior Halloween Show. At 6520 and 7850 words respectively, it did not prove easy! Further proof, if it was needed, that short stories should come in at 5000 words MAX.

See you tomorrow.