One Sentence Stories

May 28, 2012

You never know what’s going to happen when you hang out with a bunch of crazy writers.

I’m chilling on Twitter last Friday evening while I’m beta-reading a SF story by Anatoly Belilovsky. The story is excellent, but at one point has a run-on sentence that is, literally, 90 words long (I checked in MS Word). So I send the following Tweet to Anatoly:

@loldoc Dude there is a 90-word sentence in your story. I had to go find a snack in the middle so that I could get through it! 🙂

And then I write in the comment field of his document: “This is an enormous run on were-sentence that makes me want to go out and find stakes, and garlic, and whatever else kills were-run-on sentences. ” Followed by a few suggestions about breaking this sentence into three. Anatoly likes my were-sentence comment and Tweets it, and then a discussion begins about long sentences with more and more of our writerly friends chiming in.

I point out that a famous Russian author Victor Pelevin wrote a one-sentence short story that went on for several pages. Anatoly replies that Gogol is known for some page-long sentences, and Jake Kerr chimes in that so is Henry James.

And then this happens:

Ken Liu ‏@kyliu99

@AShvartsman @jakedfw @loldoc This would seem to be a good challenge to take up. Shall we all try to write a one-sentence story?

Challenge accepted, Mr. Liu, challenge accepted.

Before we know it, half a dozen authors want in on this. I hesitate about posting our perfectly good (if short) stories publicly on our blogs, and Matthew Bennardo offers to pay $5 to see each story. He is forced to hastily withdraw this offer as the number of participants snowballs. By the end of the evening we have a Twitter hashtag #1ss (One Sentence Story) and an impressive array of authors (all the way from people who write award-nominated stories like Ken and Jake and to people who read award-nominated stories like me) who all agree to write the longest, most interesting one sentence story they can, no later than Wednesday night.

The following is my one sentence story:

ONE THOUSAND AND FIRST

…this will be the last story I ever tell you, my sultan, and so I humbly beseech you to listen and to delight in it, and to keep your promise of allowing me to finish this very last sentence, uninterrupted, even as the sun is already rising from beyond the Eastern dunes and the executioner sharpens his scimitar; I have told you a thousand stories — tales of flying carpets and bottled jinn, bold sailors and treacherous viziers, magic and wonder and all manner of things beyond the mundane – but this last story is about an ordinary young woman, a woman who caught the eye of her sultan and who managed to survive their wedding night, and a thousand nights afterward, using no weapon and no magic but her imagination alone; the sultan was mesmerized by her wondrous fables at first, always eager for  another, but as the years went by she found it more and more difficult to keep his attention until, finally, he had had enough and wanted to hear no more stories – but being a kind and generous ruler he graciously consented to allow the girl to finish speaking before the guards would take her away (everyone knows that the sultan’s word is his bond) and the poor girl swallowed her tears, drew in a big breath and began her tale thus:

this will be the last story I ever tell you, my sultan, and so I humbly beseech you…

The above story is 243 words, which is a tiny sliver compared to some of the epic sentences composed by others. However, *my* story is an a loop. Which means it is, in fact, infinite words long. That totally means I win, right? Right?

You can read some of the other entries and decide for yourself. Damien Walters Grintalis and Ken Liu both opted to keep their entries off the Internets because they’re awesome writers who can sell their grocery lists to magazines. And if they can sell their grocery lists then surely they can also sell their one sentence stories. Some of the other authors opted to post theirs publicly and I’m going to link all the ones I know about below (and will update the links as more stories are posted, so watch this space!):

“The Bloodline Is Only as Strong as Its Last Generation” by Jake Kerr

“A Vos Souhaits” by M. Bennardo

“Good Thing I Did Not Tell Them About the Dirty Knife” by Anatoly Belilovsky (Anatoly wrote several entries, check his blog!)

“Inevitable” by Carrie Cuinn

Untitled by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley

“Mr. Fix-It” by Don Pizarro

“The Ghost and the Machine” by Suzanne Palmer

“Tommy Hopper and The Future” by Spencer Ellsworth

“And Yes” by S. R. Mastrantone

“Glork” By Amanda C. Davis

“Object of My Affection” by Sylvia Spruck Wrigley

“Dear Kyle” by Brenda Stokes Barron

“Great-Uncle’s Visit” by Michael Haynes

If you wish to play along, post a link to your one-sentence story in the comments or follow us on Twitter under the hashtag #1ss.

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

BaltiCon and a New Sale

May 23, 2012

I will be attending BaltiCon, a science fiction convention in Maryland over the Memorial Day weekend.

There is a plethora of firsts in this for me:

This will be the first non-gaming science fiction convention I attend on my own. Anatoly Belilovsky was kind enough to bring me along on a day trip to LunaCon a few months back (which I enjoyed a lot) — but this will  be the first time I attend on my own and stay overnight.

The main reason for my trip is to attend the launch of “Galactic Creatures,” an anthology from Dark Quest Books’ Sparkito imprint, managed and edited by Elektra Hammond. This was the first anthology project I was directly invited to participate it, and will be the first physical, printed *book* that I’m in. I’ve been published in e-book anthos and printed magazines, but never in an actual book. .

I owe many thanks to Elektra Hammond, who not only had enough faith in me to invite me to this project, but also kindly encouraged me to come out to this convention. I’m still a little anxious because I know practically no one there, but she managed to convince me that I should go, and now I’m super excited and can’t wait for the weekend.

And, on top of everything else, I will get to do a brief reading from “The Dragon Ships of Tycho,” my “Galactic Creatures” story.

I’ve done a fair amount of public speaking in the gaming industry and have no fear of it. However, while I can speak well guided by a handful of bullet points, I’m *terrible* at reading aloud from the page. I realize that this is a weakness I have to correct if I’m to take writing seriously. If I’m successful at writing, it’ll come with more public reading opportunities in the future, and I have to prepare. So I’ve decided to practice.

I read the beginning of “The Dragon Ships of Tycho” out loud several times so far, using a timer so that I could figure out where to stop without going over my allotted five minutes of infamy.  My first reading was pretty awful, but it got a little better with each pass.  Reading an article about reading aloud by Mary Robinette Kowal posted on the SFWA web site was also very helpful.  I’ll continue to practice until the weekend and, hopefully, manage to put on a decent performance on Sunday.

If you are attending BaltiCon, I hope you’ll consider stopping by the Dark Quest Book launch party, which is scheduled for 7-9pm on Sunday in the Garden Room. And if you see me wondering the convention halls at any point during the weekend, please do say hello. There’s only a small chance I’ll then follow you around like a lost puppy, I promise.

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When I set out to write science fiction, I imagined that most of my stories would be in the genre I love to read most — space opera. But it turned out that most of my stories fit into other sub-genres. “The Dragon Ships of Tycho” is one of the handful of true space operas with lots of alien races, galaxy-wide conflict and grandiose scale. Another such story is “Price of Allegiance.”

“Price of Allegiance” was among the first stories I wrote, back in 2010. The original iteration was unpublishable — it was poorly structured, featured a ton of exposition and suffered from most other faults that afflict the beginner writers. But the idea behind it was good — good enough that I didn’t want to give up on this story. I kept rewriting it, and each iteration became a little better. I had to eliminate some of my favorite lines and even scenes in the story, but those painful cuts improved it overall. I changed lots of things about it, until finally I felt like the story was good enough to be published.

 

Around the same time, Penumbra Magazine announced the upcoming lineup of issues which included a politics-themed one. “Price of Allegiance” is all about the interspecies politics on the galactic scale. The fit seemed perfect. So much so that I not only held the story until the submission window opened up, but trimmed it even further in order to make it fit within Penumbra’s length guidelines. The wait and those painful cuts of the extra few hundred words were worth it. After several close-call round 2 rejections for other issues, Penumbra has accepted “Price of Allegiance” for inclusion in its July issue!

I very much look forward to appearing in Penumbra, and this latest story sale is timely in that, along with last week’s Nature publication, it provides a much-needed confidence boost for my trip to BaltiCon. I hope to see a few familiar faces there, and especially look forward to making new friends.

 

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Publication: “Ravages of Time” in Nature Magazine

May 17, 2012

 

This week’s issue (May 17) of the venerable Nature Magazine includes my SF story “Ravages of Time.”

This is a flash fiction story about love, relationships, and faster than light travel.  It was initially written for a Codex Writers 5-week long flash fiction contest. Nature was the first place I sent it and I was very happy to have them accept.

Not only is my writing now printed in one of the most relevant scientific journals in the world, but they also make it available to be read online for free. What’s more, they create original artwork for each published story, and the image designed for “Ravages” doesn’t disappoint:

Click here to read “Ravages of Time” online.

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Podcast: “In Service of a Greater Cause” in Smoke & Mirrors

April 28, 2012

One of my stories has been podcast, for the first time ever.

Listening to your own words interpreted by somebody else was a strange experience.  But the Smoke & Mirrors Podcast team rose to the challenge — host Dennis Miller and reader Cynthia Colby produced the story beautifully. “In Service of a Greater Cause” was originally published in the inaugural issue of Schroedinger’s Mouse magazine, in early 2011. Schroedinger’s Mouse just released their second issue after a long hiatus, so stop by and give them a read!

My story begins at the 14 minute mark and is about 9 minutes long, but you should listen to the entire 30 minute podcast if you can.

Click here to listen.

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Galactic Creatures Anthology Announced

April 25, 2012

A few months ago I announced the sale of “The Dragon Ships of Tycho” to an upcoming anthology.  Today I’m thrilled to be able to post some additional details about it. The anthology is called “Galactic Creatures” and is forthcoming from the Sparkito imprint of Dark Quest Books in late May.

“Galactic Creatures” editor Elektra Hammond posted the cover art (above) and the table of contents on her blog yesterday. The anthology will be published in trade paperback format ($14.95) and as an e-book, and will debut at BaltiCon on Memorial Day weekend.

“Galactic Creatures” was the first project I’ve been directly invited to participate in. It is what’s called a “private anthology.” While some editors call for public submissions and wade through hundreds of slush stories to find a few gems, oftentimes editors contact a handful of authors whose work they’ve enjoyed in the past directly and ask them to write something that fits the theme. Such an invitation is not a guarantee of publication — write a dud and you’ll end up rejected just as quickly as you might from anywhere else. But, once invited, your odds are very good indeed.

Mrs. Hammond copy-edited another story of mine, for another publication. She liked it enough to offer me a chance to write something for her upcoming project, and I was happy to oblige. Since then I’ve been invited to two other anthologies (and let me tell you, the VIP ride past the slush pile NEVER gets old!) — but it’s always the first such opportunity that is the most memorable.

As we get closer to the release date I will blog more about this anthology, revealing its theme and other details when they become available from Dark Quest Books (wouldn’t want to spoil any info ahead of the publisher!). I’m also hoping to attend the launch party at BaltiCon, schedule permitting.

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Publication: “Putting It All Together” At Nine Magazine

April 24, 2012

 

The inaugural issue of Nine: A Journal of Imaginative Fiction is now live and includes my flash story “Putting It All Together.” This is a story of a post-singularity “digital” human trying to recreate the original simulation, which was designed to look and feel like the real world.

Nine is an interesting new concept. Each issue will feature 9 stories, and each author will earn 9% royalty from the sale; the issues are sold directly on the Nine web site. So when you buy an issue (which is only $5) you’re directly supporting me and the other eight authors whose work was included.

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Guest Post: “Dreams, Horses and the Little Story That Could” by Beth Cato

April 23, 2012

Today I’m pleased to feature a guest blog post by Beth Cato, the author of “Red Dust and Dancing Horses,” a SF tale  featured in the current issue of Stupefying Stories. Beth writes about perseverance and not giving up on the stories you believe in, and I wholeheartedly agree.

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Dreams, Horses, and the Little Story That Could

By Beth Cato

 

 

There’s something I’ve learned during the past few years. If you want to succeed as a writer, it’s not all about talent. It’s not about developing a thick skin. Rejections make you cry? Scream? Those are valid reactions sometimes. But what enables you to succeed is sheer stubbornness. You send the story out again.

Case in point: my story “Red Dust and Dancing Horses.”

From the time I wrote the rough draft, I knew this story was special. It hit me on a personal level. The tale is a horse story set on Mars, where horses can’t exist. It’s about a young Martian girl who has to accept that her deepest desire–to know horses–will likely never come true.

I was completely horse obsessed from the time I could walk and talk. I adored Rainbow Brite from age 3, but my biggest love was her horse, Starlite. I collected Breyer horses from age 4 (I wasn’t into My Little Ponies as much because they weren’t realistic enough). I read every horse book in the children’s section of the library, and if a new book came in the librarians told me. I knew the difference between a Shire and a Paso Fino, a forelock and a fetlock. My parents owned two acres of property, and I knew exactly where we could build a stable and corral. I took riding lessons. I knew exactly what my dream horse would look like and how his mane swayed in the breeze.

And at age 11, I finally had to accept that I would never have a horse.

I was mature enough to realize we were too poor. Money was tight. My riding lessons stopped as we couldn’t even afford the $10 for my riding lessons every two weeks. How could we afford a horse, or hay, or tack?

The dream died, but my love for horses didn’t.

That was the emotion I put into the story, only using a grittier Martian backdrop instead of a central Californian one. I posted the story on OWW. I revised heavily. I started sending it out to magazines. And this story I loved passionately was soundly rejected by almost every pro science fiction market.

Really, I could see why. It’s a horse story, on Mars. People don’t usually pair horses and sci fi, much less horses from old westerns. But it still hurt. This was a story that I felt was not only one of the best things I had written, but it was also a story I loved.

But I loved it so much, I kept gritting my teeth and sending it out again. It had some close calls. It won an honorable mention in Writers of the Future for the 4th quarter of 2011. But it still didn’t have a home, so I sent it out yet again.

You know what? It has a home now, an amazing one. This is what the editor of Stupefying Stories, Bruce Bethke, said in the forward for this March issue:

I’m about out of space now, but would be remiss if I did not call special attention… especially to my personal favorite in this entire collection, “Red Dust and Dancing Horses” by Beth Cato. If this story doesn’t wind up on several Best of 2012 lists and on the short list for at least one major award, I will be disappointed.

While querying agents, the big mantra is, ‘It only takes one yes.’ That’s true for short stories, too. “Red Dust and Dancing Horses” finally found its YES, and whatever happens from here, I’m happy, because the story finally found some other folks who love it just as much as I do.

The dream lives on.

“Red Dust and Dancing Horses” can be found in Stupefying Stories 1.5, on Amazon or Barnes & Noble.

 

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Publication: “Hunger” in Title Goes Here Magazine, Volume 11

April 21, 2012

 

“Hunger” is the story of the last yeti, being hunted by the humans for the unforgivable crime of being too different. This one isn’t available to read online for free, but you can buy a printed issue or an e-book.

And if you’re getting a bit tired of my constant publication updates this month, I’ve got bad news for you: there are MORE on the way, likely to hit before the month is out. Mwahaha!

Seriously though, if someone told me 2 years ago that I would have four short stories published in a single week, I would have laughed in their face. Life is good.

 

 

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Publication: “A Shard Glows in Brooklyn” at Buzzy Magazine

April 19, 2012

Of all the stories I’ve had published so far, this is my favorite.

Conrad Brent is special. He is among the small group of people (one in thirty thousand) who can See the world for what it really is.  There are wizards, and monsters, and even a giant troll underneath the Verrazano Bridge — deadly threats that an average citizen knows nothing about. Threats that are kept in check by the Watch — an ancient society which protects regular people from being taken advantage of by those with magic.

Conrad Brent is the Watch’s representative in Brooklyn, NY. When a powerful magic-enhancing shard of Atlantean crystal shows up in the borough, it is up to Brent to keep it out of the wrong hands. By whatever means necessary.

OK, given a little time and a medium cup of French Vanilla coffee, I could probably write a better blurb. But you get the idea. “Shard” is  the kind of urban fantasy I love to read, and want to write.

Conrad Brent is a wise-cracking, irreverent, morally complicated character and I love telling his stories. I’ve already written a second Brent tale, titled “Requiem for a Druid,” where our protagonist butts heads with New York’s most prominent real estate mogul who has a penchant for firing people. That second story is currently looking for a home — sadly there aren’t a lot of pro markets interested in light urban fantasy short stories.

I’m also in the very early stages of planning out my first novel. It will be–you guessed it–a Conrad Brent story.

So please head over to Buzzy Magazine, a brand-new pro venue which was kind enough to accept this story, and read “A Shard Glows in Brooklyn.”

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

Publication: “The Traveling Fair” at Every Day Fiction

April 18, 2012

This story was written for one of the Shock Totem contests. Every few months the horror/dark fiction magazine sponsors a contest where a prompt is provided and each author submits their story anonymously, to be judged by fellow entrants. I enjoy the process and try to participate whenever I can, and it often results in pretty good stories. “Spidersong” — my first SFWA sale — was another ST contest story. For “The Traveling Fair” the prompt was to write a story under 1000 words featuring a giant monster and fireworks.

Click  here to read The Traveling Fair at Every Day Fiction, and don’t forget to rate it!

 

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Posted by Alex Shvartsman

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