• Writing Resources

    “A Terrible Loyalty” in @OnSpecMagazine

    Delighted to announce that my story, “A Terrible Loyalty” is now available in issue #92 of “On Spec Magazine”. This story marks my fourth appearance in On Spec (“A Ragman’s Vow”, “From the Sea”, and “Touch the Dead” showed up there in past issues). Special thanks to Diane Walton, the managing editor of On Spec, for her help with the edits on this story. The story was substantially improved through the process.

  • Writing Resources

    “Magic Circles” sells to Perihelion!

    Perihelion Magazine has accepted my story, “Magic Circles” for publication in a future issue of their online science fiction magazine. I am looking forward to seeing my story on the site. If you haven’t read any of the fiction there, please check it out. This is my second sale this month, though I haven’t mentioned the first yet. It was to an anthology and I’m waiting till the final table of contents for that is announced. I also have a couple other stories available to read right now: “Foolish Wishes, Fairy Kisses” at NewMyths.com “Nikki 2.3” at The Journal Of Unlikely Entomology

  • Writing Resources

    Story Sale to On Spec Magazine!

    I hinted at good news earlier and here it is. Last week I learned that I’ve sold my fifth story to On Spec Magazine! The story, A Primer on the Ins and Outs of Building Bliss, will appear sometime in 2013 though I already have another story in the queue (A Terrible Loyalty) to appear next year, so we’ll see if both make it in before 2014. Either way, I’m very pleased and I’ll let everyone know when it is avaialble. And I have more good news to share but I’ll wait till next week :)

  • Writing Resources

    Novel 5 is Alive!

    I’ve finished the first draft of the fifth novel! I started writing mid-July, so it has taken me a tad longer than I originally intended (meaning that yes, I’m behind schedule). In my defense the novel has turned out to be slightly longer than I intended, weighing in at about 130 000 words. I have no doubt that at least 15 000 of these words will vanish during edits, as I am a compulsive over-writer in my first drafts. When I started the novel I mentioned that I was writing the last chapter first. In hindsight, has that turned out to be a good idea? Overall I think it was.…

  • Writing Resources

    Intergalactic Medicine Show

    I’ve been a subscriber to the online magazine Intergalactic Medicine Show for about half a year now and though I haven’t had time to read all the issues the few I have read have been fantastic. Anyways one of the reasons I haven’t read more of the backlog (you have access to all prior issues when you subscribe) is that I hate reading on a computer screen — mostly because I hate scrolling. I’ve whined about this before. But now they are offering downloads in the Kindle format — either an actual kindle device or through Stanza, on the iPad. So that’s really cool and once I finish my novel…

  • Writing Resources

    Aurora Awards

    It is that time of the year again… Aurora voting! From the Prix Aurora website: The Prix Aurora Awards are Canada’s National Science Fiction & Fantasy Awards. They are Canadian Fans’ way of recognizing the best in genre creativity and activity of the previous calendar year (January 1st to December 31st 2010). Why am I telling you this? Voting is free and registration is simple — just sign up to be a member and you can nominate every year. And don’t worry, you don’t have to vote in every category. Just fill in what you know. This is not an entirely selfless announcement I do have four stories eligible for…

  • Writing Resources

    War of the Worlds:Frontlines Update

    Reviewed the edits for “John’s List” which will be appearing in the War of the Worlds anthology set to appear sometime in April and sent them back to the editor a couple days ago. The full table of contents is: After Welles by Michael Scott Bricker Weird Fruits by Camille Alexa Killers by Vincent L. Scarsella The Dodo Dragon by Sheila Crosby The Virus of Memory by Gerard Daniel Houarner What Makes You Tick by David Steffen The Broken Hand Mirror of Venus by Mark Onspaugh Common Time by Bruce Golden Steve’s Really Cool Movie Blog by RJ Sevin Moth Tamuth Robotica by Kristen Lee Knapp Empire of the Moon…

  • My Life

    Online magazines, I'd love to read, but cannot

    There are a number of fine online magazines containing high quality stories from both established pros and writers who will be pros in the future. Beneath Ceaseless Skies*, Fantasy, and Strange Horizons are just a few of the titles I’d like to read. But I don’t.** Okay, Brent must be one of those old fashioned tree-hugging, dead tree book-loving, technology haters, right? Well, no. I have a huge collection of eBooks and I love reading them on my iPod Touch (though I do have some complaints about the current state of things in regards to eBooks, DRM and available hardware). While there are many other improvements that need to happen…