There are no classes Monday, so I think I’m going to do something crazy. I’m going to write 10,000 words in the next two days, and do it from at least six different places. LTUE this year has really got me pumped up to work on this novel, and I’m going to take advantage of the break to make some progress! So, if you want to be crazy like me, you can join me in the challenge. I’ll let you know how it goes!
Category: Uncategorized
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne
I wanted to read one of the books that was written right around the time when science fiction as a genre was just starting to form, so I decided to read this classic by Jules Verne. Even though I knew the story already, it was fairly enjoyable to read, and I noticed a few things in it that are typical of the genre even today…
Thoughts on The Little Mermaid
I had this great idea for a story the other day, and it sounded a lot like Hans Christian Anderson’s The Little Mermaid, so I decided to read it (the original, of course) to see what the story is like. Having read it, I can definitely see why it is considered to be a classic–and how it could motivate people to build a statue in honor of it…
Hinckley Challenge
I don’t usually participate in this kind of stuff, but a group of people are getting together online to commemorate President Gordon B. Hinckley’s life by pledging to read the Book of Mormon in 97 days, starting this Monday. President Hinckley was an incredible man and his teachings and leadership profoundly affected my life. Like all church presidents, he constantly encouraged the rest of us to read the Book of Mormon, and I feel that he would be pleased that people are commemorating him by doing just that. If you would care to join me, you can follow the link below:
Old Man’s War by John Scalzi
In English 318 at BYU, every time somebody mentions Scalzi’s name, Brandon Sanderson (who teaches the class) counts to three, raises his fists and shouts out “Scalzi!” in this voice that makes it clear that he’s cursing his name. Why? Because he beat him to some kind of award or something. But Scalzi is definitely a good writer, not only because Sanderson chose Old Man’s War as one of our “textbooks” for his class, but because he wrote a sci fi book that sold better than most fantasy books, in a time when the genre has been experiencing a downturn. And he is a good writer; I thoroughly enjoyed his book…
Starship Troopers by Robert A. Heinlein
When I started this book, I was a little bit surprised that it’s such a famous sci fi book–the story wasn’t that strong, and there were a couple of flaws that even the Quark writing group would pick up on pretty quickly. By the time I finished it, however, it gave me the urge to do two things: vote for McCain and join the marines…
Quark Writing Group Flier 2008
Check out the link below! It’s a copy of the writing group flier for this year! Many thanks to Aiwe for the artwork! Here’s what to do…download the flier, print it out, and post it up wherever you want! Especially if you’re in the Provo/Orem area–we want to attract BYU aspiring writers who love Science Fiction and Fantasy as much as we do, wherever they are!
Quark Writing Group Flier 2008
Researching publishers and a new novel from an old story
I didn’t do a whole lot of writing today, just a little bit in my story for English 318. I did, however, research some markets and give out Decision LZ150207 to some beta readers. I’m also starting to figure out some new plans for my story The Clearest Vision…
editing editing editing
I took a break from The Lost Colony tonight to edit two of my short stories, The Clearest Vision and Decision LZ150207. I want to send both of those out to contests in the near future, so I want to polish them up and send them out. I’m really optimistic about it.
Neuromancer by William Gibson
This novel was good. I wanted to suggest it in English 318 when we were listing sci fi / fantasy novels to read as a class. However, I knew that if I did, someone would be offended because it definitely violates honor code standards for BYU sponsored reading material. Despite some of the extremely explicit and violent content, however, this novel was one of the most incredible sci fi stories I’ve read in a long time…