A Whale of a Tale!

Writing Goals 2012

2012-01-22T23:59:00.000-08:00

I write because I am a storyteller and it is what I do best. I love writing, but sometimes even the ones we love the most are the ones we are first to neglect for no other reason than that we are human.

So...

TIME TO SET A GOAL

Having read the blogposts of other writers such as JA Konrath, Nathan Bransford, and the Dead Robots, I realise that my own goals in the past have been very vague. Finish this, write that, publish some. So this year I am taking my writing goals a little more seriously. I want to be able to check at the end of the year to see whether I have a achieved what I set out to do. In order to do that I realise that the first thing I need to do is to treat my writing life as a part time job. This means no slacking off. It means getting my word count in every day. Not every other day. Not tomorrow. Like now. It means using my limited time and not wasting it.

TIME TO READ

To be able to write you must study your art. An builder does not build a house without having learned the craft by studying others. My aim is to read wide and varied this year. I plan to read at least two books a month. Ideally three. Four if possible. This will not be a problem since I usually get through more than that. Especially since I started reading on my ipod touch. But last year I did have a run where I came across a couple of books that I just could not connect with and I just ended up stopping dead. This year if that happens I will abandon the book and take up another. Easy.

TIME TO WRITE TO THE END

Since I plan to treat my writing like a part time job. I must not only carve out the time to write, but I also have to finish what I start. Who employs a builder who leaves the tiles half done because he is not inspired to mix the cement? Not me that's for sure. So I will write until it's finished. I will take responsibility for my characters and guide them to the end of the story. No more characters hanging off the edgeof the pier waiting for me to be inspired to either save them or drown them.

EDIT TO THE END

I said it last year and then got sidetracked with other projects. I said it the year before and the year before that. But this time I mean it. 2012 will be the year I finish editing "Whaling the Multiverse" and prepare it for submission. What good is a car stuck in the garage with its wheels off? Damn, editing is the hardest part of writing, but it is enjoyable if I can just stop thinking about that shiny new idea. Now I have to face up to my responsibility this year and get the work done.

SUBMIT

Complete and submit at least one short story a month and when the rejections come in find a suitable market and send it back out as soon as possible. Terry Mixon at the Dead Robot's Society suggested a points system to encourage you to reach your goal. My goal is 100 points.

1 short story written and submitted: 5 points

1 novella written and submitted: 10 points

1 first draft novel written: 15 points

1 novel edited and submitted: 25 points

So, for example, if I write 12 short stories, a novella, and submit my novel this year I have made my goal. Of course I plan to do more. I will participate in NaNoWriMo. And I would also like to finish another novel I have in progress too. 100 points is the bare minimum. I plan to exceed that goal by a long shot. I will keep track on my progress here throughout the year. Kick my butt if you feel the need. I will be.

2012 PROGRESS: 2 short stories written and submitted 10 points.

2011 My Writing Year in Review

2012-01-19T05:48:00.000-08:00

Submissions: 17
Rejections: 12
Pending Response: 4 (1 carried over from 2010)
Acceptances: 2
Published: 3

It's a little late in coming, but here is a quick review of the ups and downs of my writing life in 2011.

In January there was a lot of backwards and forwards with the editing on short stories that had already been accepted, but I wasn't writing anything new.

In February I still wasn't writing. I hadn't written anything since finishing NaNoWriMo in November 2010.

March was a terrible month in Japan. The earthquake, tsunami, and the start of nuclear meltdown. The country was in total chaos and I almost didn't notice my short story Whaling the Multiverse published in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine.

Inspired by some positive feedback and reviews from Whaling the Multiverse, and a need to get back on my feet after the earthquake April was the month I started writing again. I wrote Montagfire's Sword for the Machine of Death anthology. Writing for MoD gave me the kickstart I badly needed. I was also asked to write an open letter about the March 11th earthquake on the Space and Time Magazine website.

May saw the publication of Tales of Blackleg Osai by Snarke P. Amor in Tales of Piratical Skullduggery at Wicked East Press.

In June I wrote The Ainu Woman of Kushiro for the Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations anthology. I workshopped it on Zoetrope, rewrote it taking into account some great suggestions, and changed the title to To Run a Stick Through a Fish.

I didn't write anything in July. I determined to work on rewriting my novel Whaling the Multiverse. I finished one editing pass.

I spent August writing and editing my novella The Tide Jewels for Wicked East Press. Also in August The Little Contractor Tool Kit appeared in Nightmares and Dreamscapes at Nightfall Publications.

In September I completed a short story called Suikawari. I workshopped it at Zoetrope and got some great feedback. I also did another editing pass on the novel.

In October I completed a short story called Transmission. I workshopped it on Zoetrope and I had a lot of positive reviews. Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations accepted To Run a Stick Through a Fish. I also wrote a series of blogposts to get me in the frame of mind for NaNoWriMo.

In November I managed to complete NaNoWriMo with two days to spare. I wrote an autobiographical novel on my first six months in Japan working for an Eikaiwa. It is provisionally entitled Novacation for the Soul.

I spent December writing another 15,000 words to finish the first draft of that novel.

All in all I completed 4 new short stories and 1 novella. I did two editing passes on a novel in progress and wrote the first draft of a new novel. Not a particularly productive year, all things considered. But at least I can see some progress.

Next time I will write a post detailing my goals for 2012.

年越し本

2012-01-04T05:29:00.000-08:00

I make no secret of the fact that I live in Japan. And while it is also no secret that the culture of Japan is a mishmash of other cultures fused onto its own in its own unique way--think of the influence of Western literature on Japanese literature in the Meiji era and see what magnificent works of art emerged from the cauldron-- it is without doubt an equally interesting pursuit of gaijin living in Japan to create our own fusions. Here is mine, for the record.

You've heard of 年越しそば (toshikoshi soba) noodles that are eaten on new years eve whilst waiting for the new year to be rung in.

Now let me introduce to you the 年越し本 (toshikoshi hon), A book you begin reading on the 31st December and finish on the 1st January.

What's yours?

This was mine:

And a very enjoyable read it was too.

5 STARS☆☆☆☆☆

My Machine of Death Story: Montagfire's Sword

2011-11-04T15:47:00.000-07:00

MONTAGFIRE’S SWORD

Mark Lee Pearson

They found the machine lodged in the throat of a forty-footsperm whale.

Bear, the ship’s puller, drew his porpoise-like arm out of the oversizedwhale’s throat and held it up for the crew to see. It was spherical in shapeand about the size of a bowling ball. Visible through the translucent goldsurface, the inner workings were a mesh of cogs and wheels driven by alabyrinth of micro-tubes and wires. The shell was knurled around the circumferenceand studded with a spectrum of jewels and lights. It hummed and blinked, andthe strange script engraved on the outer surface read like a message from adistant galaxy.

“I knew it,” said Saline, the ship’s whale-screamer. “It’s atracking device. They’re coming for us. We’ll have to dump it and get the hellout of here.”

“Cool it, Saline,” said Tracker Dick, snatching the strangespherical object from Bear.

“Be careful with that,” said Bear.

“This ain’t no tracking device,” said Tracker Dick, holding itup to the light. “It’s got no eleven-dimension loop. It appears to be a kind ofsextant.”

“Pass it here,” said Saline. “Let me see.”

“I don’t like it,” said Bear. “It reminds me of that old storyin the old Nihongi. The one in which the gods sent a giant whale across thegalaxy to communicate the end of the multiverse.”

Tracker Dick laughed. “Telling us we’ll all be swallowed up likeold Jonas, eh?” He tossed the machine to Saline. “Tell us what it really is, Saline.”

Saline attempted to catch it, but he misjudged, fumbled, and letit land on the deck with a thump.

Helius Cope, the sharpest harpooner in the multiverse, steppedforward and made a grab for it, but Saline snatched it back and edged awayfiddling with the machine.

“Hey, I think it opens,” he said. He gripped it on the outer knurlededge and twisted it with both hands.

“Easy—” said Bear.

There was a click. Saline let out a yelpand the machine slipped from his fingers. It landed on the deck again with anotherthump. “It bit me,” he said, holding up his hand. A bead of blood oozed fromthe tip of his index finger. “The pollacking thing bit me.”

Helius Cope snorted a laugh. “Imbecile,”he said.

“It’s making a funny noise,” said TrackerDick. The crew eyed the ball with suspicion as it whirred and clicked andhissed on the deck at their feet.

“It’s a bomb!” said Saline. “Throw itoverboard!”

“Hold on,” said Bear. “There’s somethingcoming out of it.” He knelt over the machine and with a careful paw and pluckedthe little white card from a slot in the top.

“What is it?” said Dick.

“I don’t know,” said Bear. He squinted atthe black ideogram scrawled on the white card. “There’s some kind of scriptwritten on it.”

“Let me see.”

As Tracker Dick swiped the card from Bear’s padded fingers ashadow fell across the deck and the crew looked up from their huddle.

Captain Jack Montagfire, the half-breed whale-catcher withshaven head, sea green jimbei, vicious Japanese sword skills, and whiskey forblood stood on the deck of the whaling ship before them.

Cope’s mouth fell open. “Montagfire!”

“You’re back,” said Bear, concealing the machine in his massivepaws.

“Yes,” said Montagfire. “I’m back.” He examined the sperm whale.“That’s a good catch.”

“Good?” said Helius Cope. “It’s the largest sperm I’ve everpinned. Might be the largest in the multiverse.”

“I doubt it,” said Montagfire. He unsheathed his sword. It was anancient katana forged from twenty-fifth century tamahagane, with the bladefinely polished to a mirror finish and a handle molded to his grip. Holding thesword in both hands he wedged the blade between the whale’s lips and pried openits mouth to reveal a thousand razor edged teeth and a throat wide enough toallow a giant squid—or even a man—to pass easily into the whale’s alimentarycanal. “But it is a fine ontodoceti,” he said, inspecting the teeth.

He let the enormous jaw drop and prodded the whale’s flank withhis titanium finger. “It will make a satisfactory feast at the Emperor’s End ofthe Century Banquet.”

“Satisfactory?” said Cope. “A whale this size will feed theentire population of Edo and bring is the accolade and currency we rightfullydeserve.”

“The accolade and currency I rightful deserve,” Montagfirecorrected.

Tracker Dick made to slip the card into his jimbei pocket out ofsight.

“What’s that?” said Montagfire, spinning around.

“None of your—”

Montagfire flicked the card from Dick’s hand with his sword andcaught it between his fingers. “Where did you get it?”

Tracker Dick looked at Cope, who in turn looked at Bear.

Bear unfurled his fingers to reveal the golden machine. “It cameout of this, he said. “It was in the whale.”

Montagfire studied the card.

“Can you read it?” said Bear.

“It’s the language of the ancient Ainu.”

“What does it say?” said Saline.

“I can’t be sure.” Montagfire peered atthe script. “But…” he hesitated.

“What is it?” said Bear.

“You see this character, here?” The fivewhalers gathered around him and he traced the ideogram with his titanium finger.“The bar across the top represents a coffin lid and this line here signifies abody. And this…”

“What?” said Saline.

“I don’t know for sure,” said Montagfire,but I think it is the mark of death.”

“Whose death?” said Saline.

Bear and Cope and Tracker Dick all turnedto look at Saline, who was still nursing his bleeding finger. Saline looked attheir pale faces and then at his own finger. “You have got to be kidding?” hesaid.

And then he fainted.

The ocean was vast, but even more sosince the great whale extinction. But for any whaler with a Kaku device, avortex driver, and a whale-screamer it was still possible to call the whalesout through the loops in the multiverse. And a-flying they would come, in thebelief that the scream was a distress call from a fellow mammalian.

But it was a perilous business to sail awhaling ship without a screamer.

“You know I should execute you all, don’t you?” said Montagfire,tapping the handle of his sword with his titanium finger.

“For leaving you behind?” said Bear.

Montagfire gave Bear a coarse smile. “For that, yes. And alsofor being invalid,” he said.

“Invalid?” said Cope with clear disdain.

“Under the Emperor’s Law of Invalidity. What good is a screamerin a state of apoplexy? What good is a whaling ship that can’t catch whales?”

“We can catch a lot of whales,” said Tracker Dick, holding upthe Kaku device.

“Colossal whales,” said Cope. “The spermy proves that.”

“It proves nothing,” said Montagfire.

“You’ll face execution, too,” said Tracker. “This is your ship.”

“I’ll get an Imperial Pardon if I turn you in.”

“You wouldn’t turn us in,” said Bear. “Not when Recalibration isstill an option. We can get Saline’s DNA recalibrated. He’ll be back in thatscreamer’s seat and making us—you—a lot of currency.”

“And the accolades,” said Dick. “Think of the accolades.”

Montagfire grinned. “You are a smart crew,” he said. “I knewthat when I picked you. But, before Recalibration is possible we have to findout what effect that machine has had on Saline.”

“What do you suggest?” said Cope.

“I know an old Ainu master who lives on the Floating City ofSapporo in the North Pacific Territory. He should be able to translate thescript. We’ll be able to get Recalibration for Saline there too. It is onlythree days away, and only a short detour on our way back to the Floating Cityof Edo to deliver the sperm whale in time for the Emperor’s End of the CenturyBanquet.”

“You want me to take care of the machine in the meantime?” saidTracker Dick. “I can take it apart and analyze it to figure out what it’s for.I might even be able to discover the meaning of what was written on that card.”

“It’ll come back with all the jewels missing if you take it,”said Cope. “I was the one who harpooned the whale. I ought to look after themachine.”

Montagfire tapped his titanium finger on the table and thesquabbling stopped.

“I will look after the machine,” he said. “It will prevent anymore accidents.”

Cope and Dick contested, but Bear intervened. “He’s right,” he said.“And besides, if the ideogram does signify death, we don’t want anyone elsepricking their finger like Princess Saline.”

Cope and Dick laughed and so it was decided that Montagfire wouldtake care of the machine. He stored it safely under the bunk where he slept andthe Spectrum Samurai set sail for Sapporo.

Three days later Montagfire sailed thewhaler into the dock of the Floating City of Sapporo. The entire city glimmeredin the afternoon sunlight, reflecting off the ocean in a spectacular display oflight. Bear was excited about the stop off. He had always wanted to visit theice caverns, which the ancient Ainu race had supposedly chiseled out beneaththe city to honor the gods of the underworld. Montagfire said there would be notime for sightseeing. They were on a tight schedule, and anyway the ice cavernswere a myth that had been created for the purpose of attracting tourists.

Bear and Tracker Dick carried a gibbering, drooling Saline down tothe dock. Helius Cope hailed an ice car and they loaded him into the trunk.Montagfire kept the machine concealed in a secret pocket on the inside of hisjimbei. He slipped the card with the peculiar lettering into his pocket anddirected the ice car driver to an address on the outskirts of the city.

“This place is amazing,” said Dick,gawping up at the towering buildings. “I’ve never seen anything so dazzling.”

“It’s the ice,” said Cope.

“How do they keep it from melting?”

“There is a generator buried in theunderside of the float. The current of the ocean powers it. The Sapporogovernors insist it operates all year round because it is tradition to do so.”

“How do you know so much about it?” saidBear.

Cope handed a tourist brochure from theback of the ice cab and winked.

The Ainu master’s residence was a largeornate igloo surrounded by a wall of tropical ferns. They paid the driver ofthe ice car and traipsed up the snowy approach, with Bear humping Saline overhis shoulder.

“I feel as if we’re being watched,” said Cope.”

“Surveillance system,” said Montagfire. He pointed up to a free-floatingspherical camera, which appeared to have its lens focused on them. “The Ainumaster is not a trusting fellow.”

Tracker Dick pulled a fern from its stem and sniffed it. Therewas a low growl. Startled, he looked up to see a pair of red eyes staring athim from the shadows. He swallowed hard, turned, and ran to catch the others.

“The Ainu master is not to be trusted,” said Montagfire as theyarrived at the door. “Tell him nothing of our business. Do not mention the whaleand especially do not under any circumstances mention the machine. All we wantis for him to decipher the script. Then we are out. Got it?”

Bear, Cope and Dick nodded. Saline remained in his state of stupefaction.

“And get rid of that fern,” said Montagfire, snatching it fromDick and throwing it into the snow. Don’t touch anything. And don’t forget tobe on your guard at all times.”

The heavy ice door creaked open letting the five of them enterthe great ice chamber, where the Ainu master greeted them. His head was shavenand he was dressed in a grey hunting gown embroidered with white red-eyedwolves. His sleeves were tied back and the garment was wrapped tight around hisbody with a charcoal obi. On his feet he wore the wooden geta of his class.

“Montagfire, old friend. It is a pleasure to see you again afterall these years.”

Montagfire bowed in formal exchange and replied, “The pleasureis all mine.”

“Nobody gets a visit from Montagfire unless he wants something.”He looked the crew up and down, with a particular interest in Saline. “What isit I can do for you?”

“You know me too well,” said Montagfire. “I am here on ascholarly matter.”

The Ainu master led them into a chamber deeper in the icebuilding. Bear laid Saline on a low futon provided by a servant and they kneltaround a low ice table, drank tea from the green leaf, and passed ceremonialswords. When the formalities were over, Montagfire passed the card to the Ainumaster.

The Ainu master took the card and studied the script in silencefor a long minute, his long grey fingers following the lines of the ideogram.

“From whom did you acquire this?”

“Can you read it?” said Montagfire.

“No. Unfortunately I can’t. It is not ascript I am familiar with.”

“Do you know anyone who might be able to decipher it?”

“It might take a day or two.”

“A day or two is not what we have,” said Montagfire. “It waskind of you to treat us with such hospitality but I am afraid I must make haste.The ocean calls.”

As Montagfire stood to leave, his jimbei swung open and the Ainumaster caught sight of the machine.

“Wait!” he said. “At least spend the night in Sapporo. We have alot to catch up on. I am especially interested in what you might have broughtwith you to trade.”

“I have nothing to trade,” said Montagfire closing his jimbei.

“Everyone has something to trade.”

A strained silence fell in the ice room. The Ainu master andMontagfire locked eyes. Tracker Dick and Cope exchanged glances. Bearstraightened his back.

Then in one swift movement Montagfire reached across the tablefor his sword. The Ainu master was quicker and in an instant Montagfire foundhimself looking at a distorted reflection of himself in the mirrored blade ofhis own sword.

Saline yelped from somewhere on the other side of consciousness.Bear stood up warily, not taking his eye off the Ainu master. His fingerscurled and his forearms pulsed.

“Tell your friends to leave.”

Montagfire spoke through his teeth, “Take Saline and get out ofhere.”

“I’m not leaving you, Cap—”

“I said get out of here.”

“Come on, Bear,” said Dick. “Do as he says.”

Bear lifted Saline off the futon and leftthe hall closely followed by Cope and Dick. The Ainu master and Montagfirestood facing each other, their eyes still locked.

“Where did you get it?”

“Where did I get what?”

“Don’t fool with me, Montagfire. I knowwhat you are capable of. I just want to know how you got your hands on thatmachine you are trying to hide under your jimbei.”

“I found it.”

“Tell me what it is first.”

“I can’t believe a man of your cunningdoesn’t know what he has got his hands on. Give it to me.”

“Tell me what it is.”

“If you don’t already know, you don’tdeserve to,” said the Ainu master. Montagfire flinched. The Ainu master flickedthe edge of the sword and drew a thin line of blood across Montagfire’s throat.

Montagfire grimaced.

“Well,” said the Ainu master.

“All right. You can have it.”

“Slowly. That’s it. Put it on the table.”

“Take the sword from my throat and Ishall.”

The Ainu master did as requested freeing Montagfireto place the machine on the low ice table.

No sooner had Montagfire stepped awayfrom the table than the Ainu master scooped it up in his free hand and beganfiddling with the knurl.

Montagfire leaned forward. “I wouldn’t—”

“Shut up. Ouch!” The Ainu master droppedthe machine and it landed on the ice floor with a crack. He stood one handsword drawn looking at his thumb, which was oozing a little blood. The machinewas whirring and within seconds Montagfire saw a little white card emerge fromthe slot.

“Show me that card,” demanded the Ainu master.

Montagfire carefully bent down to pick itup.

“Give it to me. Don’t look at it.”

Montagfire passed him the card, his eyetrained on the tip of the sword. The Ainu master snatched the card and studiedit. His face paled and he looked up at Montagfire with disbelief.

“How—?”

Montagfire emerged from the ornate igloo,clutching his sword in one hand and the machine in the other. He ran at breakneck speed back down the approach. A chilling cacophony of howls came frombehind him.

“Quick!” he yelled as he passed Cope,Dick, and Bear, who had Saline slung over his shoulder. “Back to the whaler.”

Tracker Dick ran into the street into thepath of an ice car. The car screeched to a halt and the driver yelled at him toget out of the way. Cope opened the car door and slid in next to a young womanwith a child just as a pack of white red-eyed wolves emerged from behind thetropical fern wall.

“Out!” snarled Cope.

The young woman didn’t move. She glaredat Cope and held her baby tight.

Tracker Dick opened the other door andgot in beside her.

”Don’t mind my friend,” he said. “Never did like women.”

Montagfire opened the driver’s door and threw the driver into thepath of the wolves buying enough time for Bear to throw Saline into the trunkand squeeze into the passenger seat. Montagfire hit the accelerator and the icecar swerved up the street with a dozen wolves in pursuit.

Back on the ship Bear noticed Montagfirewas bleeding. He passed him a handkerchief.

“What happened back there?”

“I’m not quite sure,” said Montagfire. “TheAinu master knew what the machine was, but he wouldn’t tell me. He pricked hisfinger on the machine just like Saline, and then he went white and looked at mewith fear in his tiny little eyes and started gibbering on that he didn’tunderstand how it could be. I took the opportunity to overpower him. Now he’snot much use for anything but food for his wolves.”

“What was written on the card?” saidCope.

Montagfire reached into his pocket andplucked out the little white card. He offered it to Cope.

It was written in a script he couldwholly understand. Helius Cope grinned a broad grin and passed it to TrackerDick. Dick smiled and flipped it across to Bear. Soon the crew was drinkingmerry Porter on the deck while Saline lay in a bunk in the cabin below still reelingin the anguish of despair knowing that whoever or whatever was going to killhim was written on that little white card, but also knowing that no matter howhard he tried he would never be able to read it.

“I want to test it on myself,” said Cope.“I want to find out who or what is going to kill me.”

“I can’t allow that,” said Montagfire.

“Why not? You can’t stop me from findingout who my killer is.”

“I can. What if you are to die by thehand of one of my crew? It would cause mayhem.”

“I’d take that chance to know.”

“Maybe you would, Cope,” said Montagfire. “But, what if my namewere on one of those cards?”

Cope looked askance at Montagfire. “There would be mutiny,” hesaid.

“Exactly. Now let’s get this ship moving. We have a whale todeliver to the Emperor’s End of the Century Banquet. And then there are morewhales to catch. And our one and only whale-screamer is in a state ofpsychopathic inertia. We have to get him recalibrated if we want to meet thatquota.”

Cope slunk away with a suspicious thoughtpreying on his mind. How many more cards had “Montagfire’s Sword” written onthem. Or “Bear’s Knuckles”. Or “Tracker Dick’s Swipe”. Or even “Saline’s Whine”.He wondered if there were any little white cards out there with his name on it.

Bear was standing on the gunwale lookingat the stars when Tracker Dick came to him.

“I think we should get that machine offMontagfire.”

“What for?”

“Cope is going nuts. He is paranoid thatone of us is going to kill him. We need to get our blood tested. We have tofind out if we are safe. What if Montagfire is going to kill us all? Don’t youthink we have a right to know?”

“I don’t think anyone has a right toknow,” said Bear. He looked up at the stars. “It is all mapped out up there,”he said. “It is all written in another language far beyond our comprehension.It is the business of the gods. Not ours. I think that it is fortunate that Saline’scard was unintelligible to him. For there is an ancient Ainu proverb that saysonce you have heard from the Speaker of Death you take one step closer to yourown death.”

Tracker Dick laughed. “That isridiculous. Do you honestly think this machine is a Speaker of Death?”

“I am almost certain.”

“Then surely it can help you avoid it.”

“Not in ancient Ainu law. The Ainu masterknew. A man in possession of the knowledge of his own fate is driven by anunusual force towards that fate. Once the Speaker of Death made his prediction,the Ainu master found himself impaled upon Montagfire’s sword. It was like hefound a shortcut to the end of the maze or a wormhole to another universe. Itis not always that immediate, but it is always inevitable.”

Tracker Dick thought about that for a long time. Then he said,“Do you think Montagfire has tested himself?”

“If you were keeping the Speaker of Death in your cabin wouldyou not ask it the only question it can answer?”

Two days later they docked at Toki Port on the Floating City ofSado. There was a DNA Recalibration Point on the dock and Montagfire, sure tokeep the machine tucked up carefully inside the secret pocket of his jimbei,ordered Bear to go with him to get Saline’s DNA recalibrated.

Tracker Dick and Helius Cope were slouched over a table in thegalley drinking Porter.

“Maybe DNA Recalibration will change Saline’s death,” said Cope.

“Bear says death is an eternally fixed point in the universe, impossibleto move, impossible to change,” said Tracker Dick.

“Immutable,” pronounced Cope. He took a swig of Porter andlooked thoughtfully at Tracker Dick.

“Right.”

“Do you want to find out how you are going to die?” said Cope.There was not a hint of irony in his eye.

Tracker Dick shrugged. “Sure, I do, but Montagfire won’t allowus to—” He paused and looked at Cope, who was now grinning from ear to ear.

“What are you two planning?” said Tracker Dick.

“Planning?” said Cope. “It’s already been decided.” He pointedskyward. “And there isn’t a damn thing you, or I, or Captain Jack Montagfirecan do about it.”

Saline returned. It was as if the events of the previous week hadnever happened. Bear had left the ship with a gibbering wreck slumped over hisshoulder and returned with a whale-screamer itching to get back to work at hisside.

They headed south. Tracker Dick claimed he had spotted a largepod of belugas on the Kaku device. He’d found a weak point in the fabric ofspace-time, which would allow the vortex driver to open a wormhole big enoughto let the entire pod through. That was enough to capture Montagfire’s interestand persuade him to take a short detour on the way to Edo. A pod that sizewould feed the entire population of the capital for a month. He would get theEmperor’s accolade for sure.

That night in Tracker Dick’s cabin, Cope told Saline thatMontagfire was planning to use the machine on him again.

“There is no way I am touching that thing,”said Saline. “It knocked my whole universe out of sync last time.”

Tracker Dick leaned forward conspiratoriallyand said in a whisper, “He’s going to make you, Saline. His life depends on it.”

Saline’s eyes widened and he shook his head. “I don’t know whatyou mean.”

“Why do you think he really got you recalibrated?”

“Montagfire told me he recalibrated me because I’m the bestthere is.”

Dick threw a glance at Cope and they both roared with laughter.When they finally settled down Cope took a chug from his Porter then leanedforward and spoke to Saline through his teeth.

“Any fish hole can scream a whale,” hesaid. “He could easily have thrown you to the Ainu master’s red-eyed wolves inSapporo or tipped you overboard and picked up another screamer in Sado.”

“But he didn’t,” said Tracker Dick.

“He wanted to see if he can change his fate,” said Cope.

“But, now he knows he can’t do that,” said Tracker Dick. “Noteven the Ainu master could change the prediction of the Speaker of Death.”

“Now, it is too much of a risk for him totake his eyes off you,” said Cope.

“What do you mean?” whined Saline.

“You haven’t figured it out yet?” saidTracker Dick.

“Figured what out?”

“Your name is on Montagfire’s card,” hissed Helius Cope.

Saline’s eyes widened with fear. “I-I-I…”

“You are the one who is going to kill Montagfire.”

Saline drew back shaking his head. “No. No. That can’t be. Haveyou seen it? Have you actually seen the card?” His eyes hopped from face toface across the table as Tracker Dick, and Helius Cope nodded in unison.

“How on earth am I going to kill Montag—?”

“What are you afraid of, Saline?” A cool voice spoke from behindthem. Saline, Dick, and Cope turned to see Montagfire standing in the cabindoorway. Bear was behind him, his forearms pulsing and his fingers flexing.

Cope kicked back his chair and it fell to the floor. “I’m right,aren’t I, Montagfire?”

“You’ve got it all wrong, Cope,” said Montagfire, drawing hissword.”

Helius Cope swaggered up to Montagfire until their faces wereinches apart. “You think I’m afraid of that sword? I am afraid of nothing,Montagfire. I figured it out. You can kill me, go ahead. But you know as wellas I do. Killing me will send you hurtling towards your own death, because I amthe only one standing between you and Saline now. Isn’t that right?”

A flame flickered in Montagfire’s eyes. He sheathed his swordand reached into his jimbei for the machine.

“Go on,” he said, offering it to Cope. “Do it.” Then looking atSaline. “See who is lying.”

Cope made a grab for the machine, but before he could lay hishands on it Bear surged forward, pushed Montagfire aside, and wrestled it fromhis hand.

“Bear! What the—What are you doing?”

Bear, holding the machine in his great paw of a hand, snarled atCope. “No one should hear the Speaker of Death,” he said. And then he was gone.

“Bear!” yelled Montagfire racing after him. “Come back!” He flewup the steps and through the galley towards the main deck. Behind him racedHelius Cope, Tracker Dick, and Saline in that order.

Bear was standing at the mouth of the great sperm whale whenthey finally caught up with him. He held the Speaker of Death in one hand, andwith the other he eased the mouth of the whale open. Its razor sharp teethglittered in the sunlight, and a foul stench wafted across the deck. Bearrolled his shoulder and drew his other arm back preparing to launch the Speakerof Death back down that broad passage into the belly of the whale from whenceit came.

Montagfire drew his sword. “Stop, I say, or I will smite youdown.”

Bear turned his bulky head on his muscular neck to look back atMontagfire. “No you won’t,” he said.

In the next instant Bear followed through, hurling the Speakerof Death back down the throat of the whale like a bowling ball down an alley.With outlandish momentum Montagfire lunged forward. Bear stepped aside and thecrew watched in horror as Captain Montagfire went hurtling headlong into themouth, down the throat, and into the belly of the whale after the Speaker ofDeath.

Bear slammed the mouth of the whale shut and wiped his handsclean on his jimbei. Cope’s mouth widened into a grin, Tracker Dick clapped hishands in the air and danced in a circle whooping and hollering, and Saline juststood in a state of incredulity as Bear set about preparing the winch.

“Don’t just stand there, Saline,” said Cope. Get yourself readyfor the scream of the century.”

Within minutes Saline was back in the screamer’s seat on the bowof the ship. Helius Cope fired up the Vortex Driver. Bear used his powerfularms to winch the whale up into position and they all stood on deck and waitedfor Tracker Dick and his Kaku device to spot a handy glitch in the fabric ofspace-time.

“Nine, seven, eleven…” yelled Dick.

“Now!” yelled Cope.

The vortex driver forced open the wormhole and Saline screamedinto it with all the energy he could muster.

Bear let go of the winch handle, releasing the sperm whale fromthe beamer. The massive cetacean hung in stasis above them on the rim of thewormhole.

“It’s not responding,” said Helius Cope.

“Scream harder, Saline,” yelled Tracker Dick. “Give it all you’vegot.”

Saline opened his mouth wider. The scream intensified in pitchforcing his epiglottis to thrash in his throat like a mad rattlesnake.

The whale stirred. Its tail flicked. Then a fountain of sprayshot through the blowhole. It arched its back and in one sleek dive, thelargest sperm whale ever to have existed in their universe chased the sonic screamback through the wormhole and disappeared into the labyrinthine loops of the multiverse,with Montagfire, his sword, and the Speaker of Death lodged in its throat.

Four days later the Spectrum Samurai approached the KyuushuCluster with Helius Cope at the helm. The crew was making preparations to haulin a massive pod of beluga from across the multiverse. Beluga was a raredelicacy throughout the Floating Cities of Japan and if they were successful,they would present it to the Emperor for the End of the Century Banquet. Itwould also mean they could avoid execution under the Emperor’s Invalidity Law.They might even pick up an accolade or two in Montagfire’s place.

Bear stood with his thick arms folded on the gunwale looking upat the night sky when Saline appeared behind him. The porpoise, the narwhal, andthe giant turtle glimmered above them and they stood there in silentcontemplation of the ancient constellations for a long while before either ofthem spoke.

“I’ve been working on my scream,” said Saline. “We should beable to bag the entire pod.”

Bear turned to Saline and smiled. “There is a chill in the air,”he said. “The season is changing.”

“He’s coming back, isn’t he?”

“Montagfire always comes back,” said Bear. “That is Montagfire.You can’t get rid of him that easily.”

“That was what I was afraid of,” said Saline.

Bear placed his great paw on Saline’s shoulder, making himshudder under the weight.

“And what about the machine?” said Saline, looking up intoBear’s large black onyx eyes. “What about the Speaker of Death?”

“I’m sure that is the last we’ll see of it,” said Bear. Then heturned inward for a moment and his eyes clouded over. “Unless…”

“Unless?”

Bear put his hand on Saline’s shoulder, and gently shook hishead. “Unless I am wrong,” he said. “Unless we are all wrong.”

###

Jim'll Fix It

2011-10-29T15:02:00.001-07:00

Dear Jim,

Can you fix it for me to solve The Problem of Evil in the world?

Agape,

from God

31 October 1926 – 29 October 2011

RIP

How Zoetrope Virtual Studio Worked for Me

2011-10-23T01:03:00.000-07:00

How Zoetrope Virtual Studio Worked for Me

Do you know Zoetrope Virtual Studio? It’s an online writers’ workshop launched in June 2000 by Francis Ford Coppola where writers and artists can review and discuss one another’s work.

Out on a limb?

I live in Japan, so it is very difficult for me to meet other writers. There is only one writers’ conference a year, and it is more often than not held far away from where I live. So when a colleague introduced Zoetrope to me I realized that a writing community like this was just what I was looking for.

Become a member of a group

I joined the site in February 2007. Once I had reviewed five short stories I was able to submit my own short story for review. I uploaded into the system in the evening, Japan time, and by the time I got up the next morning it had been reviewed by a number of writers in the United States.

Exchange Reviews

The story remained on the review board for one month, during which time six other members read and reviewed my story. I got some good feedback, and I was able to improve my writing thanks to other members’ suggestions and advice.

Encouragement

At the time I had never submitted a story for publication. I had entered a few writing competitions, but apart from winning a book on a radio poetry competition I had not had any luck. So, when one member suggested that I send my story off to a publisher I was a little hesitant. However, she insisted my work was as good as, if not better than a lot of stories she had come across. She directed me to Duotrope and pestered me until I sent that story out.

The First Story

The story was called One Little Bird. It was about a family with a budgie that lived a very long life. It didn’t get picked up by any of the magazines I sent it out to, but the act of sending it out did give me the confidence to try again. So, I began writing and workshopping regularly.

Keep Writing

I continued to submit stories for review at the Virtual Studio, and to review other writers’ work, and in the process I found that I was writing more. I was also improving my craft. It was not only the encouragement from other writers that spurred me on, but also the fact that I was looking at other writer’s stories in a critical way. I saw the mistakes others made and began to pinpoint those mistakes in my own writing. I saw how others overcame certain problems and how they dealt with certain writing issues in different ways. It was thanks to this work-shopping experience that I was able to learn so much from that.

Community

Within the larger community I found a small community of reviewers who understood what I was trying to achieve with my writing. (And of course, some who were rude and impossible, but I generally took the rough with the smooth.) I joined a few offices, The Horror Library, Lolly’s Café, and The Flash Factory, on the site and began making friends. It was difficult though, since the conversations on the discussion boards were usually finishing by the time I was getting up in the morning, and starting just as I was going to bed. But it didn’t matter. A community with a time delay was better than no community at all.

Be Open to Suggestions

It was not until I had submitted my fifth story for review that I really began to see the benefit of workshopping. I submitted a 6,000 word short story The Infinite Piggy Bank for review. The story is about a little girl who finds a black hole in her piggy bank. Reviewers said it was a great idea spoiled by being too long and confusing in its tone. It had elements of dark fantasy and light children’s science fiction, and ultimately confused. With the help and advice of other Zoetrope workshop members I was able to see that. I pared down the word-count, chopped out the dark fantasy elements, and got my first sale. The Infinite Piggy Bank appeared in Issue 20 of Beyond Centauri.

Finding a Voice

It was this experience that helped me to discover my voice. The Infinite Piggy bank has its flaws. I am not saying it is a perfect story. What I am saying is that before workshopping that story, my writing lacked a consistency of tone, focus, and narrative voice. Zoetrope writers helped me to discover this. And for that I am extremely grateful. Since finding the black hole in that piggy bank I have been lucky to sell most of the stories I have finished.

The Future?

I continue to submit my stories for review at Zoetrope and I continue to review others stories, though not as regularly as I used to. Many people come and go from the site, and in recent years the numbers of users have dwindled. Some say that Zoetrope is coming to an end. Some lobby the SYSOPS for change. Some continue on with a positive spirit in spite of all the hot air. There have been trolls discovered on the boards, incidents involving writers abusing the system, and even the odd flame war. But there have been some high points too. The most notable was when the Zoetrope founder Francis Ford Coppola himself turned up in a discussion in the screenplays section the year before last. And best of all, there is still a hardcore group of writers who hang out there and take the craft of writing seriously.

Join us!

There are writers from all corners of the earth writing in various genres using the Virtual Studio today. They are waiting to share their community with you. Sign up today and participate in the revival of the Zoetrope Virtual Studio.

Dark Tales of Lost Civilizations Anthology

2011-10-20T06:30:00.000-07:00

ACCEPTANCE

I am thrilled to announce that my story "To Run a Stick Through a Fish" has been accepted into the DARK TALES OF LOST CIVILIZATIONS anthology.

The anthology is scheduled to be published next year by Dark Moon Books, in time for the World Horror Convention 2012.

My story, which is about the last days of the Ainu people of Japan, will appear alongside a bunch of established authors including the prolific genre fiction writerJoe R. Lansdale.

When I saw the call for submissions for this anthology I knew exactly the story I wanted to write. I had read numerous accounts of the plight of the Ainu people and how they were literally erased from existence by the Japanese government during my graduate studies in Japanese.

Inspired by Eric J. Guignard's vision for a collection of "dark tales of Horror, Speculative Fiction, and ... Science Fiction, relating to civilizations that are lost, or have been forgotten, or have been rediscovered, or perhaps merely spoken about in great and fearful whispers," I hit the library and spent a few days reading the ancient texts.

I was enthralled by the stories of the people of this lost civilization and the story that transpired featured a character that hopefully not only reflected the beauty and truth of the past, but adopted the misrepresentations of the present, and an uncompromising vision of the future.

Machine of Death

2011-10-18T20:13:00.001-07:00

Machine of Death

I have been into the idea of this anthology project since I came across it in 2007. The website sells it as a collection of stories about people who know how they are going to die, and that is just what it is; character driven stories in a world where a machine that can predict your death exists. There are some great stories and some fantastic artwork between the covers of the book, and I have to say it is one of the best collections I have ever read. Personal favorites are Camille Alexa's Flaming Marshmallow, John Chernega's Almond, and M. Bennardo's Starvation, but there is not a single story that I didn't enjoy. If you haven't already purchased it, get on over there and buy it now!

The Idea

The idea of death prediction has been around for a long time. In the story of Oedipus the oracle predicted he would kill his father and marry his mother. In Heinlein's short story "Life-lines" Dr Hugo Pinero invents a machine that can predict when you are going to die. But what North, Bennardo and Malki! have done is to take that idea one step further, build on the myth, and make it their own by putting their own twist on the idea. And in the process it has become so much more than just an anthology. If you take a look at the website and click on the project status list on the navigation bar you will see how the idea has taken on a life of its own. There is a game, a talent show, prediction-by-mail programs, and even a photo contest. The Machine of Death idea has become a movement.

Karoshi

In 2007 I wrote a story called Karoshi. It was a story about how institutions deal with inappropriate death predictions. Karoshi is a Japanese word, which means Death from Overwork. My protagonist was a young, healthy Japanese woman called Yumi who enjoyed her job working in a government Baby Hatch, which was a place parents put their newborn babies if they had an 'inappropriate death prediction". The problem was that her employer found out her means of death and fired her. Their reason was that they did not want to be held responsible for her death. Tenacious to the end, Yumi took the local government to court and...well, you'll have to read the story yourself to find out the end. Even though it was rejected by genius editors Malki!, Bennardo, and North, it went on to find a home and win story of the year award at Strange Weird and Wonderful magazine. You'll find it under the new title A TEST OF FATE in the Fall 2008 edition.

Montagfire's Sword

In April this year I found out they were opening submissions for a second anthology. I was still reading the first anthology, and very impressed with it. Inspired, I decided that I wanted to be a part of the movement again. Even if my story was not accepted I wanted to participate in this event and broke myself out of a five month creative slump to write a story called "Montagfire's Sword" and I have to say that it was so much fun that it kickstarted my writing habit again. It's a story about a man who...no, I am not ready to share that with you. I still might have a chance in 1,958...

Here is a selection of the 1,958 titles that were submitted to the anthology. Look on the left hand side about halfway up for "The End". My story title, "Montagfire's Sword", is four lines up from that.

http://machineofdeath.net/v2cloud

Wicked Bag of Fantasy Tales

2011-10-18T01:00:00.000-07:00

I Just had my contract sent for the story I wrote for The Wicked Bag of Fantasy Tales edited by Jessica A. Weiss and M.S.Gardner from Wicked East Press. Here is a teaser of the stories that my novella will appear alongside:

A Last Hope.....Darren Gallagher

The Beast Within.....Suzanne Robb

The Tide Jewels.....Mark Lee Pearson

Other Things To Do.....Dev Jarrett

The Wizard Host.....Rachel Chipp

For The Love Of Pete.....Jen Steffen

The Times of Marlon.....Richard Jay Goldstein

In Dreams.....Hazel O'Shea

Pain's Long and Traveled Path.....Patricia Puckett

Music For The Enchanted End.....Keith Gorney

It's a bumper sized book of ten novellas weighing in with a word count of: 126,631!

My story is a modern day reimagining of the ancient Japanese creation myth found in the Kojiki and Nihongi. It features a colorful cast of characters including dragons, turtles, and a talking cat.

Don't forget to place your order...

NaNoWriMo: How Foolish Are You?

2011-10-16T06:04:00.000-07:00

Old Japanese Proverb

He who attempts NaNoWriMo once is a wise man.

He who attempts it twice is a fool.

How foolish are you?

This is a problem that can easily be solved with a little pseudo-mathmatical formula.

DISTANCE x TIME = NUMERICAL FOOLISHNESS VALUE

Let's start with DISTANCE:

Mount Fuji is 3,776 (meters high)

To climb it twice would take it to 3,776 x 2 = 7,552

A NaNoWriMo novel is 50,000 (words long)

To attempt it twice would take it to 100,000

100,000 ÷ 7,552 = 13.24

This means it is 13.24 times more foolish to attempt NaNoWriMo than it is to climb Mount Fuji.

But how about you? It is important to include the number of additional attempts YOU have made into the equation. For example is you have 2 additional attempts (including the present one) multiply 13.24 by the power of two.

13.24² = 175.337995

It does not end there. We have to bring TIME into the equation. It takes about 8 hours to climb Mount Fuji as opposed to 24 (hours a day--yes, ask any writer, it does occupy that amount of time!) multiplied by 30 (days in November)

Let's put a numerical value on the TIME you have to put into your writing.

24 (hours in a day) x (30 days x 4 attempts) (actual writing time) = 2,880

2,880 - 16 (actual climbing time) = 2,864

DISTANCE x TIME = NUMERICAL FOOLISHNESS VALUE

175.337995 x 2,864 = 502,168.003

SO THERE IT IS. THE PROOF THAT I AM 502,168.003 TIMES THE FOOL FOR ATTEMPTING NANOWRIMO FOR THE FOURTH TIME!

What is your Numerical Foolishness Value???

Note: I make no claims to being a mathematician. This is just a bit of fun. If you can come up with a better one, I challenge you!

Why Doing NaNoWriMo is Like a Trip to the Moon

2011-10-15T01:47:00.000-07:00

NaNoWriMo 2011 #2

Preparation Tips

Why Doing NaNoWriMo is Like a Trip to the Moon.

Mark Lee Pearson

Look at the moon. 2000 miles across, 4.5 billion years old, and it’s mere existence affecting the tides of the earth. Isn’t it amazing?

Your first task is to tell everyone that is where you are going to be during the month of November. That way you will not be invited to any social activities that will eat up your writing time. Also you’ll acquire a bunch of friends willing to cheer a crazy astronaut on. Your significant other will also need to know why you’ll appear to be defying gravity for the entire month of November.

Your second task is to go to bed. Get off the Internet and crawl under your duvet. Yes, now! Or as soon as you’ve finished reading this. You don’t go on a 250,000-~~mile~~ word journey without preparation. You will need to conserve energy for that moonwalk.

Good night’s sleep? Okay, your next step is to plot the moon’s orbit. One sidereal month is 27.3 days. Create a 27.3-day plan. This will consist of an outline of 27.3 chapters of 1800 words each. Each chapter plan will be a sentence or two stating where you lift-off and where you plan to land—in other words a pay off. That is just like a 27.3 sentence summary of your story. The plan is to complete a 27.3-chapter ~~orbit~~ novel; one chapter a day for 27.3 days, with 2.7 days left open for a couple of blue moon events.

Done that? Right, now it’s time to decide who’s going to be the one to set foot on the moon? Is it Neil or is it Buzz that’ll be your protagonist? Focus on one character’s point-of-view. The more points-of-view you have the more complicated your story gets, so keep it simple so you can take the easiest possible route from start to finish. So, it’s Buzz? Right then, Niel can be your antagonist. You’ll need another character too. Someone who will help your protagonist. How about Sting?

Right, we have a crew. It is almost time to prepare for blast off. The date is set. On 1st November you’ll get up one hour earlier than usual and take 15 minutes to write an outline of the chapter you plan to write.

Yes, that’s right, an outline. If you’ve got a map of the stars you’ll easily be able to find the constellation you are looking for.

The outline will be based on your 1-sentence summary for that day. You will need a starting point and an ending point. You will need to know the characters that will feature in that chapter and all of their motivations. Yes, ALL! Characters without motivations should be jettisoned. You also need to know what you want each one of them to achieve by the end of that chapter. In effect you need to ask yourself, “What is today’s pay off?”

You are ready to blast off! With that pay-off in mind start writing at full acceleration. Fully prepared you should get about 600 words done in 45 minutes. At the 600 word mark leave your characters half way through a sentence and…

…go to work/school/drop the kids off at kindergarten. While doing that, think about your day’s plan and formulate a dialogue incorporating lots of conflict. Ideally the dialogue will encapsulate what you are trying to achieve with today’s chapter. Like a kind of microcosm of the whole. Jot it down if you have a chance. Here’s one I prepared earlier,

“One small step for a man—” said Neil, opening the hatch.

“No,” said Sting, “Wait! Giant steps are what you take walking on the moon.”

Just then, Buzz appeared with an ice pick. “You are both wrong,” he said. “That giant leap will be mine, all mine!”

Arrive at work 30 minutes early and, referring to your dialogue and your day’s plan write 300 words with before anyone else arrives. Then write 300 words on your lunch break. Stay behind and write 300 more words before you go home. You have completed 1500 words.

At home switch off the Internet, TV, PlayStation II…and figure out what you are going to do with all this time in space. Don’t forget to look around you at the stars and enjoy the view of earth. You will most certainly find something to inspire another 300 words...or more.

It takes about two days to get from the Earth to the moon. But once you get there the gravity is one sixth of what it is here on earth, you’ll take giant steps, you’ll feel lighter, and more powerful, almost superhuman. And the view from up there is stunning. NaNoWriMo: enjoy the trip, but keep the momentum.

NaNoWriMo: My Experience

2011-10-11T05:42:00.000-07:00

Novel Writing and Nanowrimo

Mark Lee Pearson

November is Nanowrimo. National Novel Writing Month. Write a 50,000 word novel in 30 days along with a quarter of a million other people on the planet (Yes, I know it should be International Novel Writing Month). I thought I would share with you my Nanowrimo novel writing experience to date.

Once Upon a Time

I’d had a little novel-writing experience before my first attempt at Nanowrimo. I finished one 50,000 word short novel about a Monster Lighthouse Keeper back in 1993 and I also wrote a 60,000 word middle-grade fantasy tale in 2005 about a boy who shrunk to the size of an anchovy and got washed down the plug hole of his bath into a magical sewer.

I doubt either of these will ever see the light of day. I put both stories down to be a part of the learning process, 110,000 words of the necessary 1 million words that you have to write before you are good enough to sell anything.

50,000 words in a month

Anyway in 2008 and I was ready to try again. I’d joined Zoetrope Virtual Studio and started workshopping my short stories. That had given me the confidence to move forward and submit to publishers and as a result I’d had a couple of shorts published in semi-pro magazines. I’d read a couple of How-To-Write-A-Novel books and I was really inspired to make a start on something.

It was October. I remember Googling the key words How to write a novel and discovering nanowrimo was about to start. Talk about serendipity, I thought. Even though I had two little kids that demanded a lot of my time, I had a very supportive wife; and so on November 1^st 2008 I began the novel that would change it all.

No Plot No (Big) Problem

I’d just sold a story to Space and Time Magazine called Hideki Desu. It was about a boy who traveled the Universe by hitching rides on people’s dreams. I wanted to see what I could do with this strange character in a parallel Tokyo over the space of a whole novel. I had a character, a setting and a concept. That was it. No plot no problem, said Chris Baty, the founder of Nanowrimo.

So, I started writing my novel on the 1^st November 2008. Inspired by the pep talks I received by e-mail, I wrote 30,000 words. And then I hit a wall. I was left standing by all those online novelists. And I left Hideki standing on the Tokyo Bay getting ready to jump in. He is still standing there today. I have no idea why. The whole idea of No Plot No Problem was not working for me. I may return to Hideki when I figure out what his motivation is.

Redux: Forward Planning

I stopped writing novels and went back to short stories. From short stories I found I could get a more instant gratification from my writing. I could write a story, polish it and have it sent out to a publisher for consideration in one or two weeks. What’s more I was beginning to have a few more sales and some interest from respectable magazines in the field. However, I was still intent on writing that novel. You know, the one that’s going to make you a Bestselling Novelist?

I’d had a short story out in the slush piles for about a year about a boy who attracts whales with his voice. It was getting a lot of interest, but no bites. I thought it was the best thing I had written to date and I wanted to explore the characters more thoroughly, so I wrote out a short plan of how I wanted the story to develop. So, when November came around again I threw myself straight back in. This time I had a setting, a bunch of characters, an idea, and an idea for a plot. I couldn’t fail.

Nanowrimo Winner?

The story started well, I had a hook, the characters’ motivations were acting against one another. I had a plot roadmap, which amounted to fifty chapters with one sentence hook for each chapter. I started writing on the first day of November, but soon found that it was really difficult to keep writing 1600 words a day. I was teaching at elementary school and finding I was coming home burned out from lessons and dodgeball. I would catch up at the weekends, but by the third week I was far behind.

On the last day I remembered what Mur Lafferty had said in her I Should Be Writing podcast; that it was okay to suck. So I wrote 8,000 words of 100% pure unintelligible suck to get me to the finish line. I put the novel aside. I had mixed feelings. Yes, I had completed a 50,000 word novel in the allotted time. Yes, I was now officially recognized as a Nanowrimo winner. But at what cost?

2010: Third Time Lucky

I shut down my computer and wrote nothing for the first nine months of 2010. I wasn’t a writer anymore. I was a failure. Then in September of that year I had an email from a guy called Roque Ruiz at Cloudberry Records who wanted to interview me about my experience of establishing an independent record label in the 1980s. I answered his questions the best I could and found that there was a story there. Roque told me that there was still interest in Ambition Records. I thought it might be an idea to write the story of Ambition. So in November 2010, thanks to Roque’s encouragement, I embarked on my third attempt at Nanowrimo.

This time I was determined to make a go of it. I knew the story and the characters. It was my story. My autobiography. I couldn’t fail. One thing I had learned from my failures was that doing it alone, even though there are many nanowrimers doing it too, was hard. I decided to go public. I opened my office on Zoetrope and posted inspirational articles and pictures for myself as well as the other members of the office. I updated my word-count on my blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter. I challenged other writers to reach the goal before I did. I built a little community around myself. I told everyone, so I had to finish.

The social experience was amazing. I got encouragement from all different areas of my life. And I flew past the goal of 50,000 words on day 26 of nanowrimo. I went on to complete the story at 60,000 words.

I was happy with the outcome, 60,000 words closer to the required million! But I was burned out. I left the story on my hard drive, stopped writing again, and went to play with my kids.

2011

In April 2011 I discovered the Machine of Death Anthology was putting out another call fro submissions for another anthology. I started writing again. I wanted to get in that anthology. I tried and failed the first time. I saw the amount of interest it kicked up on the Twitter and I wanted to be a part of a fantastic book. The characters in the story were the same characters I had worked on with my nanowrimo 2009 novel.

MOD2 rebooted my interest in writing. I wrote another novella, The Tide Jewels, which will be published later this year at Wicked East Press, and two more short stories, which are now patiently waiting for the attention of a couple of discerning professional magazine editors.

But those characters were still drawing my attention. I knew I had to go back to them. So In August I went back to the novel. I reshaped and replotted it. I cut out 10,000 words of crap, leaving me with a meager 40,000 words. Then in 2 months I rewrote the entire story from scratch ending up with 65,000 words.

It is October and I have now just finished my second editing pass on my Nanowrimo 2009 novel: Whaling the Multiverse. I am burning to send it out, but I still need to give it another few editing passes to iron out some of the flaws I can still see. I am about to put it away for another month while I try Nanowrimo for the fourth time. When that is finished I will not give up writing. I will be ready with my red pen!

November 2011

November is approaching. This time I want to write a story that my kids will read and say, "Hey Dad, I love science fiction!" So I am going to write a middle grade time travel tale. I’ll be ready at the start line with my plan to strike another 50,000 words more off that required one million. See you on the first of November.

What Can Evel Knievel Teach Us About Writing?

2011-10-09T05:29:00.001-07:00

On Being a Daredevil

Mark Lee Pearson

“Where there is little risk, there is little reward.”

Evel Knievel

When I was a kid in the 1970s, I wanted to be like the greatest bike rider of all time, Evel Knievel.

From the time I was eight years old until I was about twelve I spent all my free time practicing jumps over my little brother as he lay in the road, standing on the saddle as I freewheeled down busy high streets, bunny hopping up and down kerbs, and trying out every trick in the book.

Now, luckily for me my parents could only afford to buy me a Raleigh Chopper. The injuries I sustained were minimal. If eight-year old me had been in charge of a Harley Davidson like the great daredevil himself, it wouldn't have been just broken bones and mashed up organs, I would definitely have ended up on a slab. (Along with my fearless little brother...)

The point I am trying to make here is that I threw every little piece of my energy into becoming Evel Knievel. The great daredevil himself said,"Where there is little risk, there is little reward." When I was on my bike, I believed with all my heart that I was him. And little by little I saw my skill as a cyclist improve with each trick I mastered. By the time I was twelve I was invincible on a Raleigh Chopper!

“You come to a point in your life when you really don't care what people think about you, you just care what you think about yourself.”

Evel Knievel

Of course, I gave up on my pre-pubescent daredevil dream of being Evel Knievel years ago. Though emulating the great was an important stage in my growth, I know now that it is important to explore my own individual strengths in order to achieve a measure of greatness.

I am a writer now and I am grateful for the lesson that Evel Knievel taught me when I was eight.

I never gave up on that daredevil spirit. I kept taking risks with everything I put my hand to. I became a disc jockey, I formed a record company, I gave up a job in engineering to study philosophy, I studied abroad, I moved to Japan...

I became a writer.

Just as I got back on my Raleigh Chopper every time I fell off--whatever injury I sustained--I now keep submitting my fiction to publishers and magazines, because I believe with all my heart that I have what it takes to be a great writer.

Of course, the rejections pile up. But, you know what? It doesn't matter. It doesn't matter because I can sleep at night knowing that I am doing my best to achieve a measure of greatness.

What am I doing?

1) Writing every day.

2) Finishing what I write.

3) Submitting what I write.

I listen to the advice of others and try to improve my craft. I listen to feedback and try to incorporate it into my stories without compromising my ideas. I take a rejection as a sign of success. At least I can say I was daring enough to try.

I hope you are daring enough to try too.

On Discovery vs Outlining

2011-10-04T01:01:00.000-07:00

A Tribute to The Dead Robots' Society
http://deadrobotssociety.com/

Road Map to ~~Memphis~~ Hell

Mark Lee Pearson

There was once a scientist called Kaiser, who built two robots. She fitted them both with the exact same model of positronic brain. She called one J-Max and the other T-Mix. The two robots were exactly like humans in every respect. They could eat and drink, they could think and feel, and they even had the capability to die.

As an experiment Doctor Kaiser cultured two positronic viruses to infect the positronic brains. She called the viruses The O virus and the P virus--after the two philosophers Bertrand Outliner and Ludwig Pantser--respectively. She then infected one brain with the O Virus and one with the P Virus.

The scientist then set both robots the same task. To plan a vacation for himself. Robot J-Max planned to drive to Memphis. Robot T-Mix decided on a dice-throw to take a plane to the North. He wasn't sure where, he would just figure out the route as he went along.

Robot J-Max purchased a map and a navi for his automobile. He typed his route into routefinder.com and chose the easiest way to get there. Then he searched the internet for a decent steak house and a comfortable motel. He even sought out the cheapest gas stations en route. While surfing the Internet he found by chance there was an all night showing of Lord of the Rings in the local theatre. J-Max rubbed his metallic hands together in glee and booked tickets.

When T-Mix saw J-Max writing out his plan in the greatest detail he scoffed at him, saying, "I'm just gonna get on the plane and see where it takes me. It's more exciting that way."

Doctor Kaiser waved goodbye to them on Saturday morning and they both set off.

J-Max drove carefully and at a steady speed all the way to Memphis. He arrived after lunch and spent the entire afternoon sightseeing and enjoying the ambience of The King's house. Then he treated himself to a steak house meal and rounded off the evening at the drive-in movie theatre watching the Lord of the Rings Trilogy back to back. It was a perfect holiday, thought Robot J-Max.

Robot T-Mix was kidnapped by a character in a green hat on the way to the airport. She said her name was Eliyanna and that she was on the trail of a Ripper Robot, but she was really a bounty hunting drummer called Ryan in disguise. This was gonna be some holiday, thought T-Mix as they drove south with him tied up and gagged in the trunk of her BMW.

Robot J-Max returned on time. He now makes a living writing interminable travelogues and selling them online to pre-paying customers.

Doctor Kaiser has recently traced Robot T-Mix to a brothel on a minor planet in the 70 Virginis System in the year 1969. The bounty hunter sold him as sex slave to a Time Traveling minx from Erotica V, and he still lives out there taking each day as it comes.

Doctor Kaiser and Robot J-Max are planning a way to free him from the clutches of the evil tentacle queen.

UPDATE:

The last we heard Doctor Kaiser was working on a way to combine the two viruses.

On Inspiration

2011-10-03T05:47:00.000-07:00

On Inspiration

Mark Lee Pearson

On New Years' Day, Hideki dreamed he was standing at the summit of Mount Fuji looking out across the Japanese landscape. He woke up and called his friend, Kimiko.

"I've just been inspired," he said. "Let's climb Mount Fuji this summer."
"Sure," said Kimiko.

Kimiko set about preparing for the climb. She bought a new pair of boots and wore them in. She trained every day. She even joined a hiking club and climbed the low mountains in her district to get herself ready for the big climb.

While Kimiko perspired, Hideki spent the time trying to recapture the moment he had dreamed. He surfed the internet looking for images of Mount Fuji. He drew sketches in his pad. He bought a book about the 100 most famous views. He rode past it on the shinkansen to take in its beauty. He even wrote a haiku.

View from Mount Fuji
Sprawling colors vivid shades
Summer vibrancy

When the day finally arrived Kimiko turned up prepared for the climb. In her pack she had warm clothes, food, and plenty to drink.

Hideki brought his camera, a sketch pad, and a little Japanese flag he intended to have his picture taken with at the summit.

"Race you to the top," he said.

Of course she beat him. Hideki didn't get past the sixth station before he collapsed, out of breath and physically exhausted.

At the summit of Mount Fuji, Kimiko observed the view. She thought it was quite nice. There she met a backpacker from Australia called Alan. He was very nice. He invited her to Nepal with him the following summer. Of course, she went.

She sent Hideki a postcard from the base camp at Mount Everest. On it she wrote a haiku. It said,

Mountains we may climb,
But dreamy wings fly us not,
To the snowy peaks.

On Rejection

2011-10-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

On Rejection

(Or What’s the Best Recipe for Fish Pie?)

Mark Lee Pearson

Imagine that you once ate a fish pie that tasted really bad. It was so bad that you told your friends, “I can make better fish pie than that.”

One friend says that he wants to make a fish pie someday, but really doesn’t have the time now.

Another friend says that she once tried to make a fish pie, but she didn’t quite manage to finish it. She decided to leave it in the cupboard because it wasn’t quite right.

You want to ask if her fish pie is still there, but you know by the crazed look in her eyes that it is, so you don’t.

You go home and look in the fridge. There’s a bit of cod and a jar of white sauce. You experiment with these ingredients, but when it comes out of the oven it doesn’t look as appetizing as you thought it would, so you trash it. The next day you make another and trash that one too. You repeat this process over and over again, until you get sick of trying. The refuse collector appears to be gaining weight.

You decide to go ahead and try to sell your fish pies. You do your research and discover that salmon in parsley sauce is popular. So you make a batch and set up a stall at the local market, but it appears that salmon is out and haddock is in. The girl on the stall opposite is making a fortune with her haddock in béchamel sauce.

You steal her recipe and go home to experiment. You emulate her fish pie and try it out on your grandmother. She says it’s the best fish pie she has ever tasted. You decide to set up another stall at the market, but the girl you stole the recipe off is there and hers look so much better than yours. She is making a fortune and the customers just turn their noses up at yours.

You go home and cry and tear up the stupid recipe and throw all your cooking utensils away. That night you have a dream. In the dream a time traveler comes to tell you that he has eaten your fish pie in the future and it was the best he ever tasted. He tells you that you must not give up making fish pie. The time traveler is hot and you wake up realizing that if you give up baking fish pies you will never meet your time traveling dreamboat again. You experiment and experiment and finally manage to create your own style of fish pie.

The next time you arrive at market it is clear that fish is out and meat is in. Against all the odds you set up your stall. A gourmand passes you by and you catch his eye. He says he loves your fish pies and he knows the world will love them and he will help you to sell your fish pies to the world. You sign a contract and celebrate together with a bottle of champagne. Unfortunately he dies in a car accident on the way home that very same night and your fish pie falls into obscurity.

You decide to give up making fish pies and write a novel about your experience. You send it off to a publisher and it gets...rejected.

After one-hundred rejections you decide to give it all up and return to university to get a degree in physics. There you meet a dreamboat who is writing his doctorate on The Practical Application of Time Travel. You are convinced you have seen him somewhere before, and you invite him to dinner at your apartment where you bake him a fish pie and tell him the story of your life.

This time you might just live happily ever after.

On Writers' Block

2011-09-29T07:01:00.000-07:00

Blocks
(Or a Modern Day Sisyphus)

Mark Lee Pearson

Once there was a writer, who carried a block upon his shoulders wherever he went. It was a very heavy block, filled with atoms to the highest density, and finished off with sharp corners and rough edges. If he had ever dropped the block on his foot, which by sheer luck he never did, he would probably have crushed his toes.

One day the man was carrying his block through the park when a young woman approached him. She said, "My dear fellow, you look as if you carry the weight of the universe upon your shoulders."

The man replied, "What I have upon my shoulders is a magnificent block of which I am extraordinarily proud."

On seeing there was in fact nothing resting upon the man's shoulders, the woman decided to humor him. "Why not put it down and take the weight off your shoulders for a while?"

"I am afraid cannot do that," said the man.

"Why ever not?" the woman responded.

"It is very precious to me. If I put it down the Muse might steal it from me."

The woman offered to carry the block for the man. Thinking she was pretty and therefore certainly trustworthy, he thanked her and handed her the block.

She easily took upon her shoulders, thinking it wasn't as heavy as the man made it seem.

Relieved of his weight the man was overcome with another affliction. His hands twitched, his eyes whirled, and he started to chatter to himself incoherently.

"I've got this great idea for a character, you know. There was this boy wizard, who... Or should I start with the world building? No, no, no plot comes first. I'd better get the outline down now..."

The woman looked on in horror for a few moments until she could stand no more. "Here," she said, passing him back the invisible block. "I think you were better off carrying this."

The man loaded the invisible block back onto his shoulders and walked off into the sunset. Of course, he lived happily ever after in the knowledge that it was the weight of the block and not his own laziness that prevented him from ever finishing a single tale.

The End

The Tide Jewels

2011-08-23T05:46:00.000-07:00

I have just completed a 15,000 word novella called The Tide Jewels. I wrote it as part of a challenge set by Wicked East Press. Ten authors get together to write ten prompts. The prompts are then sent in, divvied up, and sent out to a different writer. When I first got my prompt my muse groaned under the weight of having to write something which appeared to be high fantasy sword and sorcery--a genre I have so far avoided. But, after a good deal of thought I came up with a way I could put my own spin on it. I am very happy with the outcome.

The Tide Jewels will be published later in the year in the second book in the Wicked Bag series; Wicked Bag of Fantasy Tales edited by Jessica A. Weiss. In addition to the two main characters the story features a dragon, a cat, and a turtle. It is a re-imagining of the Japanese creation myths that can be found in the Nihongi and the Kojiki. I had a lot of fun writing it and I hope you have fun reading it.

From Shadows and Nightmares Nightfall Publications

2011-08-04T21:32:00.000-07:00

...is here.

Included is my short story "The Little Contractor Tool Kit."

I am excited about having a story appear alongside so many other fabulous writers in this anthology.

From the website:

From Shadows and Nightmares - Our third anthology explores the dark imaginations of our authors. From the traditional stories of zombies and werewolves, to haunted items that will surprise you, our new and established authors challenge you to read this book with only one light on.

Zombies, werewolves, mentally disturbed individuals and ghosts fill the pages of the newest anthology.

New stories by James Dorr, Jeffrey Wooten, Michele Wyan, Mae Empson, Diane Arrelle, Quintin Peterson, Vince Darcangelo, Karyne Corum, Barry Rosenberg, Anne Lessing, Joyce Frohn, Janet Lorimer, Jennifer Moore, T.S. Charles, Devyani Borade, Mark Lee Pearson, Steve Coate, Stacey Longo, Michael O'Neal, Hall Jameson, Claire Rowland, Tamara Eaton

Whale Screamers: read an excerpt

2011-05-13T18:17:00.000-07:00

This is the first part of the short story Whaling the Multiverse that was published last month in Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. Thank you to Inna Basman for her artwork: an interesting interpretation of the whale screamer in action. If you haven't got your copy fly on over there now. http://www.andromedaspaceways.com/

Whaling the Multiverse

Mark Lee Pearson

We were in a harbour tavern on the floating city of Osaka when the skinny urchin flicked the noren aside and stepped in. He stood in front of the blue cloth with the white koi design and scanned the bar until his eyes fixed upon our ship’s captain.

“Captain Montagfire?”

Montagfire, a thickset half-breed in a sea green jimbei, was slouched over the bar, chewing the froth from a schooner of Asahi. He raised his shaven head and looked over his shoulder.

“What?”

The kid approached the bar. “Are you Captain Montagfire?”

“What is it to you?”

“I want to be a screamer.”

Montagfire furrowed his dark eyebrows and spoke out of the corner of his mouth.

“A short, skinny wretch like you? You couldn’t tickle a trout let alone scream at a minke across the multiverse. Why, you are all skin and bone! Those lungs,” he said, prodding the kid’s chest with his titanium finger—“Those lungs are barely keeping you alive.” He turned back to the bar to order a fresh Asahi. The kid didn’t take this as his cue to leave.

“With respect, sir—”

Montagfire spun his stool around and glared at the boy.

“I don’t need your respect, fish hole,” he said, tapping his titanium finger on the katana in his belt. “Give me one good reason not to slice you up and feed you to the sharks.”

Now, I’m not one to watch people disrespecting others like that. Montagfire may have been ship’s captain, but that didn’t give him authority to treat anyone like the barnacled end of a beluga’s backside. Besides, I wasn’t in the mood for the kind of bloodbath Montagfire was alluding to.

“Give him a crack,” I said.

“What?”

“Give the impudent rascal a chance. We just lost Saline Kid. Maybe—”

“He ain’t no match for Saline Kid.”

“And you ain’t no Ahab,” cried the kid. “Who are you to judge how well I scream just from the size of my body?”

Montagfire prodded the kid’s sternum with his titanium finger. “It is customary for a screamer—”

“Pollocks to your custom! I can compete with the best in the multiverse! Come outside. I’ll show you.” The kid thrust his chin out, clenched his fists, and stormed out of the tavern. Montagfire, never one to pass up a challenge, drained his schooner, spun off the barstool, and drew his katana.

“Wait, Captain,” I said. “That urchin knows no better. His life will be short enough without you cutting it shorter.”

But Montagfire was already halfway to the door when he yelled back at me, “You think I’m some kind of fool? There ain’t no way in this damn multiverse that kid can—”

Before the captain could finish the sentence a typhonic scream rattled the wooden walls. The windows shattered and splintered onto the floor. The side of the tavern came crashing in. Chairs and tables were thrown into disarray. Everything— fixtures, fittings and even customers that got in the way—was crushed as a mighty sperm whale forged headlong through the room, bowling Captain Montagfire off his feet and pinning him to the bar.

A ship’s wheel, the last fixture left hanging, dropped off the wall and cracked open on the sawdust floor. The bar fell silent.

The kid stepped back inside and called up the flank of the whale, “Now, Captain Montagfire, will you give me a chance?”

“Get this whale out of my face and perhaps we can talk business.”

The kid grinned at Montagfire then winked at me. I winked back. I was right; he was impudent but he was a character, too.

“Get this damn whale out of my tavern,” cried the landlord. “I’m trying to run a business.”

Cutlass and Musket; Tales of Piratical Skullduggery

2011-05-06T19:26:00.000-07:00

An anthology of PIRATE STORIES, which includes my story The Tales of Blackleg Osai by Snarke P. Amor as well as a host of other fabulous stories by scabbard wielding authors is available now.

The Tales of Blackleg Osai features an unfinished book by an elusive writer, a famous bear with a personality twist, a sexy captain of a lethal ship called the Cuddly Quotient, a British Rail train, and various planks that lead the characters into a ragged maze of plots woven together with a wormhole or two.

BUY IT HERE

Table of Contents

Get Kraken…Michael A. Ventrella
http://michaelaventrella.wordpress.com/

Silver Hand Sam…Cherie Reich

Last Voyage Of The London Fog…Marc Sorondo

Old Billy, Old Friend…Darren Gallagher

Mist And Shadow…Sarah Zama

The Legacy Of Captain Jareena…Scott M. Sandridge

The Sapphire Ring…Reese Mills

Uncle Zapf…Harris Tobias

Lost Hope…Rebecca Hart

The Blood Of An Immortal…M.S. Gardner

Elixir Of Tears….Jason Andrew

Guardian At The Gate…Ken Staley

Voyage Of The Golden Goose…Gary Moeser

Tales Of Blackleg Osai by Snarke P. Amor…Mark Lee Pearson

The Devil’s Fog…Coy Hall

Captured…Kate Larkindale

Isle Of Sorrow…Lee Clarke Zumpe

Beneath The Death’s Head…Dev Jarrett

Treasure In The Charnel Pit…Henrick Ramsager

Review at Horrorscope

2011-05-05T19:27:00.000-07:00

Thanks to reviewer Mark Smith-Briggs for his favorable comments on my story Whaling the Multiverse at Horrorscope.

The enjoyment of the work (In ASIM Issue 50) will depend on your particular tastes, but as always there is enough variety to ensure you’ll find something you like. Personal standouts included Mark Lee Pearson’s Whaling the Multiverse – an original sci-fi high seas adventure about a boy who attracts whales with his voice.

You can read the full review here:

Horrorscope

Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Issue 50: Whaling the Multiverse

2011-03-21T18:35:00.000-07:00

I am very excited to announce the publication of my short story "Whaling the Multiverse" in the 50th Anniversary Issue of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine.

I would like to congratulate the staff of ASIM and thank them humbly for offering me this opportunity to celebrate their milestone with them. In particular, I am grateful to Jacob Edwards for the fantastic job he did during the editing process.

"Whaling the Multiverse" is the story of a boy called Flash who has a dream to be the best "Whale Screamer" in the multiverse. If you want to know what that means, why don't you pop over to ASIM
now and download the PDF, or better still purchase a print copy of the magazine for your collection. I promise that you will not regret it.

Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine

The Tales of Blackleg Osai by Snarke P. Amor

2011-01-06T05:23:00.000-08:00

Has been accepted by Wicked East Press for their pirate anthology:

WICKED EAST PRESS

The Little Contractor Tool Kit

2010-12-23T22:41:00.000-08:00

I'm happy to say that my jinxed short story about a haunted toy on Halloween has been accepted by Nightfall Publications for their From Shadows and Nightmares anthology.

Nightfall Publications

The Hermits of Hahajima

2010-12-23T22:37:00.000-08:00

The Hermits of Hahajima, my ghost story about the Japanese soldiers who can't return to their homeland because of the atrocities they committed will be out in January at Whitlock in Our Haunted World

Bobby Stokes Salutes the Fall of Manchester

2010-12-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

NANOWRIMO 2010 WORD COUNT

2010-10-31T05:54:00.001-07:00

Like Buses

2010-10-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

Acceptances are like buses.

You wait for months without anything more than
Rejections, rejections, rejections,

And then two come along at once!

At least I wasn't standing between stops.

My short story The Hahajima Ghosts has been accepted for publication at Whitlock Publishing . They are putting together an anthology of ghost stories from around the world called Our Haunted World. It looks like an interesting project, and I am excited to be a part of it.

Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine...

2010-10-05T04:32:00.000-07:00

Has accepted one of my stories!

I am very excited to say that passengers on flights throughout the universe will be able to read it in the 50th issue, February 2011.

CLOUDBERRY RECORDS INTERVIEWS...ME

2010-09-29T04:40:00.001-07:00

http://www.cloudberryrecords.com/blog/?p=780

UPDATE

2010-09-28T05:42:00.000-07:00

Well, thanks to the Spirit of Heinlein approach it's been a good day.

Words written: 3,000

Rejections: 3
Acceptances: 0
Submissions held for further consideration: 2

That's worth a couple of chocolate biscuits :)

Thanks to Anthology Builder...

2010-09-23T21:29:00.000-07:00

For accepting 3 more stories.

Hideki Desu, Hideki and the Gnomes, and Figgis' Elixir are available to add to your custom anthology.

Anthologybuilder

In the spirit of Heinlein

2010-09-23T16:53:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of Heinlein's first rule, I wrote until 11:30 last night.

In the spirit of Heinlein's second rule, I completed a draft of a story that has been kicking about on my hard drive for a couple of months.

In the spirit of Heinlein's third rule I will not re-write what I wrote yesterday (though I might tweak it a little to suit submission guidelines--which is in effect editorial request).

In the spirit of Heinlein's fourth rule I will send it off tonight.

And if/when the rejection comes back, I will, in the spirit of Heinlein's fifth rule, send it on out again, and again, and again.

Heinlein's Rules

2010-09-22T05:46:00.000-07:00

Time out to assess where I am according to Robert Heinlein. From his 1947 essay "On the Writing of Speculative Fiction."

HEINLEIN'S RULES FOR WRITING

1. You must write.
I have close to one hundred short stories in various stages of development and three unfinished novels. Okay, so I write. Unfortunately I've been slacking recently. It's time to get back on target.

2. You must finish what you write.
To date I have finished about one third of the short stories I have started. Must get cracking on the other two thirds.

3. You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
Okay. I am guilty of tweaking the odd story when it turns up in my rejection box. Who wouldn't? Sorry Robert, I sometimes fail here, but I am learning to let go of my babies.

4. You must put the work on the market.
Check box. To date I have submitted 33 stories to 82 different markets.

5. You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.
15 acceptances.
88 rejections.
8 submissions lost in the ether, probably never to be seen again.
12 stories pending response.

What is the use of a story that is not told. What is the use of letting a story rot away on the hard drive? Time to set a goal. I'm not going for numbers here. I'm going for persistance, because what Heinlein is saying is clearly that if you are persistant and keep throwing it, some will stick. From today, I will be more persistant in my efforts to get my stories out there for the world to read.

Fair and Square up at Allegory

2010-05-04T23:07:00.000-07:00

Friday: 256

On Monday a man with a hammer lurked in the bushes of Regents Park ready to pummel me to death. Tuesday an intoxicated motorist pursued me in an urban hot rod. On Wednesday I escaped knife wielding maniacs, oncoming trains and a near electrocution. Yesterday lightning, a flood and myriad other natural phenomena closed in on me. Now there is an angry cuckold on the fourth floor waiting to blast my brains out. He thinks I’m having an affair with his wife. He is of course mistaken, but that is beside the point.

I have escaped 23 unaccountably strange deaths in this small town this week. But disaster is drawing in around me and now, to top it all The Morning Star is reporting that North Korea has given the United Nations a final ultimatum. By Sunday the entire planet will be in the same precarious position as me. I am the only man in the world with the power to change it all.

Read the rest of it here:

http://www.allegoryezine.com/fairandsquare.htm

Allegory

2010-04-06T05:12:00.000-07:00

My short story "Fair and Square," has been accepted for publication inVolume 12/38 of Allegory, due to hit the web on May 1, 2010. allegory

Hideki Desu

2010-02-23T05:49:00.000-08:00

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Writer: Mark lee Pearson
Reader: Jim Sadler
Producer: Lee Rawlings
Assistant Producer: Tony Eccles
Music: Lee Rawlings and Simon Belshaw

PODCAST

2010-02-04T19:57:00.000-08:00

My wonderful friends at JLT-AUDIO-STORY-PRODUCTIONS were kind enough to record my story, Hideki Desu, which was published in Space and Time Magazine last year. The story can now be downloaded and listened to at their website:

PODCAST OF HIDEKI DESU

Cast Your Vote!

2009-12-17T16:49:00.000-08:00

Announcing the first Apex Magazine story of the year award

Hideki and the Gnomes is there among some other fantastic stories to be voted story of the year at Apex.

Disclaimer: I’m not asking you to vote for me, but I’d really recommend you go and check out the great fiction at Apex Magazine.

NaNoWriMo Winner 2009

2009-11-27T06:46:00.001-08:00

Winner!

2009-11-06T05:58:00.001-08:00

13

2009-10-19T05:04:00.000-07:00

My thirteenth published short story, It's For You, a ghost story which first aired on 10RADIO in the UK last christmas, makes an appearance in the thirteenth issue of Twisted Tongue, available now--just in time for HALLOWEEN--for free download, or 4.50 (GBP) for POD (Print on Demand) magazine, from here.

Twisted Tongue Issue 13

NaNoWriMo Participant 2009

2009-10-16T05:22:00.000-07:00

http://www.nanowrimo.org/

This time...

The Book of Tentacles...

2009-10-03T02:30:00.000-07:00

...is here !

My story, Hideki and the Giant Squid, appears alongside a host of other tentacle themed fiction and poetry.

Samsdot Publishing

Strange, Weird, and Wonderful Magazine

2009-10-03T02:26:00.000-07:00

Strange, Weird, and Wonderful Magazine readers have voted my story "TEST OF FATE" as Best Science Fiction story in the 7500-15000 word category in their Fall issue.

They also published my article about the Anigao Girls in Akihabara in the same issue, available as a download here.

The Fix Says...

2009-08-14T00:35:00.001-07:00

THE FIX

Apex Magazine, May 2009
By Kimberly Lundstrom ⋅ August 8, 2009
The May 2009 issue of Apex Magazine features three stories of characters navigating a changed or changing world.

“Hideki and the Gnomes” by Mark Lee Pearson has the haunting quality of a dark fairy tale murmured in the flickering light of a dying fire. Yet it is entirely modern. Hideki looks on as, one by one, the moons in the sky disappear or are destroyed, wreaking havoc all around him. As his world deconstructs, technology moves backward and Hideki takes action. But it is unclear whether he has taken the right course.

Using structural repetition and a portentous countdown from twelve moons, Pearson offers a puzzling but intriguing picture of apocalypse.

MARK @ ASIMOV'S???

2009-08-01T19:32:00.000-07:00

My short story "Hideki and the Gnomes" got a tiny mention in the Best New Stories thread on the discussion board at ASIMOV's 5/28/2009!

Review of Hideki Desu at TANGENT

2009-08-01T06:26:00.000-07:00

Reviewed by Steve Fahnestalk

TANGENT

“Hideki Desu,” by Mark Lee Pearson, surprised me. Since the title character, Hideki, is described as "a short, serious kid in a white button-down shirt and large horn-rimmed glasses,” I immediately had two thoughts: Hiro Nakamura, from the TV series Heroes; and, Oh, cripes, another Japanese story by someone who has only read manga and seen Japanese movies.

To the first thought, I can say, "well, maybe, in a way,” but to the second, "no way!" Pearson is obviously familiar with Japan, and that knowledge adds a certain vividness to the story that can't be gotten out of books and movies; only first-hand knowledge will serve. (When you know what you’re talking about, it really shows.)

Gaijin (foreigners) are needed in Japan, because every Japanese sarariman (literally, "salaryman") wants to learn English as a way to make more money, but Hideki has a novel way of doing so… he eavesdrops on gaijin dreams. Our unnamed gaijin protagonist meets Hideki on a Tokyo train platform and from then on things become more surreal than even a westerner familiar with Japan can imagine. "Hideki desu" means "I'm Hideki"—and by the end of the story you won't have a clue who Hideki really is. Nicely done and quite fun to read, and you don't need to know a word of Japanese to enjoy it.

I am a robot!

2009-07-17T22:10:00.001-07:00

Get Your Cyborg Name

Another Review of Hideki and the Gnomes

2009-06-25T22:13:00.000-07:00

“Hideki and the Gnomes” by Mark Lee Pearson is a very short, weird tale that’s similar to previous Apex offerings such as Nathan Rosen’s “I Know an Old Lady”. This one has a definite cadence, an almost Mother Goose feel, even if its meaning is murky.

Review at IRoSF

2009-06-24T04:36:00.000-07:00

Countdown.

There were twelve moons in the night sky: one from this dimension, the others reflections of the eleven dimensions. One switched off like a computer monitor. On the blank screen, Hideki watched the Space Shuttle, Confronter, hurtling to Earth, out of control.
As the moons disappear one by one, Hideki also goes out of control.

Very short ambiguous fantasy. Either the world is coming to an end, or Hideki is loony. Or, perhaps, both.

Internet Review of Science Fiction

Hideki and the Gnomes

2009-06-17T00:48:00.001-07:00

Free SF Reader

says,

Twelve moons a' whacky.

3 out of 5

Descended From Darkness Apex Volume 1

2009-05-27T22:13:00.000-07:00

Work on Descended From Darkness continues as APEX MAGAZINE aims for a December, 2009 release date. This is the final version of the front cover of the anthology.

Cover art is by Randall McDonald.

Cover design is by Justin Stewart.

We’ll start taking pre-order reserverations sometime in August. The retail price will be $15.95.

Yet another affordable, high-quality presentation from the fine folks of Apex Publications. :)

Review of Hideki Desu

2009-05-06T04:57:00.000-07:00

Here:

SFReview

"Mark Lee Pearson sets his "Hideki Desu" in Japan where an American has just lost his job. He encounters a strange boy who shows him a different world. This story was okay and maybe I would have appreciated it more if I were more familiar with Japan."

Okay, so it doesn't say much, but it's something.

Hideki and the Gnomes

2009-05-06T04:51:00.000-07:00

Made it into APEX!

Read it here:

Hideki and the Gnomes

Available Now on Amazon

2009-03-26T05:48:00.000-07:00

Paranormal Bedtime Stories

Hideki and the Gnomes...

2009-03-15T20:08:00.000-07:00

Has just been snapped up by Apex!

Excerpt from Hideki Desu

2009-02-19T05:32:00.000-08:00

I was famished, so Hideki took me to a noodle bar.
“You like stand-up soba?” He twists the noodles from the soup and threads the long strands of buckwheat through his teeth.
“First time,” I said.
“Your girlfriend never took you?”“She was a ramen girl.” I snapped my disposable chopsticks apart and jabbed them into the bowl.
Hideki is jittery; his eyes are like little black fish darting about in his horn rimmed glasses.
Just then, there was a movement in the soup. I felt something tugging on my chopstick. I stepped back from the bar, “What the—”
The noodles parted to reveal a bulbous pair of bloodshot eyes staring out at me. One of the noodle creatures twisted itself around my chopsticks; I could see the fangs in its open mouth.
Someone screamed; it could have been me. I don’t remember exactly, but the inside of the entire soba bar was suddenly alive with panic.
“I knew it. Get out of here.” Hideki swipes the bowl off the bar and sends it hurtling across the floor, then grabbing my hand he drags me out of the shop.
The last thing I remember seeing were thousands of noodle-like worms sliding across the floor, their bulbous eyes fixed upon the Soba Chef. I saw him kicking in vain as they slithered up his legs, constricted around his body and sank their fangs into his throat as he fell whimpering to the floor.

Hideki Desu appears in the Spring 2009 edition of Space and Time Magazine. Many thanks to the very talented David Grilla for illustrating this excerpt.

The Man From 11 Dimensions...

2009-01-09T15:18:00.000-08:00

is here...

Neverlands and Otherwheres

Hideki Desu...

2009-01-08T17:05:00.000-08:00

has finally made it into print and my name is on the cover of SPACE AND TIME!

Space and Time Magazine

Twisted Tongue

2008-11-09T21:18:00.000-08:00

The Twisted Tongue Magazine has accepted my short story It's For You for their February 2009 edition.

Twisted Tongue

"Kujira!"

2008-10-08T07:31:00.000-07:00

I was thinking of participating in NanoWriMo(National Novel Writing Month)this year, since it's the tenth anniversary and I've had this story swimming around in my head for some time. Unfortunately life is pretty busy so I don't think I'll be able to reach the required daily word count. Therefore, I have decided to spread my challenge over 2 months.

I started on 29th September--my self imposed deadline for 50,000 words is 29th November.

The working title is "Kujira", which means "Whale" in Japanese, basically because it is a whale of a tale. I've found a little widget thingy to track my word count and I've set myself a goal of 2 months to finish the first draft.

Gambarimasu!!!

AlienSkin...

2008-09-28T00:29:00.001-07:00

...accepted my Micro-Fiction piece "The Silicon Highwayman." That's two consecutive acceptances from them, which is encouraging.

The Book of Tentacles

2008-09-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

My short story Hideki and the Giant Squid has been accepted for publication in The Book of Tentacles (Samsdot) 2009.

Anthology Builder

2008-08-13T05:29:00.000-07:00

Looking for a Christmas Present for the bookworm in your family? Log on to Anthology Builder and create a custom anthology for around $15. While you are there, make sure you look up my kid's story that was first printed in Beyond Centauri, "The Infinite Piggy Bank".

Anthology Builder

Strange, Weird, and Wonderful Magazine

2008-08-13T05:23:00.000-07:00

Just accepted my story Test of Fate for the October issue of their magazine.

Strange, Weird and Wonderful Magazine

This is the artwork that Marlo Dianne did for the story:

MonkeyBicycle

2008-08-12T18:36:00.000-07:00

MonkeyBicycle accepted my Flash "The Sky Blue Seed", which is based on a children's story by Nakagawa Rieko.
MonkeyBicycle

AlienSkin

2008-08-06T04:48:00.001-07:00

AlienSkin Online Magazine has just accepted my Flash "Figgis' Elixir" for their October/November issue.

AlienSkin

On Discovery / Mark Lee Pearson

2008-07-19T09:12:00.001-07:00

On Discovery / Mark Lee Pearson

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