On his shared blog Richard has written a nice bit about movies and games -- and why the two forms of entertainment have nothing whatsoever to do with each other.
http://www.storytellersunplugged.com/our-writing-is-not-of-your-world
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Game writing and movies -- nice essay by Richard Dansky
On his shared blog Richard has written a nice bit about movies and games -- and why the two forms of entertainment have nothing whatsoever to do with each other.
http://www.storytellersunplugged.com/our-writing-is-not-of-your-world
The Queen and the Lycans
A great movie, with Helen Mirren justifiably a multi-prize winner for her role as Queen Elizabeth.
I had to smile when I saw it, though, because of the actor who played Tony Blair. First off he was great; he projected that mix of excitement and naïvete and hard-headed media savvy that Blair seemed to have. But the reason I smiled is because I recognized him from another role -- Lucian, the leader of the Lycans in the "Underworld" movie series.
Hah! This staid British actor, portraying the highest elected official in Her Majesty's Government, also has had to spout lines like:
"We were slaves once. The daylight guardians of the vampires. I was born into servitude. Yet I harbored them no ill will. Even took a vampire for my bride. It
was forbidden, our union. Viktor feared a blending of the species.
Feared it so much he killed her. His own daughter. Burnt alive for
loving me."
Hey, everyone has to pay the heating bills.
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Integrating the story into a game (process)
Here are some musings on how one could approach the question. This is hardly a recommendation, and even less an explanation of the "right" way to do things. It's simply a process that seems to be effective.
The key advantages are that it is iterative, that it starts at a high level at the same time that the designers are mulling over what the game will look like, and it tries to ensure that design and story develop together rather than separately or serially.
First Document: Pitch
This is really a marketing/business oriented text with the setting, a few main characters, the basic story arc, and how it fits in the series/IP/brand. It's a 2-3 page overview that has 0 gameplay elements.
Second Document: Synopsis
Here the story gets broken down into macro chunks: Campaigns/settings/levels, major characters/NPCs, and maybe major missions/arcs within the overall plot. Gameplay may be included, but it's more along the lines of ideas, suggestions, possible new features, etc. Up until this point the designers have been working on their pre-production issues, so the process shouldn't be slowing them down.
Third document: Scenario
Now we start getting to the point where we have to think about gameplay. Here the story is translated into the game chunks that the player sees -- campaigns, levels, objectives, maps. Because at this point we are creating the quests and NPCs that will drive the player's actions, integrating the story and the gameplay is a necessity.
However, since the developers have contributed to the documents created so far, and since in practical terms we are already exchanging ideas of how to make certain plotlines/quests work, we don't run into the "not invented here" syndrome.
From here on in the classic writing elements finally come into play: Writing dialogue, doing the in-game texts, refining the characters and the story details. Without the upstream part, however, the story will feel pasted on to the gameplay, and the player risks seeing scenes and hearing dialogue that have nothing to do with the actions he is taking.
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Thursday, January 31, 2008
More thoughts about gameplay and story structure
It seems to me that the discussion of storytelling and games is hampered by the basic fact that a lot of games don't really need or want to tell stories. Think of Tetris, or chess, or gin rummy -- games that are intrinsically story-less. One could say that there is even a bit of story in Monopoly; the kind of story where you regale listeners with who landed on what and who had to mortgage his hotels to pay for it. That's not writer-directed story, but it's certainly a series of events and obstacles with protagonists and antagonists leading to a climax. By most literary definitions, that is the backbone of story.
But I think that this definition of "story" is misleading, because unlike in Monopoly, story has a purpose in most video games. In a huge, open RPG game the story guides the player and tells him where to go next -- or, in a more dramatic way, tells him where his unique services / skills are needed next to forestall the collapse of civilization as we know it. The story is not merely dramatic, it is practical. It serves both a narrative purpose, and a pragmatic one.
So it seems to me that, depending upon the type of game, what we call story has widely different functions. I am batting around a list of these ideas, trying to see what may and may not make sense.
1. For anything in the FPS-Survival horror-Action-Suspense genre, the story really drives the gameplay. The player has a total immersion in the game world; even the tips and hints are often given in the guise of NPC's or in-game documents, furthering the sense of immersion in the immediate environment.
The point of view (cinematically speaking, not literarily speaking) is first person or tight third person. The game advances in a series of quick, action-filled, life-or-death moments where the player must constantly move and take decisions.
In the literary world, this is classic hard-boiled private eye stuff. Tight first person, action and violence, life-or-death stakes.
The purpose of the story is to drive the gameplay, to lead the player almost by the nose into (and perhaps even through) the next series of obstacles and challenges. The gameplay is largely linear, though it may pretend not to be with a series of linear-but-parallel sub-quests available.
Okay. Now I have to go off and think about other literary and ludological genres, and how they compare.
But I think that this definition of "story" is misleading, because unlike in Monopoly, story has a purpose in most video games. In a huge, open RPG game the story guides the player and tells him where to go next -- or, in a more dramatic way, tells him where his unique services / skills are needed next to forestall the collapse of civilization as we know it. The story is not merely dramatic, it is practical. It serves both a narrative purpose, and a pragmatic one.
So it seems to me that, depending upon the type of game, what we call story has widely different functions. I am batting around a list of these ideas, trying to see what may and may not make sense.
1. For anything in the FPS-Survival horror-Action-Suspense genre, the story really drives the gameplay. The player has a total immersion in the game world; even the tips and hints are often given in the guise of NPC's or in-game documents, furthering the sense of immersion in the immediate environment.
The point of view (cinematically speaking, not literarily speaking) is first person or tight third person. The game advances in a series of quick, action-filled, life-or-death moments where the player must constantly move and take decisions.
In the literary world, this is classic hard-boiled private eye stuff. Tight first person, action and violence, life-or-death stakes.
The purpose of the story is to drive the gameplay, to lead the player almost by the nose into (and perhaps even through) the next series of obstacles and challenges. The gameplay is largely linear, though it may pretend not to be with a series of linear-but-parallel sub-quests available.
Okay. Now I have to go off and think about other literary and ludological genres, and how they compare.
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Sunday, January 27, 2008
Game writing: Back to the basics
I am working on a (potential) article about beginning game writing, but in trimming the article an awful lot of thoughts are ending up on the cutting room floor. I'll drop some of those into my blog from time to time, because writing these things out helps me to better understand the proces of game writing and what I have learned.
The problem for a fiction writer is that writing games is like writing a story, but without the story part.
I jest. It's actually like writing a story, but without exposition, setting, internal dialogue, description -- it's writing a story when you can't say a thing about what's going on in the protagonist's brain, because the protagonist is the player. They have to know what's going on anyway, and you yank their chair-shaped butts right through the fourth wall if you dare to actually stop and tell them.
Everything happens through what the player sees, what the player chooses to do, and what dialogue the player hears and/or selects. Those are the only colors left out of the fiction writer's entire palette for creating the story--visual setting, action, and dialogue. Three damn fine ones, admittedly, but they make it a real exercise to develop an entire picture without using all the others tools that a fiction writer usually relies on.
It's even worse, actually, because all you can do is hint at what the action should be; leave a trail of breadcrumbs that the player will hopefully want to follow. The more you make him follow a given path, the less he feels like he's playing the game and the more he feels like the game is playing him.
And that's really the big difference. You can't say what your protagonist is going to do, only the player can say that. You can lead him by the nose, but the heavier the hand is that guides the player's actions, the less immersive and interesting the story becomes. If things go that way you get what I think of as "dramatic rupture" -- it's not the player's story any more because the player doesn't feel like they made it happen. Instead, the player feels like it's someone else's story and they're just along for the ride.
The problem for a fiction writer is that writing games is like writing a story, but without the story part.
I jest. It's actually like writing a story, but without exposition, setting, internal dialogue, description -- it's writing a story when you can't say a thing about what's going on in the protagonist's brain, because the protagonist is the player. They have to know what's going on anyway, and you yank their chair-shaped butts right through the fourth wall if you dare to actually stop and tell them.
Everything happens through what the player sees, what the player chooses to do, and what dialogue the player hears and/or selects. Those are the only colors left out of the fiction writer's entire palette for creating the story--visual setting, action, and dialogue. Three damn fine ones, admittedly, but they make it a real exercise to develop an entire picture without using all the others tools that a fiction writer usually relies on.
It's even worse, actually, because all you can do is hint at what the action should be; leave a trail of breadcrumbs that the player will hopefully want to follow. The more you make him follow a given path, the less he feels like he's playing the game and the more he feels like the game is playing him.
And that's really the big difference. You can't say what your protagonist is going to do, only the player can say that. You can lead him by the nose, but the heavier the hand is that guides the player's actions, the less immersive and interesting the story becomes. If things go that way you get what I think of as "dramatic rupture" -- it's not the player's story any more because the player doesn't feel like they made it happen. Instead, the player feels like it's someone else's story and they're just along for the ride.
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Monday, January 14, 2008
The Pradaic Devil
A fun movie. Snappy dialogue, rich characters, the incomparable Meryl Streep, glamour and glitz.
Except for one thing that really annoyed me; the writers wimped out. They wimped out when the protagonist, Andy, was chosen over her supervisor, Emily, to make the trip-of-a-lifetime to Paris. And Andy had to break the news. It should be a difficult moment; Andy, as the up-and-coming acolyte, has to tell her mentor that she has been replaced. It was stressed at several points during the movie that the entire focus of Emily's life is this trip to Paris.
So it should be an intense moment. Andy, who has clawed her way up in the face of her own doubts, the loss of her friends (and boyfriend), and the toughness of her boss, must tell the person who trained her that it is now Andy who is top dog. Emily loses; Emily is out. Emily is being replaced. There should be anger! Angst! Recriminations! Shattered dreams! Catfights!
But none of this happened.
Conveniently, Emily gets hit by a taxi and breaks her leg. She can't go to Paris anyway; she is still angry that she couldn't have gone but it's a whole different story. Andy is exonerated, she didn't have to be cruel, she didn't have to take and then impose a morally difficult decision. She didn't have to carry the responsibility of the act, she wasn't forced to confront the results of her actions.
Boring. A letdown.
The writers wimped out.
Except for one thing that really annoyed me; the writers wimped out. They wimped out when the protagonist, Andy, was chosen over her supervisor, Emily, to make the trip-of-a-lifetime to Paris. And Andy had to break the news. It should be a difficult moment; Andy, as the up-and-coming acolyte, has to tell her mentor that she has been replaced. It was stressed at several points during the movie that the entire focus of Emily's life is this trip to Paris.
So it should be an intense moment. Andy, who has clawed her way up in the face of her own doubts, the loss of her friends (and boyfriend), and the toughness of her boss, must tell the person who trained her that it is now Andy who is top dog. Emily loses; Emily is out. Emily is being replaced. There should be anger! Angst! Recriminations! Shattered dreams! Catfights!
But none of this happened.
Conveniently, Emily gets hit by a taxi and breaks her leg. She can't go to Paris anyway; she is still angry that she couldn't have gone but it's a whole different story. Andy is exonerated, she didn't have to be cruel, she didn't have to take and then impose a morally difficult decision. She didn't have to carry the responsibility of the act, she wasn't forced to confront the results of her actions.
Boring. A letdown.
The writers wimped out.
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Friday, December 07, 2007
Why Bernini was a genius
It's only one man's opinion but...
Son of a sculptor, in his early 20's Gianlorenzo started creating his own works. His David, Apollo and Daphne, and Pluto and Persephone alone are worth a trip to the Galleria Borgehese. Maybe even a trip to Rome. (The Wikipedia articles on these works are good starting points.)
But the one that I find the most amazing is his Constantine. He was commissioned by the Pope to do a work for a niche of the Scala Regia staircase, which leads from the Vatican to Saint Peter's (the stair was also designed by Bernini, wearing his architect hat. Like Michaelangelo, he was good at a wide range of things.).
I'd like to start with that. He had to make a statue for a long, shallow, niche ; it requires a special sort of inspiration to take that starting point and decide to create a life-sized mounted figure. In order to fit it he had to remove a limb from the horse, but who's counting?
The statue depicts the moment before the battle of Ponte Milvio, when Constantine saw the Holy Cross in the sky and converted to Catholicism. True to the Mannerist / Baroque style of Bernini, he has chosen a moment of emotional intensity and violence. Remember, this was the first person to think of doing a David in the moment before he throws the rock. Not the pretty, petulant victor of Caravaggio's painting or Michelangelo's statue, but a muscular, intense athlete putting all his body and soul into the rock and the sling, not knowing (of course) what the outcome would be.
Back to Constantine. Above the niche there is a window, so light is thrown directly down on the statue from above. Mounted on the horse, twisting up and slightly to the left as the horse twists to the right, the emperor Constantine is staring straight up into the daylight ; his face is fully lit while the rest of his body and the horse are partially shadowed. This is good old chiaroscuro and contrapposto and everything else that you learn about Mannerist and early Baroque art. The clothing, the muscles of the horse, the expression of the emperor -- all of them are executed with the detailed perfection of his workshop and his style.
When I first saw the statue, and looked at the placement, the choice of subject, the execution, the form, the use of the existing window ... I was stunned. It was worth having to argue with security guards and jump a couple of queues to get a closer look when we were in Rome in November, even though the Swiss Guard looked ready to start swinging halberds at me. If you ever get to Saint Peter's, you should do it too. In my books, for that statue alone Bernini deserves all the accolades he has been given.
Son of a sculptor, in his early 20's Gianlorenzo started creating his own works. His David, Apollo and Daphne, and Pluto and Persephone alone are worth a trip to the Galleria Borgehese. Maybe even a trip to Rome. (The Wikipedia articles on these works are good starting points.)
But the one that I find the most amazing is his Constantine. He was commissioned by the Pope to do a work for a niche of the Scala Regia staircase, which leads from the Vatican to Saint Peter's (the stair was also designed by Bernini, wearing his architect hat. Like Michaelangelo, he was good at a wide range of things.).
I'd like to start with that. He had to make a statue for a long, shallow, niche ; it requires a special sort of inspiration to take that starting point and decide to create a life-sized mounted figure. In order to fit it he had to remove a limb from the horse, but who's counting?
The statue depicts the moment before the battle of Ponte Milvio, when Constantine saw the Holy Cross in the sky and converted to Catholicism. True to the Mannerist / Baroque style of Bernini, he has chosen a moment of emotional intensity and violence. Remember, this was the first person to think of doing a David in the moment before he throws the rock. Not the pretty, petulant victor of Caravaggio's painting or Michelangelo's statue, but a muscular, intense athlete putting all his body and soul into the rock and the sling, not knowing (of course) what the outcome would be.
Back to Constantine. Above the niche there is a window, so light is thrown directly down on the statue from above. Mounted on the horse, twisting up and slightly to the left as the horse twists to the right, the emperor Constantine is staring straight up into the daylight ; his face is fully lit while the rest of his body and the horse are partially shadowed. This is good old chiaroscuro and contrapposto and everything else that you learn about Mannerist and early Baroque art. The clothing, the muscles of the horse, the expression of the emperor -- all of them are executed with the detailed perfection of his workshop and his style.
When I first saw the statue, and looked at the placement, the choice of subject, the execution, the form, the use of the existing window ... I was stunned. It was worth having to argue with security guards and jump a couple of queues to get a closer look when we were in Rome in November, even though the Swiss Guard looked ready to start swinging halberds at me. If you ever get to Saint Peter's, you should do it too. In my books, for that statue alone Bernini deserves all the accolades he has been given.
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Tuesday, October 02, 2007
I think that I shall attempt it again seriously this year.
I have not managed to actually write 50k words in a month since my first NaNoWriMo year; however I think that this year looks promising for it. On the other hand I may cheat and write a series of short stories or other fiction instead of a novel, but I don't think that they'll penalize me for that.
I have not managed to actually write 50k words in a month since my first NaNoWriMo year; however I think that this year looks promising for it. On the other hand I may cheat and write a series of short stories or other fiction instead of a novel, but I don't think that they'll penalize me for that.
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Monday, September 17, 2007
Summer's vacations
Time to backfill all the stuff I haven't written for the last two months.
First off, the four of us went on an amazing hike in the French Alps. It was four days / three nights, with each night spent at a "refuge". These places are wonderful, as they provide room and board so all you have to carry is clothes and personal stuff (books, flashlights, band-aids...). They are generally not accessible by road, so all the food comes in by mule, hiker, or helicopter. Pictures (commented) can be found here:
http://picasaweb.google.fr/jeff.spock/HikeInTheAlpsJuly2007
In July/August we were in Kentucky for my sister's wedding. The wedding was a great weekend -- including cousins we had not seen for 33 years -- and the pictures (uncommented) are here : http://picasaweb.google.fr/jeff.spock/JennDavid02
We then took some time to go hiking, climbing, kayaking, etc. Kai, my nephew, was with us so if you see a third child in the photos don't start wondering. Kentucky was beautiful, and as if to compensate for the embarrassing idiocy of the creationism museum, there are excellent kid-oriented science museums in both Lexington and Louisville.
We also visited the factory where the Louisville Slugger baseball bats are made, a horse farm, and the Wild Turkey Distillery. The latter, of course, was not really for the kids.
Louis is now proudly wearing a Lousville baseball cap.
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Friday, August 26, 2005
Every once in a while you run across something that simply Must Be Blogged.
"Goldilocks Dies With Honor at the Hands of the Three Bears" -- one of the titles from this page of "Klingon Fairy Tales" :
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/lists/22MikeRichardson-Bryan.html
"Goldilocks Dies With Honor at the Hands of the Three Bears" -- one of the titles from this page of "Klingon Fairy Tales" :
http://www.mcsweeneys.net/links/lists/22MikeRichardson-Bryan.html
Friday, August 19, 2005
Back from vacation and in a somewhat blogging mood. While Maine was great, we clearly did not eat enough lobsters.
I'm having one of those days when I wish I was Jamie Oliver, because then all my problems are pukka because they could be solved with a handful of chopped basil and some crispy-fried pancetta.
It is, actually, difficult to eat enough lobsters.
I'm having one of those days when I wish I was Jamie Oliver, because then all my problems are pukka because they could be solved with a handful of chopped basil and some crispy-fried pancetta.
It is, actually, difficult to eat enough lobsters.
Thursday, July 28, 2005
An enjoyable op ed letter to Senator Clinton on the "problem" of video games.
http://tinyurl.com/babao
"I'd like to draw your attention to another game whose nonstop violence and hostility has captured the attention of millions of kids — a game that instills aggressive thoughts in the minds of its players, some of whom have gone on to commit real-world acts of violence and sexual assault after playing.
I'm talking, of course, about high school football."
No, that's not what the article is about. But it's a nice point.
http://tinyurl.com/babao
"I'd like to draw your attention to another game whose nonstop violence and hostility has captured the attention of millions of kids — a game that instills aggressive thoughts in the minds of its players, some of whom have gone on to commit real-world acts of violence and sexual assault after playing.
I'm talking, of course, about high school football."
No, that's not what the article is about. But it's a nice point.
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Madison Avenue is more invasive than the KGB:
http://tinyurl.com/cs8a8
"For the past few weeks, Massive Inc., a New York company that distributes ads in videogames, has been testing an ad with full motion and sound in a science-fiction game called Anarchy Online. Today, Massive will roll out the full-motion ad capability to advertisers generally."
http://tinyurl.com/cs8a8
"For the past few weeks, Massive Inc., a New York company that distributes ads in videogames, has been testing an ad with full motion and sound in a science-fiction game called Anarchy Online. Today, Massive will roll out the full-motion ad capability to advertisers generally."
One comment on the recent Illonois law concerning game ratings --
"The ESA noted that in 2004, the average game buyer was 37 years old and the average game player was 30. In addition, of all games sold in 2004, only 16% were rated Mature. "
The legislature should not, and cannot, take the place of parents. Laws that pretend otherwise are not merely bound to fail, but must necessarily be invasive, restrictive, and probably unconstitutional.
http://www.theesa.com/archives/2005/07/video_game_indu_1.php
"The ESA noted that in 2004, the average game buyer was 37 years old and the average game player was 30. In addition, of all games sold in 2004, only 16% were rated Mature. "
The legislature should not, and cannot, take the place of parents. Laws that pretend otherwise are not merely bound to fail, but must necessarily be invasive, restrictive, and probably unconstitutional.
http://www.theesa.com/archives/2005/07/video_game_indu_1.php
Thursday, July 21, 2005
I can't say where this came from, because I wasn't supposed to see the document, but it could have been pretty much any fantasy oty/game/book/cover blurb/PR release/etc. done for the last 30 years:
"For centuries the legions of darkness have gathered their forces..."
Those old legions of darkness keep popping up everywhere, don't they? And they all seem to have read the same business strategy guide:
1. Bide time
2. Marshal forces
3. Wait until moment ripe
4. Unleash hordes
5. Get butt kicked by pimply kid
What about quality circles? Continuous improvement? Customer intimacy? Nimble management? The legions of darkness need better consultants.
"For centuries the legions of darkness have gathered their forces..."
Those old legions of darkness keep popping up everywhere, don't they? And they all seem to have read the same business strategy guide:
1. Bide time
2. Marshal forces
3. Wait until moment ripe
4. Unleash hordes
5. Get butt kicked by pimply kid
What about quality circles? Continuous improvement? Customer intimacy? Nimble management? The legions of darkness need better consultants.
Wednesday, July 20, 2005
1. John Dvorak, a columnist for PC Mag, wrote an editorial bashing the CC. The forum threads that follow give an interesting views of the plusses/minuses of current copyright law, fair use, etc. Of course there are a few idiots and trolls posting, and 70 pages of stuff, but some of it is interesting.
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1838244,00.asp
2. This is a must-try giggle-machine: The Evil Clown Generator
http://www.scottsmind.com/evil_clown.php
2. If any of you guys use RSS feeds, this site is full of info on the publishing industry. A lot of it is PR, but some is useful.
http://www.newsisfree.com
3. Download one guy's very funny and very short idea of how the original Star Wars movie should have ended.
http://www.howitshouldhaveended.com
http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,1895,1838244,00.asp
2. This is a must-try giggle-machine: The Evil Clown Generator
http://www.scottsmind.com/evil_clown.php
2. If any of you guys use RSS feeds, this site is full of info on the publishing industry. A lot of it is PR, but some is useful.
http://www.newsisfree.com
3. Download one guy's very funny and very short idea of how the original Star Wars movie should have ended.
http://www.howitshouldhaveended.com
Friday, October 15, 2004
In June of 2003 I had a hernia operation; in June of 2004 I attended Clarion West. It is interesting to note the similarities and differences between the two.
Similarities:
1. Both of them changed me permanently; one by removing bad tissue, the other bad habits.
2. Both of them made it hard for me sleep well for about six weeks.
3. Both experiences were run by professionals who were well versed in their fields (fortunately).
4. Both of them were group efforts.
5. I was incredibly nervous before either one started; afterwards I realized they weren't so bad.
Differences:
1. Clarion West was in English.
2. There were no sharks in my clinic.
3. I was allowed to sleep in after the surgery.
4. The support staff in the hospital was a lot less friendly.
5. I didn't keep in touch with the other patients afterwards.
Similarities:
1. Both of them changed me permanently; one by removing bad tissue, the other bad habits.
2. Both of them made it hard for me sleep well for about six weeks.
3. Both experiences were run by professionals who were well versed in their fields (fortunately).
4. Both of them were group efforts.
5. I was incredibly nervous before either one started; afterwards I realized they weren't so bad.
Differences:
1. Clarion West was in English.
2. There were no sharks in my clinic.
3. I was allowed to sleep in after the surgery.
4. The support staff in the hospital was a lot less friendly.
5. I didn't keep in touch with the other patients afterwards.
Tuesday, September 28, 2004
More fun and games--
A free copy of the story behind the legenday Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles"
www.benbellabooks.com/gerrold
An interesting article on the legal exposure of the OpenOffice suite (the Open Source competitor to Microsoft Office):
techrepublic.com.com/...
Further explanations of fairly coordinated effort to prevent minorities from voting in key states:
tunyurl.com/a6eff
A free copy of the story behind the legenday Star Trek episode "The Trouble with Tribbles"
www.benbellabooks.com/gerrold
An interesting article on the legal exposure of the OpenOffice suite (the Open Source competitor to Microsoft Office):
techrepublic.com.com/...
Further explanations of fairly coordinated effort to prevent minorities from voting in key states:
tunyurl.com/a6eff
Wednesday, September 22, 2004
Thursday, September 09, 2004
Clarion. Wow. It was amazing. It also ended six weeks ago, and I am still trying to get things sorted out. Regardless of where I go and what I do, however, I will certianly continue writing.
So what's out there?
"Captain Zoe and the Sky Pirate" waiting at Strange Horizons from August 18. This is a piece that I find hilariously funny, though it may be me. It is the first of my Clarion pieces to see the harsh light of the slushpile.
"The Gardener" waiting at Quantum Muse from June 1
"The Perfect Parasite" waiting at The Story House from February 19
Recently removed from circulation for further editing:
"They Shall Plant Vineyards"
"The Deep Cold"
So what's out there?
"Captain Zoe and the Sky Pirate" waiting at Strange Horizons from August 18. This is a piece that I find hilariously funny, though it may be me. It is the first of my Clarion pieces to see the harsh light of the slushpile.
"The Gardener" waiting at Quantum Muse from June 1
"The Perfect Parasite" waiting at The Story House from February 19
Recently removed from circulation for further editing:
"They Shall Plant Vineyards"
"The Deep Cold"
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