It’s funny where your imagination takes you.

Both Sides. NOW! started as a short story for an anthology. (It didn’t get in.) Even as I was writing it, though, I knew that there were places where it could be expanded (most notably: news reports of how the change was going down in other parts of the world). From the short story, I kept the basic structure of the four time periods, relative to the change (adding a fifth as a kind of recap/commentary); an echo of the original short story exists in the fact that the character it followed is the only one who appears in all four of the main chapters.

One problem I had with the story was how to deal with people who were transexual before the change happened to the rest of humanity. I thought that they would change back to the sex they were born in, but I wasn’t very happy with that possibility, so I didn’t pursue it. A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to a friend/supporter about the novel, and she said, “It’s like everybody in the world has become a transexual!” I hadn’t thought of it quite like that, but, eventually, that would spark an idea I’m very excited about: that people who had started the process of changing sex would be the only people in the world who would stay the same. As people who already knew what living in changed bodies was like, transexuals would be highly sought after advisers; in some sense, they would be the heroes of the novel. I have a character in mind, and I know where to put him/her (I haven’t decided which way his/her change went yet).

Something else to (re)write when the Inkshares/Nerdist contest is over! Although

Both Sides. NOW! is finished (or, well, I thought it was finished, in any case), having it so prominent in my thoughts over the past few weeks has sparked another bout of creativity. When I was first working on the novel, I considered another chapter that took place 1,000 years after the change. I didn’t pursue the idea very far, since the novel was already full. However, a few days ago, I had an idea for a novel set 1,000 years after the change, an idea that was fresh and different and would allow me to explore the issues brought up in Both Sides. NOW! in a new way. It’s not high on my list of writing priorities, but, who knows: if this “stand-alone” novel escapes into the wild and thrives, it may spawn a sequel, the working title of which is, inevitably: Both Sides. AGAIN!

Covers are one of the most important selling tools a book can have. The cover is the first thing that a person wandering through a bookstore (whether in person or online) will see; if it doesn’t immediately grab a potential reader, she’ll quickly move on to another book. Just as you would want to put on your best face before a first date, a book cover requires a lot of thought and work.

I have been fortunate to have had a say in the design of all but one of the covers of my books in print. The covers of my books tend to break the generally accepted “rules” of good design, but there’s generally nothing quite like them out there (they are much like my writing, if it comes to that). At a time when the covers of most popular genres hew to a formula specific to that genre, I expect mine stand out. The fact that they usually illustrate the concept of my books, or specific scenes from out of the books, is part of the overall plan.

I share these thoughts today because I now have a super-special * COVER REVEAL * for you:

The cover was designed by my Web Goddess, the ridiculously multitalented Gisela McKay, from my design concept. I think it uniquely captures the essence of the novel Both Sides. NOW! – what do you think?

Okay, I’m back.

Yesterday, I devoted all of my creative energy to my Web site. It was the kind of day I love: I contributed at least a little writing to six separate articles (two of which I completed), and created three Delicate Negotiations cartoons.

What sort of writing did this entail? The most important piece was this week’s instalment of “The Daily Me.” This features anywhere from four to 12 short topical bits about the news of the day. It is based on an old idea propagated by Nicholas Negroponte: that we would have bots scouring the Internet to deliver a unique set of news items to us as often as we wanted them. The reason I started “The Daily Me” was because the format allowed me to comment on issues that didn’t inspire full columns; over time, I have realized that (because each item is attributed to a different organization) it has become something of a satire of the Internet itself.

I also finished an article of headlines; the basic format is that I take a headline from a newspaper (with attribution, of course) and give it a humourous headline. In a similar vein, I contributed to a column of quotes, which follow the same basic formula, except with the public utterances of people in the news rather than newspaper headlines. To give you a sense of why I don’t just write articles like this all the way through in one sitting, it’s worth noting that there are usually between 25 and 35 individual headlines/jokes in headline articles, and 15 to 25 quotes/jokes in quote articles. It takes time to collect them, and I prefer to write about them while they’re still fresh in my mind rather than wait until I have what I think will be enough to fill an entire article.

In addition to this, I wrote most of an article on my experiences at Fan Expo over the weekend. I pepper Les Pages aux Folles with occasional articles taken from my life experience; these tend to be more gentle, less cutting than the satire that is the meat of the Web site, but I believe that many readers appreciate finding out a little bit about me or following my personal experience.

Les Pages aux Folles (http://www.lespagesauxfolles.ca) is a rich stew, overflowing with ideas. I am very proud of it.

Oh, my goodness, what a weekend!

On Thursday, I went to the Canadian National Exhibition with my sister, nephews and Web Goddess. We did the usual: checked out the Superdogs show, the sand and butter sculptures (ooh, that doesn’t sound likely: I meant the sand sculptures and the butter sculptures, you know, separately), the animals in the Farm Building, etc. etc. We also ate gross food at the Food Building and Tiny Tom Donuts because some traditions are worth keeping.

Good times.

For the next three days, I attended Fan Expo Toronto as a Klingon. Yes, I am a member of the Klingon Assault Group (KAG), mostly because the people are fantastic. At the moment, all I have for a costume is a gold vest; relative to most of the other members, I felt distinctly underdressed. I spent most of my time helping out at the booth where we shot photographs of people against a green screen, behind which we projected one of several images of “authentic Klingon backgrounds.” All proceeds, as they say, went to the Kids Help Phone Line, a local charity.

Oh, and I got pictures of Gillian Anderson’s hair! It’s yellow! Nobody is going to believe it was her, but…it was!

More good times.

I suppose I should have been busy at my computer promoting my book on Inkshares. But, as I have said before, this is my life. Sometimes, you just need to kick back and be part of a Klingon march through the Convention Centre!

I’ve been going to conventions and other science fiction related events for about five years, now. In that time, I have amassed an amazing set of photos of people in costume, and other things of interest. If you like that sort of thing, be sure to check out my Flickr page (organized by event for your viewing pleasure):

https://www.flickr.com/photos/72833254@N08/albums

Schedule:

THURSDAY: Go to the Canadian National Exhibition with family and my Web Goddess.

FRIDAY: Go to Fan Expo Toronto as a member of the Klingon Assault Group (KAG).

SUNDAY: Ditto.

I’m such a social butterfly. LOL So, I may not be posting until Monday. Have a good weekend everybody!

THE WRITING CONTINUES, PART 2

In the first week of September, 2002, my Web page Les Pages aux Folles (http://www.lespagesauxfolles.ca) went live. Earlier today, I posted the 678th consecutive weekly update to the site, marking the 13th anniversary of its birth. For those of you who like big round numbers, I estimate I have written two million words for it.

I actually started Les Pages aux Folles in 1984; at the time, I wanted to be Art Buchwald. (Don’t look at me like that – you know how to use Google. And, if you’re going to search for his name, combine that with Eddie Murphy. Iiiiinteresting…) When, after three years, it became apparent that the world neither wanted nor needed another Art Buchwald, I moved on to writing scripts for radio, film and television.

In 2002, the extraordinary Gisela McKay offered me her services as a Web designer and space on her server if I wanted to use the Web to promote my writing. Thus, the Les Pages aux Folles concept was (re)born! Since the original concept was meant for newspapers, most of the writing was under 1,000 words, which turned out to be the perfect size for online publishing.

What kind of writing is it? Topical political satire. (That’s right – I was writing satire before John Stewart made it popular with the cool kids!) Although satire remains the focus of the site, it quickly developed into a playground for my imagination, a place where I could do whatever crazy things came into my head (cartoons, anybody?). Although over the last few years it has settled down with some weekly features, I hope that it’s still a place where a reader can be surprised by what they find there.

One of those weekly features is an article from the Alternate Reality News Service (ARNS). ARNS sends reporters into other dimensions and has them write news articles about what they find there; it has been described by a couple of readers as “a science fiction version of The Onion.” I have published six collections of ARNS articles to date: four general collections (including news, reviews, interviews, features and even obituaries – anything you might imagine reading in your daily newspaper) and two collections of advice columns (think: humourous sci fi Dear Abby). Each of the books is available in print at better Amazons near you, but they are also still in the Les Pages aux Folles archive, marked “[ARNS]” for your reading pleasure.

I often compare writing on a regular schedule for the Internet to what it must have been like writing for the pulp magazines of the 1930s and 1940s: you learn to write a large amount of material in a short amount of time. This experience is what has allowed me to write four and three quarters novels and 15 or so short stories in under six years (on top of 52 Web site updates a year). More than that, though, the Web site has allowed me to experiment with voice and content so that, when I decided to write my first novel as I approached the age of 50, I had a very clear vision of what I wanted to accomplish with it and how to achieve it.

So, let us blow out 13 candles on a digital birthday cake and make a wish for a happy, entertaining year 14!

Two weeks down and four to go, and what have we learned? How about the difference between means and ends?

My impression is that many, if not most of the writers who have entered the Inkshares/Nerdist contest are making their writing public for the first time (many with their first written novel). They see the contest as an end in itself: win and you’ll instantly become a wealthy and successful writer.

As if.

For those who win, (I presume) there will be months of intense editing. After that, there will be months of intense promotion (reviews, interviews, maybe even some public appearances). All you’ll be winning is the chance to do a lot of hard work.

But, wait. There’s more. Because then you’ll have to produce a second novel (they are notoriously difficult to pull off). Wash. Rinse. Repeat. And, if you’re lucky, more novels will come over time. When I submitted my second novel to my publisher at Elsewhen Press, I said, “Here’s my next novel.” His response was: “Wait until you have several under your belt and you can say, “Here’s my latest novel.” Some people will find the possibility exhilarating (I have, and my experience has shown me that he was right); others will find it the scariest proposition they have ever heard.

What if, as the vast majority of us will, you lose? Do you have a plan for what to do with your novel beyond that? Are you ready to make the rounds of publishers (with all the delightfully soul-crushing rejection that implies)? Are you willing to polish your story until it shines brighter than a star…and then start the whole process again with a new one? If you’re tempted to give up, you probably weren’t cut out to be a writer. That may sound harsh, but I believe it was Richard Bach who said: “A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”

For my own part, being in this contest has proven in my mind what great friends and family I have, no small feat in itself given my generally timid and distrustful nature. In forcing me to get outside of my comfort zone and ask others for help, it has pushed me to make contacts which may help me in my career beyond the contest. Finally, my poor showing so far is a reminder that a career in the arts is a long slog full of hard, hard work; there are no shortcuts to success.

My advice would be to remember that the Inkshares/Nerdist contest is not an end in itself, it’s a means to the end of furthering your writing career. I think a lot of the writers here might benefit from that perspective.

I like having friends.

I was a loner growing up, the sort of kid that the weird kids in high school didn’t want to have anything to do with. As a result, I’ve never really known how to relate to other people, but I’ve always had the nagging suspicion that if I presumed too much of them, they would immediately and irrevocably drop me out of their lives (betrayals by people I was close to when I was younger greatly fed this fear). Spurred by a tendency towards introversion, I’ve been aloof, not willing to get too close to others.

(Un)fortunately, when you’re crowdsourcing a book, you have to approach everybody you know for help. And, to my surprise and delight, most of the people I know have been incredibly supportive.

I was thinking about this because of two boons I got yesterday from people I know. Lloyd (of the Steampunk Penneys) is somebody I know from a monthly get-together called First Thursday and science fiction conventions; not only did he preorder a copy of Both Sides. NOW!, but he sent word of my being in the contest to his contacts. Good man, Lloyd. Then, I had a delightful dinner with author Shirley Meier and her family. Great food and great conversation – it was a wonderful evening.

I’m planning on tweeting about these, and other kindnesses my friends have shown me in the recent past. I will be using the hashtag #ilikehavingfriends . If you’re on Twitter, consider taking a moment to tweet about the good things the people in your life have done for you. Maybe we can make #ilikehavingfriends a trending topic!

PS: I’d like to give a big shoutout to Lori Lightfoot-James and Krista Crowder Davis, people who are not friends (yet) who preordered a copy of Both Sides. NOW! in the past 24 hours. At a time when readers have so many choices of books to choose from, it’s heartening to know that some people are willing to take a chance on a writer they’ve never heard of, especially one who isn’t exactly a member of the mainstream. Thank you.

Both Sides. NOW! is the fourth novel I have written. Because I don’t write traditional heroic narratives, one of the things I find is that each work has a structure suited to the story I want to tell.

For example, Both Sides. NOW!, which is about what happens when everybody in the world changes sex, contains five chapters, each timed to the event. The first takes place the day of the change, then one week, one month, one year and, finally, one century later. The first chapter was meant to show how disruptive the change was; the second to fourth chapters were meant to show how people slowly adapted to the change, and; the final chapter, which takes place much later, was meant to show how traditional sex roles began to reassert themselves when most of the people who had lived through the change had died.

The structure of the novel is more complicated than that, though: each of the first four chapters is divided into ten sections. Each section within a chapter contains a different set of characters in a different place (to help unify the novel, some of the characters and motifs appear in more than one chapter). There were a couple of reasons for choosing this structure. The obvious one is that I wanted to capture as many different responses to the change as I could (since there would be as many responses as there are people living on the planet). Even so, I feel I have only scratched the surface of this fascinating subject.

The other reason has to do with a failing that I have found in some science fiction. Have you ever noticed that stories that deal with worldwide phenomena tend to focus almost entirely on North American or European characters and settings? The fact that people from other cultures would likely have different reactions to SF premises seems quite interesting to me, but we rarely see that in fiction written by western authors. The complex structure of Both Sides. NOW! allowed me to set parts of the story in places like Japan, China, India and Israel, in addition to a wide array of North American and European countries.

I think of Both Sides. NOW! as a kaleidoscopic novel, one that reflects this way or that depending upon which facet you’re reading at the time. It’s an odd structure, but one that I believe results in a very rich reading experience.