tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65296291715938583222024-02-19T04:34:34.097-07:00John's WritingWriting about writing = metawriting. Yes, I'm that geeky.John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.comBlogger93125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-41043123769713704552023-08-19T01:42:00.000-06:002023-08-19T01:42:10.482-06:00Quills Conference 2023 comes to a close<p> This Quills Conference was memorable for a couple of reasons. One, I'm no longer part of the executive committee. Every year or two, we cycle in a new President Elect, the old President Elect becomes President, and the President becomes Past President. I've been the Past President for two years, so I am now out to pasture for a bit before finding where I want to land in the local writing community. I gave a nice (and short) speech on focus, and that you find more of what you look for. So go looking for success, and do things successful authors do, and hang out with successful people.</p><p>Also memorable was winning two first place awards on the writing contests.</p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CkJ14_D5Kusu3hmd6pDO0RbFpBX-cqNsV67dGXIqK0QswOvtQnzns8SDm9EzAMWFMM0tIHjc2x0rge-DNusDUYJf7FFNV0jCBExKpc_DgeRb-keWqVa_AAlwqTt3EqOyX_78mRMIkPQYHuE19HOM3_NBO_YD-ZkZ5ZXON-tRCL_5iYnMLpd8-UsN_Bs/s6240/ut-writers-banquet-146.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4160" data-original-width="6240" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-CkJ14_D5Kusu3hmd6pDO0RbFpBX-cqNsV67dGXIqK0QswOvtQnzns8SDm9EzAMWFMM0tIHjc2x0rge-DNusDUYJf7FFNV0jCBExKpc_DgeRb-keWqVa_AAlwqTt3EqOyX_78mRMIkPQYHuE19HOM3_NBO_YD-ZkZ5ZXON-tRCL_5iYnMLpd8-UsN_Bs/s320/ut-writers-banquet-146.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />The first win was for my unpublished short story "Scrappers of the Great Starship" about a guy who makes a meager living scrounging scrap from an old starship that crashed generations earlier.<p></p><p>The second was a tie for first place for the Gold Quill in the Collections catergory of published works with <i>The Best of the Planetary Anthology Series</i> which can be found on Amazon. I've updated the cover to include the emblem for the award as shown here. I couldn't have done this one without the help of twenty-two awesome authors and several editors from the original series.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW97M726" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjKaPan9dZSPZFWOWgM_wFq-9HACOZC6HFp-h2eiNOWYMIFP3ueyTqhSoA3xzhZHUJLRQfdNz6o07J9YWsv1I3OG-zHkwkRWPhgrImYvsh_0RCHbWIJRLegu4-OTTun2mGtXdtWt1esGxA9jMOyb4t0HmP1RSByioQoJmJHiRreZEogfDxhBKe1LREi7oU" width="150" /></a></div><p>You can click the picture to go to Amazon to see it there. It comes in ebook and paperback. It's also on <a href="https://kobo.com/us/en/ebook/the-best-of-the-planetary-anthology-series">Kobo</a>, <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id6445766257">Apple</a>, and <a href="https://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/2940186553243">Nook</a>. This was my first venture into wide ebook distribution with self-publishing, and it worked out pretty well.</p><p></p>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-69668285390739965742023-03-02T20:32:00.001-07:002023-03-28T22:07:39.100-06:00A bit of construction<p> I'm changing email list providers, so if you can't find my mailing list signup at the top of the page, give it a day or two. I'll have it set up and ready to go with new giveaways in no time.</p><p>Update: It's all better now. Everything's switched to MailerLite.</p>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-3714240810367460842023-02-21T18:48:00.000-07:002023-02-21T18:48:05.199-07:00The Best of the Planetary Anthology Series<p> I've got a new anthology coming out. The Planetary Anthology Series of eleven books has gone out of print, so I contacted the publisher to get their blessing to put together a single book pulling two stories from each volume. This is the result.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BW97M726" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="339" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjehkXdTPC53GgHqmqvJkXgDcCQWhNf-TkUexwQfmMfXsiMDegd-7hSkJkglABC9mfTQpPXbBM-e0Ho4oLhm5fmQlkdNfQg6REwz5ztIx8PEM9JyoRXvQ3VCmVjs_WE8T6RgRW4U1U52Zl-0j1y4ZWC8JeSof-F0JqYmH3m1GUaVl_P4gNZptbyz2KL=w212-h339" width="212" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The official release date if February 27, 2023. You might notice on the date of this post that this is still almost a week away, but here's a secret. I released it a few days early. :)</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br /></div></div>This book contains 22 stories, selected as the best available, to go into this remastered, re-edited volume. Here's the lineup:<p></p><p>Sol</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Sundown And Out (David Hallquist)</li><li>Let The Dead Bury Their Dead (Caroline Furlong)</li></ul><p></p><p>Mercury</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Mirror of Circe (John C. Wright)</li><li>The Element of Transformation (L. Jagi Lamplighter)</li></ul><p></p><p>Venus</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Fox’s Fire (Danielle Ackley-McPhail)</li><li>The Rocket Raising (Frederik Gero Heimbach)</li></ul><p></p><p>Earth</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>We'll Always Have Earth (Bokerah Brumley)</li><li>Extinction Point (Richard Paolinelli)</li></ul><p></p><p>Luna</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Luna Sea (Jody Lynn Nye)</li><li>Samaritan (Karl K. Gallagher)</li></ul><p></p><p>Mars</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Human, Martian—One, Two, Three (Kevin J. Anderson)</li><li>The Clockwork King of Mars (C.T. Phipps)</li></ul><p></p><p>Jupiter</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Sunward (Jeb Kinnison)</li><li>Freeze (Jane Lebak)</li></ul><p></p><p>Saturn</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Clockwork Copper and the Priestess of Mystery (J.M. Anjewierden)</li><li>Doing My Job (Dana Bell)</li></ul><p></p><p>Uranus</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Room to Breathe (Marina Fontaine)</li><li>Muddification (Clint Hale)</li></ul><p></p><p>Neptune</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Dogfisherman (Edward Ahern)</li><li>The Lost Wind (David Breitenbeck)</li></ul><p></p><p>Pluto</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>The Heart of Pluto (Christine Chase)</li><li>A Brush (J.D. Arguelles)</li></ul><p></p><div><br /></div><p><br /></p>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-87112176434435277042022-11-09T22:09:00.000-07:002022-11-09T22:09:09.702-07:00The Whirlwind Continues<p>This week, I'm doing a presentation at <a href="https://www.fyrecon.com/">Fyrecon </a>titled "Structure, Outlines, and Other Things Pantsers Hate". Next week I'll be at the 20 Books to 50K writing conference in Las Vegas. I recently released Breakdown, book 2 in the Polecat Protocol series.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B8MW928H" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1150" data-original-width="1150" height="283" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKvonPzoWI02i9QtxgwvlpTp4buncGgPU5rAZS7TfwD3J-MFzNXutBuWjJsO5DMXWCnsh7LbUrdhV81jNGjmcamMHlswaNV8iLpxFCXZBYQ0yNu6vILsILZe5IvQBY-UgtapRuynR-0e81UFH-dZIGjfLj7dhmsDig1QwFHFgl6QklGSc5A0mxZTf6/w283-h283/2%20Breakdown%20square%20ad.png" width="283" /></a></div><p>Add to that edits for book 3 in that series, assembling a Best-of anthology for the Planetary Anthology series, and editing two novels for a local small press, and I wonder when I'll have time to sleep.</p><p>Then there's the day job that runs 40-50 hours per week. I don't recommend a schedule like this since many people don't do well with so many irons in the fire. Sometimes I wonder how well <i>I</i> do at it. My problem is that I don't really know how to sit and do nothing. Relaxation means digging out a favorite project instead of a required project.</p><p>Such is the life of a creator. I love to build things. Woodworking, writing, editing, electronics, software, they all count as creative outlets for me. Those things all recharge my batteries so I can go out and socialize again.</p><p>What is your passion? If you're not sure, find something worth dedicating time to. Learn something new. Expand your horizons.</p><hr /><p>Need something to read? I've got Science Fiction: The Polecat Protocol trilogy.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B8H2YX97" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="366" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcgrRRxSlHigtm8FtiEDB5cH--3CEKE7ENue6L8IO1fMDsJT7jJBku27i45eL1MU-V0JyPPs1DvGDkESLt196FXlt7tb8fG2h9HgdTFtuml6CbefgeZJSdxx3wxL2Pus-y3KzqjA1TUcDlVI67tJIPEoSLGDNx8VQksqLRIPMMls7LQUCRU0mXtgN-/w137-h112/PP%20Series.jpg" width="137" /></a></div><p>I've got Fantasy: The Riland Throne trilogy.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07GVG946N" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="368" height="111" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg2iJnc6oudQsb-rekSSK4rEI9uFS403hp4SuXs9d5NWAzjPJq2LMGM_P2dwazOefxdaB6X9EiDhaqrj4nn03Ruxpj6Y4K6ATyJci4UfWU0DzwJUPkjTR8ltNVcuTLJGhVAtNwffgRs7Yk8HNa1mGbcmzxfkTt1_VdNo3ntYfTkjo7dyu82dCL1vec3/w136-h111/RilandThrone.jpg" width="136" /></a></div><div><br /></div><p>And I've got a bunch of short stories in anthologies, including this collection that's all mine:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B18XB6S2" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1350" data-original-width="900" height="144" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvQccoYT7n3Jn_g2CiVng4zTnNWfSlyf_FNOasjcIA_zzQoZih1gB3iscBQmRi00TjmvDJFM65K8oESog2jm5dbGLfaveYnRi3Oz_1McRd9R9f6CnDrOkYsM7lxDDmIjPmolc82hPn8oNmEg2n5vdiRVCajiCDci_Ox9_cIX-bsqzsBoJdGzJyVfZl/w96-h144/Adaptive%20Reasoning%20(Small).jpg" width="96" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-41229586513763321052022-08-22T14:15:00.002-06:002022-08-22T14:15:46.261-06:00Quills Conference<p> I've had a week of recovery time now, so I figured I should report on how the League of Utah Writers Quills Conference went.</p><p>The coolest thing for me was to be awarded the first annual Emerald Typewriter award. The League added published short works to the writing contest this year, and I took top honors out of all the categories with my story Death by Misadventure, which appears in the anthology <i>Unmasked: Tales of Risk and Revelation</i>. (You can click on the book cover image)</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFOZGn7k9sztyr2DBHbiCBo_91aDFv_ym9KZcz_UuGrGOatA7kxrxHRjhlwVznWIYqzzPDcxRzUHOqlo7GQlosa8og-SXWBUctlezKN9_ek2K4sCGcz6X4s7ugXg2CYl23TdlgYmsEK8IBHNoeWCBhO3pVyQLnlaB3dzpDknw6eaXOGpUbtGLP9DXp/s4032/EmeraldTypewriter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2268" data-original-width="4032" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFOZGn7k9sztyr2DBHbiCBo_91aDFv_ym9KZcz_UuGrGOatA7kxrxHRjhlwVznWIYqzzPDcxRzUHOqlo7GQlosa8og-SXWBUctlezKN9_ek2K4sCGcz6X4s7ugXg2CYl23TdlgYmsEK8IBHNoeWCBhO3pVyQLnlaB3dzpDknw6eaXOGpUbtGLP9DXp/w303-h187/EmeraldTypewriter.jpg" width="303" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B5GBNMG3" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="322" height="253" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgp-d-1wE9A_AAbrgY3S7A5SreZVJAB-unc41IGdD2CvGdB8teYtpB689fPAo9j4w21aJ0lQnepqe6dWjuu6NrG9ylFqFInJlATYOW0Roabc1hRraKd8mG6GwFTYZw_mTpIW0JvaFv6itGqIvVhJS2u7j_AKlCNgCOBJVbXk1HipQh_eB6oeUGAi_9s/w163-h253/image.png" width="163" /></a></div><p>Outside of that, I spent a lot of time either teaching classes or helping with the book signings of several of our special guests. I really enjoy teaching classes, giving back to the writing community that was so welcoming to me a few years back when I got serious about my writing.</p><p>In other news, my book <i>Dicovery: Polecat Protocol Book One</i> came out in both print and ebook, but I didn't have enough time to take a box of them with me to the Quills Conference.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0B8GZTK9X" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="1504" data-original-width="1000" height="248" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgng1vK4NSpbSRanmDs8rukArDNhC2gVQ2iuGeF-AohvuEUegoLqCfhPAIbSFgFeF8gv_7FxG6mBimRLWgTI3Bf7AB1Ke92G7KZaLZou-dpOoA4HNlAj4i9ePkMYYKijrtONawmJOg7RBV9q6KpqigS-OO70Sr_E6T2-dSnN236vuyereSK3zVtGmQ/w165-h248/Discovery-ecover-small.jpg" width="165" /></a></div><div>Jericho Jackson looks forward to finishing one last job: a high-risk, high-pay mining gig on a tiny moon in a distant star system. A string of disasters throws the operation into life-threatening chaos as his team is cut off from outside contact. Even with their specialized training, if the power dies, his crew dies.</div><div><br /></div><div>Shanna Percival, his teammate and one-time girlfriend, keeps their equipment in top shape, but her tendency to stick her nose where it doesn't belong turns up a mysterious cache of data that shouldn't exist.</div><div><br /></div><div>Knowledge is power. Her discovery could be the ultimate key to overcoming the growing danger, but time is running out ...</div><p>If you've read it, I'd love to see a review. If you haven't, give it a look. I'm also looking for advance readers for books two and three coming out later this year, so drop me a line if you're interested in joining the team.</p>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-40993820827868122112022-06-18T12:08:00.005-06:002022-06-18T12:08:58.061-06:00Genre<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgO9HnO-Ht8nheyks4NikdmRqOzMbyq9FbY4CbCDssQQmhMztsMqZPD0L7DbmfykFPeLdzA8ieQubwUjG4M7966SyXaA0ThqP1f0XPzTQE366j1LpZ5hgzGkgAc9Dpm5wPs4oM6bwoLtT18t9Xd_exHEEc610JQUIKtZsCE6FlhJa43ds31eG_2HYg/s3800/Depositphotos_31076731_XL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3800" data-original-width="3800" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgO9HnO-Ht8nheyks4NikdmRqOzMbyq9FbY4CbCDssQQmhMztsMqZPD0L7DbmfykFPeLdzA8ieQubwUjG4M7966SyXaA0ThqP1f0XPzTQE366j1LpZ5hgzGkgAc9Dpm5wPs4oM6bwoLtT18t9Xd_exHEEc610JQUIKtZsCE6FlhJa43ds31eG_2HYg/s320/Depositphotos_31076731_XL.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>I have a presentation where I talk about lessons learned from 163 short story submissions over the course of eight years. I broke it down mostly by genre. Counting poetry as its own little sub-category, I wrote short pieces in eleven genres. That's a lot. Here's how they break down.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Fantasy</li><li>Folk Tale</li><li>Horror</li><li>Humor</li><li>Mainstrem</li><li>Poetry</li><li>Post-Apocalyptic</li><li>Religion</li><li>Science Fiction</li><li>Steampunk</li><li>Urband Fantasy</li></ul><p></p><p>Short stories are my experimental space. I try new things to see what works. I'd never spread myself so thin with novels. (John takes a peek at his novel-length writing...)</p><p>Oops. Guess what. I may not be quite as scattered, but here's the list of my novel-length fiction genres.</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Fantasy</li><li>Science Fiction</li><li>Biography (fictionalized)</li><li>Military Historical Fantasy (sort of a genre mash-up)</li></ul><div>I've also done technical writing included in about five or six how-to books related to computer graphics and artificial intelligence, but that was something like thirty years ago. Does that still count? Not really for the discussion on genre.</div><p></p><p>Many people tell authors to find a genre they love and to stick with it to have an easier path to success. This is because readers may like the science fiction I write, but may not be into fantasy. Sticking to one genre gives an author a more cohesive audience, and helps readers to find new stuff to read in their favorite genre by following the author.</p><p>The thing about that is that I think of myself as more of a generalized creator than an author in a specific genre. I grew up with my dad's library alphebetized by author. Thrillers and westerns sat next to science fiction and fantasy. I inherited that library and it sits in the room behind me on some shelves I built. It's still alphabetical by author.</p><p>This generalized concept of a creative doesn't stick to just writing, either. I've written software as my profession and as a hobby for decades. I do woodworking and calligraphy. I tinker with microcontrollers to run fancy Christmas lights. I've built a ukulele and Irish tin whistles. I still have a lego set that went with me to Brazil over 50 years ago. I like to creat things, and stories are one of those things I create.</p><p>I may focus primarily on one genre at a time (like how I'm doing more science fiction shorts now, and releasing my Polecat Protocol series this year), but my interests range pretty widely.</p><p>If you dig a little, I'm sure you'll find you have a list like mine, but with different content. If you want to bring out your creative side, maybe you will want to focus on one thing, like drawing dog portraits or bronze sculpture casting. Focus is a great way to become an expert and gain both skill and recognition. For others, being a generalist like me might work better.</p><p>Find your creative path and enjoy the ride.</p>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-32406575884530563322022-05-30T13:52:00.000-06:002022-05-30T13:52:15.336-06:00Coincidence or Convergence?<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPxx7cbZpkQ9rw7xD_Mk-mhAJq9ZSjziYTXXfzVd-xOT2gQXbbHT_jrdt7tomD4NHJ6ATR3112FSm8O1jnnE0pV9k1qFIrE1gZU3CVD9yZMEJAsozf4BHt8fx8PqxY-dsaGUL3Qi6PdwDe8uo_GrAv4i0P_nedvdEb6C6h6gaEQ5EbvxhqtORXH5Cw" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="662" data-original-width="527" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjPxx7cbZpkQ9rw7xD_Mk-mhAJq9ZSjziYTXXfzVd-xOT2gQXbbHT_jrdt7tomD4NHJ6ATR3112FSm8O1jnnE0pV9k1qFIrE1gZU3CVD9yZMEJAsozf4BHt8fx8PqxY-dsaGUL3Qi6PdwDe8uo_GrAv4i0P_nedvdEb6C6h6gaEQ5EbvxhqtORXH5Cw" width="191" /></a></div><br />It's Memorial Day, a day set aside to remember those who died while serving in the military. It's also been a weekend with an interesting coincidence.<p></p><p>I have a book coming out in the next few weeks called "High Hopes." It's an adventure story set in World War I about Marines, Biplanes, and gargoyles. It turns out that the publisher emailed me yesterday asking for some extra info such as an author bio and photo, and any dedication or acknowledgments.</p><p>Due to the holiday weekend, as well as the subject matter of the book, I thought I'd write a dedication a little different from my normal entry.</p><p style="text-align: center;"><i>To those who have risked or given their lives defending others.<br />And, as always, to Kelly.</i></p><p style="text-align: left;">Through this dedication, I'm able to take part in Memorial Day just a little bit more than normal. You see, I have two brothers, a son, a nephew, several neighbors, and a whole raft of friends who have served in the military. They all lived through their time on active duty, so I remember them on Veteran's Day instead.</p><p style="text-align: left;">For Memorial Day, my gratitude reaches to cover those I don't know who have given their lives. It's a small thing, but if you gather enough small things, it's no longer small.</p>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-45881762878562604692022-03-28T20:59:00.002-06:002022-03-28T21:01:09.234-06:00Apex Writers Group<p>I gave a presentation to the Apex Writers Group tonight talking about how to overcome the fear of failure. I had a long list of stories and examples, and had a lot of fun with the topic. If you're not failing from time to time, you're not setting high enough goals.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEganPqizVJA3InhbKEmlZGsCTxalhtW86LtBWgIjZI76B1yGI6JlL1wQZlAxsEfUTzR8CDI_Zffw8yT9c6_uDEaIqkD78Y3172ENSdD7kWiecQlzr4FFTaadLqpMRIJtQKt9Wb7ya7uELAUJ-GXVR5sz1bUvGlqYl4v9G4UnhgtimjMTg-abwQd8Lx7" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="912" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEganPqizVJA3InhbKEmlZGsCTxalhtW86LtBWgIjZI76B1yGI6JlL1wQZlAxsEfUTzR8CDI_Zffw8yT9c6_uDEaIqkD78Y3172ENSdD7kWiecQlzr4FFTaadLqpMRIJtQKt9Wb7ya7uELAUJ-GXVR5sz1bUvGlqYl4v9G4UnhgtimjMTg-abwQd8Lx7" width="228" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br />As one example,I set a goal in 2017 to receive 30 short story rejections, so I turned the negative of rejections into a scoring mechanism. I ended that year with 41 submissions, 34 rejections, and 7 sales. Without the weird goal, I wouldn't have submitted nearly as much or paid as much attention to submitting my short stories.<p></p><p>Speaking to that writing group can give you a strong case of Imposter Syndrome. If you look at their <a href="https://www.apex-writers.com/">website</a>, they list Brandon Sanderson and other NY Times bestseller authors as past presenters.</p><p>If you're interested in writing, check them out to see if the group is a good fit for you. It was Dave Farland's brainchild, but it's carrying on with others at the helm now that Dave's gone.</p>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-76864767760778143662022-02-24T22:16:00.003-07:002022-02-24T22:16:35.737-07:00Upcoming Writers Conference<p> We have a local writing conference coming up on April 23rd, 2022. Most of it will be online so you can sign up to attend the event from anywhere and view classes at your convenience. There will be an in-person keynote, but I think even that will be streamed live to attendees. For the book signing, that's a hard one to handle online, so you're on your own there. :)</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOf2WSTrzkqmLdg2hPVHAqPVLzwYH9vbkCETK2A9wYkjipbWeV2f5QOxH9R163wgOxcrYFKzo0rw1RHZY6SzMiRAcXVpzX-ZXJZ45VFPbPr4f2UnGNycVfxJtdDPY5rnRqK57feDmVhrZ0W1N5yL9R8KiHws5Xezf54_uyWxZubsWuuL8o5G3LyYUv" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="800" data-original-width="800" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjOf2WSTrzkqmLdg2hPVHAqPVLzwYH9vbkCETK2A9wYkjipbWeV2f5QOxH9R163wgOxcrYFKzo0rw1RHZY6SzMiRAcXVpzX-ZXJZ45VFPbPr4f2UnGNycVfxJtdDPY5rnRqK57feDmVhrZ0W1N5yL9R8KiHws5Xezf54_uyWxZubsWuuL8o5G3LyYUv" width="240" /></a></div><br />I've recorded three different classes for the conference.<p></p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Making Infinite Worlds in Finite Time</li><li>Short Story Prep and Submission</li><li>Care and Feeding of Your Amazon Author Account (This class is brand new.)</li></ul><div>Our spring conference is a one-day event, but the recorded classes will be available to all attendees both before and after the one live day. Come join us for a great conference!</div><p></p>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-25598859319766992302022-01-01T16:22:00.002-07:002022-01-01T16:24:34.787-07:002021 Review, 2022 Goals<p> 2021 was the year for stacking things up in the pipeline. I published three short stories and a poem, which is the least I’ve published in several years. The stories were each from a different genre, and the poem was my second published work of poetry, which I suppose means the first poem wasn’t a fluke. Each of these anthologies is cross-genre, so I've included a note to tell you the genre of my contribution.</p><p>Death by Misadventure, in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1680572261">Unmasked </a>(Urban Fantasy)</p><p>Living on Borrowed Time, in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09LGXVCF4">Strong at Broken Places </a>(Fantasy)</p><p>Time Machines Only Go One Way, in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B098GV3V5C">If Not Now, When</a> (Science Fiction)</p><p>Peter Sinks, in <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MSW5165">Beyond Beehives</a> (Poetry)</p><div>2022 will be the year of the pipeline. Remember that I mentioned I was stacking things up? I have a military UF novel coming out through a small press in Q1. I have a 50K-word science fiction short story collection to format and release in Q2 or early Q3. I’ll use the collection as a promo piece by including chapter 1 of the next novel in the queue. I’ve written two books of a trilogy with the third outlined, and I want to release them in Q3 and Q4 about a month or two apart.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4nys7HoZr5Y1DH-jjffW033L0yjhOF7slX0OdhwQzzvApq8gmmHCw4UMJXG1LY3PfSs18PJhjSg5KuijotzzEYdOq2bKl8oL0xU-RI5TdQDHmMYsorJuqQbT0HCbbBHZ81BR3Qoz7W-rjX-3pdtt6U2UaP35VqxvDZdoATz3Rs2mS-HURxTOLqLXC=s1920" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEg4nys7HoZr5Y1DH-jjffW033L0yjhOF7slX0OdhwQzzvApq8gmmHCw4UMJXG1LY3PfSs18PJhjSg5KuijotzzEYdOq2bKl8oL0xU-RI5TdQDHmMYsorJuqQbT0HCbbBHZ81BR3Qoz7W-rjX-3pdtt6U2UaP35VqxvDZdoATz3Rs2mS-HURxTOLqLXC=s320" width="320" /></a></div><p>If you’re local, or if I bumped into you at 20 Books to 50K in Vegas this past November, you might have seen the awesome cover art I picked up for the trilogy.</p><p>So that makes five novel-length releases planned for 2022. It’s not quite as scary as it sounds, since that only requires writing one novel from scratch, with the rest patiently waiting for me to get to them. The scariest part is the marketing plan for the trilogy. I have an experienced editor and an experienced book formatter (also both authors) in my group of gaming friends, so I’ll draw on a team of experts as I jump into the new year with both feet.</p><p>Now that I’ve shared my 2021 results and my 2022 goals, y’all can hold my feet to the fire as you watch for future reports. 😊</p><div><br /></div>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-12899173220938918332021-12-16T19:06:00.000-07:002021-12-16T19:06:00.842-07:00More Anthologies<p> I like to contribute to anthologies. You can tell that with a quick look at my Amazon author page. The short stories are a great way to experiment with new styles, techniques, and genres, and some calls for contributors have a narrow focus that can spur some interesting ideas.</p><p>This past month, the League of Utah Writers has published two anthologies, and my role differs between them.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09LGXVCF4" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7b_uHtKJ8oYfXNwjhR4lOeay6e7CK8lUIVEIpjjddsK00F3gzbbDMTneftgb9Kl8EKZm_aE5wXi-5FHhRqYsTk_-9wY4kl83_THNKxHb8Ni7dOUVrA9xWyu7_8uyF3i8pkc1O3XEhUr8/" width="150" /></a></div><br />The League published "Strong at Broken Places" on November 30th. This one was a lot of fun for me since I helped to pick the theme, contributed a story to it, helped to judge the stories, and got to write the foreword. The theme is based on an Ernest Hemingway quote, "The world breaks everyone and afterward many are strong at the broken places." I took that quote and chose to emphasize the idea of strength gained through adversity. My story in that volume is a fantasy story called <i>Living on Borrowed Time</i> where a young man is falsely imprisoned and meets a deranged magician the evening before they're both to be executed.<p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B09MSW5165" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLTPpzJBxvUWwXT1jmAHj7HnHnofj-dkYY4C7GFzBB9BnY-S5ifrY3Uuq5uuuwPAYZd2OTyRjUIhNzuxJkhCh9Vw0_RRoy_cXbWGH1qceyHozPYONaASjmjAfBziTGGmawMswxDMIYVW8/" width="150" /></a></div><br />Then, on December 14th, "Beyond Behives: Poetry & Prose Commemorating Utah's First 125 Years of Statehood" came out. I wrote a poem for that one based on an overnight winter scouting trip I took once to Peter Sinks, one of the coldest places in the lower 48 states. It's record low is -69°F. Rogers Pass in Montana has a record one degree colder, and Prospect Creek Camp, Alaska holds the record of -80°F.<p></p><p>If you're looking for opportunities to contribute to things like that, check with members of your local writing community, or visit the <a href="https://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/Home/">Submission Grinder</a> for ideas on where to submit stories and poetry.</p>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-63846640054071284092021-07-18T14:25:00.000-06:002021-07-18T14:25:42.820-06:00John's Unsupervised Kitchen Adventures<p> I decided today to make banana bread because we had some bananas that had gone past their peel-and-eat-by date. Then I remembered we had some blackberries in the fridge we needed to use. Kelly’s gone for the weekend to visit with family in Arizona and Nevada, so I have free reign of the kitchen. Some of my kitchen adventures turn out great, and others, not so much. Kelly sometimes rolls her eyes as if to say “What made you think that would work?”</p><p>It turns out I couldn’t find the baking flour, so I substituted whole wheat. Then the berry banana bread recipe called for strawberries or raspberries. Blackberries are a good enough substitute since they’re sorta like raspberries. Except for seeds. Blackberry seeds are horrible rocklike bits that are impossible to chew.</p><p>I got out the appropriate attachments to the mixer and ran all the berries through it to remove the seeds. Success! I now had a bowl of seedless berry goo.</p><p>The recipe also called for chopped nuts, but I ignored that part. It's a custom recipe already, and I didn't want to add walnuts. Everything went according to plan as a nice double recipe. I mixed it, ignored the deep purple color of the batter, and poured it into a multi-mini-loaf tray and two smallish loaf pans, and popped them all into the oven.</p><p>Then I noticed we had lemons, and leftover berry goo that didn’t fit into the bread recipe. Time for a smoothie! I squeezed a lemon, dumped in some of the berry goo, a third of a cup of sugar, some ice, and some leftover cream from making ice cream a couple weeks back. I threw in some mint from the front flowerbed just because I thought it would taste good. Kelly got a fancy new blender a couple months ago, and it takes reading a manual to make it do much of anything. I figured it out and blended everything up.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxr_jPE1vxeXgaRQTIRfOMXW-qyot5jHD6fegUlaLHCCxyeH3fBpWE3cXG_E3TphoRBJwQ3H0tzOuWwQc8J2HfuNHpybhLZb1gOxG-XVk1I0ApPkVGDy94i07S7VQQrWEAnwSolTfPGw/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjxr_jPE1vxeXgaRQTIRfOMXW-qyot5jHD6fegUlaLHCCxyeH3fBpWE3cXG_E3TphoRBJwQ3H0tzOuWwQc8J2HfuNHpybhLZb1gOxG-XVk1I0ApPkVGDy94i07S7VQQrWEAnwSolTfPGw/" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p>That was a good smoothie. It didn’t last long, and I had a whole hour to wait for the bread in the oven. I figured it would be fun to document my unsupervised kitchen antics, so I turned on the oven light, opened it up, and took a picture of the delicious-looking little loaves about half-way through their cook time.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkK4hUrmifPn8HRkPTinzy-YSkQMMngOjyzSHObmyXmT-EwXX_2T_aLR7it-ijNnVLNAqWQlFT-lbPE-GXmWrAsvtnXEu1iOUao5j9IV0VGBwrbuFGImNsTGV-SvrNDw72tCaYdzOJNtk/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1066" data-original-width="1895" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkK4hUrmifPn8HRkPTinzy-YSkQMMngOjyzSHObmyXmT-EwXX_2T_aLR7it-ijNnVLNAqWQlFT-lbPE-GXmWrAsvtnXEu1iOUao5j9IV0VGBwrbuFGImNsTGV-SvrNDw72tCaYdzOJNtk/" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p>The loaves aren’t as purple as I thought they’d be. More of a dark brown like I’d put cocoa in the mix. It was close enough to expectations that I wasn’t worried. But…</p><p>PLOT TWIST!</p><p>I put in the big tray of eight and two single loaf pans. Way up there at the back of the upper rack sat a third loaf pan. Not one of mine. Look at the top edge of the picture to the far right and you can barely see the bottom of an extra loaf pan.</p><p>It turns out that we made zucchini bread about two weeks ago. One of those pans never made it out of the oven since it got put way back where you can’t see it without bending down really low. A week ago, one of the kids baked stuffed peppers in the oven. We couldn’t figure out where the burned smell came from since the food came out great, and it hadn’t overflowed or spilled. Pretty weird, huh?</p><p>Then I discovered the culprit as I took my picture. I pulled the wayward loaf pan out before it could blacken any more or set of a smoke alarm. I snapped a picture and texted it to Kelly, who at the time was half-way between Mesa, Arizona and Las Vegas, Nevada. As I write this, she probably hasn’t seen the escapee loaf yet. It stuck as I tried to remove it. Nobody's eating that lump of charcoal.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaONc5iWC0qTbQ0o0YlWgjbxEChjx45iNj2aOZvV8fVgUOmtk8hK9wtLnDfdfyZO9o9jAVX1qDWs1E2JVkmkjp0N8j55Mc0hISw3Mtn3ECjyJ6p5ToBviK156SsLDNm61gHH1Ll89-s6k/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1109" data-original-width="1971" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaONc5iWC0qTbQ0o0YlWgjbxEChjx45iNj2aOZvV8fVgUOmtk8hK9wtLnDfdfyZO9o9jAVX1qDWs1E2JVkmkjp0N8j55Mc0hISw3Mtn3ECjyJ6p5ToBviK156SsLDNm61gHH1Ll89-s6k/" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioP3_AIBcp-j1XSb6EtPBaq_ubVeGICzYDJPG4Mli4sfEr4zTjXOy7RUd_UwMONvcXrhCXoy73wti3vppLwv83N_G1u10lxEJMfcHNC0A56_8rgIrO75loCulwL7_HC6jxS1SjnjUjmTY/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1102" data-original-width="1960" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEioP3_AIBcp-j1XSb6EtPBaq_ubVeGICzYDJPG4Mli4sfEr4zTjXOy7RUd_UwMONvcXrhCXoy73wti3vppLwv83N_G1u10lxEJMfcHNC0A56_8rgIrO75loCulwL7_HC6jxS1SjnjUjmTY/" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div></div><p></p><p>After an hour of baking, I checked on my creation, rubbing my hands together like an anxious Dr. Frankenstein. The metal probe I poked into the loaves came out clean. (I’m an engineer, not a baker. Probe sounds more accurate than metal toothpick thing-a-ma-jig.) It turns out the little loaves cooked faster and got a bit overcooked, even at ten minutes under the recommended time. Kelly probably could have warned me about that if she were here. Either that, or the small loaves overcooked in sympathy for their two-week-old incinerated brother-loaf.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHG5DCUg5zsx2ErsGh9WV1_ha6Rj1Io6hDsZgoE16fmBu5MasCr4ZMD0_jr0851nOHx3ZincYQuvj5g_eIDLYfdZ-hPypDZ9GXLdTEPRhU_AusD1bdai97_yNe7Ba7EIBum_0DAW_HDV0/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1043" data-original-width="1854" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHG5DCUg5zsx2ErsGh9WV1_ha6Rj1Io6hDsZgoE16fmBu5MasCr4ZMD0_jr0851nOHx3ZincYQuvj5g_eIDLYfdZ-hPypDZ9GXLdTEPRhU_AusD1bdai97_yNe7Ba7EIBum_0DAW_HDV0/" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p>You’re supposed to let them sit for ten minutes, and then move them from the pans to a wire cooling rack. I gave it at least five minutes as I stared at them, willing them to cool faster. Then I gave them at least one more minute as I chose a bread knife.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmOB7dmHRD5vp5Ctse3l01BD9ke90R_XDk7jSlR2aQQ_t_EMHEvAR8bQmL_p4NJKLyz7LLGtk99ejVTXDvb57isPxoEkdMCt09yJlVTlhY0vhyAnakiFaFpXgf7k7xRc5UxCH5-74vPcA/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1062" data-original-width="1887" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmOB7dmHRD5vp5Ctse3l01BD9ke90R_XDk7jSlR2aQQ_t_EMHEvAR8bQmL_p4NJKLyz7LLGtk99ejVTXDvb57isPxoEkdMCt09yJlVTlhY0vhyAnakiFaFpXgf7k7xRc5UxCH5-74vPcA/" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p>There’s just a hint of purple at the center that's hard to see in the pictures, and the crust is a deep brown caused by the whole wheat flour and berries. The larger loaves didn’t overcook at all, indifferent toward the plight of the extra-crispy zucchini stowaway loaf.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTHL5nXEqkeNk737kKbeCWlJ-k32w-y5s7kH0WwRWf263UAxZD7aWGZMLl9glxdb5yZyWQvA2dshkbnKMLWN3hvoN-LoYU7VqtpD9-KnqDDQ9mm9p6a6ZUs-Gh46WZI4IVSVhosDUvU4/" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="1152" data-original-width="2048" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkTHL5nXEqkeNk737kKbeCWlJ-k32w-y5s7kH0WwRWf263UAxZD7aWGZMLl9glxdb5yZyWQvA2dshkbnKMLWN3hvoN-LoYU7VqtpD9-KnqDDQ9mm9p6a6ZUs-Gh46WZI4IVSVhosDUvU4/" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><p></p><p>I’ll call the whole-wheat-blackberry-banana bread experiment a success! Between that and the smoothie, I’m two-for-two today.</p><div><br /></div>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-56602805986521600112021-02-03T01:04:00.002-07:002021-12-16T19:08:31.347-07:00"Unmasked" anthology<p> Kevin J. Anderson is Director of a graduate writing program at Western Colorado University, and every year, his class puts together an anthology as part of their coursework. This year, the title of the anthology is "Unmasked."</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0934VV49J" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="322" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgWzIeJotyeTBEzS0UlJsLatm9XNfFPi8jC1X5IV5PXuqCaXluIEotrCbCZtH4ZppHPAt5aSgbXnd-TqAW9QHRxV-yEVmQq8adyVGt5TOKMTqQxwkvBD_DlqXyyPVw7ycS0idIvB6hKLc0/" width="155" /></a></div><br />A friend of mine, Melissa Dalton Martinez, is in that program, so it was a thrill to hear from her that my story "Death by Misadventure" had been accepted into the anthology. There was a strict word count limit, and I had to cut my story from 6500 words to 5000 before I could submit it. That edit pass was a painful and educational process.<p></p><p>The edit I just went through tonight was the result of both Melissa and Kevin running through the submitted story to fix up commas, typos, grammar, spelling, and all that fun stuff. The weird part is that reading through their edits, I saw exactly what I'd done wrong on most of them, and was surprised they'd slipped through my earlier edits. The moral of that story is that even editors need editors.</p><p>This anthology will come out later this year. I look forward to seeing it. Now it's time to finish up edits on two novels and get them both out this year. One I may have mentioned before is World War One with marines, biplanes, and gargoyles. The other is space miners fighting to survive on a distant outpost.</p><p>Yeah, I write in a lot of genres. For short stories, it's more extreme than with novels. I've published in ten genres plus poetry in short form. At least with novels, I've stuck so far to, um, three. Maybe four. But I certainly have fun with it!</p>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-56640667051461964482020-10-10T09:00:00.027-06:002020-10-10T09:00:00.796-06:00Even more chickensIn case you haven't succumbed to the temptation to buy the <i>Cracked</i> anthology yet, here's another excerpt from my story <i>Stray Thoughts</i> below. You know, because everyone deserves to add funny chicken stories to their life. Twenty cooped-up authors are here to distract you from the outside world for a romp through chicken-infested goodness.<div><br /></div><div>Poke the chickens to find special content and a giveaway.<br /><div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.silverdaggertours.com/sdsxx-tours/CRACKED-book-tour-and-giveaway" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;" target="_blank"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdMD7QH5K0BGyPy4itUz2dOqNaWexQRu0u-Lw8GUJjw0rfkTWVFKJeEsjsttfNSOqLK9K3Wti1jXmtVfGH4POENzSQOndDTe0a-AQFV308Bv2Lf5JtrGeP95tmjJfMgPgICFuQsc8gM-U/s320/cracked+banner.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div>This is from a little farther into <i>Stray Thoughts</i> than my first excerpt a few days ago, but it can still give you a feel for the flavor of my story. It's not much like the other stories in the collection, so plan for a lot of variety in how your chicken is served.</div></div><div><br /></div><hr /><div><br /></div><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><span> </span>“You all stay in the henhouse. I’d hate to see anyone take you and run off.” Delores latched the henhouse door, then ambled over to the top of the stairwell to sit in her comfy padded chair, the one with the pretty floral pattern. The chair sat behind the steel armor plating she’d assembled as a barricade across the top of the staircase. It wouldn’t do to stand up every time she had to guard her home from intruders. She waited and listened, ready to shoot if it was those blasted thugs again.</div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><span> </span>“Hello?” It sounded more like a young girl than a thug. “Is anyone there?” Maybe a teenager.</blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><span> </span>“Go away.”</div></div></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><div><div><span> </span>“I…I heard you had food up here.”</div></div><div><div><span> </span>“Unless you have a power inverter to trade, I’ve got nothing for you. Go back where you came from.” Delores couldn’t go around taking in strays. The garden had allowed her to build up a little store of dried vegetables for a rainy day, but the rooftop garden and the chickens were hers. If she started sharing, a dozen beggars would appear before long, and she couldn’t support so many. </div></div><div><div><span> </span>The girl’s voice echoed back up the stairwell. “I can’t stay where I came from. The canned food ran out. I don’t dare go to the settlement after I saw them out hunting. I saw how they treat people there.”</div></div><div><div><span> </span>“Did they see you? Did they follow you?” Delores knew better than to care what happened to the girl, but she didn’t want trouble with the thugs from the settlement if she could avoid it.</div></div><div><div><span> </span>“No, I don’t think so.”</div></div><div><div><span> </span>“Good. Then go away, like I said.”</div></div></blockquote><br /><hr /><br /><div>You can find <i>Cracked </i>on Amazon and review it there and on Goodreads.</div></div></div><div><p class="MsoNormal"><a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55208624-cracked"><b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Goodreads</span></b></a><b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> * </span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H5W48ZH"><b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;">Amazon</span></b></a><b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"> </span></b><span face=""Calibri",sans-serif" style="mso-bidi-font-family: Arial;"><o:p></o:p></span></p></div>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-70483569696146902822020-09-18T09:00:00.022-06:002020-09-18T09:00:00.466-06:00Chickens galore<p> I have a new story out this month, so I joined up as part of the blog tour to get the word out. Follow the blog tour <a href="https://www.silverdaggertours.com/sdsxx-tours/CRACKED-book-tour-and-giveaway" target="_blank">here</a> for a special contest and giveaway! This collection of stories came about because the editor, Bokerah Brumley, mentioned how funny it would be to put such a collection together as a cure for boredom induced by pandemic isolation. People responded. Within minutes, the project transformed from "wouldn't it be funny" to "here's where you send submissions."</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.silverdaggertours.com/sdsxx-tours/CRACKED-book-tour-and-giveaway" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="238" data-original-width="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivtYu6pH-95AI7dOBNvCWdRH8kLBmlEuPT7aQECmZ9YaOawOh8qmguboDp_IRWprb-gZjq5Qd0dY-b4-MtuvEnngjeC8CefXQXTZKKx3Geg_SGVsqCDjN5ynZGBQHclPL-oNzCiibdQJU/s320/cracked+banner.png" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Due to the magic of high-speed editing, I submitted a story to her within a few hours of her call for submissions. That's a record for me, but it only worked because I had a story that nearly qualified, and needed just a few tweaks. Instead of more cowbell, it needed more chickens.</p><p class="MsoNormal">Stories by:</p><p>J. F. Posthumus, Cedar Sanderson, J Trevor Robinson, Richard Paolinelli, Jane Lebak, J. D. Beckwith, Grace Bridges, Denton Salle, Margo Bond Collins, J. A Campanile, Amber Draeger, Karina Fabian, Abigail Falanga, Clair W. Kiernan, L. Jagi Lamplighter, David Millican, John M. Olsen, Dawn Witzke,Joshua M. Young, Bokerah Brumley</p><p>Here's an excerpt from my story <i>Stray Thoughts</i> to show a bit of the flavor of my story. Don't expect the whole collection to be like this, since mine may be the only post-apocalyptic story in the book. Interesting tidbit: I wrote the story before COVID-19 hit, so the plague of my story was NOT inspired by the real thing.</p><hr /><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p><span> </span>Delores fetched today’s eggs and brought them to her outdoor kitchen.</p></blockquote><blockquote style="border: none; margin: 0px 0px 0px 40px; padding: 0px; text-align: left;"><p> She turned on her hotplate and waited for it to warm up, filling the time with conversation. “You remember last year? Things were different. I had that run-down basement apartment. I was arguing with the landlord over rent when the news came on about a new strain of flu spreading real fast-like. A few hours later, the city went dark. Landlord Bob didn’t last much longer, God rest his miserable soul. Turns out it wasn’t the flu, but nobody lasted long enough to name it.” She shook her head at the memories.</p><p><span> </span>The birds always enjoyed her stories, even when she told the same ones every day. She waved a hand over the hotplate and frowned, then prodded it with a bare finger. The coiled element was cold. She wiggled the plug and the wiring, and still got no power. Shrugging, she toddled over to the power inverter that ran her tiny kitchen. The lights on it were dead.</p></blockquote><hr /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIdjD907OBkxuMYSHF4DCTfy86mKpJ0qDo_MBTl4oe69F2ydt5DVXCypc5tffd6EO6DYJWCcZ1X-OQuqia6GHaYzzAdKai2s5ilSO6TysJ4K4FpYDjjHbONznjEta3Ewca_nX8La3Mpw/s265/Interior.PNG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="256" data-original-width="265" height="164" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHIdjD907OBkxuMYSHF4DCTfy86mKpJ0qDo_MBTl4oe69F2ydt5DVXCypc5tffd6EO6DYJWCcZ1X-OQuqia6GHaYzzAdKai2s5ilSO6TysJ4K4FpYDjjHbONznjEta3Ewca_nX8La3Mpw/w170-h164/Interior.PNG" width="170" /></a></div><p>I love the book;s attention to detail on formatting. This chicken comes from the print version.</p><p>Buy it now! <a href="https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55208624-cracked"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Goodreads</span></b></a><b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"> * </span></b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08H5W48ZH"><b><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;">Amazon</span></b></a></p>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-46366332513904730272020-09-01T16:14:00.001-06:002020-09-01T16:14:18.705-06:00Collective Darkness Anthology<p> Elizabeth Suggs, the editor for a horror anthology Collective Darkness, interviewed me a couple of days ago. I wrote the forword for the collection she edited.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" class="BLOG_video_class" height="266" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/drXZUfQfW3k" width="320" youtube-src-id="drXZUfQfW3k"></iframe></div><br /><p>While I don't consider myself a horror writer, I'm in two horror anthologies put out by the Utah chapter of the Horror Writers of America. This forword was a great chance for me to introduce a work that consists of a nice mix of already-published authors and some new voices, so it's a good chance to find a new favorite author.</p><p>Click on the book to take a look at it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1734890525" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="499" data-original-width="333" src="https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon.com/images/I/51LlQUN-fvL._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-7979259904669199082020-08-18T16:01:00.001-06:002020-08-18T16:01:22.058-06:00League of Utah Writers, Quills Conference 2020<p>The League of Utah Writers Quills 2020 conference is over. It was memorable for seveal reasons.</p><p>1. I'm the new President of the League. Johnny Worthen has moved to become the Past-President and Bryan Young has become the President-Elect.</p><p>2. I got to participate in a commemorative 85th year anthology <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08DNJBQHN">The Function of Freedom</a></i> as a contributor, an editor, and in writing some closing remarks. It contains work from a wide range of League members in several genres, including poetry and essay along with speculative fiction. My story <i>Give and Take</i> tells of a man working to make up for a past he regrets as he slaves in the mines to extract bits of magic from the ground.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51IRt8nkQSL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="500" data-original-width="313" src="https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/51IRt8nkQSL.jpg" /></a></div><p><br /></p><p>3. The conference was entirely online with some pre-recorded classes, live Q&A, live workshops, live one-on-one pitches with agents and editors, our annual writing contest awards, and even a social room for chat and networking with fellow-attendees. Live would be better in most cases, but we were able to pull people in who would otherwise never be able to come.</p><p>It was a great event and I look forward to working with a great team.</p><div><br /></div>John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-11046657113255473972020-07-04T17:08:00.001-06:002020-07-04T17:08:21.375-06:00Yes, I'm still here<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's kind of funny that in February I mentioned that conference season was set to begin. COVID-19 had other plans, and I haven't been to a live conference since. I may not have a chance to mingle with fans and authors in person for the rest of the year, but health and safety are important. I'd hate to see COVID turn into a mega-con-crud infection.<br />
<br />
For the League of Utah Writers, we moved both the spring conference and the upcoming <a href="http://quillsconference.com/">Quills Conference</a> in August to online formats. The Spring conference went well, and we've got some great guests lined up. This August I'll migrate from President-Elect of the League to become President, most likely for a year.<br />
<br />
In other news, I'm actively working on a whole raft of projects.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I'm working with an editor on my biplanes-and-gargoyles novel, due to be published later this year.</li>
<li>I sent in edits for a Christmas ghost story about a week ago.</li>
<li>I've got a story in a re-released <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08563QHGZ">Earth Planetary Anthology</a> coming out next week.</li>
<li>I just approved a proof copy of an anthology for the League of Utah Writers where I have a short story on the function of freedom, and need to send in an author bio today.</li>
<li>Add to that the short-ish sci-fi novel (under 60k words) I'm doing first-pass edits on, and my cup runneth over.</li>
<li>I've started to assemble a short story collection, pulling in several reprints and some never-published stories to round out the mix. Just today I realized I've got a short story due to be published in August that I'd failed to put into my spreadsheets, and it fits into the collection.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Later today I'll go outside with my family and cook burgers, then set off fireworks for Independence Day.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
COVID has changed how I do things, but I've still got a task list longer than I can finish. :)</div>
</div>
John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-8252367065052761642020-02-13T09:15:00.003-07:002020-02-13T09:19:19.861-07:00Life the Universe and Everything<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's that time of year again. Conference season has begun. I'm starting off my tour with <a href="http://ltue.net/">LTUE </a>this weekend. If you are somewhere near Provo, Utah, stop by to say hello. If you<pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done pwa-span-hovered" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="'re not going to" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by using: will not" data-pwa-id="pwa-48A836767CB5F26CEC7C4B26BA8D5B7E" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_1664" data-pwa-suggestions=" will not"><pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="'re not going to" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by using: will not" data-pwa-id="pwa-AF566114F02CBB176929ACA19FAE06AA" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_1664" data-pwa-suggestions=" will not">'re not going to</pwa></pwa> register for the (rather inexpensive) conference, there is a free-to-the-public book signing Friday night.<br />
<br />
This conference is a great time to meet with friends and to do some networking. I hope <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="grammar" data-pwa-dictionary-word="to also do" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Split infinitive. Some people strongly object to this type of construction, especially in formal writing. If your reader is likely to object to the split infinitive, rewrite the sentence to avoid its use." data-pwa-id="pwa-85AE7D3F6FD2C0A5DC5FF62072E296B4" data-pwa-rule-id="SPLT_INFI" data-pwa-suggestions=""><pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="grammar" data-pwa-dictionary-word="to also do" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Split infinitive. Some people strongly object to this type of construction, especially in formal writing. If your reader is likely to object to the split infinitive, rewrite the sentence to avoid its use." data-pwa-id="pwa-60DD19B3A97C39B666AAB920B915C87E" data-pwa-rule-id="SPLT_INFI" data-pwa-suggestions="">to also do</pwa></pwa> a little recruiting for the League of Utah Writers since we have our Quills conference coming up in August. (Spring Conference schedule <pwa class="pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="is already mostly set" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-446A13BA4CA303CEE63957828B59A0F7" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions=""><pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="is already mostly set" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-B16AA096A7F953940E195EAFB57AED5E" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions="">is already</pwa></pwa><pwa class="pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="" data-pwa-dictionary-word=" mostly" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Consider adding a comma before 'mostly'" data-pwa-id="pwa-8F3BEE9A37D3BC9F9C406958D6B07E50" data-pwa-rule-id="ADVERB_COMMA" data-pwa-suggestions=", mostly"><pwa class="pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="is already mostly set" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-446A13BA4CA303CEE63957828B59A0F7" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions=""><pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="is already mostly set" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-B16AA096A7F953940E195EAFB57AED5E" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions=""> mostly</pwa></pwa></pwa><pwa class="pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="is already mostly set" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-446A13BA4CA303CEE63957828B59A0F7" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions=""><pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="is already mostly set" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-B16AA096A7F953940E195EAFB57AED5E" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions=""> set</pwa></pwa>.)<br />
<br />
A cool bonus: I got copies of <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Empire-Riland-Throne-Book-ebook/dp/B082FKG2QH">Crystal Empire</a> in time to bring them, so it will be in the vendor room along with the rest of the series, and with a few anthologies I'm in.<br />
<br />
Here is my LTUE schedule:<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
How to Judge a Book</h3>
Friday 10:00 AM<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
David Farland</div>
M. Todd Gallowglas<br />
John M. Olsen (Moderating)<br />
Tony Daniel<br />
<br />
We all know never to judge a book by its cover, but how do we judge it? Every bookworm has their own <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="spelling" data-pwa-dictionary-word="neverending" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Unknown word: neverending" data-pwa-id="pwa-406E7130F3C8B311749B0EB6E9C6EA52" data-pwa-rule-id="SIMPLE_SPELLING" data-pwa-suggestions="never-ending"><pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="spelling" data-pwa-dictionary-word="neverending" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Unknown word: neverending" data-pwa-id="pwa-8F65E280ABB1837D5EE6CC66FDD4D0F6" data-pwa-rule-id="SIMPLE_SPELLING" data-pwa-suggestions="never-ending">neverending</pwa></pwa> reading list. How do we decide which books to read and which books to skip?<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Book Signing Event</h3>
<pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="grammar" data-pwa-dictionary-word="(" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Make sure that all of the quotations and brackets in this paragraph are closed." data-pwa-id="pwa-56B4254235B6CA0E9DE616B397C978A0" data-pwa-rule-id="STRUCTURED_PUNCTUATION" data-pwa-suggestions="">(</pwa>Free to the public)<br />
Friday 6:30 - 8:00 PM<br />
<br />
This is the author signing to beat all author signings. Introduce yourself to your favorite authors and get your books signed. Bring your own books, and/or purchase select titles onsite. This is one event not to <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="be missed" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-B9AA8710C1A13E94F61627BDF13B0093" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions=""><pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="be missed" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-74C468BBE2393A47237C6AF819A6E608" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions="">be missed</pwa></pwa>!<br />
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Feedback, Critiques, and Criticism</h3>
Friday 6:00 PM<br />
<br />
C.H. Hung<br />
Kenneth Hunter Gordon<br />
John M. Olsen<br />
Jessica Guernsey<br />
Quiana Chase<br />
Michael F. Haspil<br />
<br />
How to critique the works of others without hurting their feelings. Can you still be friends after that dreaded critique session?<br />
<br /></div>
John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-35690159263239087782020-01-12T20:19:00.000-07:002020-01-12T20:19:01.641-07:00Out with the old, in with the new<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Another year in the books. (books! Get it?) Let's see what the master story submission spreadsheet shows.<br />
<br />
In 2019 I had seven short story acceptances and one novel on twenty-<pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="grammar" data-pwa-dictionary-word="one submissions" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Don't use the numeral 'one' with plural words. Did you mean 'one submission', 'a submission', or simply 'submissions'?" data-pwa-id="pwa-450B62B426D7CB1AC28CCBACAB6079FE" data-pwa-rule-id="ONE_PLURAL" data-pwa-suggestions="one submission~a submission~submissions">one</pwa><pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="grammar" data-pwa-dictionary-word="one submissions" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Don't use the numeral 'one' with plural words. Did you mean 'one submission', 'a submission', or simply 'submissions'?" data-pwa-id="pwa-450B62B426D7CB1AC28CCBACAB6079FE" data-pwa-rule-id="ONE_PLURAL" data-pwa-suggestions="one submission~a submission~submissions"> submissions</pwa>, which is one less win on the same number of submissions from 2018. My acceptance rate is still <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="pretty " data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by removing this" data-pwa-id="pwa-F5DE461C5C66E3FC5655FCC3ACD20747" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_464" data-pwa-suggestions="(omit)">pretty </pwa>good at about 33%, so I'm <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="pretty " data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by removing this" data-pwa-id="pwa-7D40476555E369F1A5AFA64F3EE6391E" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_464" data-pwa-suggestions="(omit)">pretty </pwa>happy with how things went.<br />
<br />
I also had a novel, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B082FKG2QH/">Crystal Empire</a>, come out this year. That makes about one novel a year. I'll keep that going with the novel I just turned into the publisher for review last December. It <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="was provisionally accepted" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-674DADF37C1BE3F44B7874DA28239FDA" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions="">was provisionally accepted</pwa>, so we'll see in a month or two what the publisher thinks.<br />
<br />
My overall short story total sold is now twenty-seven. That is <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="starting to sound" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by using: sounding" data-pwa-id="pwa-8FC421C5641B797611D58649BC9BB84A" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_1281" data-pwa-suggestions="sounding">starting to sound</pwa> normal to me, where the number would have been pie-in-the-sky fantasy when I got started.<br />
<br />
What's next?<br />
<br />
This coming year I'd like to put out a collection of my Science Fiction stories, and another of Fantasy stories. I have enough of each to top 40,000 words for each collection if I don't mix in the sub-genres of Steampunk and Urban Fantasy. If I added those, I'd be over 70,000 per collection.<br />
<br />
I also plan to keep submitting short stories, but I may ramp back a little to make more time for the next series. I'll spend more time shopping my stories to the higher paying markets to see if I can disqualify myself from Writers of the Future by either winning, or by selling too much pro-grade work.<br />
<br />
Speaking of a new series of novels, I<pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="'m going to" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by using: will" data-pwa-id="pwa-6A4486862121BD782DE295F266042D9E" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_1482" data-pwa-suggestions=" will">'m going to</pwa> <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="start outlining" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by using: outline" data-pwa-id="pwa-5244E21759194B255F344630D8E4CF21" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_712" data-pwa-suggestions="outline">start outlining</pwa> this thing soon. Now that I know I have what it takes to finish a series, it's time to apply all my recent lessons and new skills to a whole new project. I think I'll hit science fiction this time around. Working with <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="grammar" data-pwa-dictionary-word="small" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Possible missing determiner" data-pwa-id="pwa-1825A633BA182345F2825630267BF354" data-pwa-rule-id="DET_CG_2" data-pwa-suggestions="a small~the small">small</pwa> press and self-pub, I have <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="a bit " data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by removing this" data-pwa-id="pwa-896E5765DC9C32059536C5022EE224E5" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_449" data-pwa-suggestions="(omit)">a bit </pwa>more flexibility to write what I want, and I like that.<br />
<br />
Another big change for this year is that in August I will migrate from President-Elect to President of the League of Utah Writers. That will <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="certainly " data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by removing this" data-pwa-id="pwa-F60BAD1F00A216450856398238403940" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_465" data-pwa-suggestions="(omit)">certainly </pwa>slurp up some of my time, as being President-Elect has for the past year-and-a-half. I enjoy giving back to the writing community that has taught me so much over the past few years.<br />
<br />
2019 short story sales:<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07YFCMJ5L/">A Little Help from my Friends</a> (an essay in How I Got Published and What I Learned Along the Way)<br />
Stalemate (Secret Lunar Wars anthology should be out in 2020)<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07RHPMFWZ/">Maintenance Mode</a> (Mecha anthology)<span class="rangySelectionBoundary" id="selectionBoundary_1578884778439_9320789846071649" style="display: none; line-height: 0;"></span><br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07WJXVR9D/">Retirement Plan</a> (<pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="spelling" data-pwa-dictionary-word="Storyhack" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Unknown word: Storyhack" data-pwa-id="pwa-F27E1B00FE22FF0D912835B3FA835156" data-pwa-rule-id="SIMPLE_SPELLING" data-pwa-suggestions="Story hack">Storyhack</pwa> Issue 4)<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07Y9HGGN6/">Providence Canyon</a> (Heard at a Utah Diner anthology)<br />
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1700387685/">The Bannik and the Soap</a> (Fae and Fate anthology)<br />
Designated Survivors (A cancelled anthology. Going to sell it again soon, I hope.)<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-83518249888360771432019-11-03T09:08:00.001-07:002019-11-03T09:08:56.083-07:00November Status Update<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
There's a lot going on this month.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>I'm writing a novel for <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="spelling" data-pwa-dictionary-word="NaNoWriMo" data-pwa-heavy="false" data-pwa-hint="Unknown word: NaNoWriMo" data-pwa-id="pwa-B2C94F0DECD90C255B358379843FD2D7" data-pwa-rule-id="SIMPLE_SPELLING" data-pwa-suggestions="nonfarm~nanowires~nonword~nanowire~pinworm">NaNoWriMo</pwa>.</li>
<li>I'm prepping for a December 17th release of Crystal Empire.</li>
<li>I'm editing another author's novel.</li>
<li>I'm spending extra time at the day job in a software crunch.</li>
<li>We host 20-35 people for Thanksgiving, depending on the year.</li>
<li>The daughter's boyfriend will visit from Chile if he can get a flight out.</li>
</ul>
<div>
Some of that, including some Crystal Empire pre-release art is in my November newsletter that you can find <a href="https://mailchi.mp/a0f4e101a65b/writing-news-from-john-m-olsen-2172973">here</a>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I'm hoping for some time to sleep wedged in there each night. :)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
If you sign up for my newsletter through the link at the top of my blog, you get my monthly status updates and my monthly Reading Corner where I highlight a book, often selected from or by the authors I know.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-31902179539220094212019-08-25T17:05:00.002-06:002019-08-25T17:05:51.330-06:00Quills 2019 Report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
The League of Utah Writers just finished its 84th annual conference, renamed as the Quills conference last year. Since I'm the President-Elect of the League, I did a bunch of running around in the background. Luckily, I had a chance to catch a few of the awesome classes.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_Brv0d4JVYE1QU6iSfSoLy1-2HS-TYP56GQ0t2IBNOYvJPo2BEnjI2nkG8BZXlqUADMZXdB56XFxX4qt-lRuHCbQqkIdRXUQ6JxiDRjs7MZSe5dptSpg3bHhABHfYr84_uVhZ2wvMYg/s1600/LUW+Logo.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="359" data-original-width="324" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiD_Brv0d4JVYE1QU6iSfSoLy1-2HS-TYP56GQ0t2IBNOYvJPo2BEnjI2nkG8BZXlqUADMZXdB56XFxX4qt-lRuHCbQqkIdRXUQ6JxiDRjs7MZSe5dptSpg3bHhABHfYr84_uVhZ2wvMYg/s320/LUW+Logo.PNG" width="288" /></a></div>
<br />
We had Michael Stackpole and Anne Hillerman visiting and teaching, along with several amazing out-of-state and local editors who took pitches. The majority of the teaching staff of about 35 people was made up of local authors, but that also included some folks who have been in the business for a while. I would name more of the awesome people who came to help out, but it's easier if I direct you to the league website to the <a href="https://www.leagueofutahwriters.com/quills-conference-2019">Quills 2019 page</a>. (The page may flip over to another conference or vanish eventually, but should be good for a while.)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Shoulder-Wheel-Mormon-Steampunk-Anthology-ebook/dp/B07MZTPZZR/"><img border="0" data-original-height="300" data-original-width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQp7OkjwiYgEXFsm9AgzQ6vkSvG_9cw8KcvDTEDOTRfjMQQ-l0ozk68fm7tahBZ7YpKVqcGfFtHjhAsPVrSSV0GnyQY4lvZmTzikx4DQTkh2vQTKXosGSjMA5Ssc63cZVWrW2Ep0Lnk3g/s1600/put-your-shoulder-cover-small.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Aside from all the other winners in the writing contests, it turns out that an anthology I edited, <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Shoulder-Wheel-Mormon-Steampunk-Anthology-ebook/dp/B07MZTPZZR/">Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel</a> (published by Immortal Works), won a Gold Quill award. I'm officially an award-winning editor!<br />
<br />
We're already planning for next year, and we want to pull out the stops for an 85th conference in 2020, but before that we'll have a smaller locals-only one-day conference on April 18th. That one will be my responsibility, but we have a dedicated conference committee that knows what they're doing. They make my job much easier.</div>
John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-19335022914384575732019-06-23T14:56:00.002-06:002019-06-23T14:56:19.362-06:00FyreCon 3 Report<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I had a great time at <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="spelling" data-pwa-dictionary-word="FyreCon" data-pwa-hint="Unknown word: FyreCon" data-pwa-id="pwa-0FB967C5B73EC1A153C22B4B639117D0" data-pwa-rule-id="SIMPLE_SPELLING" data-pwa-suggestions="American~fourteen~foreign~France~forcing">FyreCon</pwa>, held June 20-22. I had a busy schedule, <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="consisting of" data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by using: comprising" data-pwa-id="pwa-BB47422D3B90B504BD7466F5C34BD0A5" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_945" data-pwa-suggestions="comprising">consisting of</pwa>:<br />
<br />
A book signing.<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Some friends stopped by to chat and I sold some books.</li>
</ul>
<br />
Three solo classes.<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Senses Beyond the Big Five: Expanding Your Descriptive Toolbox</li>
<li>Making Infinite Worlds in Finite Time</li>
<li>Beginning Calligraphy</li>
</ul>
<br />
One team-taught class with Lyn Worthen<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>Surviving the Slush Pile</li>
</ul>
<br />
A couple panels.<br />
<br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>The Future of VR and Video Games</li>
<li>Robots, Androids, and AI</li>
</ul>
<div>
Now I need to update my presentations page. That's where I keep a record of what I've done, and when. This year I <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="didn't teach anything" data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by using: taught nothing" data-pwa-id="pwa-8E480A94512D847A47AEA2CCDDCBD4A2" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_1661" data-pwa-suggestions="taught nothing">didn't teach anything</pwa> on writing short stories, but the Slush Pile class covered <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="a bit of " data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by removing this" data-pwa-id="pwa-D4DE5F17960706B7C16A77B615404245" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_449" data-pwa-suggestions="(omit)">a </pwa><pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="a bit of " data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by removing this" data-pwa-id="pwa-D4DE5F17960706B7C16A77B615404245" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_449" data-pwa-suggestions="(omit)">bit of </pwa>the same stuff.<span class="rangySelectionBoundary" id="selectionBoundary_1561322570866_5259829627644113" style="display: none; line-height: 0;"></span></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The Senses class was great <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="grammar" data-pwa-dictionary-word="fun," data-pwa-hint="It appears that you have an unnecessary comma in a compound predicate. Consider removing it." data-pwa-id="pwa-124229F92957B7966C8B82453017ED9F" data-pwa-rule-id="UN_COMMA" data-pwa-suggestions="fun">fun,</pwa> and was the first time I've covered that material. <pwa class="pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="" data-pwa-dictionary-word="It was inspired by my" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-7C58EEB3823E6BBCF0F670936DF0AA3F" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions="My inspired it">It <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="It was inspired by my panel" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-F90BA1C097D9D054D048BBC4CA6AEEE7" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions="My panel inspired it">was inspired</pwa> by my</pwa> panel at <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="spelling" data-pwa-dictionary-word="MisCon" data-pwa-hint="Unknown word: MisCon" data-pwa-id="pwa-F1155DB037E0E8A51B194A49D8339F38" data-pwa-rule-id="SIMPLE_SPELLING" data-pwa-suggestions="Miscon~Moscow">MisCon</pwa> a couple years ago talking about the senses involved in violence.</div>
<div>
<br />Infinite Worlds went well, and was a lot of fun reviewing ways of building background information on a world to give the characters something to do, whether they're aligned, opposed, or surprised by some aspect of the world around them.</div>
<div>
<br />Beginning Calligraphy was great fun as usual. I've taught that class I think four times now (three at <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="spelling" data-pwa-dictionary-word="FyreCon" data-pwa-hint="Unknown word: FyreCon" data-pwa-id="pwa-C46E4A89ED94D97DFF7C3E4B5E885FD4" data-pwa-rule-id="SIMPLE_SPELLING" data-pwa-suggestions="fourteen~France">FyreCon</pwa>) and it's cool to see people excited about an art form that doesn't see much attention.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Surviving the Slush Pile was a great chance to help new <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="spelling" data-pwa-dictionary-word="writiers" data-pwa-hint="Unknown word: writiers" data-pwa-id="pwa-B43299EFC7BD348CAC743F0580939061" data-pwa-rule-id="SIMPLE_SPELLING" data-pwa-suggestions="writers">writiers</pwa> <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="find ways to " data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by removing this" data-pwa-id="pwa-F467B6C76B20E9B1ADF9885CB3E385AA" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_1548" data-pwa-suggestions="(omit)">find ways to </pwa>get past the first round of gatekeepers. Once you have a fair amount of writing skill, success often <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="consists of" data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by using: comprises" data-pwa-id="pwa-A93DEA4B023448C3511CB6DA99CF589D" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_945" data-pwa-suggestions="comprises">consists of</pwa> being professional and following instructions.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
The VR and Video Game panel was me and Jay Barnson talking to several local game development veterans and <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="a couple of" data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by using: two" data-pwa-id="pwa-D8FB65371884576C7BA45ACEC88F922B" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_122" data-pwa-suggestions="two">a couple of</pwa> teenagers interested in games. I think we avoided <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="spelling" data-pwa-dictionary-word="traumetizing" data-pwa-hint="Unknown word: traumetizing" data-pwa-id="pwa-9757AA46E48A700442546B05C601446E" data-pwa-rule-id="SIMPLE_SPELLING" data-pwa-suggestions="dramatizing~traumatizing~dramatising">traumetizing</pwa> them with war stories.</div>
<div>
<br />Robots, Androids, and AI with Martin Shoemaker was great fun. We talked about the scientific views on AI and how that's too boring for fiction in most cases.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I attended a handful of classes and spent a little time at our bookstore table selling books, but I spent a lot of time on the honored tradition of networking and hanging out with friends, often in the Green Room (which was not <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="actually " data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by removing this" data-pwa-id="pwa-D8745DD4EAA0E527142A646A59A7EB2C" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_1820" data-pwa-suggestions="(omit)">actually </pwa>green).</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
This time around I was also representing the League of Utah <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="grammar" data-pwa-dictionary-word="Writiers," data-pwa-hint="It appears that you have an unnecessary comma in a compound predicate. Consider removing it." data-pwa-id="pwa-489A9D078ED640B2C66785CA3DB2650F" data-pwa-rule-id="UN_COMMA" data-pwa-suggestions="Writiers">Writiers,</pwa> and spent a little time supporting our volunteers there manning an information table. We have the League's Quills conference coming up in August, so we're getting the news out.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Overall, the conference was a great success. Attendance was up, several of my classes were near capacity, and <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="a great time was had by most" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-29EECF6BBCCAE2394AE5E43596FD1CC1" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions="most had a great time">a great time </pwa><pwa class="pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="" data-pwa-dictionary-word="was had" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-EEDE0607F4A9092EEA6D9AC22D98430C" data-pwa-rule-id="null" data-pwa-suggestions=""><pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="a great time was had by most" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-29EECF6BBCCAE2394AE5E43596FD1CC1" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions="most had a great time">was had</pwa></pwa><pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="a great time was had by most" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-29EECF6BBCCAE2394AE5E43596FD1CC1" data-pwa-rule-id="PASSIVE_VOICE" data-pwa-suggestions="most had a great time"> by most</pwa>. Problems with an elevator (not me), a low blood sugar incident (also not me), and other challenges <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="were dealt" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-601FB197150B0C2E08CAC7043E4AEB68" data-pwa-rule-id="null" data-pwa-suggestions="">were dealt</pwa> with quickly and smoothly.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-5611798815008105132019-04-16T12:42:00.000-06:002019-04-17T09:02:20.971-06:00Guest Blogging for Cannon Publishing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I wrote a guest blog post over at Cannon Publishing to talk about how to find a new favorite author. They've included one of my stories in their Hundred Worlds anthology.<br />
<br />
<a href="https://www.cannonpublishing.us/blog-1/how-to-find-a-new-favorite-author">Give the post a look!</a><br />
<br />
(They've been rearranging the blog links, so if that doesn't work just go to <a href="https://www.cannonpublishing.us/">https://www.cannonpublishing.us</a> and jump through the Blog link at the top.)<br />
<br />
<br /></div>
John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6529629171593858322.post-57896486929056190802019-02-24T18:30:00.000-07:002019-02-24T18:30:38.009-07:00More Anthologies<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
It's been one right after the other for a while. It's great when things like up like this. For anthologies released in three months!<br />
<br />
December 1, 2018 - <a href="https://amzn.to/2TPTPQj">The Hundred Worlds</a><br />
December 4, 2018 - <a href="https://amzn.to/2TP6WkJ">All Made of Hinges</a><br />
February 5, 2019 - <a href="https://amzn.to/2EvWg52">Put Your Shoulder to the Wheel</a><br />
February 14, 2019 - <a href="https://amzn.to/2U4RwbO">Trace the Stars</a><br />
<br />
Just as a point of reference, I wanted to show my amateur author rank numbers on Amazon to show what can happen with a rapid-fire release schedule. Those who know how the rankings work will not <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="be impressed" data-pwa-hint="Passive verbs make your writing less direct. Try to use an active verb instead." data-pwa-id="pwa-6FA8A1D93C619E64622360C57525943D" data-pwa-rule-id="null" data-pwa-suggestions="">be impressed</pwa> by the absolute numbers I show, but what I want to point out is that short fiction can have cool side effects. When an author can maintain a ranking, the Amazon algorithms can notice. I hope it is self-sustaining.<span class="rangySelectionBoundary" id="selectionBoundary_1551056213694_5622020669393482" style="display: none; line-height: 0;"></span><span class="rangySelectionBoundary" id="selectionBoundary_1551056205921_8734310709442543" style="display: none; line-height: 0;"></span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEief5pUsnmfyzmxbBKr-HNXBkZxsOy0SC7aHOcffx767_ibvYq2-0zkZrXM06ZL_9ixPS7WV8oIsaTPoXmU-Si_bVJPfDXu24QwDNCKuoLL_WLmpcnRI5X5TUM5vVG8Pq6a7Vf4GFC2ep0/s1600/Ranking.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="355" data-original-width="600" height="189" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEief5pUsnmfyzmxbBKr-HNXBkZxsOy0SC7aHOcffx767_ibvYq2-0zkZrXM06ZL_9ixPS7WV8oIsaTPoXmU-Si_bVJPfDXu24QwDNCKuoLL_WLmpcnRI5X5TUM5vVG8Pq6a7Vf4GFC2ep0/s320/Ranking.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Now, author rankings on Amazon don't <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="really " data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by removing this" data-pwa-id="pwa-4E1C9DDF1326097B38B8AF6AB1DC19DD" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_2264" data-pwa-suggestions="(omit)">really </pwa>mean a lot <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="in" data-pwa-hint="Use a plural noun after a plural quantifier" data-pwa-id="pwa-776D57E4D8E8AF6E843EA271CBFE69DB" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_2746" data-pwa-suggestions="ins">in</pwa> terms of dollars in the pocket. It works the other way around. Sell a lot, and your ranking goes up. Rankings are just one indicator <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="that " data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by removing this" data-pwa-id="pwa-AC50781FA44B979A3F68C9CA47AA74DF" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_1513" data-pwa-suggestions="(omit)">that </pwa>you have a little traction in the marketplace.<br />
<br />
I also have a story in a First Contact anthology coming out within the next month or two. It's been a great winter. Now I need to buckle down and finish my trilogy. I'm about 15,000-20,000 words from finished. It won't be out until probably <pwa class="pwa-mark pwa-mark-done" data-pwa-category="style" data-pwa-dictionary-word="sometime " data-pwa-hint="Readability may be enhanced by removing this" data-pwa-id="pwa-30348B0B82308FFD4BB8AC40B6A96115" data-pwa-rule-id="READABILITY_1276" data-pwa-suggestions="(omit)">sometime</pwa> in the fall.</div>
John M Olsenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04022040878903005030noreply@blogger.com0