Here we are gathered ‘round the fire again on a dark, cool spring evening, ready for stories. The old man listens to what the youngsters think are stories but which are really the ideas of outlines for stories. They amuse each other, but nothing is illuminated and he decides it is best to keep quiet until it’s his turn. There is no understanding of the events that are described, only incredulity at the fact they can’t get what they wanted. When it’s his turn, they roll their eyes and sip their drinks. One plays with the fire. When he is done, the youngsters sit in silence, digesting what they’ve heard. Then they decide it means nothing to their current state and go to bed having missed the point. The old man smiles. This is the way of the world. Tomorrow he will seek another audience.

Hi, I’m Jason. I tell stories you might like to read. Welcome.

ORGAN OF RECORD: Masque

The Envoy is continuing its run of sales every month since its release while I’m working on the re-write of its follow-up, MASQUE, Second of All the Devils Are Here. I’ve reached the point where I can add some scenes back in from the revised first draft and go ahead and apply select revisions so it all fits together seamlessly. I mentioned last time that this book has changed my process in any number of ways and that’s also continuing.

So at this point, two-thirds of the way into the story, I’m accomplishing everything I want to. The pace is good, I’m proud of the characters I’m developing (though there’s only one truly good person in the cast), and the world building is, well, I’m happy I don’t live in that world because it feels real to me. The test of all this is whether or not readers enjoy it. I’m really looking forward to finding out what you all think this summer.

All writers want to know if readers like their work. We tend to crave validation of some kind, especially in the form of money, but praise is an acceptable coin of the realm when readers offer it. So never hesitate to toss a rating or a couple of kind words out for us. Think of it as cookies and milk for Santa Claus: the more nice things we get, the more we keep doing what makes you happy.

If you want to keep up with my progress more often , you can follow along on my social media.

I’ve been posting a photo every week to let you know how many words I’ve been writing on the new draft of Masque. The links to Threads, Instagram, and Bluesky are at the top of the page, along with a link to my Tumblr which doesn’t get updated very often. It’s kinda sad, actually.Subscribe

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Creative Tension

It’s the time of year when I break out my copy of XTC’s Skylarking which is one of my all-time favorite records. I first heard about the band from a friend and co-worker of my Mom’s, Maria. She was a punk girl with spiky black hair, a pierced nose, and pink eye shadow who told me one day that she thought I’d really like them because I was super into the Beatles and PInk Floyd. I was a kid, early teens, and my life was such that I didn’t have access (or didn’t know I didn’t have access) to a way to hear them. It wasn’t until Dear God hit on MTV that I knew she was right. By then, I’d lost track of her and there was no way to find her. I never knew her last name. (Maria also turned me on to Douglas Adams, but that’s another story.)

So, Dear God speaks to me and my anger and frustration with religion and I have my own money at that point and I go to the only record store I know, a local shop called Kief’s, and bought the album. When I got home I played it through and then played it again and again. My roommates were pretty tired of it but The Man Who Sailed Around His Soul and Season Cycle and That’s Really Super, Supergirl were hitting me and as a whole, the album just made sense. I could see a shape that I’d never seen before and I wanted more.

(Another Satellite is terribly appropriate for the eclipse tomorrow, too.)

That’s the public side, the consumption of a creative piece of work. The other side, technically private but which sometimes spills out into the public, is that there are people making these things for me to consume. I mean, I have some difficult relationships in my daily life but I work through them to accomplish the goals. Same thing happens in creative work. You can look up more details now simply by checking in at Wikipedia, but in summary, the band and the producer had a very difficult relationship in making Skylarking. There were battles over what instruments should be where, which song should be cut to make room for a potential hit. And there were battles within the band, too. It’s a fascinating story about a terrific album and worth your time if any of those things pique your interest. XTC is terribly underrated and if you get the chance to see the documentary about them, yeah, do that.

1986 original release cover2010 reissue cover

As a writer, I can attest to internal struggles when writing. My Zero Drafts are filled with more honest dialogue (read: LOTS of swearing) that has to get revised in the later drafts. I’d prefer to leave it but I do consider the audience who may not want all the f*bombs and creative combinations that I hear in everyday life so I revise. It’s not censorship in any way at all, so don’t get confused about that. It’s acknowledgement of the wider potential audience. So if you ever thought there were too many curse words in something I wrote, rest assured there were a great deal more, once upon a time.

It’s a resolution of the tension that most of us writers feel. What we want to say versus what we think will be heard. It’s about getting the point of our work across.

Ephemera: Writers Helping Writers

Because I’m in revisions and I’m constantly looking for how other writers do the same thing I’m trying to do. It’s the quest for improvement as I see it. So, here are two links that I’ve found useful of late.

N.K. Jemisin is a force. I’ve expressed my love for her Far Sector series and I actively seek more of her Green Lantern, Jo Mullein. Jemisin’s award-winning fiction is engrossing in a way I hope to be able to achieve one day, so I went looking to see if she’d ever talked about her process, and sure enough she has. I love that she calls revisions “Book Renovation” because that really clicks with me. Check it and see if there’s anything there useful to you.

Book Renovation

I met Jonathan Maberry at a comic convention in Kansas City and hosted a panel for him, then met him again in KC at a science fiction convention the next year. He’s a terribly open and supportive writer who also conducts popular (and affordable!) master classes on things like writing fight/action scenes. His Joe Ledger books are some of the most crisp, divinely inspired action writing I’ve read. I sit in on his Facebook AMAs every so often and he’s talked about his revision process (it’s very detailed) and how he outlines his novels in addition to answering fan questions. Fortunately, he’s compiled all his advice and resources into one page on his website.

Free Stuff For Writers

Do with these what you will.

At Capacity

I had a health incident a couple of weeks back due to a nasty stomach virus that came on very quickly. I’m okay, but I learned what syncope is as a result. As the virus ran through me, and boy did it RUN, I got severely dehydrated which I’d made worse by not drinking any water at all that day. Presaged by sweating, chills, and lightheadedness, vasalvago syncope happened followed by my first-ever ambulance ride to the Emergency Room.

My wife was terrified. I was out of it. It was the middle of the night and we didn’t know if I’d had a heart attack, a stroke, or a recurrence of blood clots. Fortunately, it was just dehydration. And I didn’t do any damage to my head when I passed out, which was also lucky.

So learn from me, friends. Drink lots of water every day. Watch your intake of fluids that dehydrate you. And make sure you communicate clearly with the folks who love you. Tell them how you feel, physically and mentally. Don’t be afraid to be you, even if you have to revise the words you use.

Oh, and don’t stare directly at the sun. Seems like that needs to be repeated every so often.

See you when I see you.