Most of this blog is about writing, so most of the posts will be categorized, ‘Writing’. You can select this if you don’t care about anything that’s not writing.
I thought I’d announced this here already, but I don’t seem to have! My novella “Claudius Rex”, an SF homage to the Nero Wolfe mysteries, has been sold to Paper Golem Press‘s Alembical 3 anthology. This was a hard story to sell, due to its length (~36,000 words after several go-rounds with Paper Golem’s talented […]
The Urban Dictionary has listings for two sayings related to the removal of hair from animals. Writers are fond of the phrase “cat waxing“: an industry term for procrastination by writers, with heavy connotation of trying to justify the activity as something that “had” to be done. Usually activities that can arguably be considered […]
I’m a devoted listener to the podcast Writing Excuses — despite their claims to the contrary, they really are that smart — and found their most recent episode, on Middle Grade fiction, to be fascinating. (Defining Middle Grade is contentious, but loosely, it’s fiction for kids 9-12: think Charlotte’s Web, the first Harry Potter book, […]
As I mentioned earlier, I have moved cities: I’m still in more northeastern New England, but in a more built-up area. Among other changes, I have a much larger office than I had before, with two nice big east-facing windows. I also have almost no furniture, having gotten rid of much of it in the […]
My Halloween story Mister Yuk won honorable mention in this quarter’s On The Premises. It’s a combination of an old eastern European folk tale and the kind of stories we used to tell each other on Halloween as kids.
I’ve seen a number of articles recently about schemes to sell “used” e-books, mostly spurred by Amazon’s recent patent on such a process. I’ve seen lots of enthusiasm about this, but I think it’s misplaced. There are two main points that I’d like to see made more prominently in this discussion: First: This can’t work without […]
At Nature magazine’s Futures column, available here. This story started off life as an entry in Codex‘s yearly Weekend Warrior contest. Nature Futures is a great short fiction market: they’re quick, they pay well, they illustrate, and hey: it’s Nature. The guidelines are a little rough (strict 850-950 word count, because it has to fit […]
An Interview With Me I was recently interviewed by Rick Novy, an Arizona author, fellow Codex member, raiser of fish, and all-around good guy.
The Occult Wisdom of Cover Letters What I wish someone had told me when I first started submitting short stories for publication. Edit: The link seems to be broken now; in trying to track down its new location, I found this. Bottom line, though: cover letters are business communication, not a college application. They should […]
I am home from Boskone and very nearly recuperated. I had a great time, but I ignored the advice that an hour of being on a panel is like three hours of attending them, and it was to my detriment. Said panels went well, I think. In “Is the Internet Reprogramming Our Brains?” I did […]
John P. Murphy 