Monday, September 19, 2011

September Writing Update

     I am still working on my novel, Chrysopteron. It is developing well but the last few times I sat down and worked on it I couldn't really get things to click. I wrote some short stories instead to try and "prime the pump," if you will. For this reason I don't think Chrysopteron will be done by the end of September as I originally intended but I am looking to finish it sometime in October. Once it is completed I’ll let it marinate for a while before going back for revision.


     In short fiction I have several new stories finished or nearly finished. One is called “Mahler’s Tenth.” In 1910 the composer Gustav Mahler had a four-hour meeting with Sigmund Freud. I used this meeting as a jumping-off point for a magic realism kind of occurrence that Mahler later has as a result of his interaction with Freud. All I’ll say is that it involves a cigar (get your mind out of the gutter!).

     I've also just completed a short story called “The Vast Expanse Beyond.” This is a very short flash piece so to not give anything away I’ll just say it’s about an Earth probe’s encounter with a strange object. There are also three other stories that are essentially finished but I’ll need to work on them some more before they’re ready for submission.

     Some older stories have been revised and are ready to take on new life after lying dormant for a while. Most of these are in the submission process right now. I think the stories are good but my writing has improved since they were written so I've made stylistic changes, reworked some awkward phrases and dialogue, etc. Hopefully that will make a difference.

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