tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-43165202031629034192024-02-20T16:07:46.059-05:00Michael Haynes - Science Fiction & Fantasy WriterMichael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.comBlogger356125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-61075717496326205652023-10-12T20:27:00.002-04:002023-10-12T20:28:39.442-04:00"Awaiting the Captain's Ghost" at Story HourLast night I had the opportunity to do a live reading as part of the Story Hour series of speculative fiction readings which began in 2020. For October, Story Hour is focusing on spookier stories, so I decided to read my "Awaiting the Captain's Ghost." Previously this story had only been available in print anthologies (and my collection), so this is the first time this story has been freely-available online.
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Also on the program is A. C. Wise with the amazing story "Death Is a Diner at 3 AM." If you check out the recording, I hope you enjoy it!<p></p>
<iframe allow="autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen="true" frameborder="0" height="275" scrolling="no" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=275&href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2F100039975042631%2Fvideos%2F320277790864921%2F&show_text=false&width=490&t=0" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" width="490"></iframe>Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-40815894058200243252023-10-01T10:06:00.004-04:002023-10-01T10:06:28.499-04:00Recent Publications & Other Notes<p>I've had a couple of short fantasy stories published in recent months and I wanted to share the links to them here.</p>
<p>"<a href="http://www.electricspec.com/Volume18/Issue2/haynes.may23.html" target="_blank">Blackwood Dragon Blues</a>" is a fantasy caper story with a dash of humor.</p>
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<td><p>The streets were clear, and I got there ten minutes early. Martha was already waiting, the red trench coat Jimmy had said she would be wearing precisely as unsubtle as it sounded.</p>
<p>"What's the job?" I asked as I sat.</p>
<p>"What do you know about dragons?"</p>
<p>I stood up. "Enough to know that we're done here."</p>
<p>She reached up, touched my arm. "Even if it's a tiny dragon?"</p>
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<p>It was published back in May at Electric Spec, marking my third appearance there after their previous publications of "<a href="http://www.electricspec.com/Volume9/Issue4/haynes.html" target="_blank">Corinne's Song</a>" and "<a href="http://www.electricspec.com/Volume13/Issue1/haynes.html" target="_blank">Waiting On a Sunny Day</a>". This also gave me 13 consecutive years of having credited publications at the <a href="https://www.isfdb.org/cgi-bin/ea.cgi?176309" target="_blank">Internet Speculative Fiction Database</a>.</p><p>My second recent publication was "<a href="https://stupefyingstories.blogspot.com/2023/09/1-800-prophcy-by-michael-haynes.html" target="_blank">1-800-PROPHCY</a>". I had fun writing this one.</p>
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<td>Are you kept up at night, wondering about the meaning of a cryptic sentence uttered years before you were born? Do you find yourself constantly on the lookout for figures like “the man with twelve toes” or “the woman without a name?” Do you feel trapped, not by a dead-end job or burdensome student loans, but by Fate?</td>
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<p>This story was published by Stupefying Stories and was another return appearance with a publisher for me. "<a href="http://stupefyingstoriesshowcase.com/?p=302" target="_blank">Waters of Oblivion</a>" was published in 2014 on another Stupefying Stories site.</p>
<p>A few other quick notes:</p><p></p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>I attended the North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC) this summer in Winnipeg, MB. The convention was fairly small but I participated in two well-attended panels, one on Data Privacy, and one on support for writers. I also gave a reading from <a href="https://michael-haynes.blogspot.com/p/at-intersection-of-love-and-death.html" target="_blank">my collection</a> and had a couple of nice meals with some fellow members of a writing group.</li><li>If you backed the 99 Tiny Terrors Kickstarter, word is that the print editions are being shipped now! I don't have mine yet, but I'm looking forward to receiving it soon. I've had a story accepted for the editor and publisher's followup 99 Fleeting Fantasies and there should be a Kickstarter for a print edition of that in the upcoming months.</li><li>Finally, I'm planning to attend the 2024 Worldcon in Glasgow and hope to be able to participate on panels and do a reading there. I'll know more about that next year.</li></ul><p></p>Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-43848327000674416402022-11-20T21:59:00.007-05:002022-12-07T21:26:42.309-05:002022 Awards Eligibility PostThe year is coming to a close and I don't expect to have any additional publications between now and the end of the year, so I thought it as good a time as any to put together my Awards Eligibility post for 2022.
By far, the thing I'm most excited to have published this year is my collection <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Intersection-Love-Death-Michael-Haynes/dp/B0B92KGR7Z" target="_blank">At the Intersection of Love and Death</a>. There are only a handful of awards which have categories for short fiction collections, but for anyone who is planning to vote in one of those awards, I hope you'll consider my collection when you're nominating and/or voting. (The primary ones I'm aware of which are voted on, rather than juried/judged, are the Locus Awards and the British Fantasy Awards.)
In addition to my collection, I had four short stories published this year, three of which are available to be read for free online.
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<B><a href="https://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/religious/michael-haynes/blackwater-sound" target="_blank">"Blackwater Sound" at Daily Science Fiction</a></b> (fantasy)
<blockquote>The sun was below the horizon and dusk quickly fading as Lee Cortez pulled his truck off the road into the gravel parking strip separating Highway 1 from the quiet depths of Blackwater Sound. He yanked a ratty camp chair from the truck bed then went back to the front. He hesitated over a pile of mementos, reaching out, then pulling back. Finally, he grabbed just his cooler and headed down to the shore.</blockquote>
<B><a href="https://factorfourmag.com/a-book-in-winter-by-michael-haynes/" target="_blank">"A Book in Winter" at Factor Four</a></b> (fantasy)
<blockquote>There’s a book on my bookshelf, “Green Summer, Orange Leaves, Purple Lives” by Gina Marshall, a library book I checked out years ago and never managed to return. It sits there, nestled between a handful of cookbooks I’ve acquired over the years and failed to use and the Bible I was given on the day of my first Communion.</blockquote>
<b><a href="https://www.havenspec.com/carolina" target="_blank">"Carolina" at Haven Spec</b></a> (fantasy)
<blockquote>Randy Joe Eastman popped a few aspirin in his mouth and swallowed them with a mouthful of last night's coffee. Two in the afternoon and he still wasn't dressed for the day. But, hell, that'd been most of the last twenty-nine years, driving from city to city, playing a night or two at whatever club or bar or honkytonk would pay him enough to keep him going. There'd been those two years—nineteen and a half months, actually—back before grunge broke out of Seattle when an actual label had carried him and he'd been on something vaguely other than his own. Those days were so far gone that he often felt like they belonged to someone else.</blockquote>
<b>"The Last of That Strange Wine" at The Colored Lens</b> (fantasy) - <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Colored-Lens-Spring-2022-ebook/dp/B0B5MCV7T5" target="_blank">(Available on Amazon)</a>
<blockquote>The ferryman sipped the last of his ouzo and waved me over.
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"I'll take another," he said as I walked the length the bar. I grabbed a bottle and gave him a long pour. He raised his glass to me, then brought it to his lips.
<p/> "I'm tired of coins, you know," he said.
<p/>I knew, but just gave him a questioning look.
<p/>"What use are they to me?" He drank the last drops from his refilled glass and stood. "I don't even need them <i>here</i>."
<p/>It was true. All our drinks were free.
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If you enjoy one or more of these stories and are a member of SFWA, you can recommend them to others on the <a href="https://www.sfwa.org/forum/reading/4-shortstory/" target="_blank">Recommended Reading list</a>.Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-61204394626404643362022-08-27T22:15:00.001-04:002022-08-27T22:15:42.623-04:00Almost Worldcon Time!Next week I'll be in Chicago for the World Science Fiction Convention (aka Worldcon aka Chicon 8). I've been to a number of science-fiction conventions in the past, but never to a Worldcon and I'm excited to get to go. While I'm there, I'll be on a couple of panels (one virtual) and giving a reading from my brand new collection! <div><br /></div><div>Speaking of the collection, I'll also be doing a launch party for it on Friday evening, so if you're going to be at the convention I hope you'll stop by and have a snack or a drink (or both) and help celebrate my new book. I'll announce more about the launch party on Twitter, so <a href="https://twitter.com/mohio73" target="_blank">you can follow me there</a> for important details (like the room number). Naturally, I'll have copies of the book with me at the show for anyone who'd like to take one home.</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm looking forward to seeing folks I've met in the past and meeting folks I've only known online (and folks I haven't met at all yet). If you'll be at Worldcon, here's the schedule of my events. (The link on the schedule image should take you to my program participant page on the convention site.)<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuvZCFpUFXpyVo2LsLQtbZirFUKChvCkiWcBg0Uka7a6MpKFxH3MfAnhGSIIyhHqHfI6ahXbfNBYCCcTF9EkQ7wW-y_MsSuITr1pRXC7LK2zt16i33PFN8PQCVkEE8wEa8u35YHus3DlmRFCfMgnI36t7W79H6z5tbkJXm5_vOsY0Xv1hazYNkB-lZ/s845/lpsign.png" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="845" data-original-width="529" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuvZCFpUFXpyVo2LsLQtbZirFUKChvCkiWcBg0Uka7a6MpKFxH3MfAnhGSIIyhHqHfI6ahXbfNBYCCcTF9EkQ7wW-y_MsSuITr1pRXC7LK2zt16i33PFN8PQCVkEE8wEa8u35YHus3DlmRFCfMgnI36t7W79H6z5tbkJXm5_vOsY0Xv1hazYNkB-lZ/s200/lpsign.png" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://guide.chicon.org/people/4795bb63-9d95-48d1-a408-da568c1577f4" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;" target="_blank"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="311" data-original-width="671" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6FLeUGALvxX-S2kn3-qxKReNx9v8OAb4RVSLfl29GkEFRKs3kkJyzF7AzzdYFtlbIL4aTMumdWvFZouoeIxDHXCDhiyme3r0RXdVd_dvpRD0Xyc-fx52i4N_lmh2Xi39XO0fnMNJ5T3liuOs3ovMaAKnVqlaGvrmsHpOks3yZ_wsDSRFQmXeSaYT5/s400/c8sked.png" width="500" /></a></div>
</div>Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-88972202736849807052022-07-01T23:02:00.000-04:002022-07-01T23:02:23.786-04:00Coming This Summer...I'm thrilled to announce that my first short story collection, <i>At the Intersection of Love and Death</i>, will be coming out this summer! There are some details below but for now, let's look at the amazing cover that <a href="https://www.jayoconnell.com/" target="_blank">Jay O'Connell</a> created for the book.
<div class="separator" style="clear: both;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6nDEBeo9YsIF9g9BLgEASdxWbLQTgjViHssOWevmhvm_qkRrj70qufDFNSkhroDk_WzP2XBLlCSG2wh0PRbv0v13keHsUdkZPlexRMyxx9ntEHENtR3-aHBDwDgUwwzOV-TlxkHgNVxtnpwvei3KW2O_2UvhgQFDj9aXf4BvTNMUVDK6ni1xWyNRq/s2560/Haynes-collection-glass-v1.jpg" style="display: block; padding: 1em 0px; text-align: center;"><img alt="" border="0" data-original-height="2560" data-original-width="1600" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6nDEBeo9YsIF9g9BLgEASdxWbLQTgjViHssOWevmhvm_qkRrj70qufDFNSkhroDk_WzP2XBLlCSG2wh0PRbv0v13keHsUdkZPlexRMyxx9ntEHENtR3-aHBDwDgUwwzOV-TlxkHgNVxtnpwvei3KW2O_2UvhgQFDj9aXf4BvTNMUVDK6ni1xWyNRq/s400/Haynes-collection-glass-v1.jpg" /></a></div>
So, details... The book consists of 26 of my stories across the speculative fiction genres of science fiction, fantasy, and horror. I'll be launching it in early September at <a href="https://chicon.org/" target="_blank">Worldcon</a> in Chicago (with plans to do a book launch party there). I'm intending to do an event in Columbus in September as well, for folks who are local. For those who won't be at Worldcon or in Central Ohio, I'll be posting information here this summer about how to order signed, numbered copies. <div><br /></div><div>Speaking of Worldcon, I'll be on programming there. I don't have my schedule yet, but as soon as I do, I'll share it here. </div><div><br /></div><div>That's it for now; more to come soon!</div>Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-3435745238944918382022-01-14T11:06:00.001-05:002022-01-14T11:06:29.992-05:00Updates All AroundThis site hasn't gotten a lot of attention in recent years. From time to time, I'd update <a href="http://michael-haynes.blogspot.com/p/publications.html target="_blank"">my Publications page</a> to add new entries or remove dead links, but that was about it and even then I'd frequently only get updates in months after the fact. Today, I went through and did a clean-up all around. The Publications page is all up-to-date and includes a bit of explanatory text about where to expect links to take you and I updated <a href="http://michael-haynes.blogspot.com/p/biography.html" target="_blank">my Biography page</a> as well. In the sidebar, there's now a working Twitter widget to replace the broken one, and instead of most-recent publications, I'm now choosing to spotlight some of my favorites.
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Speaking of recent publications, a couple which I'll note here are "<a href="https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/time-travel/michael-haynes/three-things-cameron-couldnt-tell-you" target="_blank">Three Things Cameron Couldn't Tell You</a>" (free to read) which Daily Science Fiction published a year ago tomorrow and "Spending Time" in <a href="https://books2read.com/99TinyTerrors" target="_blank">the <i>99 Tiny Terrors</i> anthology</a>. I'm pleased to have a story in that anthology since I've always really enjoyed collections of very-short stories. I grew up reading books with titles like <i>100 Great Science Fiction Short Short Stories</i> after all. (Which reminds me that I've been reading, writing, and submitting for publication what we now call Flash Fiction since before that term even existed and they were just called "short short stories"...) Unfortunately the anthology is only available as an eBook and only through several eBook providers, not including Amazon, but if you enjoy very short stories, I hope you'll track it down.
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Part of the reason that this site hasn't been as active recently is because I haven't been doing as much writing and submitting, but I've still been doing some, and earlier this week I found out that two of my stories have been accepted for publication. "Carolina" will be appearing on Haven Spec's site next week and I'll get a link to it up here once it's live; the other one I'll announce once the contract is finalized.
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This weekend starts the Codex Writers' Group's annual Weekend Warrior flash fiction writing competition. I'm really looking forward to getting some new stories written over the next five weekends and hopefully I'll have more good news to announce later in the year!Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-57260102168711838292018-03-17T12:15:00.000-04:002018-03-17T12:15:33.288-04:00Some Newish Publications of Newish StoriesSo, it's been a while since I've posted anything here. Despite that fact, I have been doing some writing from time to time and have continued sending stories out on submission. I'll have a few posts coming up to highlight some sales/publications; this one focuses on three stories I wrote in early 2017, all of which have since been published.<br />
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These stories all came out of an annual flash fiction competition held by the <a href="https://www.codexwriters.com/">Codex Writers Group</a>. I wrote a total of five stories in the span of a bout a month during that competition and was pleased with all of them. These are the first three to have been published:<br />
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"<a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/546180a">How to Choose</a>" was published by Nature in May of 2017.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"She always asks for two out of three, three out of five. No one ever wins, no one ever loses, and more time trickles past."</i></blockquote>
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"<a href="http://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/biotech/michael-haynes/who-wants-to-live-forever">Who Wants to Live Forever?</a>" was published by Daily Science Fiction in July of 2017.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Which of them had taken the test and been told, like their son, that they were unable to receive the process? That they would forever stay as mortal as the day they were born?"</i></blockquote>
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Finally, "<a href="http://www.galaxysedge.com/magazines/issue-31-march-2018/death-rides-shotgun/">Death Rides Shotgun</a>" was published by Galaxy's Edge earlier this month.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>"Joseph took it as a bad sign when he exited the office of the motel he’d stayed in just outside Scipio, Utah, and found Death sitting in the passenger seat of his midnight black convertible Corvette."</i></blockquote>
I hope you enjoy these stories if you get the chance to read them. Before too long, I plan to write up a post about some recent anthology publications as well as a new publication of a quite old story.Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-13572780511579236772015-06-21T04:30:00.001-04:002015-06-21T04:30:18.208-04:00Remembering My Father #1: Eulogy Given At His FuneralI've been away from this blog for a long time. There are a number of factors there, but the most significant was the illness and death of my father, Steven Haynes, earlier this year.<br />
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It's Father's Day today and it seems as good a time as any to do something I'd been meaning to do and start a series of posts of the remembrances of him which I wrote after his passing.<br />
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This was what I wrote for when I spoke at his funeral:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Growing up around my dad, seeing him every day, I didn’t have the best perspective on just how remarkable he was. I know now that not every kid has a father who sings in the symphony chorus or a father who taught themselves to be a professional computer programmer because he felt he could write better programs than the ones he was using. Or a father who founded and cultivated a classic film convention attended over its nearly fifty years by thousands of people, some of them travelling from other continents to attend. Working more closely with Cinevent recently, I’ve realized that even more than the size of the convention, the remarkable thing about it is the place it holds in the hearts of those who attend. So many people have talked about how Cinevent is one of the highlights of their year and how they came to know Steve Haynes through attending the convention over the decades. Quite a few of them had anecdotes to tell about how he did something to make the convention special for them. He was remarkable, but I just saw him as Dad.<br />
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Even if I didn’t see clearly how special his accomplishments were, I knew that he was cool, and fun to spend time with. There are so many ways his personality is reflected in my life. He was the person who introduced me to computer programming, which became in turn my own career. I remember us typing in programs out of magazines on our Commodore computers and him teaching me specific techniques when I started writing programs of my own. He used funny voices to tell stories with. Sometimes those voices even creeped me out a bit but when I’m reading to my own children, I do that too. My taste in reading, music and movies are all heavily influenced by the things he introduced me to, both as a child and later in life. A new trailer for this year’s Star Wars movie came out just days before dad passed away and, watching it, I was reminded that he and I once went to see this really mediocre Wing Commander movie just because it had a trailer for the first of the Star Wars prequels running with it. When I go to see this year’s movie, dad will be right there with me.<br />
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Dad and I had a conversation several weeks ago, one where we talked about some of the things that were important to him for us to talk about while we could. Among the things we talked about was my writing, which he encouraged me to continue. As it happens, one of the stories I wrote in January, right before dad’s diagnosis, was about a son learning to accept his own place in the world with the passing of his father. It’s not a lesson that I had expected to be learning myself anywhere near this soon. But I’m grateful for the time I had with him and know that he did his best to give me the knowledge, experience, and wisdom to have a joyful life.</blockquote>
Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-44228944356064707022015-01-15T20:11:00.001-05:002015-01-15T20:11:34.485-05:002014 Year in Review2014 was in many ways a step backward for me in terms of my fiction writing. While I sold one more story than in 2013 (and still sold quite a few stories in general), I didn't break into any notable new markets and I only sold to one SFWA-qualifying market in 2014. Just as important, I didn't feel as if I wrote stories in 2014 which would be likely to help me break into new markets.<br />
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There were some good things. I received my contributor's copies of my first major digest publication ("Lakeside Memories" in the February, 2015 Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine). One of my stories was listed as an Honorable Mention in Ellen Datlow's Best Horror of the Year. Another of my stories made the Tangent Online Recommended Reading List. And my acceptance ratio was up a bit from 2013.<br />
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Overall, I made a total of 174 non-reprint submissions in 2014. I received 199 responses, some of which were for submissions sent in 2013. (Conversely, some of my 2014 submissions did not receive responses during the calendar year.) For those submission responses:<br />
<ul>
<li>Five submissions received no reply.</li>
<li>Two submissions were withdrawn.</li>
<li>I had 17 acceptances. (I also had a paying reprint acceptance.)</li>
<li>And I had 175 rejections.</li>
</ul>
Of the 18 paying acceptances:<br />
<ul>
<li>Two were to pro-rate SFWA-qualifying markets.</li>
<li>Four were to pro-rate markets not on the SFWA list.</li>
<li>Seven were to semi-pro markets, this includes the reprint sale.</li>
<li>Five were to markets which pay, but either have a per-word rate below semi-pro rates or which pay a flat rate which can fals below semi-pro. For at least one of these, my pay worked out to pro rates, but I still classify it here.</li>
</ul>
I sold 18 different stories in 2014:<br />
<ul>
<li>Seven of those were flash length (1,000 words or fewer), including the reprint.</li>
<li>Seven were between 1,001 and 3,000 words.</li>
<li>Four were over 3,000 words.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Nine were science fiction stories.</li>
<li>Six were fantasy stories.</li>
<li>Three were horror stories.</li>
</ul>
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The length breakdowns were very similar to 2013. I had more SF sales this year and fewer fantasy.<br />
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I hesitate to call any year where I sold seventeen stories "disappointing" but the fact is that I think I can do better, so in that sense, it was. I'm going to work at improving my writing and submission process and will hope that the work leads to an even better 2015.</div>
Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-79463403792954323942014-11-05T08:02:00.000-05:002014-11-05T08:02:02.714-05:00"The Victor" - My story in "Not Our Kind"The <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stevensaus/not-our-kind-tales-of-not-belonging-new-fiction-st">Kickstarter for the "Not Our Kind" anthology</a> is in its home stretch, with only about four and a half days left as I write this post. It stands a bit over 60% funded at this point and since Kickstarter is all or nothing (a project either meets its funding goal and gets funded or does not meet it and gets nothing -- the backers are not charged anything either in that case), I'll be watching it closely over the next few days hoping for the best.<br />
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My story which is slated to be in the anthology is called "The Victor." I wrote the first draft of this story just a little less than a year ago, while I was in Philadelphia for the 2013 Philcon. The <a href="http://www.libertyhallwriters.org/">Liberty Hall Writers</a> website has a weekly prompted writing contest for its members. The prompt that weekend showed fireworks in the sky over a road and my mind went to an image of a lone man walking on that road under those fireworks. He had won a battle, single combat, but the cost of that victory was something quite unusual and the rest of his life would never be the same.<br />
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When editor Nayad Monroe invited me to submit to the Not Our Kind anthology I knew right away that "The Victor" was the story I wanted to send for her consideration. I took the story through some revisions and sent it off, quite close to the last minute of her submission window for the invited authors. I was thrilled when she accepted the story for the anthology and I'm looking forward to hearing what readers think of the story.<br />
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But for that to happen, the Kickstarter needs to succeed. So if you're interested in reading my story as well as stories by the other Not Our Kind authors (Alex Bledsoe, Ekaterina Sedia, Lucy A. Snyder, Tim Waggoner, Damien Angelica Walters, and many others) then now is the time to <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stevensaus/not-our-kind-tales-of-not-belonging-new-fiction-st">stop by Kickstarter and back the project</a>.Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-80012644085946141662014-10-17T16:08:00.002-04:002014-10-17T16:08:34.489-04:00Recent News: Mid-October 2014I've had two stories published in the past month:<div>
<ul>
<li>"<a href="http://www.everydayfiction.com/searching-for-a-dishonest-man-by-michael-haynes/">Searching for a Dishonest Man</a>" - This science fiction story was published at Every Day Fiction.</li>
<li>"<a href="http://www.readshortfiction.com/2014/09/too-smart-by-michael-haynes/">Too Smart</a>" - Another science fiction story, this one published at Read Short Fiction.</li>
</ul>
I've also recently had two stories accepted for publication, both of which should be coming out in November. "Final Mission" will be appearing at <a href="http://tgenedavis.com/">T. Gene Davis's Speculative Blog</a> and "Uplifting" will be in the November issue of Musa Publishing's short fiction magazine <a href="http://penumbraezine.blogspot.com/">Penumbra</a>. Both of these are also science fiction stories.</div>
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<div>
Finally, I have a fantasy short story in the forthcoming Alliteration Ink anthology "Not Our Kind: Tales of (Not) Belonging." <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stevensaus/not-our-kind-tales-of-not-belonging-new-fiction-st">That anthology is currently Kickstarting</a>; I'll be writing more about the anthology and my story in a blog post before long.</div>
Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-79710460074046635022014-06-16T23:51:00.004-04:002014-06-16T23:51:47.741-04:00Taking FlightYears ago I'd read some blogs where the authors were creating lists of 101 things to do in 1000 days. I thought it was a really cool idea and spent some time making my own list. I've always talked a lot on this blog about the importance to me of goals and that list was a way of documenting goals. I put a decent amount of thought into it and did a fair number of the things on the list before losing steam on it after several months.<br />
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(One of the things which I did as part of that list was write some stories. Five of those have been published or are contracted to be published. In fact, the last one of those which was still circulating just sold in the past month or so.)<br />
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I took another look at the list recently and saw some things that I'd still like to do. And while I haven't created a new formal list yet, I've been actively marking off some of the things which were on the old list or would be on a new list during the past couple of months.<br />
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Something which wasn't on the old list but which sprung to mind when thinking about additions to a list was taking a flying lesson. A college friend of mine had gotten his private pilot's license quite a while back, and I remember finding his blog posts on the subject interesting reading. By coincidence, while I was having lunch with a coworker who I hadn't really spoken with in years it came up that this coworker was working on his own IFR (Instrument Flight Rules) pilot license. (VFR, or Visual Flight Rules, is the initial level of licensure. IFR requires additional training and study.) Since the idea of taking a flight lesson was on the top of my mind, I asked him if there was an instructor he would recommend. He recommended his own instructor, another coworker, and just that quick I had the instructor's contact information and then a lesson scheduled for six PM this evening.<br />
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Last night and today I was actively watching the weather, trying to determine if the flight would be able to happen or not. Mid-afternoon I got a message from the instructor that we were a go. But even getting ready to head down, I noticed some pop-up showers on the radar and wondered if the flight might be scrubbed.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydHV_RCj0jvoIYzqqQ0Mg1FOxetVU2fBpKZQqEBbno4B8fLvAjYUbT-WQBnQpoD03zDGnoXQ4SjB3RlCMYlJIiwA4jjyWVqNgcmmW_tWDu7inHlvh4km9QL62nyrTiXB97R7AF3lrQQg/s1600/IMG_0772.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgydHV_RCj0jvoIYzqqQ0Mg1FOxetVU2fBpKZQqEBbno4B8fLvAjYUbT-WQBnQpoD03zDGnoXQ4SjB3RlCMYlJIiwA4jjyWVqNgcmmW_tWDu7inHlvh4km9QL62nyrTiXB97R7AF3lrQQg/s1600/IMG_0772.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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I arrived at Fairfield County Airport shortly before six PM and my instructor, Jim, greeted me. We walked around <a href="http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNum_Results.aspx?NNumbertxt=9556H">the plane</a> doing an extensive pre-flight check. I knew that such checks were part of flying but I was still surprised at the level of detail involved -- checking individual nuts, ensuring that various pieces of the plane had appropriate ranges of motion, etc. After about 30-40 minutes of this, it was time to climb into the plane. First, though, Jim pulled it out of the hanger. Literally pulled it.<br />
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We went through the rest of the pre-flight checklist, put on our headsets, and Jim had me taxi the plane around a bit. This was -- no joke -- the most difficult part of the whole experience for me. Steering the plane on the ground involves using foot pedals in a way that I found rather difficult to get comfortable with. I sort of managed, but needed some assistance from time to time. Then we were lined up with the runway and it was time for me to get the plane in the air.
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Yes. Time for <u>me</u> to get the plane in the air. Jim and I had talked about this, so I knew I was going to be doing it, but it still was a bit nerve-wracking to have my very first actually flying-a-plane experience be getting it up off the ground. Keeping my hand on the throttle, watching the airspeed indicator, etc. It felt like a lot to be thinking about. But then before long we were leveling off. My first takeoff was complete!<br />
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We spent the next hour flying over the general Fairfield County area. When I say "we", I mostly mean "I" since I did probably 90% of the flying prior to the landing. I did ask Jim to take the controls briefly so I could take a few pictures. Here are two of them, taken from the pilot's seat.<br />
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There did end up being some rain around and we were steering away from it off and on. I do wish that I had thought to ask Jim to take the controls briefly at one point because there was a truly impressive view of a rain storm in the sort-of-kind-of-distance through the cockpit window at one point.<br />
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Before long, the hour was up and it was time for us to land. Jim offered to give me a role in the landing, but I decided that I would observe rather than participate in it. The landing was very smooth and I helped with taxiing the plane back to the hangar. No sooner had we gone through the post-flight checklist but rain started pouring down.<br />
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After the flight, Jim and I chatted for a while in the hangar. The process of getting a pilot's license isn't cheap, and realistically I don't see myself putting in the requisite number of hours in the near future. But I did say that I'd like to get up in the air again sometime this summer and, who knows, maybe next time I'll be the one doing the landing!<br />
<br />Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-9731180346368321632014-05-06T22:36:00.005-04:002014-05-06T22:36:56.102-04:00Still Here, Still WritingIt's been months and months since I posted here. I can't say that I feel like there's a whole lot of information that I haven't passed along, despite that. I've had a few stories sell and a few get published. My <a href="http://michael-haynes.blogspot.com/p/publications.html">Publications Page</a> is up to date. The big thing I'm looking forward to, presumably later this year, will be my first appearance in one of the major print digests. "Lakeside Memories" is due to come out in an upcoming issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. I wouldn't be surprised if it is in an issue dated for or released around Halloween.<br />
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<a href="http://www.kazkapress.net/">Kazka Press</a>, where I had some of my first sales before taking over as editor, is shutting down with the May issue. I'm kind of bummed about that, but deciding to shut down while we were still relatively on top of things was the right thing to do. <a href="http://www.goldfishgrimm.com/">Goldfish Grimm's Spicy Fiction Sushi</a>, where I co-edit with Kelly Stiles, has been doing well. We've published some really cool stories there and are a full semi-pro publication now (offering at least a penny a word for all fiction acceptances). And the <a href="http://www.ufopub.com/">Unidentified Funny Objects series</a> edited by Alex Shvartsman, for which I'm one of the Associate Editors, is heading to a third volume.<br />
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And I keep plugging along with writing new words. I'm not as rigorous about writing every day as I used to be, but I still keeping moving forward.Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-72407017988179174852013-12-31T20:38:00.002-05:002013-12-31T20:38:35.805-05:002013 Year in ReviewIf 2012 was a fantastic year for me on the short fiction front, 2013 was... a decent year. Frankly, I'm honestly tempted to classify it as a very good year solely on the basis of my sale of a story to Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. Getting a story into one of the big print digest magazines has long been one of my personal goals, so that was a Big Deal. The "problem" (such as it is) is that when you leave that single sale aside, the year was only so-so. I didn't sell to any other notable new markets, I sold fewer stories than in 2012, etc.<br />
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Overall, I made a total of 299 non-reprint submissions in 2013. I received 275 responses, some of which were for submissions sent in 2012. (Conversely, some of my 2013 submissions did not receive responses during the calendar year.) For those submission responses:<br />
<ul>
<li>Six submissions received no reply.</li>
<li>Three submissions were withdrawn.</li>
<li>I had 16 acceptances. (I also had a paying reprint acceptance and four non-paying reprint acceptances.)</li>
<li>And I had 249 rejections. </li>
</ul>
Of the 17 paying acceptances:<br />
<ul>
<li>Six were to pro-rate SFWA/MWA-qualifying markets. (Including the EQMM story here.)</li>
<li>One was to a pro-rate market not on the SFWA list.</li>
<li>Five were to semi-pro markets.</li>
<li>Five were to markets which pay, but either have a per-word rate below semi-pro rates or which pay a flat rate which generally falls below semi-pro, including the reprint sale.</li>
</ul>
So, the good news is that the decrease in sales came from the semi-pro and token rate markets.<br />
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I sold 17 different stories in 2012:<br />
<ul>
<li>Five of those were flash length (1,000 words or fewer)</li>
<li>Eight were between 1,001 and 3,000 words. </li>
<li>Four were over 3,000 words.</li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li>Eight were fantasy stories.</li>
<li>Five were science fiction stories. </li>
<li>Two were mystery stories.</li>
<li>Two were horror stories.</li>
</ul>
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The genre breakdowns were pretty similar to 2012. Probably the most notably item in the above is that the percentage of stories which I sold at flash length decreased significantly from 50% to a bit over 25%.</div>
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So, the net is fewer sales but a higher percentage to pro-rate markets and a higher percentage of greater than flash fiction length. I'll call it a good year, yes. But I hope to have an even better one in 2014.</div>
Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-76957885024430804572013-10-23T00:20:00.003-04:002013-10-23T00:20:36.338-04:00October News UpdateAgain, it's been a while. And for once I'm not feeling particularly prolix, so I'll just give various bits and pieces of news and then be back upon my way.<br />
<ul>
<li>A couple of my stories have been released in the past month. "Embers", a crime story, is in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00FGDK18M/">the second volume of short stories published by Plan B</a>. And "Editorial Discretion" was published by Perihelion SF. There doesn't appear to be a way to directly link to the story on Perihelion's site but as of today, it's available on <a href="http://www.perihelionsf.com/anomalies.htm">their "Shorter Stories" page</a>.</li>
<li>In addition to my ongoing work at Kazka Press, where I edit the <a href="http://www.kazkapress.net/713flashfiction/">monthly flash fiction contests</a>, I am also now on staff at <a href="http://www.goldfishgrimm.com/">Goldfish Grimm's Spicy Fiction Sushi</a> as co-Editor with <a href="http://ladykuro.wordpress.com/">Kelly Stiles</a>. The first issue which she and I edited has come out and we've got some cool stories lined up for future months. We're not currently open to submissions, but will be sometime in November. At the moment, <a href="http://www.goldfishgrimm.com/2013/10/update-request-first-readers/">we're looking for first reader applications</a> through the end of October, to ensure that we have a good number of people on staff for quick turnaround on submissions.</li>
<li>I've had a couple of story sales in the past month or so. "Bedtime Stories" has sold to Lakeside Circus and will be in their inaugural issue and "Lakeside Memories" has sold to Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine. I'm especially excited to be appearing, for the first time, in one of the major digest fiction magazines.</li>
<li>I appeared at Context last month and will be at Philcon in the Philadelphia area in early November. If you're going to be at Philcon, make sure to say hello! I'm not on programming at Philcon, since I wasn't sure I would be going until a few weeks back, so I should have plenty of time to socialize.</li>
</ul>
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It seems that there should be more to say, but nothing else in particular is coming to mind. I continue to write and submit and I hope that before long I'll have more good news to share.</div>
Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-2309070608279850072013-09-04T23:41:00.002-04:002013-09-04T23:41:56.336-04:00Kazka Press September Issue OnlineThe September issue of flash fiction stories at Kazka Press is <a href="http://www.kazkapress.net/volume-3-issue-1-september-2013/">online now with three stories on the theme of "Warning Signs."</a> We are <a href="http://www.kazkapress.net/713flashfiction/">open to submissions through the 20th of September</a> on the theme of "Outsiders."Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-75917684795150460622013-09-02T22:04:00.003-04:002013-09-02T22:04:56.139-04:00Checking InI've been away from the blog for a while so I figured it would be good to stop by and put up an update.<br />
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There's not a whole lot particularly new to report. The biggest thing, by far, would be the release of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kwik-Krimes-Otto-Penzler/dp/161218300X/">Kwik Krimes</a> last week. I'm still thrilled to have a story of mine in an anthology edited by Otto Penzler and on top of that, the book itself is in stock at our local Barnes & Noble. I haven't stopped by yet to visit "my" book in person, but I plan to do so and I might even have the opportunity to do an author event next month. If anything develops on that front, I'll be sure to let everyone know here.<br />
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I've been continuing to work on writing and submitting though the writing part of it dropped off pretty dramatically in July and August. So much that I've decided to reinstate my daily 500 word (or 45 minutes of revisions) goal for the month of September. I got off to a good start last night, writing a story for the weekly Liberty Hall flash contest. It's rough, but I think it's got potential once I put some more work into it.<br />
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In convention news, I'll be attending <a href="http://www.contextsf.org/">Context 26</a> later this month and will be doing a reading and a couple of panels. If you're going to be at the convention and want to meet up, let me know. Also, I was very excited by the news that <a href="http://detcon1.org/">Detroit's bid won for the 2014 NASFiC</a> (North American Science Fiction Convention, held when Worldcon is outside North America). That's going to be a must-attend for me next year. And there's an odd touch of synchronicity for me, personally here. I've actually been to one NASFiC before, when I was but a wee lad and my parents went to the 1979 one in Louisville. I even have a program book from it somewhere. The Guest of Honor at that convention was Frederik Pohl who, word came out today, died over the weekend. I'd just recently picked up a collection of his and C. M. Kornbluth's short fiction and I plan to read a couple of stories from it tonight.<br />
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I haven't been good about setting (or keeping) monthly goals the past two months. My single goal for September will be to stick to the daily writing routine as described above. My intention is to get back to more detailed goal-setting come October. <br />
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Finally, a bit of Kazka Press news. Our new issue will be coming out any day now with three stories and we're open for submissions on the theme of "Outsiders." We recently tweaked our word limits, so the acceptable range is now 500-1000 words. Also, we have a new submissions email address. We'll still be checking the old address for submissions for the time being, but it would be best to send them to the new address. <a href="http://www.kazkapress.net/713flashfiction/">All the guidelines, including that new submissions email address, are here</a>.Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-92176320937914492122013-07-13T01:31:00.000-04:002013-07-13T01:31:22.163-04:00Watching Citizen Kane in A Movie PalaceI'd never seen the movie "Citizen Kane" before this month.<br />
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Somehow the idea had gotten into my head that the first time I saw Kane should be not on video but in a theater. And somehow I stuck to that idea from whenever it first came to me, probably in college, up to the present. I think I'd had a few chances to see Kane on a big screen which hadn't worked out in the intervening years. Finally, I set aside time to go see it at the Ohio Theatre as part of CAPA's Summer Movie Series. Not even car trouble kept me from finally getting to go see Orson Welles' famous movie.<br />
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Before the movie, at intermission, and after the movie there was live organ music. The Ohio Theatre's organ is bright white (bright enough to make taking a photo of it with my phone difficult) and it raises and lowers into the orchestra pit. I remember, as a child, finding that fascinating and disturbing. (Even the phrase "orchestra pit" suggested something that was more suited for Indiana Jones than musicians to my young mind.)<br />
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For the Ohio Theatre was part of my childhood. This landmark theater across the street from Ohio's statehouse was somewhere I went many times on school field trips and with my parents. It truly deserves the phrase "movie palace." It's elaborately decorated, full of golds and deep reds. Going into the Ohio Theatre is radically different from attending a movie at a multiplex. It's truly an experience and one which I want to make sure to share with my children sometime soon.<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stairway up from the basement lounge to the main floor.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Main lobby</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Decoration at the top of the proscenium arch.</td></tr>
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As for the movie itself? It didn't disappoint. I was engrossed throughout the film and there were a number of great lines in the screenplay by Welles and Herman Mankiewicz. Thanks to Charles Schulz and Peanuts, I knew the "secret" meaning of Kane's dying word, but that didn't impair my enjoyment of the film. I do wonder, though, how that ending would have struck me if I had been unaware of it.<br />
<br />
Around the time I was in college, Kenneth Branagh was a young wunderkind director who was often compared to Orson Welles. Branagh's "Dead Again" has long been a favorite of mine. (Come to think of it, that's one I'd love to see on the Ohio's big screen!) While watching Kane, there was a scene that reminded me of a similar scene in Dead Again. In both movies, a younger man is interviewing an older man -- specifically an older journalist -- who is in a convalescent facility. In both, the older man begs the younger for a cigar or cigarette. <a href="http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,315348,00.html">I'm not the first person to have noticed this similarity</a>, but it made me smile.<br />
<br />
I had a great time at the old movie palace. I'm grateful for the people who ensured that this building is in the condition it is today and for that long-ago decision of mine to wait to see Citizen Kane on a big screen. It was worth the wait.<br />
<br />Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-62412037617904897422013-07-08T22:22:00.003-04:002013-07-08T22:22:48.980-04:00Nominations Open for the 2013 Million Writers AwardThe 2013 Million Writers Award nomination period has opened. This award is for stories over 1000 words in length which had their first-ever publication in an online venue with an editorial process during the year 2012. (<a href="http://storysouth.com/millionwriters/2013-million-writers-award-rules.html">Full rules are here</a>.)<br />
<br />
Editors of online publications can nominate three stories. Everyone else can nominate a single story. <a href="http://www.storysouth.com/millionwriters/2013-individual-submit.html">The nomination form is here</a>.<br />
<br />
Here are my stories from 2012 which are eligible for the award. I'd certainly be thrilled if you were to see fit to use your nomination for one of these stories:<br />
<ul>
<li>"<a href="http://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/modern-fantasy/michael-haynes/scraps">Scraps</a>" - Daily Science Fiction</li>
<li>"<a href="http://www.goldfishgrimm.com/back-issues/issue-3-shadow-and-stitch/twenty-seven-rules-for-coping-michael-haynes/">Twenty-Seven Rules for Coping</a>" - Goldfish Grimm's Spicy Fiction Sushi</li>
<li>"<a href="http://buzzymag.com/reformed-by-michael-haynes/">ReFormed</a>" - Buzzy Mag</li>
<li>"<a href="http://www.kazkapress.net/short-stories/what-you-can-change/">What You Can Change</a>" - Kazka Press (This is over 2000 words and was published before I was on staff.)</li>
<li>"<a href="http://www.raygunrevival.com/special-ops-michael-haynes/">Special Ops</a>" - Ray Gun Revival</li>
<li>"<a href="http://interstellarfiction.com/fiction/out-with-the-crowd-by-michael-haynes/">Out with the Crowd</a>" - Interstellar Fiction</li>
</ul>
Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-11694653260667532152013-07-08T18:50:00.000-04:002013-07-09T16:02:35.120-04:00Being Unintentionally Offensive is Bad Writing<a href="http://carriecuinn.com/">Carrie Cuinn</a> put up a blog post today <a href="http://carriecuinn.com/2013/07/08/review-nature-april-may-june/">reviewing the last three months' of flash fictions</a> from Nature Magazine's <a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/focus/arts/futures/index.html">Futures feature</a>. My story "<a href="http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v497/n7450/full/497530a.html">An Alien Named Tim</a>" was one of the stories reviewed. Carrie gave it a rating of 3 out of 5, saying it was "funny" and that she "Would have rated it higher except for the space hookers."<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i>[Edited 7/9/13 to add] Carrie wrote to me on twitter saying: "By quoting only part of that sentence, you put the focus on 'women'
instead of 'aliens', when it was the alien part I objected to. Either you didn't understand what I was saying, or misrepresented it--but the issues wasn't women, or even hookers in space. It was the specific trope of 'alien space hookers'/the racism of classic
examples; your 'look I've learned' statement ignores that." I had not intended to misrepresent and apologize for doing so. The full sentence from the review was:</i> <br />
<blockquote>
<i>"Would have rated it higher except for the space hookers; suggesting one catches diseases from sex with alien women is based on the classic SF method of hiding racism by attaching negative stereotypes to 'aliens' instead."
</i></blockquote>
</blockquote>
The reference in question came near the beginning of the story in what was essentially a throwaway joke as the reference isn't in any way relevant to the rest of the action. <br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"We weren't armed; the trade routes had been peaceful for decades. The biggest risk to cargo haulers was catching something from one of the alien women at the waystations. A raygun wasn't much good against that sort of trouble."</blockquote>
I'm a bit embarrassed to say that my initial reaction was "But I didn't saaaaaaay they were hookers!" Which, if I'd been foolish enough to actually say that should've earned me a "not impressed" look and a "Really?" 'Cause... Yeah... That was pretty clearly the inference I was going for there. Fortunately, I didn't stop at that first reaction, and I also didn't linger around "But I didn't mean for it to be offensive" either.<br />
<a name='more'></a><br />
<br />
Because whatever my intentions were, the fact was that it <b>had</b> bothered her and, presumably, some other readers as well. When she and I discussed the review on Twitter, <a href="https://twitter.com/CarrieCuinn/status/354318624510582784">she noted that her initial reaction had been harsher</a>. What I took that to suggest was that when she read that paragraph in the story, she experienced at least a somewhat visceral negative reaction.<br />
<br />
Which wasn't at all what I was going for in this story. It was meant to be an amusing story, not one that upset readers -- even if only momentarily. And it was completely needless. I could've written any of a thousand other jokes in that spot, most of which wouldn't have offended anyone. If I had done that, people who read the story as it was and liked it just fine would've still liked it just fine. And those who were troubled by the space hookers would have ended up being able to enjoy the story more.<br />
<br />
If I'd come up with a different, non-offensive joke there, the net enjoyment of my story would have been increased and no one's enjoyment would've been notably decreased. This is no less an egregious error than getting the science blatantly wrong in a story; in fact, it's worse because it led to the possibility of people not only being pulled out of the story and frustrated but of feeling harmed.<br />
<br />
There are going to be times when even a writer who is trying to take care to avoid slips like these errs. In fact, the rationale that Carrie noted for finding the space hookers offensive is one that wouldn't have occurred to me, no matter how many times I thought about it. I could see it once it had been pointed out to me, but I would have missed it on my own. (Though the combination of it having potentially-misogynistic connotations and also just being an old, worn idea in and of itself should have steered me away from that joke if I'd given it more thought.)<br />
<br />
I've got more thoughts on this topic, particularly on the word "unintentionally", but I'll save those for a second post.Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-61715552294600838902013-06-30T22:50:00.002-04:002013-06-30T22:50:26.522-04:00"What Fates Impose" from Alliteration Ink<a href="http://alliterationink.com/">Alliteration Ink</a>, the publisher of the Sidekicks! anthology which includes my story "Learning the Game", has a <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stevensaus/what-fates-impose-tales-of-divination">Kickstarter running through July 14th at 9 PM Eastern US time for their anthology "What Fates Impose: Tales of Divination"</a>. I've been looking forward to reading this anthology since the Table of Contents was released and have backed it on Kickstarter. There are a lot of fantastic short fiction writers in this book and it should be a lot of fun to read.<br />
<br />
Since I've worked with Alliteration Ink before, I was given the opportunity to have a sneak peak of several of the stories from the book. If anything, I'm even more excited about holding the anthology in my hands now than I was previously.<br />
<ul>
<li>Keffy R. M. Kehrli's "Gazing Into the Carnauba Wax Eyes of the Future" is a bit sad, a bit hilarious, and a bit crazy. Which, when you realize it's about trying to predict the future via marshmallow Peeps, seems just about right.</li>
<li>Ferrett Steinmetz's "Black Swan Oracle" is a science-fiction story through-and-through even if the main character's name is "The Oracle." Again, a bit funny. And this time quite a bit sad.</li>
<li>And then there's Beth Wodzinski's "One Tiny Misstep (In Bed)." Holy. Shit. I don't know what else to say about this tale of a marriage gone stale and fortune cookies and the alley outside a Chinese restaurant and... Oh my. Imaginative, realistic in its characterization, and absolutely crushing.</li>
</ul>
Yeah. This book? Go help it get released into the wild. <a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stevensaus/what-fates-impose-tales-of-divination">Go Kickstart it</a>!Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-73299952937406868152013-06-30T13:23:00.002-04:002013-06-30T13:23:52.294-04:00Mid-Year Goal Status and June/July GoalsJune has ended up being my best writing month in a long time. Like I said in my mid-month goal check, I'm not quite sure what changed, but I'm very happy and it seems to be continuing.<br />
<br />
So, here's how I did for June:<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Make 20 non-reprint submissions of short stories. - KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK!</b> I more than doubled my goal by making 44 non-reprint submissions of short stories. Along the way, I reached a new personal best for number of stories out for non-reprint submission -- 43.</li>
<li><b>Submit one backlog story for each full week in June.</b> - <b>KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK! </b>I more than doubled my goal here, getting not just four backlog stories out for the first time but nine! On top of that I got three new stories out the door from late-May and June which don't really count as backlog, but brought my total for stories which went out the door for their first time for the month to TWELVE!</li>
<li><b>Write at least one story.</b> - <b>KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PART! </b>Two stories (one flash, one about 2000 words) were written this month and also went out for their first submissions. I also completed two more stories (again, one flash and one about 2000 words) which will likely get submitted for the first time in July.</li>
<li><b>Read at least 30 short stories. - DONE! </b>I count 41 short stories read this month.</li>
<li><b>Reply to all Kazka Press submissions by June 23rd. - NOT QUITE. </b>I didn't get all my responses in to the publisher until a couple of days after that self-imposed deadline but as far as I know, everything got to him with plenty of time to be ready to roll with the July issue.</li>
</ol>
A very satisfying month. Now to see where I stand for the year as a whole and set some goals for July.<a name='more'></a><ol>
<li><b>Submit 36 Short Stories for the First Time </b>- With my incredible June, I actually ended up AHEAD of pace for this goal with 19 stories out the door for the first time in 2013. Unless I end up getting badly off track again, this should be an achievable goal.</li>
<li><b>Read 500 Short Stories</b> - 156. Here, though, I'm well behind the pace. Even if I read 41 stories each month for the rest of the year, I'd only end up with about 400 stories. Which seems like a much more sensible goal to aim for at this point. I'll target 40 stories each of the remaining months of the year.</li>
<li><b>Submit Four New Novelettes and Novellas</b> - This is one place where I haven't made any headway at all. The goal here was to encourage myself to stretch out into story lengths at which I am less comfortable. Since getting any writing at all done earlier this year was hard, trying to stretch felt like an even harder task. I'd still like to get at least one new novelette or novella out the door this year, but I'm not going to prioritize this ahead of the overall goal of 36 stories.</li>
<li><b>Attend Four Conventions</b> - I went to Marcon in late March. I plan to go to Context and Philcon in the fall. I had been planning to go to a summer convention but that's looking rather unlikely now since the one in Pittsburgh I'd seriously been considering attending was canceled due to hotel issues. If I can fit a fourth convention in, I will. If not, three will be a decent number to hit.</li>
<li><b>Reformulate My Blog Strategy</b> - Completed earlier this year.</li>
</ol>
Really, I feel good about where I stand for the year. I'm on track for my number one goal and have made a course correction to hit 80% of my secondary goal.<br />
<br />
Now, let's get planning for July.<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Have a draft of a story for the "Long Hidden" anthology call ready to send to critique partners by July 21st. - </b>I've got a story idea I'm excited about working on for submission to this anthology and I've started researching and plotting. If I aim to have researching done by the 7th, that gives me two weeks to get a draft written to send to critique partners.<b><br /></b></li>
<li><b>Make 30 non-reprint submissions of short stories. - </b>With 43 stories out on submission, this shouldn't be hard unless I have an avalanche of sales or slow replies. </li>
<li><b>Submit three stories for the first time.</b> - I think this should end up being rather achievable.</li>
<li><b>Write at least one new story other than the "Long Hidden" story.</b> - This shouldn't be hard for me.</li>
<li><b>Read at least 40 short stories. - </b>As described above.</li>
<li><b>Reply to all Kazka Press submissions by July 25th. - </b>The vast majority of the stories end up coming in between the 18th and the 20th of the month. Trying to get through them all and make final decisions in three days just isn't enough time. The 25th gives a full week until the issue's target date of August 1st.</li>
</ol>
Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-23870301242800388562013-06-25T17:05:00.002-04:002013-06-25T17:05:45.272-04:00"Learning Curve" is Live at Metro MomsMy science fiction short story "<a href="http://metromoms.net/2013/06/23/learning-curve-by-michael-haynes/">Learning Curve</a>" is up on the Metro Moms website. I'm pleased to have placed a story at that site and am hoping that some people who haven't come across my other stories will read it there and possibly check out the rest of what I've written.Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-59225122625983884072013-06-16T18:29:00.004-04:002013-06-16T18:29:47.464-04:00Mid-June Goal CheckUmm... Okay. So, this is a bit of a surprise.<br />
<br />
After having been in the doldrums much of the year to date, I've hit my stride this month and have made serious progress on not just my June goals but my yearly goals as well!<br />
<ol>
<li><b>Make 20 non-reprint submissions of short stories. - DONE!</b> I've gotten 22 non-reprint submissions out the door.</li>
<li><b>Submit one backlog story for each full week in June.</b> - <b>On track, 2-for-2! </b>Not only that, but I've gotten FIVE backlog stories total out the door so far. So even if I didn't meet my defined goal (by failing to submit a backlog story this week or next week) I'd still have met the big picture goal.</li>
<li><b>Write at least one story.</b> - <b>DONE! </b>In fact, I've gotten two new stories written this month. They're both flash and one of them isn't quite submission-ready yet, but I'm still pleased with this. I've also put a couple thousand words on a longer story that I don't feel like I quite have my hands around yet.</li>
<li><b>Read at least 30 short stories. - On track! </b>At 19 for the month so far.</li>
<li><b>Reply to all Kazka Press submissions by June 23rd. - On track! </b>I've read all the submissions which had come in as of last weekend and will be doing more reading early this week.</li>
</ol>
I also got the "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DEWK3KI">A Fatal Error</a>" ebook designed and published this week and did a handful of reprint submissions. I'm not quite sure what flipped my "getting stuff out the door" switch to ON but I'll take it! Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4316520203162903419.post-79542741060406952522013-06-15T16:54:00.001-04:002013-06-15T16:54:11.510-04:00A Fatal Error Released on AmazonIt's been almost a year since I published "Write Every Day" and during that time I haven't released anything new for the Kindle. As of yesterday, that changed with the release of the first of my Chip Rawley baseball mysteries, "A Fatal Error." This is a novelette, just under 9000 words or about 30 pages if you prefer to think of lengths in those terms.<br />
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<a href="http://http//www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00DEWK3KI" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgTXN96bnaNPsa4DUnjAK2Rsfx0X8RBX85mZmcBigiNTWKdv1EU92U826WcYtnm_TUlNMlhtptTlYJDFT0epfvz-2-iyaT-SCexFnmNPhOEm_y2WMWOMr_6_sAM4LDDfkNsHDUlPPijSe4/s1600/final_cover_art_150w.jpg" /></a></div>
<br />
Chip Rawley is a former professional baseball player who never quite made it to the big leagues. Staying close to the game, he became a trusted confidant of Branson Waters, the owner of a major league team. In "A Fatal Error" Rawley investigates the death of Mark Feist, whose botched catch kept his team out of the World Series.<br />
<br />
If you read "A Fatal Error", I hope that you enjoy it!<br />
<br />Michael Hayneshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07653617216453974106noreply@blogger.com2