Need to Write More Stories

So, via Duotrope's Digest I've found many, many, many publications who may or may not ever want to publish a story by me, G. Arthur Brown. I've found many magazines and e-zines that I never knew existed, plus many that probably shouldn't exist. The stumbling block I've hit now is that a lot of the ones that really seem worthwhile won't accept simultaneous submissions (industry jargon for they don't want to consider my shit for publication at the same time I've submitted to anybody else). So I need more stories. And I need to go back and revise a bunch of my old ones to get them publishable. This is going to take an awful lot of tea and make my girlfriend very lonely. Writing... it's a bitch.

Dream People 32 Now Online

The whole issue seems really tight. And through accident of alphabet I am at the top of the list. Be sure to tell the team at The Dream People that you really think they did a good job in choosing A Public Luncheon. Tell them that G. Arthur Brown is the coolest dude writing. Draw funny mustaches on their faces while they aren't looking.

Writing a Novel

So, I've started on a novel. Anyone who has ever written a novel or tried to write a novel knows that you start writing a novel long before you WRITE anything. Where to begin? Well, you need a premise. That much my pet chameleon can, and did, tell me. "Gary," he said, "you need a premise before you can write a novel." I gave him some lizard food and set about coming up with a premise. And the one I've got will turn out to be either A) the most brilliant post-modern novel yet written or B) the most preposterously pretentious novel of 2010. Hell, not everyone can have a million dollar idea like "The daVinci Code" or "Clifford the Big Red Dog." So I might as well have fun with it.

I've got a protagonist. I'm calling him Hatcher (even though that probably is not his name, but don't ask him to tell you who he really is) as a now not-so-veiled homage to both Brian Evenson and Thomas Ligotti, both of whom have written characters simply known as Hatcher. I'm completing the cycle.

I've got a setting. It's (ostensibly) a penal colony called The Belange. Here Hatcher tries to piece together a mystery while suffering from almost total amnesia. But he's not alone: everyone else is in the same boat, apart from the masked guards who do not speak.

There will be an old woman with a stack of family Bibles she uses to select names for the newcomers. There will be crepuscular phlebotomists called the Skeeters (the Esquidar brothers). There will be a dream demon who tells Hatcher what clues to look for. There will also be some strange creatures: the galoot, the oaf, the lummox. And also, a plot of some kind.

I will update my blog as I feel I make progress on this, my first attempt at a novel.

"A Public Luncheon" @ The Dream People

So, my flash fiction story "A Public Luncheon" will be in issue #32 of The Dream People, to be released sometime in October. TDP is, of course, the online magazine illustriously savaged by Editor-in-Chief D. Harlan Wilson, whose short fiction is something I really enjoy (haven't read any of his novels yet, though).

Oh, Yeah

Words and Images will be publishing my short story "Last Night with the Marvel" in their 2010 edition. It will be my first time in print, so I'm feeling rather self-congratulatory. Here's a quote from the story to tide us over:

"Bobby the Marvel’s last night in town remains like a snapshot on the refrigerator of my memory, and while soda drippings have caused it to grow murky through the years, I can still make out all the pertinent details. Well, almost all of them."

Jeff VanderMeer's Zany Blog Action

Jeff VanderMeer famous author of blah-blah-blah and husband of editor Ann VanderMeer plays host to a blog which is currently housing a rather heated (and longwinded) debate about the genre/literary divide, which was originally sparked by something somewhat inflamtory J.M. McDermott said.

In a more recent post, Jeff has quoted me alongside Hal Duncan, Nick Mamatas, Scott Bakker, and others. The quote being:
"G. Arthur Brown:
the only people who allow themselves to be challenged are those who are seeking new insights, new perspectives, new IDEAS. A ‘liberal’ thinker. The truly liberal thinker is also very rare. Because we aren’t just talking about the mind that would read Updike in contrast to the reactionary Bush supporter. We are talking about the mind who would read also the Turner Diaries and would still have no fear that they would poisoned by harmful IDEAS. An exceptionally rare sort of mind that doesn’t mind going outside of the box to make its decisions about reading or anything else."

It was originally a response to an allegation by Canadian fantasy author Scott Bakker that too many brilliant authors spend all their time preaching to the choir rather than taking their message to those it might challenge.

Get involved in the debate. Or check out Jeff's blog. Or buy his damn books.

Marla Chronicles Vanish in a Puff of Logic

Yes, yes. They have served their purpose. Or rather, they didn't serve their purpose as well as they might have, and so other tactics became necessary. Or hell -- maybe they served a couple auxiliary purposes. Don't worry, none of the money is going to the N. Koreans.

"The Tortoise in the Hair"

You can read my flash fiction piece "The Tortoise in the Hair" at Flash Fire 5000.

I swear, it's weird.

Here, in the future, will be stuff related to my writing. I'll post links to people who publish my writing and sometimes links to other writing that I like and think people who like my writing might also like, like ya know?