Realized I've only mentioned this in my newsletter, but not yet here or the main dot com (another thing I ought to tend to this weekend), so here it is:

Forthcoming from MIT press and currently available for preorder, DEEP DREAM presents new science fiction stories about the future of art. Contributors include Samit Basu, Vajra Chandrasekera, Neil Clarke, Aliette de Bodard, Cassandra Khaw, Lavanya Lakshminarayan, Archita Mittra, Sloane Leong, Bruce Sterling, Wole Talabi, Lavie Tidhar and myself.

From the intro by Indrapramit Das:

“Renowned Egyptian artist Ganzeer gives us a vision of a USA where the production of art is forbidden in 'Unauthorized (Or, the Liberated Collectors Commune),' bringing his vibrantly playful countercultural sensibilities to the beloved science-fictional story of robots given to identity crises by the existence of their human creators.”

Pretty much sums it up. I recall writing it between Texas and Mexico shortly after separating from my now ex-wife, all of which seeps into the story somewhat. I've also come to notice that artists seem to make an appearance in most everything I write. Granted, this particular anthology's theme is the future of art. But still, I've got an artist in CRISPR THAN YOU (the story that appeared in THE BIG BOOK OF CYBERPUNK) and another in CHARLIE AND THE ALIENS which appears in WHO WILL SPEAK FOR AMERICA?. I've also got more than one in THE SOLAR GRID.

Oops.

#work #writing

“When I taught creative writing, I would have my students do an exercise where they had to pick one of their close friends and write about the first time they met them. What were the writer’s first impressions of the friend? What was their initial dynamic with the friend? Then I would have them write a couple of scenes set in subsequent years showing how their impressions changed as they got to know the person better. Were their initial impressions correct? What did they learn that deepened their understanding of their friend? Showing that kind of evolution in perception and in the dynamic between two people is one of my favorite things about characterization.”

That's Sarah Stewart Taylor on Crimereads where she and several other writers weigh in on “the writing life”.

#writing #research

“Write the good bit. Seriously. Just write it. That bit that you want to write, that you’re saving up? Write it. It’s the most important moment in the book, isn’t it? So write it, and bend the rest of the book towards it, rather than retrofitting it to what you come up with along the way that’s less important.” — Nick Harkaway

#quote #writing