Tights, A Cape, And Flying, Do Not A Superhero Make

My story "Superman's Dead" is up today at Monkeybicycle. It is another one of my stories written in the second person. I think it will eventually come to the point that all I write are stories in the second person.

Fun fact: I like to think my titles are usually pretty clever (or at least decent), but the original title for the story was the title of this blog post. Yeah, pretty bad, right? I can't believe I even subbed the story like that. But then one night I put in an old CD and -- bam! -- I knew what the new title had to be. So thanks to Our Lady Peace, and to Jessa Marsh and Steven Seighman for taking a chance on the story.

Ending The Year On A High Note

Back in April, Cooper Renner was kind enough to publish what is probably my strangest piece of flash (okay, hint fiction) called "The Amazing Adventures of © and ®." At the time, I had joked about doing a sequel. I'd had no intentions. The story was what it was and that was that. But then, as some stories do, the characters refused to die ... or, at least in this case, die quite yet.

The sequel is called "The Killer Inside ©" and is now live at Wigleaf. Major thanks to Scott Garson for taking a chance on this story.

(Also, how obvious is it I stole those story titles from two novels?)

Tomorrow will be my last post of the year, doing the cliched end-of-year thang. See you then.

The Eternal Itch

My story "The Dry Patch" went live today at Verbicide Magazine. The artwork above (courtesy of Skinny Gaviar) should be a good indication that this is not a happy-go-lucky piece. Read at your own risk.

Me On CellStories

Today my story "Incomplete" -- which originally appeared at Every Day Fiction (and which will kindly be reprinted in The Best of Every Day Fiction Two) -- has gone live at CellStories. You can click on the link, but if you're using a desktop computer all you will see is the main site. The only way to view the stories published is to upload them on a cellphone, but not just any cellphone will work. As noted on the website you should be able to view stories with "any mobile device with a WebKit-based browser; we've specifically checked iPhone, iPod Touch, and Android-based phones." This whole thing is the brainchild of Daniel Sinker, who I believe is doing something great here -- using a unique platform to publish stories. One issue people may have is that the platform is not available to all readers. This is true. Awhile back Jess had asked how I go about choosing markets to submit to, and while I'll go more in-depth at some point, the basic answer is for online markets, I want to try to reach as many readers as possible. That's why I submitted "Incomplete" (note that they do accept reprints) -- it was a story that had already been published on one platform, so it would be nice to have the story appear on another platform.

Everybody nowadays is talking about the death of publishing. I've been pretty quiet about it, watching how things play out. The conclusion I've come to though is that the more ways to get people to read, the better. Remember my last post, the question I asked? Even if you're using your cellphone to read a text, it's still reading. Publishing ... it's just going through a transitional period right now. No reason to freak out. In fact, look at cellphones. Did they do away with the normal telephone? No, those are still around, but these days almost every person has a cellphone. Telecommunication has flourished.

I'd like to think it's the same way with eReaders. Once the prices become more reasonable and more and more people have them, reading will flourish too. Now you don't have to worry about something being out of print, or your local bookstore not having a particular book. You can download it immediately and enjoy.

I've switched cellphones recently, saying goodbye to my BlackBerry Curve and hello to my HTC Hero, which is an Android-based phone. Just tonight I installed the Aldiko eBook Reader. Two books it came with already were The Art of War by Sun Tzu and The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells. I also downloaded The Bishop and Other Stories by Anton Chekhov, Stranger Things Happen and Magic For Beginners by Kelly Link, and Little Brother by Cory Doctorow. Those four books were free to download, now available to read anytime I want on my phone. Eventually I'll try it out, and if I find I like reading novels on my phone, I can always download more, even if I have to pay a couple bucks.

Basically, technology is here to stay, and it's just getting better and better. Don't be afraid. Embrace it.

Doomsday Giveaway

First off, this post has nothing to do with the no doubt godawful John Cusack film coming out this week. No, this is about the latest issue of Space and Time magazine, number 109, which features my story "End of Our World as We Know It."

This is a special story for me, namely because it's written in the second person. I love second person narratives ... at least when they're done right. One of my favorite novels is written in the second person (A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan). For some reason second person is frowned upon in many circles, and I've never understood why. It's just as good and effective as the first and third person, sometimes even more so. I think the main problem is people are told -- or maybe assume -- that when you are reading something in second person, it's supposed to be you doing whatever is written there.

This I cannot disagree with more.

Sure, some second person narratives are set up like that, but many others -- the very best -- are just another way of telling a story about a character.

Such as:

John woke up that morning with the worst hangover he'd had since he graduated college. He sat up, yawned, looked around. Froze. He didn't recognize this room.

Or how about:

I woke up that morning with the worst hangover I'd had since I graduated college. I sat up, yawned, looked around. Froze. I didn't recognize this room. Or the woman lying next to me.

Or finally:

You wake up that morning with the worst hangover you've had since you graduated college. You sit up, yawn, look around. Freeze. You don't recognize this room. Or the woman lying next to you. Or the blood dried around her neck.

(Note that when writing in the second person, it almost seems mandatory to do it in the present tense. Can it be written in the past? Sure. But I think keeping it in the present tense maintains a nice smooth flow that makes the story more effective in the end.)

Of course, a story can be written in any point of view. Yet an author usually knows which POV is best ... and if it's wrong, they can usually tell after they've started writing (it just doesn't feel right) and play around accordingly. I know there have been times when I'll start a story in, say, third person, then realize it would be best in first person, or vice versa.

"End of Our World as We Know It"? I first wrote it in third person. Liked it but didn't love it. Changed the POV to first person. Felt the same way. Changed it then to second person, and bang, like that, it felt right.

Of course, not everyone would agree. Here's what one editor at a pro magazine had to say in his rejection:

This piece started out so good. So interesting! And then along came the second person perspective.

NOOOOOOOOOOO!

I like the story. I really do. But I despise--I mean really DESPISED--the use of second person perspective in this piece.

See, second person isn't for everyone. Again, I think it's just gets a bad rap, mostly because it's so obscure that when readers actually do see it, they don't know what to think.

So my thanks to Gerard Houarner and Hildy Silverman for liking this story enough to take a chance on it.

Okay, enough of that. On to the mini-contest ...

To view the complete table of contents of this issue, click here. To purchase a copy (or better yet, a subscription), click here. Or did you want the chance to win a free signed copy? Sure you did. All you need to do is name your favorite doomsday film or book in the comments section of this post (if you're viewing this on Facebook, please leave your comments on the main site). That's it. The deadline is Friday, midnight here on the east coast, when a winner will be randomly selected.

But wait -- there's more!

Because I'm so pleased to have published this story, for every five people who participate I'll throw it another copy of the magazine.

Have fun.