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Dispatches from the Word Mines is an irregular blog series about literature and writing from the perspective of writers themselves. This entry comes to us from Rebecca Buchanan, editor of the Pagan literary ezine, Eternal Haunted Summer. She is also the editor-in-chief of Bibliotheca Alexandrina. She has been published in a wide variety of venues, with most of her work featuring Gods, Goddesses, spirits, witches, and the occasional nereid. In this dispatch, she discusses polytheism in the context of fantasy by walking us through the creation of Gods and Goddesses for fiction. Many thanks, Rebecca!
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Welcome to Issue #17 of my quarterly newsletter, posted to csmaccath.com and e-mailed to subscribers on Samhain 2015. |
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What writers do is hard. We weave stories out of our brains, our hearts and the bits of life we've gathered along our respective journeys. If we're doing it properly, we're also bleeding a little; showing you what we love, what we hate, who we are. And when we're done, we cast our creations out into the world, where they more often than not are rejected, over and over again, sometimes never finding a home outside our own self-publishing efforts.
It's enough to wreck you a bit.
There's a great Terry Pratchett quote about writer's block: “There's no such thing as writer's block. That was invented by people in California who couldn't write.” Well, begging your pardon, Sir Pratchett (may you rest in peace), but I don't know about that. I think a good half of...
moreBefore I begin this post, I want to offer my profound gratitude to Rhonda Parrish, editor of the A is for Apocalypse anthology in which my WSFA-shortlisted "N is for Nanomachine" appeared. Rhonda, you're one of the hardest working writers and editors I know, and I'm so grateful for your friendship and your confidence in my work.
It's actually quite difficult for me to write that I didn't win the 2015 Washington Science Fiction Association Small Press Award, but not for the reasons you might expect. You see, I...
Dispatches from the Word Mines is an irregular blog series about literature and writing from the perspective of writers themselves. This entry comes to us from Arie Farnham, author of The Kyrennei Series, an epic dystopian thriller. In this dispatch, she discusses building fictional Pagan gods and religious systems. Many thanks, Arie!
The moon goddess is a warrior maiden. The crescent is the edge of her sword and the full moon is her round, shining shield. She is capable of brilliant attack, tactical defense and healing retreat. She comes to the aid of those who must fight their own temptations and those who fight for justice alike.
That is what bubbled up out of the cauldron of a story.
She...
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I'm delighted to announce that I'll be a guest at Hal-Con again this year! My schedule has not yet been finalized, but I'll post it as soon as I have it. If you're an Atlantic Canadian, I'll hope to see you there.
I'm delighted to announce that I'll be participating in several panels at Capclave this year, and I'm also slated for a half-hour reading. Here's my schedule for the weekend:
| Friday | 7 PM-7:50 PM | Quantum Mechanics & Literature |
| Friday | 8 PM-8:50 PM | 50 Years Of Dune |
| Friday | 11 PM-11:50 PM | Why Do Good People Do Bad Things? |
| Saturday | 2 PM-2:25 PM | Reading - C.S. MacCath |
| Saturday | 4 PM-4:50 PM | Linguistics In SF |
| Sunday | 12 PM-12:50 PM | Writing Deep Religion |
Here's the entire schedule, and...
An FYI note for writers: I have "Dispatches from the Word Mines" posts lined up through the month of January, which means you have plenty of time to put one together if you'd like to contribute! Drop me a line at csmaccath.com/contact if you're interested. Of note, you're welcome to post on virtually any topic you like, and I do welcome self-promotional posts for forthcoming and recently released books.
If you don't use Kindle, but you're interested in my first collection of fiction and poetry or my more recent novelette release, you can pick them up from several vendors now:
The Ruin of Beltany Ring: A Collection of Pagan Poems and Tales
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Dispatches from the Word Mines is an irregular blog series about literature and writing from the perspective of writers themselves. This entry comes to us from T. Eric Bakutis, author of Glyphbinder, a finalist for the 2014 Compton Crook Award. In this dispatch, he gives us three good reasons to kill a character. Many thanks, Eric!
As authors and readers, all of us remain tangentially aware of what we jokingly refer to as "plot armor". No matter the peril our characters face, no matter how dire their situation, somehow, some way, they'll survive. That's the thrill of reading - learning how our hero survives. If they die, it changes everything.
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