Spending time with family here in Memphis during the Thanksgiving holiday week has been energizing for multiple reasons.
A change of scene, for one thing.
Seeing family again, catching up with Memphis friends, having a good meal with 13 of us around a long table. Watching more football than usual with key college games and little else on the usually crowded agenda.
Folks here in Memphis tend to pull for Arkansas, so it was nice to see an underdog team triumph over LSU yesterday afternoon.
The low-key nature of these days--except during certain moments of the Arkansas-LSU football game--is like a tonic for me because it softens my focus away from my day-to-day attention on writing and related pursuits. Stargazers know that some faint stars are better seen when one looks slightly away from them.
Writing, for me, is often that way, too. Type-A attention on a manuscript 24/7 becomes too much after awhile, and it's easy to lose it or parts of it to that kind of intense scrutiny.
Thanksgiving--where I'm typing this post on a family computer without access to my normal sites (can't remember most passwords) and document files--helps bring clarity to my work because the focus is softer, slightly to the left or right of it, allowing muses to awaken.
Copyright (c) 2008 Malcolm R. Campbell
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Warning: New Flash Fiction Blog
Even though I'm supposed to be cleaning out the car for our drive from Atlanta to Memphis tomorrow for Thanksgiving, I'm setting up a new blog for my flash fiction called Eye Blink Fiction.
Why?
Laziness, for one thing. When I drink too much coffee, I write quasi-insane and randomly experimental short fiction. It stacks up in a Jim Beam box in the closet mainly because I find submitting it to small magazines really tedious and hard to keep track of for an unorganised person (like me).
Best thing I could think of was dumping it onto my own blog once in a while. Those who still remember the old writingup.com blog community will recognize the first short story: Mr. Déjà vu Upsets the Apple Cart.
Most of these stories will be under 1,000 words. They're created in the blink of an eye and then disappear. Stop by and take a look when time is short.
Why?
Laziness, for one thing. When I drink too much coffee, I write quasi-insane and randomly experimental short fiction. It stacks up in a Jim Beam box in the closet mainly because I find submitting it to small magazines really tedious and hard to keep track of for an unorganised person (like me).
Best thing I could think of was dumping it onto my own blog once in a while. Those who still remember the old writingup.com blog community will recognize the first short story: Mr. Déjà vu Upsets the Apple Cart.
Most of these stories will be under 1,000 words. They're created in the blink of an eye and then disappear. Stop by and take a look when time is short.
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Authonomy
HarperCollins' Authonomy site is my new experiment for "The Sun Singer." Authors with manuscripts in search of a publisher and print-on-demand books in search of a mainstream publishing how upload their manuscript here for others to read and comment on. So far, I've only uploaded chapter one, but I'm adding more later.
If you have a manuscript that might be a candidate for the site, check my listing and then take a look at the FAQs to see how the site works.
You can find "The Sun Singer here.
If you have a manuscript that might be a candidate for the site, check my listing and then take a look at the FAQs to see how the site works.
You can find "The Sun Singer here.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Thanksgiving - Every Day
I learned a long time ago that both positive and negative thoughts bring more of the same. (Not that I'm able to maintain this attitude 24/7.) I do see a difference in my writing, though, when I approach the day with a feeling of thanks. It may be thanks to the friend who just called or my wife for her support or the company that lived up to its customer service policy.
Or, it may be a proactive feeling of gratefulnes that the Universe has been kind and I'm sitting here in the comfort of my den doing what I like best: writing and reading.
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I'm going to be reviewing Jaclyn White's "Whisper To The Black Candle" for the January issue of Living Jackson Magazine and Muriel P. Engleman's "Mission Accomplished: Stop the Clock" for POD Book Reviews and More.
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My novel The Sun Singer will remain with iUniverse for the immediate future. The small press that was considering a new edition of it has--after holding onto the novel since March--suddenly decided to focus on nonfiction. They also requested the manuscript for Garden of Heaven, but never looked at it. The Sun Singer was a perfect fit, but Garden of Heaven might have been to large a novel (in terms of word count) for them to handle. Stay tuned.
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Elsewhere, I invite you to read Seriously, I'm Not Really James Bond on my Malcolm's Round Table weblog and Unplug from the Word and Write on my Writer's Notebook weblog.
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When Thanksgiving arrives, my wife and I will be in Memphis with family. No Twitter or MySpace or Facebook or LinkedIn or Plaxo. Just good conversation and good food. I hope you have a great holiday as well and can take some time away from the chaos of the world for a few days.
Peruse My Top Picks at Powell's Books
Or, it may be a proactive feeling of gratefulnes that the Universe has been kind and I'm sitting here in the comfort of my den doing what I like best: writing and reading.
-
I'm going to be reviewing Jaclyn White's "Whisper To The Black Candle" for the January issue of Living Jackson Magazine and Muriel P. Engleman's "Mission Accomplished: Stop the Clock" for POD Book Reviews and More.
-
My novel The Sun Singer will remain with iUniverse for the immediate future. The small press that was considering a new edition of it has--after holding onto the novel since March--suddenly decided to focus on nonfiction. They also requested the manuscript for Garden of Heaven, but never looked at it. The Sun Singer was a perfect fit, but Garden of Heaven might have been to large a novel (in terms of word count) for them to handle. Stay tuned.
-
Elsewhere, I invite you to read Seriously, I'm Not Really James Bond on my Malcolm's Round Table weblog and Unplug from the Word and Write on my Writer's Notebook weblog.
-
When Thanksgiving arrives, my wife and I will be in Memphis with family. No Twitter or MySpace or Facebook or LinkedIn or Plaxo. Just good conversation and good food. I hope you have a great holiday as well and can take some time away from the chaos of the world for a few days.
Peruse My Top Picks at Powell's Books
Monday, November 10, 2008
The Energy of Family
Those with wry and sarcastic outlooks on life claim that we choose our friends but not our families. Within my reality, nothing could be more wrong.
I subscribe to the belief that children choose their parents prior to birth. I chose my parents for reasons it may well take a lifetime to know. The same may well be true for my daughter's choice of my former wife and I as her parents.
Now, after spending the weekend meeting and getting to know my ten-month-old granddaughter, I wonder which of my daughter's (and her husband's) points of view are the ones that drew Freya to them. I can guess--for they are wonderful parents--but the universe seldom yields such personal secrets upon speculation.
The energy of family is a complex mix, one that doesn't lend itself to the logic of the temporal world. If we cannot fathom why two people would choose each other for marriage partners, how much more difficult it is to understand the parents one chooses before physical birth.
In some cases, it seems so obvious, as when a person of one bent or another chooses parents who seem to facilitate development in every possible way. But, parents may block or frustrate or be seemingly ignorant of the most important things their children need. I think this is through positive design rather than fate or "bad luck."
Seeing life as a journey, I tend to look at how the family travelers on the scene have--through apparent "good" or "ill"--created tha very path most needed for their sons' and daughters' success.
Copyright (c) 2008 by Malcolm R. Campbell
I subscribe to the belief that children choose their parents prior to birth. I chose my parents for reasons it may well take a lifetime to know. The same may well be true for my daughter's choice of my former wife and I as her parents.
Now, after spending the weekend meeting and getting to know my ten-month-old granddaughter, I wonder which of my daughter's (and her husband's) points of view are the ones that drew Freya to them. I can guess--for they are wonderful parents--but the universe seldom yields such personal secrets upon speculation.
The energy of family is a complex mix, one that doesn't lend itself to the logic of the temporal world. If we cannot fathom why two people would choose each other for marriage partners, how much more difficult it is to understand the parents one chooses before physical birth.
In some cases, it seems so obvious, as when a person of one bent or another chooses parents who seem to facilitate development in every possible way. But, parents may block or frustrate or be seemingly ignorant of the most important things their children need. I think this is through positive design rather than fate or "bad luck."
Seeing life as a journey, I tend to look at how the family travelers on the scene have--through apparent "good" or "ill"--created tha very path most needed for their sons' and daughters' success.
Copyright (c) 2008 by Malcolm R. Campbell
Sunday, November 02, 2008
Sun Singer Tidbits
Author/editor Yvonne Perry's interview with me was posted in her bog today (11/2). Those who know me and/or who have read my novel The Sun Singer will probably say: "THAT explains a lot." :-)
Author/reviewer Geri Ahearn posted a wonderful review of my novel on her blog as well as on Amazon and B&N. I especially liked this part of it:
Malcolm R. Campbell takes the reader on a magnificent, magic carpet ride to the past, the present, and the future. The story is enlightening, and tugs at the reader's heart as the adventure becomes a journey that strikes a chord in every reader, while looking back into the years of growing up. This novel is packed with riveting intensity, and is hauntingly powerful. As each page in "The Sun Singer" fits another piece to the mysterious puzzle that Robert is determined to put together, the story becomes more entertaining, and touching. The author created a brilliant, must-read fantasy that makes you crave for a sequel. --Geraldine Ahearn
And, that takes care of today's shameless promotion...
Author/reviewer Geri Ahearn posted a wonderful review of my novel on her blog as well as on Amazon and B&N. I especially liked this part of it:
Malcolm R. Campbell takes the reader on a magnificent, magic carpet ride to the past, the present, and the future. The story is enlightening, and tugs at the reader's heart as the adventure becomes a journey that strikes a chord in every reader, while looking back into the years of growing up. This novel is packed with riveting intensity, and is hauntingly powerful. As each page in "The Sun Singer" fits another piece to the mysterious puzzle that Robert is determined to put together, the story becomes more entertaining, and touching. The author created a brilliant, must-read fantasy that makes you crave for a sequel. --Geraldine Ahearn
And, that takes care of today's shameless promotion...
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