Writing to Publish

W2P GUEST SPEAKERS

Lou Antonelli

Lou is a published author, a newspaper editor, and he also publishes a science fiction ezine.

8/20/07 6:31:23 PM Opening "Chat Log 8-20-07"

PCarlson: welcome
LouATexas: Howdy!
PCarlson: do not worry about accurate typing
PCarlson: it's always a mess, and I correct the chat log later
LouATexas: I am the managing editor of the Mount Pleasant (Texas) Daily Tribune and I will try to spell correctly.
PCarlson: the usual five-threaded free for all?
LouATexas: Let 'em rip...
PCarlson: Frank, David, welcome
Fjm3eyes: Thanks
Dhewco: hiya Paul, guys
PCarlson: Lou is our vic- I mean, guest, for this evening
PHeeren: hi
PHeeren: I saw my great nephew for the first time
Rose1533: Cool!
Rose1533: Hi, Dale.
TheWordSlayer1: evening all
Deluge7: Hello everyone.
Mallie1025: Hi all--back to back chats all night--whew!
Rose1533: That's Tuesday for me!
Mallie1025: Hi Lou--happy to see you made it
LouATexas: Thank you.
Fjm3eyes: hello everyone
PCarlson: Looks like the gang's all rounded up
PCarlson: Our guest speaker this evening is Lou Antonelli
PCarlson: an expert on Texas history
PCarlson: writer of unusual F&SF tales, some of which are in the largest genre publications
Rose1533: Love Texas history!
PCarlson: a working newspaper editor (so you can write him heated letters if you want)
PCarlson: he'll be making some comments about on line and in-person writing workshops
Mallie1025: And a huge book festival hosted by Laura Bush in November
Rose1533: Yes!
PCarlson: not heard about that one
Dhewco: I lost a Texas alternative history wip a few years ago, after a computer crash.
PCarlson: Lou, go ahead any time
Rose1533: Texas Book Festival in Austin, TX.
LouATexas: Ok. I was born in Massachusetts, but moved to Texas 22 years ago.
LouATexas: Because of that, I've had to study Texas history.
LouATexas: And I've tried to use it in my stories.
LouATexas: My story "A Rocket for the Republic" was set in the Texas frontier in 1845.
LouATexas: It was published in Asimov's S-F in 2005.
LouATexas: It was the last story Gardner Dozois bought before he retired after 19 years as editor.
LouATexas: I have an alternate history, "The Witch of Waxahachie" being published in Jim Baen's Universe next April.
PCarlson: tough market!
LouATexas: When Baens opened up, their pay rate was among the highest in the business.
LouATexas: They got swamped last year, and in fact had to bring in an extra editor, Mike Resnick, to work the backlog.
LouATexas: He sent three stories out of that backlog.
LouATexas: And mine was the only one Eric Flint bought. That made me feel great.
PCarlson: (I got a friendly note from Mr. Resnick, but no sale)
LouATexas: I hear he's real tough.
Mallie1025: congrats-you should feel great
LouATexas: I'm open to questions.
Mallie1025: Do you do mainly short stories?
LouATexas: Yes. I'm a journalist, so to me, 300 words is a normal length.
LouATexas: I'm just cranking up a story arc that may become a book.
Mallie1025: LOL me too--at 1000 words my pen just stops
Rose1533: Where in Texas do you live?
LouATexas: Hooks - 15 miles from the Arkansas border just outside Texarkana.
Rose1533: I'm in Trophy Club.
LouATexas: I lived in Cedar Hill for 17 years.
Rose1533: Born and raised in Fort Worth.
Mallie1025: That was a big switch from New England
LouATexas: I got sick of the crime and snow.
TheWordSlayer1: Lou, I lived close to Cedar hill (Duncanville) and now live in North East Texas, small town called Quitman
LouATexas: I used to work in Winnsboro and covered the county commissioners in Quitman.
Mallie1025: A lot of Texans here--I lived in San Antonio for the first five years of my life
TheWordSlayer1: small world : )
LouATexas: That's Sissy Spacek's home town. The post office is on Sissy Spacek Drive.
TheWordSlayer1: yep, they keep lots of janitors ready at the High school proms here. : )
LouATexas: (Groan)
PCarlson: Lou, what attracted you to the F&SF genres? lots of news guys go into crime thrillers, is what I hear.
Rose1533: Last place we were stationed was San Antonio. Love that town!
LouATexas: I grew up reading the greats - Heinlein, Asimov, Bester - and when I was middle ages and learned to write via journalism, I also found I could write fiction.
Mallie1025: I can still remember it--played in the Alamo
LouATexas: Just kinda fell into it.
LouATexas: Middle age whim.
Mallie1025: Good for you--that's a hard switch--trying it myself
LouATexas: I got good responses from my first efforts.
PCarlson: So this was your alternative to buying a red sports car?
Mallie1025: ahh - a mid -life crisis
LouATexas: Funny you say that. I started to write after I took a paying job after a newspaper I owned myself folded.
Mallie1025: It's the stretch to a full book that's hard
LouATexas: My mid-life crisis was a business crisis.
PCarlson: many of our speakers (and others) contend that Fiction and Non are very very different, and so it's hard to do both well
Mallie1025: It worked out for the best
PCarlson: have you found it so?
LouATexas: I find that they're so different that it's like two different worlds.
LouATexas: A newspaper's writing is so different than fiction writing, there's no conflict in my mind.
PCarlson: so your brain can make that switch
LouATexas: The difference is that fiction has to make sense.
Mallie1025: Thanks, I needed to hear that, thinking it was just me
LouATexas: Yes, they're so different. It's like being a CPA during the day and surfing on the weekend.
PCarlson: none of that Jayson Blair stuff at your newspaper, either
LouATexas: The problem I have is physical - I get carpal tunnel syndrome.
Rose1533: And if it's Sci-Fi or Fantasy, you have to be able to make the reader suspend disbelief.
Mallie1025: Did you have trouble with POV? something not a problem in nonfiction
LouATexas: Town is too small - we just print what everybody already knows.
LouATexas: I write best in first-person.
LouATexas: That's the most different from a newspaper.
LouATexas: "Rocket for the Republic" was a monologue.
Mallie1025: me too, but I did a lot of commentary/analysis so it was always first person
LouATexas: "The Witch of Waxahachie" is first person.
Mallie1025: I like some fiction that is first person
Rose1533: To Kill a Mockingbird. Moby Dick.
PCarlson: Witch not Witches, someone got that mixed up on the Asimov's board
Mallie1025: I can't seem to think in third
LouATexas: If I write in third person, I have t be careful not to switch viewpoints in mid-scene.
Mallie1025: There you go!! That's what I am fighting now
Rose1533: There are ways to do that correctly.
Mallie1025: At least there are two of us like that. lol
LouATexas: Yeah, proofread!
TheWordSlayer1: Lou, do you have a site with any Sample chapters? these sound like good reads.
LouATexas: I have a web site where I've posted stories that have already been published.
Mallie1025: can we have it?
Rose1533: WB, Dale.
LouATexas: www.cedarhillsentinel.com
TheWordSlayer1: thanks
Deluge7: Thanks. AOL does it again.
LouATexas: That URL is all that's left of my failed newspaper.
LouATexas: I have an opinion on workshops vs. on-line critiques.
TheWordSlayer1: Lou, sounds like that failed Newspaper was just one step in your growing Writers Journey
LouATexas: Sucked at the time.
TheWordSlayer1: understood
PCarlson: we love opinions!
LouATexas: I didn't attend a workshop until I was 48 and already has some publications.
Mallie1025: It's an excellent website btw
LouATexas: Thanks
LouATexas: I found a lot of posturing and put downs.
LouATexas: Artistic types like to tear each other apart and "share the misery."
LouATexas: I think you're time is better served just writing, writing, writing.
Mallie1025: Amen!!
TheWordSlayer1: agreed
LouATexas: And if you have any concerns, post the story online and get opinions without the theater.
Mallie1025: They sometimes tend to rewrite your story the way they would, rather than crit it. This group is exceptional in that
Rose1533: when you speak of workshops, are you referring to critique groups?
LouATexas: Back in 2002, when I first thought about writing, I posted a 2,000 word story on-line.
LouATexas: The good response encouraged me to keep after it.
LouATexas: If I had gone to an in-person critique group, I probably would have quit right there.
PCarlson: Rose (Carol) is asking, formal workshops like Clarion, or do you mean, local-circle critique groups?
Dhewco: my first critique was from the late Jackatbrun, it was horrible. But I'm contrary, it spurred me to write harder.
Mallie1025: e-zines and contests on-line are helpful that way too Dhewco: harder=better and more often
Rose1533: I was in a local face-to-face and an on-line at the same time when I first started.
LouATexas: I've attended four Turkey City Workshops. Two with Bruce Sterling, one with Jeff Vandermeer and one with Ted Chiang.
PCarlson: how were those?
LouATexas: All in all, not worth the gas.
Dhewco: never heard of them
PCarlson: Sterling is a breakthrough author, if ever there was one. He invented the SF cyberpunk genre
LouATexas: The other authors kissed the big shots butts, and then tore each other to ribbons.
PCarlson: did not like 'em?
PCarlson: ouch!
TheWordSlayer1: only writing contest I have ever heard of was in this group and I entered it....didn't win , but entered it......don't know much about writing contests and how to tell if they are real or not
LouATexas: I could have gotten the same feedback online and saved a lot of time and money.
LouATexas: I blew the engine on my pickup driving to the last one.
PCarlson: Lou, we told you not to put the excess commas into your gas tank!!!
Rose1533: LOL!
PCarlson: I'm in this group, the Baen's Slush group, and the new Analog Writers Group
PCarlson: all on line, as it happens
LouATexas: I just posted a story at Baen's Slush, and the feedback was helpful.
PHeeren: I have entered W2P contests
Dhewco: never heard of Baen's Slush. My experience with Baen is limited to their e-book freebies.
LouATexas: I was lucky that when I started submitting, Gardner Dozois was still at Asimov's.
LouATexas: He would send back critiques with rejections.
Rose1533: Nice!
LouATexas: Damn, those were helpful.
LouATexas: While I was doing that, I attended a convention and learned that he only bothered to write back to authors he expected to eventually buy a story from.
PCarlson: exactly
PCarlson: I'm in process with Stan, at Analog, currently
PCarlson: got some tips on getting my truck driver SF tale up to snuff
Rose1533: Do you do any novel-length books or just short stories?
LouATexas: Stan Schmidt wants the science to make sense.
LouATexas: Just shorts for now.
TheWordSlayer1: how many words is considered a short?
Rose1533: I think everyone here is working on books. Two of us have contracts.
LouATexas: Shorts 0-9,000.
Mallie1025: yep Tom that's right
LouATexas: Excuse me, less than a thousand is a flash.
Mallie1025: I love doing flash fiction
TheWordSlayer1: thanks Lou
LouATexas: Two best pieces of advice I've ever heard:
LouATexas: Breaking in is 1/3 luck, 1/3 contacts and 1/3 skill.
LouATexas: In a short story you can tell about an incident.
LouATexas: In a novella, you can tell about someone's life.
LouATexas: In a novel, you can create a world.
Mallie1025: would you consider trying a full novel?
Rose1533: That's what I did--created a world.
Dhewco: I despise Flash. Heck, it's torture trying to stop at 1500 words (or whatever W2P's contest limit is).
PCarlson: I tend to cram too much into shorter works
Mallie1025: I wrote a non-fiction book and then length was tough too
PCarlson: heh heh 1850 words, David (used to be 1500, at first)
LouATexas: Someone once wrote a one-word first contact story. All it said was: "OUCH!"
PCarlson: LOL
Dhewco: 350 words? what will I do with the space?
Mallie1025: OH David--I wish I was like you! I can tell a whole story is 300 words
PCarlson: I think the record for that is a zero word Spec Fic story
PCarlson: its title was: If Adam and Eve Had Never Met
TheWordSlayer1: lol Paul
Mallie1025: lol
PCarlson: I'm serious!
Mallie1025: I read nothing but novels--you think it would rub off
Mallie1025: If they never met--end of story
LouATexas: The last book I read all the way through was John Scalzi's "Old Man's War."
LouATexas: If you want to learn to write S-F, that's a good place to start.
TheWordSlayer1: I think in Movie scenes so for me a 300 word story would just be a highlight reel LOL
PCarlson: been getting good reviews, that one
Mallie1025: Lou, have you ever considered a book collection of short stories?
LouATexas: Yeah, but you're not considered a big enough author UNTIL you've published a novel.
LouATexas: Only Ray Bradbury and Harlan Ellison have made their reputations almost exclusively on short stories.
Mallie1025: One would think it would be the other way around
Mallie1025: first the collection, then the novel
Dhewco: Heh, what was that book Bradbury wrote? Fahrenheit 451?
Dhewco: loved that book
Mallie1025: I only read his "Mars" stories
LouATexas: This is America - the only thing people respect is money, and the money is in novels.
LouATexas: "Fahrenheit" was expanded from a short story called "The Fireman."
Mallie1025: Lou, my publisher says non-fiction sells well
Dhewco: Nuclear attack in Florida...book burners, I read it in the fourth grade. It was good.
Mallie1025: Hoping she's right
Dhewco: That was a long time ago..lol, God, I was a weird kid.
PHeeren: so good night
LouATexas: Sure, but that's not for me.
PCarlson: Good evening Tom
PHeeren: I'd better go get ready for bed
LouATexas: Vaya con digel.
TheWordSlayer1: rest well
LouATexas: Any last questions???
TheWordSlayer1: you covered a lot of stuff for us Lou, Thank you
LouATexas: Thanks.
Rose1533: I've already ordered [your book], Micki!
Mallie1025: Yes, and made me feel less lonesome. lol
Rose1533: You tell a great story!
PCarlson: I've been dropping links for Micki's book. for the preorders
Mallie1025: Rose? my book? if so thanks!!
Rose1533: Yes.
Mallie1025: ah thanks Paul!!
LouATexas: Sentinel S-F publishes fiction on-line and pays. Use the email link to get guidelines.
Rose1533: Yours is the only one so far.
PCarlson: Lou, what's next? any inside hints about your writing?
LouATexas: I'm developing more short stories that fit into an arc.
LouATexas: Following up from "The Witch of Waxahachie."
Rose1533: Lou, Micki (Mallie) and I are the two whose books are being publisher--hers later this year, mine next year.
Mallie1025: OK, thanks. I write a little horror and paranormal--do they accept that too?
PCarlson: that way you could end up with a novel, after all
LouATexas: That's it exactly.
PCarlson: do you know Joe Lansdale?
Mallie1025: Actually in two weeks Rose--time flies. lol
Rose1533: Wow!
PCarlson: you posted something about "The Nuns of Nacadoches"
LouATexas: Yep - its pretty funny.
Rose1533: Nacogdoches. Spelling is important!
LouATexas: I've been called a "Texas author."
LouATexas: Joe was born here, and he doesn't think I'm a Texas author at all.
PCarlson: hey, love the town but have not seen it since 1977 or so
Rose1533: I went to Stephen F. Austin State University for two years.
LouATexas: Of course, Joe is right!
Rose1533: You better believe I can spell Nacogdoches!
Mallie1025: Lou places outside the northeast don't except outsiders for many years
PCarlson: I recently read his "The Drive In 2"
PCarlson: very very weird . . .
Rose1533: That university is 2/5 of the town's population!
Rose1533: Don't believe it, Micki!
PCarlson: in my neighborhood, 90% of the adults ARE newcomers Mallie1025: Yeah but are they legal?
PCarlson: my family's been around this area for 100 years -- almost unheard of, these days
LouATexas: I struck up a relationship with a collaborator who though "Lou Antonelli" was Joe Lansdale's pen name for writing s-f.
PCarlson: LOL That is a compliment indeed
PCarlson: Micki, don't ask don't tell
PCarlson: in this complex, legal
Rose1533: Here, too!
LouATexas: Molly Ivins once said "Everyone in East Texas is insane."
PCarlson: next door and across the street? put a guy in an ICE jacket out front and you'd have a ghost town . . .
Dhewco: My mother's family has been in our area since the 1830s.
Rose1533: LOL! Actually, it's not bad here. It's in South Texas where it's bad.
PCarlson: they rent, these condos are owners mostly
Mallie1025: NYC has been invaded by Russians, Muslims and Mexicans in the past five years
LouATexas: In the town where I work, the school district is 88% Hispanic.
PCarlson: Ivins has quite the sharp tongue
Rose1533: San Antonio is majority Mexican-American now.
LouATexas: I have a staff writer and a weekly section in Spanish.
Rose1533: Had. She passed away recently.
Rose1533: Love her wit!
LouATexas: You know how hard it is to edit a paper in a language you don't know???
Rose1533: Used to write for the Dallas Morning News.
LouATexas: Writing S-F is a cinch after that!!!
PCarlson: Habla Español Señor Lou?
LouATexas: Not at all.
Rose1533: I'm a precinct chairman. When we work an election, we have to make sure there's one worker who is bi-lingual.
Dhewco: gotta go, goodnight everyone
Rose1533: Night, David.
LouATexas: My two languages are Texan and Yankee.
PCarlson: around here half the billboards are in Spanish. in San Jose, they're in Vietnamese
Rose1533: LOL!
Mallie1025: I once said, "Uno momento," to a Mexican laborer and I don't speak Spanish
TheWordSlayer1: LOL,,, I speak the same lingo Lou
PCarlson: I am learning to read the Spanish ones, at least
Mallie1025: I think it's getting into our brains subliminally
TheWordSlayer1: When I drank , my Yankee was more pronounced : )
Rose1533: I know a little of the Queen's English.
Mallie1025: know I spelled that wrong. lol
LouATexas: I need to be at my paper at 6 a.m. - it prints at noon, so It gotta go. Any last remarks or questions???
Rose1533: No. Just thanks for being here!
TheWordSlayer1: Just a thank you for coming by and sharing with us.
PCarlson: thanks, Lou, for speaking this evening
Mallie1025: Really enjoyed having you here--please come again soon
Rose1533: Night, all.
LouATexas: Thanks. Hope I was helpful.
PCarlson: good session
Mallie1025: very much so
TheWordSlayer1: You were, have a good evening Lou
LouATexas: Same t'you.
Mallie1025: Night all --stay well
PCarlson: I'll send you a copy of the session log
PCarlson: Good size crowd, not a madhouse
LouATexas: I'm outta here. As Red Skelton used to say: "Good night, and may God bless!!!"
PCarlson: Sunny and her posse must be occupied elsewhere
PCarlson: g'nite, all
TheWordSlayer1: Nite Paul
PCarlson: one more week to write crits
PCarlson: I will respond to the ones I got, soon
PCarlson: Don, I put you in the lineup
TheWordSlayer1: Line up?
PCarlson: are you ready to launch a submission, in the next few weeks?
TheWordSlayer1: Not really
PCarlson: okay
PCarlson: then I can un-put you
TheWordSlayer1: I'm in no hurry : )
PCarlson: let me know when you're ready!
TheWordSlayer1: I will , thanks Paul. thanks for the email too
PCarlson: no problem
PCarlson: I have only that one story
PCarlson: I will check for more
TheWordSlayer1: right now I am still working on the first draft of a book that is about a man who can see angels, good and bad ones
PCarlson: I see that Lyric/Sryope critiqued that same story, The Journal
TheWordSlayer1: you keep great records Paul.
PCarlson: the W2P Archives are right up there with the Library of Congress, let me tell you
TheWordSlayer1: hehe
PCarlson: I too must start work early, so's I better run

8/20/07 8:10:36 PM Closing "Chat Log 8-20-07"

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