Blog Posts - Bascomb James

Cover Reveal - Murder in the Generative Kitchen

7/7/2016

Available September 27, 2016

Murder in the Generative Kitchen
by Meg Pontecorvo.

With the Vacation Jury Duty system, jurors can lounge on a comfortable beach while watching the trial via virtual reality. Julio is loving the beach, as well as the views of a curvy fellow juror with a rainbow-lacquered skin modification who seems to be the exact opposite of his recent ex-girlfriend back in Chicago. Because of jury sequestration rules, they can’t talk to each other at all, or else they’ll have to pay full price for this Acapulco vacation. Still, Julio is desperate to catch her attention. But while he struts and tries to catch her eye, he also becomes fascinated by the trial at hand.

At first it seemed a foregone conclusion that the woman on trial used a high-tech generative kitchen to feed her husband a poisonous meal, but the more evidence mounts, the more Julio starts to suspect the kitchen may have made the decision on its own.

More information can be found at World Weaver Press.

About the Author

A writer and artist dedicated to multiple genres, Meg Pontecorvo earned an MFA in Poetry Writing from Washington University in St. Louis and is a 2010 graduate of the Odyssey Writing Workshop. Meg has published a novelette, “Grounded,” in Asimov’s, and her artwork in collage and pen has been featured in experimental video performances in the Bay Area. A native of Philadelphia, she grew up in the Midwest and now shares a small apartment with her partner and cats in San Francisco, where she cooks in a tech-free kitchen.

Accepted for Publication

6/25/2016

Cue the Rocky theme song! Last night I got a message from Juliana Rew, the publisher at Third Flatiron Publications, telling me that my story, “TANSTAAFL” was accepted for publication. The story will appear in the 2016 Fall Anthology entitled “Keystone Chronicles.” The publication date for the ebook is August 15, 2016, with print version following shortly thereafter.

The theme for the anthology is the keystone—the central stone at the summit of an arch that holds the whole thing together. In this anthology, keystones are the critical elements that other things depend upon for support. As you might imagine, when the keystone is removed, things fall apart, quickly and catastrophically. Juli told us that anything could be a keystone—keystone species, pipelines, cops, beer, or ski resorts—anything at all, as long as it was speculative fiction.

I wrote TANSTAAFL specifically for Juli’s challenge and the story came together much faster than I expected. Yes, it required a fair amount of head scratching and doodling on a pad, but once the ending and the theme were decided, the story wrote itself. Unfortunately the story can’t spell worth a damn and its punctuation sucks out loud, but hey, I had to contribute something to the work.

The title? Well, that’s a tip of the hat to Robert Heinlein who popularized the acronym in his 1966 novel, “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.” In homage to the era, I also tried to emulate the pulp fiction writing style. Get the anthology, read my story, and let me know if I succeeded.

That’s all I am going to say about the story for now. I’m looking forward to the anthology’s publication date. I’m anxious to discover the other keystones. Aren’t you?

OK folks, you can turn up the theme music and join me in my happy dance. “Yo, Adrian!”

First Call - Far Orbit Perigee

6/18/2016

This entry is for planning purposes only.
Please submit ONLY during specified dates.

Far Orbit: Perigee
[Closed] Submission window opens January 1, 2017]
Anthologist: Bascomb James

Our journey continues… The Far Orbit anthology series has a new home here at Pushpin Books. We are once again looking for modern space adventures crafted in the pulp fiction style popular in the 1940s, 50s and 60s. No, we’re not looking for slavish imitations of past classics. Rather, we want to receive stories that establish a new tradition in this much maligned SF adventure genera — smart, modern stories built around the classic traditions.

We are looking for adventure stories that are creative, readable, and memorable. We are also looking for midnight indulgences; exciting stories that transport you from the everyday grind and leave you wondrously satisfied. All adventure-based sci-fi genera are welcome but stay away from fantasy elements unless they are genetically engineered or cybernetic. Stories can begin on Earth but the major action should happen out there, beyond the edges of our blue marble. Dystopia (Mad Max) and fantasy-like adventures (John Carter of Mars) have to be very special to be included in this anthology. Please, no fan fiction.

Because adventure stories often take more space to develop, Pushpin Books is accepting stories up to 12,000 words in length. Yes, we like longer stories.

Previously published stories are acceptable but we will not publish stories that have been previously anthologized.

Want to know more about my preferences? Check out the link at the bottom of this post or pick up a copy of the previous Far Orbit volumes, Far Orbit: Speculative Space Adventures and Far Orbit Apogee.

Rights and compensation: Payment: $0.01/word. All contributors will receive a paperback copy of the anthology. For previously unpublished works: seeking first world rights in English and exclusive rights to publish in print and electronic format for six months after publication date after which, the publisher retains nonexclusive rights to continue to publish your story in the anthology. For reprints: seeking non-exclusive right to publish in print and electronic formats.

Unpublished stories preferred; reprints will be considered. No previously anthologized stories.

Open submission period: January 1 – March 15, 2017.

Length: Under 12,000 words

Submission Information can be found on the Pushpin Books website.

Simultaneous submissions = OK. Multiple submissions = No.

Hints for authors.

I prefer upbeat, fun-to-read stories with a positive message. Check out my intro to the first Far Orbit volume for more information.
I’m not a fan of the “everyone dies horribly” ending unless you can really move me.
I’m looking for subject diversity in the anthology. If you’ve written something different in this genre, I want to read it.
I love escapist adventures, mind candy, and thoughtful integration of technologies and aliens.

Last Outpost Story/Author List

6/15/2016

The Last Outpost military SF anthology is moving forward again and I thought I would share a list of story titles and authors. The anthology will be published tin October, 2016.

Stay tuned for more information.

“Conscripts” by Gary Hurtubise
“Corners and Curves” by Wendy Sparrow
“Deathbeast” by H.E. Roulo
“Hashtag Whitebitch” by Shauna O’Meara
“My Letters” by George Allen Miller
“Names” by Todd C. Wilson
“Ripplers” by John Moralee
“Risk Assessment” by David Tallerman
“Swimming Stars” by Andrew Wilson
“The Copper Queen’s Bazaar” by J.B. Rockwell
“The Quarry” by Marc Ferris
“The Thorne Legacy” by J.D. Brink

Hyperpowers – Summer Anthology from Third Flatiron Publications

4/23/2016

The literary lineup is complete for Hyperpowers, the sixteenth (sweet 16) volume of speculative short fiction from Third Flatiron Publications. The theme of this anthology is Military Science Fiction and Space Opera. Please join me in congratulating the following authors:

William Huggins, Grid Drop
Jonathan Shipley, Between Two Heartbeats
Dan Koboldt, Dirt Moon
John M. Campbell, The Silicates
Mark Rookyard, Dreaming Empire
Sam Bellotto Jr., Symphony in First Contact, Hostile
Erik B. Scott, Duck and Cover
E. J. Shumak, Outer Patrol
Brandon L. Summers, Child of Soss
Neil James Hudson, The Mytilenian Delay
Robert Walton, Kill the Coffee Boilers!
K. S. Dearsley, Alien Dreams
Noel Ayers, Yesterday's Weapon
Elliotte Rusty Harold, Claim Jumpers
Martin Clark, Pre-emptive Survivors
Art Lasky, I've Got the Horse Right Here. . . (Grins and Gurgles)

The anthology is now available for pre-order via Smashwords and Amazon. The ebook will be available May 15! Third Flatiron will be podcasting some of the stories as well (free).

And by the way, I was the guest editor for the volume. *two thumbs up*

A New Gig - Pushpin Books

4/9/2016

As some of you may know, I’ve started a new venture--Pushpin Books, a small press dedicated to publishing short speculative fiction. In a world dominated by novels and novelists, short speculative fiction stories sometimes appear to be the unloved stepchildren trying to find a place in the world. This is especially true for longer stories, stories in the 5,000 to 12,000 word range. I personally like this story length because it allows the author to create more nuanced worlds and characters while embracing the short form. These are the stories I want to publish.

I know I’m swimming against the current on this one. The voice of experience tells me that anthologies aren't big sellers and the oxymoronically-labeled long short story is arguably one of the most unloved forms in the publishing family. While these observations may be true for traditional publishers, I’m not a traditionalist and I plan to experiment with business models and marketing approaches to create platforms that work for my publishing niche--short stories.

My initial goals are modest--publish one Far Orbit science fiction anthology per year. Along the way, I’ll be experimenting with single-story publishing and creating themed short story collections. To help me move forward more quickly, I hired publishing consultant Eileen Wiedbrauk to handle book building and cover designs. She also created our logo and custom web page. Eileen was the editor-in-chief of Worldweaver Press for four years.

Well, that’s the big news for now. I'm still available for guest editor gigs and other freelance publishing activities, but Pushpin Books is my new WIP. You can follow the the travails of the little pushpin that could on our website, and twitter feeds. It's gonna be fun!

Twitter: @pushpinbooks
Website: http://www.pushpinbooks.com

Eileen's Contact Information
Twitter: @eileenwiedbrauk
Webpage: eileenwiedbrauk.com/publishing-consultant.html
Email: eileen.designs.books@gmail.com

Follow @pushpinbooks

Tweets by @pushpinbooks

Hyperpowers Anthology is Complete

3/29/2016

Ladies and Gentlemen, we have an anthology!

I’m happy to report that the Hyperpowers anthology from Third Flatiron Publications is complete and it’s been transferred to Colorado where the Third Flatiron folks will convert our artfully arranged electrons into an actual book.

Launch day is May 15, 2016 for the ebook.
The print version will appear shortly thereafter. Whoo Hoo!

I want to extend my personal thanks to everyone who sent in stories. It was a pleasure reading them.

Writing When You Don’t Have Time to Write

3/12/2016

Let’s face it, we all want to write the next best-selling novel but most of us have jobs, families, and other commitments that eat into our writing time. For many aspiring writers, the solid blocks of time we need to plan, plot, and write a novel either don’t exist or they’re too infrequent to provide continuity between writing sessions.

Yes, I’ve read the writing advice that tells us to make a writing appointment each day and just do it, get your butt in the chair and WRITE! All I can say is, “Get real!” That advice was written by professional writers whose main job is writing and writing-related activities. The rest of us need to fit writing activities into our daily routine, at least until we make it big and writing is our job.

Before someone goes all huffy on me, let me explain that the professional writing advice is well-intentioned, sage and meaningful. We need to practice writing, editing, and the myriad skills that go into crafting a story. There are no secret passages or magic carpets that will shorten our journey. My point is that we don’t have to perfect all these things at the same time. When we are time-challenged, we can break our writing activities into manageable bits that don’t require large time commitments. Sure, it takes longer to get to our final goal, but practicing when we can allows us to write more effectively when we have larger blocks of time.

Let’s explore how this might work. Let’s say we’re waiting for our turn in the dental chair. We can pull out our pad and write a short meaningful conversation, a description, or a character’s inner thoughts. Put the pad away and edit it during the next small window. Once we have the vignette polished, we give it a meaningful name (e.g., “Mother and Active Child in the Dentist’s Office” or “Smells from the Dentist’s Office”) and share it with our readers. Can they relate to the description? Is it meaningful?

At this point, you might be asking, “How does this get my novel written?” To address this question, I’m going to refer to advice given to aspiring photographers by the photography greats. Like writing, photography has technical (f/stop, shutter speed, depth of field) and artistic components that must come together to create an outstanding image. Professional photographers tell us to practice with our camera until we don’t have to think about the technical aspects. When we automatically know how to isolate two people from a busy background, we can concentrate on the artistry of two lovers meeting in a park. Pros rarely look at the back of the camera to see if they have the technical aspects dialed in. Well, they may do one quick check, but after that their eye is glued to the viewfinder, working the artistic side of the equation.

Writing descriptions, conversations, and scenes are akin to learning the camera. Once we know how to do these things effectively, we can concentrate on the story and its artistry. Besides, our collection of polished vignettes can be re-purposed in future works or they may become story inspirations.

I’ve included a few supplemental writing prompts to get us started.

Descriptions That Introduce a Character
Saying without saying - Describe someone who is ______ without saying the word(s).

Angry
Romantically interested in someone
Obsessive and controlling
40-60 years old
Unliked by your POV character
Convinced they are unjustly accused
Repentant for a recent deed
Noticed for their attractiveness rather than their ability
Habitually unnoticed by others
Depressed
Mourning the death of a spouse/child/dog/gerbil
Emotionally absent
A jock

Physical Descriptions – Describe someone focusing on:

A distracting mannerism
How they smell (breath, body, hair, etc.)
Their eating habits
Their shoes
The clothes they are wearing
Facial hair
Voice and/or speaking style
Posture
One body part (hands, face, eyes, feet, fingers, arms, etc.)
The tech they have/display (phone, tablet, watch, glasses, Bluetooth, etc.)
How they resemble their pet
Glass/prosthetic/cybernetically-enhanced eye
Characteristic facial expression

Positive and Negative – Describe a scene positively and negatively

Sunset
Urban street scene
Punk with blue Mohawk, leather, piercing/branding, in the front row of a small town church.
The POV character opening the front door of their house.
Policeman talking with a teenager
Rocket launch
Four men with hard hats staring into a hole in front of a house
A line of people waiting to buy a movie ticket
Coffee shop at 8 PM
Produce/meat/deli section of a grocery store
Airport waiting area on Christmas eve
Family driving to the in-law’s house for dinner
A horse farm next to a subdivision/apartment complex
The bus stop in the morning

The bottom line here is twofold; (1) we don’t have to abandon our writing aspirations when we don’t have large blocks of time and (2) moving forward in small steps is better than not moving at all.

Well folks, what do you think? Do you have time management techniques you’d like to share with busy writers? Do you have some intriguing prompts that might make the exercise more interesting?

I’d love to hear from you.

Building Tension in Short Adventure Stories

2/6/2016

Short stories have been an increasingly important part of my science fiction reading for the past few years. One reason for this change is research—I’ve been reacquainting myself with stories and themes published during the “Golden Age of Science Fiction.” Another reason involves my job as editor and anthologist for Far Orbit Speculative Space Adventures, Far Orbit Apogee, and Far Orbit: Last Outpost.

As I read through these stories, I’ve found that the most effective short adventure stories have a common structure that ratchets up the tension through repeated try/fail cycles until the conflict is finally resolved in the climatic action scene. The stakes increase with each try/fail cycle and the pressure builds to the climax. The wrap up sequence (i.e., falling action or denouement) lowers the intensity somewhat, but it never returns to the base levels.

My mental image of this process is that of a trebuchet or ballista where the crew works together to create tension on the ropes. Cogs click and clank, preserving their progress. The crew pauses a moment then struggles anew. They crank until the machine groans from the strain, teetering between action and destruction. With a stroke, the tension released and the projectile is hurled into the distance. That’s my kind of story.

This action cycle is works well in every speculative fiction genre and in traditional action-adventure stories. Try/fail cycles certainly aren’t an absolute recipe for success. You still need story craft, a hook at the beginning, meaningful characters, compelling story, and a killer ending but the tension needs to build, one try/fail cycle at a time.

Guest Editor at Third Flatiron Anthologies

1/29/2016

I am pleased and honored to be a guest editor for the upcoming Hyperpowers anthology published by Third Flatiron Anthologies. Juliana Rew at TF publishes four themed anthologies each year. In addition to theme-specific stories, each anthology includes one or two humorous flash fiction pieces (Grins and Gurgles). Some of the published stories are featured as podcasts.

The theme for the Summer 2016 anthology is “Hyperpowers,” featuring space opera and military science fiction stories. Space operas are dramatic, large-scale science fiction adventures focusing on character and plot action. We’re looking for page-turners, adventure stories that keep us on the edge of our seats. Mindless mayhem just doesn’t cut it. We want compelling science fiction tales that wake our emotions and stimulate our imagination.

With all of space and time to choose from, this is your chance to show off your world-building and storytelling chops. Show us the tech, the people, and the politics; weave them into rebellions, invasions, hostage rescues, fleet actions, cyber wars, and special ops. It’s all good. Please stay away from fantasy elements (wizards, magic, gods, etc.). Fan fiction is a definite no-no.

Third Flatiron is seeking original unpublished stories for this anthology. Base compensation is $0.03/word but you could receive more. See the submissions page for complete information on remuneration and rights sought.

Open submission period: January 15 – March 15, 2016.

Length: 1,500 to 3,000 words for theme stories; flash humor pieces should be around 600 words.

Submission method: See the submissions page for detailed submission instructions.

Simultaneous submissions = No. Multiple submissions = No.