Another Honorable Mention for My Writing!

As you can see from the image above, I received an honorable mention for my short story “For All the Stones” that I submitted to the L. Ron Hubbard’s Writer’s of the Future Contest for the fourth quarter this year. It is not the first honorable mention I have received from that contest. In fact, a couple of my previous posts had a story that also won an honorable mention in that contest. That story was “The Plight of Lost Souls.”

While an honorable mention is great, I want to do better. It’s the same with each of my books. With each one I write I work to improve.

What makes a story good? Think about that for a moment. Certainly, the writing and imagery the author can portray through his words are important. But I think it is also our experiences. Each of us has our own perceptions and history. When we read the written word, or listen to an audiobook, we become a portion of that author’s creative process. Our minds take what is written and expand on it. That’s why some books and stories really stick with some people, while others don’t. When we read, we go on a journey with that author.

Think of The Martian by Andy Weir. From what I have heard of the process with that book, it began online, with his audience helping with the problems his main character faced. It turned out to be a really good book. It’s one book I have read more than once. I also like science fiction books that deal with our solar system in the future (like The Expanse by James S. A. Corey, or Mars and Return to Mars both by Ben Bova who recently passed away).

 I really like reading good stories. But I also write. In fact, just the month of November, starting on the first, I have written almost the entire rough draft of a time travel book. It is nearly finished at 98,000 words. I plan to write the last two chapters tonight and tomorrow. If you’re calculating that, it’s around 2,500 to 3,000 words per day.  

That book for me, even though it is still in rough draft form, is one of the best I’ve written. The characters have more depth and there are a few larger side conflicts occurring throughout. If you’ve been following along on my weekly posts, you’ll know the story is a time travel story. A portion of the story’s idea came from an article I read about supposedly shared false memories (such as the remembering the incorrect spelling of the Berenstain Bears).

I wanted to play with that a bit, so I wondered what life would be like for people that could sense changes in time. Rather than feeling just a sense of déjà vu, they would become sick with the added memories of the changed items. If only certain people noticed it, they would be the best to use for time travel. They would know when their actions produced a large enough change.

I plan to have that book ready for Amazon in March. At the same time, I have another book I plan to have polished and ready before the end of December. Keep watching here for updates on when that one goes live. It is awfully close.