Oh, I just got something neat in the mail today. It's this:
That being Jeff VanderMeer's supercool, illustrated craft book - all about writing Imaginative Fiction. It's totally beautiful (with artwork by Jeremy Zerfoss) and full of wisdom from Jeff himself, and from a ton of other folks as well. See, Jeff knows people. When he asks for creative consultations and contributions, we come running. That's why it's got articles and such from the likes of Neil Gaiman, Lev Grossman, Lauren Beukes, Charles Yu, Karin Lowachee, Catherynne M. Valente, Michael Moorcock, and many others, as well as a long exclusive discussion about craft with George R.R. Martin.
For some reason it's even got me in it. Yep, my name is right there on the back, wedged in between Kim Stanley Robinson and Joe Abercrombie. I'm just across from Karen Joy Fowler and I could tap Ursula K. Leguin and Catherynne M. Valente on the shoulder. I could tickle Neil Gaiman (not that I'd dare) and step on Lev Grossman's toes (not that I'd want to or anything - just saying).
Aspiring science fiction and fantasy writers? Any of you out there?
If so, you might want to check out The Clarion Foundation's annual Write-a-thon, a way to get some writing done, get connected to other writers and to do a bit of good. A quick description:
What is a write-a-thon, anyway? It’s just like a walk-a-thon. But
instead of walking, we’re writing, and instead of making pledges per
mile, we’re making pledges per word, chapter, or story. Writers get
support, encouragement and motivation, and the option of joining a team
with a writing mentor! Those who care about the writers in their life
get a way to show their support. And money is raised for a literally
fantastic cause — the Clarion Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers’ Workshop. All donations are made through The Clarion Foundation, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, EIN #20-3114945.
Erin Underwood has posted a lovely essay on being a beta reader for... me! Yes, she was one of the few folks I asked to read the novel in its early forms. Her feedback made the book much stronger, and I'm grateful for it.
One of my illustrious fellow Clarion instructors, Elizabeth Bear, has posted a wee piece on the Clarion blog. She writes that she wasn't sure what to post about for awhile, until she hit on an idea:
"...it occurred to me that I could do two for the price of one. Which is to say, I could talk about maintaining the physical plant, and the importance of telling detail all at once."
Just so you know, I'll be blogging on something or other at the same spot later this month. I'll mention it when it's live, of course.
And... I would be remiss if I didn't prod you would be speculative fiction writers to apply to the program. It's intense, longish, and not cheap, BUT... man, it works. Any MFA program out there that had the alumni list that the Clarion residency has would be considered among the top programs in the country. Good place to write and to meet other people that are going to be voices in the genre in the future!
I was just cleaning up my desktop and I noticed this exchange I'd had with a kind fan/aspiring writer last spring. I can't for the life of me remember if I posted about it (forgive me if I did already), but I figured I might as well toss it up here.
Here, in part, is what the individual wrote to me:
"I was wondering if you could tell me how you got published/learned how to write well. I'm a freshman at Duke and am completely and utterly confused about what to do with my life. I know I want to do something that correlates with my passions, and writing does that, but I don't know how I could get published so that I could sustain myself by writing."
First off, it's wild and kind scary to get letters from folks asking for life advice. If you knew all the things that I've screwed up over the years... Although, I guess that's how someone gets the bumps and bruises and later emerge as advice.
Second, I couldn't possibly answer the entirety of that question. But I did take a brief crack at part of it. Here's what I said:
Hi M,
Thanks for writing. Your question could lead to pages and pages of thoughts in answer to it. For both our sakes, I’ll try to be brief instead.
Here are three things about a writing career I can say with certainty:
It’s a long road that almost always takes much longer and requires more work than you think is fair. (Case in point, I took tons of writing courses as an undergrad, got a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, and wrote two complete novels before getting beyond them to write the third, Gabriel's Story. That’s the first one to get published, and it took me about nine years of thinking of myself as a novelist before I truly became a published novelist.)
There is no one best way to do it, except that...
Becoming a writer requires years of reading and writing.
That last one should be obvious, but you wouldn’t believe the number of times people tell me, “Oh, yeah, writing… That’s cool. I might write a novel. I don’t really read much, but I have this great idea…” Honestly, that happens quite a bit. There’s something about the arts that makes a lot of people think they just pick up a pen one day and write a bestseller. I don’t know why. I don’t think that I could build a house without studying to be a carpenter, learning the tools, techniques, improving through trial an error. I don’t think I could pick up a musical instrument and just know how to play it. I know the fact that I can imagine a stellar acrobatic dunk doesn’t mean I’ll ever in my life be able to perform one. But people do seem to think they could write a good book without practice or work, if they sat down when day and cranked it out.
That’s not intended as a lecture to you. Obviously, you are reading and you are writing. That’s exactly what you should be doing, and if you want writing as part of your career for the long run you should be doing it a lot! I think the way to go is to try everything in pursuit of writing. Writing classes? Absolutely. They’re never perfect, but you’ll always learn something. It’s crucial that you do have others read and respond to your work. Sometimes they’ll say helpful stuff. Sometimes they won't. Sorting through it and finding what works for you is essential, though.
I also think it’s important to live an interesting life too. I can’t imagine being the writer that I am if I hadn’t traveled, lived and loved and made lots of mistakes and seen lots of cool things. Because that’s the other thing about the long road of becoming a writer: in many ways, it’s not a young person’s game. Writers that make a splash in their twenties are very rare. Much more likely to happen in your thirties, forties. Hey, fifties and into sixties can be many writers’ most productive times! Makes sense if you consider that all those cumulative experiences build wisdom and perspective. Writing well requires that.
So, yes, sign up for some writing courses. Keep writing. Keep living. All of this is geared just at encouraging you to become a stellar writer. The publishing side of it is another matter. It’s complicated and frustrating and involves too much for me to give you any quick suggestions. You might want to check out 2011 Writer's Market. It comes out every year, and there’s lots of useful information in it. Also, I quite liked How To Be Your Own Literary Agent: An Insider's Guide to Getting Your Book Published. Good book, which is really about why you should get a literary agent.
A while back a student emailed me a bunch of questions about writing. I answered them. My answers weren't great or anything, but I did take a bit of time to put my thoughts into words. I emailed back... and I don't recall if I ever heard back from the student.
Perhaps my answers weren't what he was looking for. (I have to admit, a lot of them do have an "I dunno, you just have to figure it out" sort of vibe.) Having put time into them, though, I'd like to offer them up again! One at a time. Occasionally. That sort of thing.
Okay, first, a question:
How much research do you need to do for a project (short story vs. novel, say)? Do you absorb a lot upfront and dive into more as needed along the way, or do you only search out the bits you need as they arise? Or something else? How do you know where to start in terms of finding sources/information?
And my answer:
Since I’m mostly writing novels I always want to know enough about my subject matter to know that there’s a novel in it - and that the time period/setting is an integral part of what’s going to make it interesting. But I don’t try to know everything. I do the bulk of the research as I write, as I discover blank spots in my knowledge and have to find the details to fill them in.
I certainly do search out the bits I need as they arrive, but I also try to have a variety of other indirect research sources: nonfiction books on related issues/time period/cultures/science/history, novels written about (or during) the time of my story, novels that may be about entirely different subject matter… Reading a great Vietnam War novel may be very informative to how I write about ancient warfare, etc. I’d also suggest that when reading secondary historical works you check the footnotes. If the book gives you an interesting bit of information find out where they got it; go there for more; follow leads.
Bottom line is that research is trial and error. I don’t think there’s one magical way to do it.
My current thoughts on this answer?
Well, yeah, that's pretty much what I think about that. Writing is blundering with intent. Just do that. Blunder like you mean it. Good things may come of it.
I'm happy to say that I'll be on a panel at this year's Write Angles Conference at Mount Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA. It takes place on October 23rd and includes a wonderful line-up of writers from many genres. Andre Dubus III and Magdalena Gómez are headlining, but it also includes panels with YA authors, Non-fiction writers, poets and all sorts - like the hard to define but very cool Jedediah Berry.
My panel is called "Inspiration Throughout the Writing Process". The folks I'm up there with are:
Set in a dictionary company, Emily Arsenault’s first novel THE BROKEN TEAGLASS was a New York Times Notable Crime Book of 2009. Her second novel, about two young girls on a paranormal investigation, will be released by HarperCollins in 2011. She lives in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts.
Jo Knowles is the author of the young adult novels: LESSONS FROM A DEAD GIRL, JUMPING OFF SWINGS, and PEARL (coming 2011). She teaches writing for children in the MFA program at Simmons College. Jo lives in Vermont with her husband and son. To learn more about Jo, visit her blog.
Annie Parker (Moderator) has worked as a carpenter, waitress, ship’s cook and most often, and most vilely, as a secretary. Her adventures have included volunteering in Ecuador, studying in Korea, and motherhood. She recently graduated from Smith College with honors and is currently pursuing an MFA in Writing for Children through Simmons College. She blogs with humor at The Sunday Hiker.
Frederick Reiken is the author of three novels, most recently DAY FOR NIGHT, published in May of this year (Little, Brown). Reiken’s debut novel THE ODD SEA won the Hackney Literary Award, and his follow-up THE LOST LEGENDS OF NEW JERSEY was a national bestseller. His short stories have appeared in publications including The New Yorker. He currently directs the graduate writing program at Emerson College.
So, let me get this straight. That's one panel but on it are 1) a mystery writer, 2) a historical/fantasy novelist, 3) a YA author, and 4) literary novelist. Nice. I love it when program organizers can think out of the box.
Geez. Ever suspect that written text rewrites itself while nobody is looking?
I recently had a few queries from Anchor as they prepare for the massmarket release of The Other Lands later this summer. Seems the copy editor found some mistakes and wanted to run them by me.
Mistakes? Now, a year after the book had been put through the editorial mill by Doubleday? Surely not!
Er... or maybe so. They produced several gems that I'll not repeat here. Happily, they won't appear in the paperback. They will live on the hardback, of course, but that's part of what makes hardbacks worth it. Little... um... typographical idiosyncrasies (that's what I call mistakes whenever I can).
I guess I can be thankful that I have a publisher that copy edits a book that's already been copy edited. Nice to have professionals involved...
One time in my eight-grade chemistry class I got bored. Go figure. For some reason, I decided to stick a piece of moistened cardboard (or maybe a paperclip, I'm not sure) into the electrical socket of my table. Ah... I don’t know what drove me to that.
I do know that I got a vibrating, teeth-clenching few seconds of voltage-driven unpleasantness for my efforts. I sat there afterward as my teacher droned on, sitting desperately still, feeling like smoke was puffing out of my ears but unwilling to let anybody know what had just happened. I swallowed down little smoke burps, and promised myself I would never, ever, do that again.
And I haven't. At least, not literally.
That's a rather round about way to introduce a bit of good news. As I've been working on Acacia 3, I've been aware that a couple of the plot threads didn't have juice. The sockets were there, but when I plugged in to them nothing happened. I wasn't sure where that particular aspect of the larger story would go. I just worked on other stuff, hoping that at some point I'd connect the right wires...
Yesterday, I did. One of those sockets sprung to life. I figured out a whole lot of stuff all through one revelation. Weird. I had to take a walk afterward, with my mini-recorder, getting all the little tangential ideas down. Today, I'm at the computer trying to make sense of it. This is a good thing. The socket's got juice, and I'm plugging into it.
Okay, so you know I'm writing for George RR Martin's Wild Card series, right? A month or so ago, he responded to my three part Infamous Black Tongue story. Lots of edits, lots of things to change. My story has to jive with the work of like six other authors - and none of us have read the other author's work! Just George. Master of it all, he is. And good thing, too, because he's an awesome editor. Everything he asked for - either to fit with other stories, or just editorial in general - made sense to me. So I rewrote.
Thing is, as I approached revising the end of one of the climatic scenes, I realized I had to make a change that George hadn't mentioned. When IBT has beaten down a particular baddy, he punches him one last time. Seeing him go unconscious, he says, "Go the next room."
Go to the next room.
Made complete sense to me, but I doubt it would make sense to anybody else. Why'd I write that line? Well, let me take you back...
When I was a young, spritely, twenty something Outward Bound Instructor living and working in Baltimore I spent one summer doing a long course that was urban based. We worked in partnership with the Yale School of Forestry. Basically, I spent the summer doing urban forestry with at-risk kids from inner city Baltimore.
On one of those days, we worked at some sort of men's home/shelter. We were given a tour of a the facility by a charismatic, talkative resident of the place, a guy that had lived his own hard life to get to the relative stability the home offered him. He had a great cadence to his speech as he led us around, a combination of street-smart slang and no nonsense gruffness that he somehow delivered with spiritual equanimity.
When he was done talking about a room, he would always say the same thing. "Alright? Got it? Good. Go to the next room." It seemed a strange, loose, kinda funky mantra at the time. And over the years it's come to have spiritual significance for me. Like, he wasn't just saying move your body into the next room so we can carry on with this tour. It's become an invitation to a higher plane. "Go to the next room, where rewards - or karmic retribution - await you." I've never forgotten it, and every now and then that phrase pops into my head.
That, in some strange way, was what Infamous Black Tongue was laying down on the villain in question. But without context I understand that it would mean nothing to anybody but me. Oh, and you - now that you've read this far.
Still, though, it doesn't make that much sense in that moment, so I cut it. Perhaps one day I'll write a story in which I can build that line and let someone deliver it in context. Here's hoping, cause I need to get it out of my system...
I spend a lot of time in workshops. A lot of time with aspiring writers. A lot of time with published writers that continue to struggle and grasp for more. Etc. In situations were artists are pressed together intensely lots of good stuff happens, certainly, but not everyone handles their successes or disappointments with equal grace. I'm aware that I spend more time noticing the lack of grace - strenuous self-promotion, aggressive criticism of others, defensiveness, genre elitism, those folks that use every occasion of public speaking to reference their recent successes - than I acknowledge when someone gets it right. So this post is meant to highlight a positive example.
I recently workshopped a very good student story. It convinced me from the first lines. It covered all the basic storytelling bases and then did a variety of further things with understated ease. No bells and whistles. No need to explain or obscure. Just very good writing and a substantive, quirky tale as well. This story was good enough, in fact, that my edits were light and my response included a declaration that I rarely make: that if I was the right editor at the right magazine I'd buy it.
The workshop went well, although I'm never sure that other students quite know what to make of it when I say a story is publishable. It must be a strange thing, considering that over a semester I may see two stories each from twelve different writers, but then only pull out that stamp of approval once. What gives? I don't entirely know how to explain it, but some stories just announce within their fabric that they've arrived. Their genetic code lines up. They exist, blemishes and all, and they exist in a way that for me feels ready for prime time.
Now, the part of this that has to do with humility is that I only discovered later that this particular story had been accepted for publication just before the workshop. Not only that, but another story the same writer submitted to another workshop (also given the stamp of ultimate approval by that workshop leader) had also been accepted. Two new stories. Two hits. Two publications that occurred between the writing of the stories and the workshop meant to tear them apart in critique. That's terribly rare. But it's also rare for a new author faced with the uncertainties of a workshop to withhold information like that. I've seen people try to shape the focus of a workshop before it's begun. Or who inflate their credentials ahead of time (often with self-referential things said while they're critiquing someone else's work). Or who would hold that publication information as a shield to be brandished to deflect all criticism.
The student in this case did none of that. He entered and exited the workshop without a word intended to bias or control the discussion, despite the fact that he had more than the usual ammunition to do so if he wished. Quiet confidence. Without distraction. Competence demonstrated where it matters - on the page.
Over at SF Signal my mind has been melded with that of several other authors, including Michael Swanwick, Elizabeth Bear, Kate Elliott, Gregory Frost and others! Check it out here: God's by the Bushel.
Today, folks (and for next few weeks, actually) I'd love to have your positive energy. You see, The Other Lands concluded my existing book contracts with Doubleday. I've done all five novels with them so far, and I think things have gone quite well. Of course, each new deal brings a new set of surprises, and I've known for a few months that I was going to be pitching my next book in a free falling economy. Being prone to bouts of exuberant positivity (I'm joking about that) I decided to quit my day job before having that new contract in hand (I'm not joking about this part), and after my publisher went through a major restructuring. Go figure.
I've been working on a proposal for the concluding book in the Acacia trilogy for some time now. I chipped away at it slowly, layering in more and more details as they came to me. Fortunately, I can now say the fricking book makes sense to me! I know what happens. I see it. I like it. It exists - although only in a summarized version of about 24 pages. Oh, and at a bit more length in my head.
Recently, I sent that proposal to my agent. We went back and forth about it and about other aspects of what we'd look for in a new book deal. Yesterday we decided it was ready, and today he will have initiated the pitch and discussions with my editor. It'll be a few weeks, probably, before I know just what's gonna happen.
This is where your good vibes come in. Send them to me. Shoot them out to my editor. Make sure he knows at some cosmic level that you want this thing finished. Convince him that David and family should be allowed to eat and live indoors the next few years...
You know when you see a link on somebody's site to somebody else's site, and you like what you read and then want to point people in that direction, but then you know you can't take credit for discovering the second author's post yourself because you only found it because of the first site?
That's what I have here. Kate Elliott recently did a post on Agents, Publishers, Aspiring Writers. (It was also about paddling, which is something close to my heart as well.)
Thing is, she wrote it in response to Justine Larbalestier's post on the topic. I liked hers too. Makes some good, clarifying points for aspiring writers. So go take a look at one also: Agents and Rejection. (She's got stylish boots, too.)
And my work here is done. I won't try to add any of my own wisdom on the subject. (Which is me trying to be wise by omission...)
I have this friend Pat. You might have heard of him. He wrote a book. People loved it. Made him famous and wealthy. His readers then promptly began demanding another book. Pat, being the generous guy that he is, wants to produce said book. Actually, he wants to have produced it like a year ago. Alas, easier wished for than done... This is one of several cartoons Pat has up on his blog. Also, he has a long, detailed explanation of what's up. I think it's a brave, honest and insightful mediation on the creative process and the pitfalls of... well, massive success.
I just had one. I'm talking about writing now. Creative process. I'm still polishing up a few scenes of The Other Lands, adding a bit here and there. I just two minutes ago wrote a line in which one character defines the relationship he/she has to another character. It was an innocuous enough line, I thought. But the moment after I wrote it I realized it's a line that announces that character's eventual death!
Ah... I didn't mean it. It just happened. This bit of fate won't come into play until the third book, but still, the seed is planted in fertile ground. It can't help but grow. There's not a thing I can do about it...
Totally random. I love this film. It's Torill Kove's "The Danish Poet", an Academy Award Winning short film from 2006. I shouldn't try to explain. Just take a look...
A couple days ago I got review number 40 for Acacia on Amazon.com. That's sweet. Means a lot of people have read the book. Lots of them have liked it, too. Only... well, actually number 40 didn't like it. I may be wrong, but that's my interpretation of... "as flat as a piece of newsprint" and "David Anthony Durham's "Acacia" is an abysmal production" and "Oh, and by the way, Durham can't write women, either" and "worst of all is the flat predictability of the characters". Am I wrong, or does that sound a bit negative? (Number 39 wasn't a fan, either.)
So I say to myself... Ah well, what to do? You can't please everyone, right? All those emails of praise and encouragement count for much more, yeah? Don't forget that. Don't forget all the reviewers - professional and amateur - that loved it. Don't forget the foreign publishers that snapped it up and the film people that have big, expensive hopes for it. Remember the many insightful readers who have found meaning in the characters and actions that give it real depth. Good thing all that's out there. And since it is I can let negative opinions like number 40 (and 39) just slide off my Teflon skin, baby.
Or... Well... maybe not so much...
The crazy thing is that logic and reason and the vast numbers of encouraging readers and avowed fans don't hold up that well in the face of negativity. They are the bedrock of why and for whom I write, but negativity is a sly bastard, persistent. Odious. He lives somewhere in the nooks and crannies of my brain and - like a politician making the boldest of assertions - he doesn't feel any need to nod to other perspectives. All he needs is a little bit of encouragement and he'll say things like...
"Oh my god, you idiot. You complete idiot! You realize, don't you, that you're a horrible writer. That last person that wrote that review on Amazon proves it. You suck. Purple prose, dude. Anachronisms. Completely awkward and incoherent sentences. The kind of stupid plot tricks that will make any intelligent reader throw your book out their window... That's all you have to offer. How could you possibly think that readers would want to read 240k words in which absolutely nothing interesting happens? About characters that are totally flat and cardboard and completely predictable on each and every page? What were you thinking? You should really consider changing your name and never writing again. You better get tenure quick, dude, before your colleagues realize how crap you are. But mostly - stop inflicting your words on the world!"
Ah, yes, that's my friend. He's only dealing out tough love, you know? What can I say to refute that? Clearly number 40 (and 39) have unmasked me...
You know, the thing here is that I'm not entirely kidding. There's is a vastly uneven effect between positive and negative feedback. I can hear 100 great reactions and - while I'm pleased - such things tend to keep me on even keel. I mean, I work really hard to make my books good. So when a reader enjoys them I've not achieved more than I wanted; I've just hit the baseline I was expecting to get all along. But that 1 review that slams down on the other side of the scales has the power - temporarily, at least - to send those other 100 kind folks twirling through the air. It doesn't have to make sense. It also doesn't ever really go away, no matter how many books one puts behind them. Doubt, resistance, negativity; man, they're powerful.
So, I'll admit something to people that seem to enjoy writing really negative reviews. In case you wondered if your attacks have an effect on writers... I'll verify that they do. They do. Even if we think you're completely wrong or stupid or nuts. They still have an impact. You, writing from wherever you are in the world, have pushed an invisible finger through the ether and poked me in the chest. Perhaps that makes you feel good to know that. If so, enjoy it.
There is good news, though. For one, I can take a little poking. I'm a professional. I do know it comes with the territory. The other thing is more interesting, though. And that's that the haters actually play an important role in helping creators onward. That's what they probably don't understand. It's not what they say that matters. It's not that they're terribly insightful and have a lot to teach us about how to really write book. It's that they put out the negativity at all that matters. Creators - in whatever field - must face resistance. We must push through doubt. We must hear jeers and insults and must find a way to put them into their place. It's always been that way. It's part of why creative achievement isn't easy, and part of why it's so rare. Yes, many people don't get through the fears enough to get published, etc, but the ones that do are stronger because of it.
So... Glad I got my equilibrium back. I'm going to go work on the next book.
(Which means, number 40 and 39, that you lost. I know you'll try again soon, but today, right now, you've been trumped.)
Hi, folks. I've not been blogging a ton the last couple of weeks. Had a lot going on. Some of it was some family stuff that's taken a good deal of time and energy. I've also been preparing - mostly mentally, really - for beginning of the new academic year. I'll be teaching two classes, an undergrad Beginning Fiction Writing course and a Graduate Writing Workshop. Not a bad schedule, really, but it's a readjustment.
Oh, the third thing that's been taking up a lot of my time, of course, is The Other Lands. I was trying to get as much of it done before the school year began as I could. I didn't make it all the way to the end, but I'm pretty happy with where I ended up. Not done yet, but the end is in sight. I've got all the story before me. I know all the scenes that are yet to be written. I know exactly how each narrative thread ends. (Suspect cliffhangers. It is a middle volume, you know.)
It's one of the funny things about writing novels that the process often requires living with uncertainty for years. I've had that with this one, as I've had it with each of my longer books. For example, even up until a few days ago there were... um... "problems" ahead of me in this book. Spaces that were blank. Storylines that seemed to dead end. Plot moves that I knew I had to make but wasn't sure how I was going to make them. It's kinda crazy if you think about it too much. Like - "David, you've been working on this book for how long? How could you not know by now how you were going to handle what happens when $%^& finds out about *(&)%? That's crazy!"
But that's part of the process. Those plot elements and connections and character growth and the surprises can't all by mapped out ahead of time. Some of them have to be lived - by the author as well as by the characters.
What I'm saying, though, is a good thing. The end of The Other Lands is firmly in my sights. I have to work toward it while I'm also doing some other stuff, (You know - LIFE!) but I will be at the end soon. I will get this to my publisher and (barring something unforeseen - like my editor hating how I finished) I'm confident this book can make the pub date that we've had in mind for a while now, which essentially is a year from now. And, just so you know, I'll be at work on the third book immediately, no delay in getting the engine revving between two and three. This is mainly because the narrative really does flow right into the next book. I'd like to say I'm finished with The Other Lands one day and start work on &%^$# the next day. So that's my plan.
BTW, don't forget that Acacia: The War With the Mein hits in paperback form in two days! August 26th is the release date. It's mass market, you know, perfectly priced for these difficult economic times...
That being Jeff VanderMeer's supercool, illustrated craft book - all about writing Imaginative Fiction. It's totally beautiful (with artwork by Jeremy Zerfoss) and full of wisdom from Jeff himself, and from a ton of other folks as well. See, Jeff knows people. When he asks for creative consultations and contributions, we come running. That's why it's got articles and such from the likes of Neil Gaiman, Lev Grossman, Lauren Beukes, Charles Yu, Karin Lowachee, Catherynne M. Valente, Michael Moorcock, and many others, as well as a long exclusive discussion about craft with George R.R. Martin.
, adding a bit here and there. I just two minutes ago wrote a line in which one character defines the relationship he/she has to another character. It was an innocuous enough line, I thought. But the moment after I wrote it I realized it's a line that announces that character's eventual death!