Clayton Bye Reviews My Short Story "Bad Egg"

Clayton Bye has posted a review of my short "Precinct 20" story "Bad Egg" (which is reproduced on the same website, with my permission).

Clayton also notes that he especially likes the "Precinct 20" story "Godsmack." (Thanks!)

Choice quote:
"Ask yourself 'What is he up to?'"

Me? Up to something? Naaah...
;-)

Remember Neda

Remember Neda.

Whoa! My Short Story "Quadrillenium" In #6 Of M-BRANE SF

Check this out:

Chapter 6 Of THE TIME IDIOT

My homepage has been updated with Chapter 6 of my unsold novel THE TIME IDIOT.

This is a short, funny novel about a dumb man who has gained power far beyond his ability to handle it responsibly -- in this case, the power to alter history. (You can call it a metaphor, if you're into metaphors.)

Choice Quote:
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"Listen up! I need to know a few things. Like, what's going on?"

The prisoner sat up, groaned and rubbed his neck. He was wearing a wrinkled infantryman's uniform. "What the hell are you talking about?" He spoke with a slight slur.

"You know, our country. Are we at war?"

The prisoner scratched his unshaven chin and made an effort to focus his eyesight on Prescott. With his bronze skin, sharp nose and high cheekbones he resembled a Native American.

"Whaddya mean, ‘at war'? We're always at war with someone or something. It's America's Manifest Destiny to fight the good fight!"

If the soldier was attempting sarcasm, it went right over Prescott's head.

"Is the Cold War still going on?"

"What, there's a cold one now?"
---------------------

Editors and publishers have responded strangely to this novel. Even one who hated THE TIME IDIOT, admitted that the dialogue was funny, but the concept of time travel confused him. Even one who passed on it called it "very funny". Other editors responded in similar ways; one did not approve of mixing "slapstick" with Science Fiction.

It's almost as if some people think time travel shouldn't be funny. I mean, haven't they seen BILL & TED'S EXCELLENT ADVENTURE...?

Hear That Sound? It's The Sound Of A Revolution.

I Need Three Fans (No, Not The Kind You Wave In The Air)

I have concluded that in order to set off a breakthrough as a fiction writer, I need exactly three(3) dedicated fans.

That is, three people who have read my work and sincerely think: "Man, this guy A.R.Yngve writes awesome stories -- I must spread the good word to readers, publishers and editors."

Three fans. Just three are enough. I know two already.

Who will be Fan Number 3? Is there a brave man(or woman) in the audience?

(This post was inspired by this video (thanks to Andrew Sullivan and Seth Godin for pointing it out)).

Modern Japanese SF Literature

Japanese SF isn't just comics and animation. Check out this brief but interesting presentation of the written Japanese science fiction that's being published today:

Japanese SF and English-language original SF

Choice Quote:
"It’s high-concept, action-packed, and often offers more romantic subplots than its notoriously nerdy American counterpart. And some of it is literature of the highest quality, created by some of the most acclaimed authors on the planet."

Read the rest.

Robert Fulford: "Viewing a TV death in four acts"

If you write for television -- or simply follow a TV series -- you may have noticed that the quality of a long-running series goes down in a roughly predictable fashion.

There is, for instance, the "Jumping the Shark" phase when the series' producers/writers try desperate stunts. Or when they try to make the viewers think that a major character is going to die. (My favorite: the "Who Shot JR" stunt in DALLAS.)

And no matter what genre the TV series is, no matter what time period it's supposedly set in... if it runs long enough, there WILL be an episode where the entire cast dresses up in leftover Wild West costumes, gathers on a cheap Wild West set, and do a Wild West story.

(Not HILL STREET BLUES. Please, not good 'ol HILL STREET BLUES. Say it ain't so...)

For more on the subject, read Robert Fulford's article on the phases in the life of a TV series:

Viewing a TV death in four acts

Choice Quote:
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"Most episodic shows tell two stories simultaneously. One deals with fictional characters. The other is the narrative's slow evolution under the pressure of desperate producers and harried writers."
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Chapter 5 Of THE TIME IDIOT (In Which The President Kills Hitler)

THE TIME IDIOT, Chapter 5

The serial of my unpublished novel THE TIME IDIOT continues.

Choice Quote:
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"Who are you? How did you get in here?"

"I'm Prescott Walker, the President of the United States! Don't shoot!"

The guard halted, but kept his rifle trained on Prescott. "What did you say?"

"I said... oh crap. I'm not the President here, am I?"
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Read the rest.