I'm finishing up my copy of Crystal Rain by Tobias S. Buckell tonight, which signifies another landmark in my summer of books I'm finally getting around to. I've been hearing a lot about Crystal Rain and its author since it came out last year, "Carribbean Sci-Fi" being the operative term in most of the buzz--Mr. Buckell was born in Granada and lived in the Virgin Islands for a time as well, and suffice to say that the book speaks to that in its flavor as well as its setting.
A lot of the people who ask me to recommend books these days are fans of The DaVinci Code and/or Harry Potter--all books that "you can't put down"--who have run out of reading material. Starting now, Crystal Rain is on the recommend list; like those pop-culture favorites, the adventure narrative is engaging and moves fast. I finished it in four days while working full-time and looking for an apartment and a car, so there you go.
Of course, there are hundreds of books that meet those requirements; what sets Crystal Rain apart is the shiny new setting it adds to the mix, a Carribbean-like island culture on an alien planet originally colonized by humans traveling through wormholes. As the story progresses, we learn that the original colonists lost their advanced technology in some kind of military disaster, and their descendants are just starting to build themselves back up by studying the remains of lost technology they find. Unfortunately, they do this under constant threat from the militaristic, human-sacrificing Azteca culture that lives across the mountains, and an invasion by the Aztecas forms the inciting incident of the story.
Thus the timing places us squarely within a steampunk world (steampunk being a subgenre that mixes the trappings of science fiction with 19th century technology: steam engines, lighter-than-air craft, and *gasp* electricity), and one which holds up consistently and well, and which you can see constantly in motion to boot.
The focus of the story involves John DeBrun, a classic adventure hero (with a hook for a hand, no less) if ever there was one, who washed up on a beach about a dozen-odd years ago with no memory of his past. Which complicates things his forgotten past becomes a key component to the use of an artifact that may be instrumental in deciding the victor of the battle against the Azteca.
I don't want to give too much away, so I'll let those details serve as the basis for my recommendation. I'm hoping to get into Ragamuffin, the sort-of-sequel to Crystal Rain, in the near future. Buckell has reported on his blog that three more sort-of-sequels are in the works, so between these and those he's an author to watch for readers who enjoy the fast, fun, and original.
On the professional side, I recommend aspiring professionals to keep an eye on Mr. Buckell too. Of course nearly every author on the planet, professional or not, has his or her own wisdom to dispense about the craft of writing, but Buckell's blog goes a step further every so often; he's done some fairly comprehensive research on authors' salaries, as well as the chances that a person's first book will sell, versus a second or third or even sixth book.
The results of his surveys are enlightening too, most of all in the way they evidence facts that a lot of aspiring novelists are missing. For instance, the median advance for a first novel is $5,000--not exactly a living wage, and when you cross reference the results, it's doubtful that that first sale will even be an author's first finished manuscript.
Luckily, he has some things to say about freelancing (which appears to be his primary source of income) as well, for those invested in writing as a career.
Another Person to Listen to
So Clearly the Thing About Small Screens Is Bunk
As if in answer to recent predictions about the growth in value of eBooks, Shelf Awareness has relayed the news that eBook sales have more than doubled in the past year, and that the bulk of that growth has been due to the increased popularity of eBooks on mobile phones and PDAs.
At the same time, Tobias Buckell notes some news of decreased pricing for commercial eBooks (which formerly cost about the same as a hardcover book, but now seem to be moving more into the mass market paperback range).
See the connection yet? The formula is that cheaper prices on eBooks make it easier to use them as what they are: as Charlie Stross tags them, "disposable literature" that can be readily acquired at low cost and gotten rid of just as easily.
It's worth noting that romance is now one of the biggest-selling eBook genres, which fits with the disposable angle (romance paperbacks as we know them generally are read once and then disposed of--it's almost insane how cheap boxes of used ones go for on eBay).
In essence, it's more of what we've seen in other media from handheld compatibility: music and movies are popular on mobile devices for much the same reasons.
And you know, it took me this long to figure out why the iPhone was so damned important.
In Surprise Move, Universal Music pwns Apple
Looks like I won't have to follow through on my promise to renounce my criticisms of Apple. Not only has Steve Jobs not told Universal Music to piss off, Universal has now turned around and done it to him.
Long time readers will remember that Apple has changed their position on digital rights management within the past six months, changing from extreme anti-piracy software crippling to embracing the possibility of selling mp3s with no DRM at all.
More recently, Universal threw a hissy fit over their contract terms with Apple/iTunes, hoping to gain more control over how their music is distributed.
Looks like they found a better way to do that than with new contract language.
After years of posturing themselves as the most anti-piracy, anti-progressive music company out there, Universal has agreed to offer their music with no DRM--for no additional charge--through numerous digital music stores. But not iTunes.
The part about no additional charge is especially important; DRM-free tunes from Apple cost 30 cents more than the going rate, at $1.29 each.
I've never been fond of Universal before, but as an industry commentator I respect this move. One can only wonder, of course, if they will continue a pattern of pro-competition policy, or if, like much of big music's behavior in recent years, this is no more than a last-ditch save for their pocketbooks. There's still the question of how artists are treated as well; but for the time being, I'll treat this as welcome news.
Now I'll wait to see if and how Apple responds.
Something to Tide You Over
Deadlines are looming this week, so some of my entries may be a bit abbreviated; however, they will be there.
In the meantime, I just got an e-mail from Cynthia Leland about her new blog. Cindy moved to Israel last year, where she's right now working on furthering her career as a religious singer. Which is not a subject I have a ton to offer on (not exactly my area of specialty, yanno), so for those interested it's certainly worth checking out. The address is http://cindy-smallworld.blogspot.com/
More Simon & Schuster News (Relatively Unrelated to the Other Stuff)
Simon & Schuster has, for the time being, lost their legal battle with the CIA over Valerie Plame's memoir. The Federal Court ruled a few days ago that although the disputed information about her service dates is in fact public knowledge, it is somehow still classified.
S&S's spokesperson, Adam Rothberg, hit the nail on the head when he expressed disappointment "in the court's ruling, which we believe runs counter to the first amendment, sets a dangerous precedent, and creates an unreasonable standard by which the government can disappear information and rewrite history."
It's not clear if S&S will appeal, but it's my hope that they will. Rothberg isn't kidding about precedent.
Oh Yeah...
A couple more samples, from Livestock live comedy. Neither of these are ones I wrote (those aren't on YouTube at present), but they're some of my favorites.
In Case You Want a Sample
The first piece of fiction I've sold (which happened around late February/early March) is about to appear in issue #11 of Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest. As far as I know, the release date is sometime next month.
One thing to note here (other than, you know, that it's freakin' sweet) is what kind of compensation is involved in the fiction market these days. The story, "Uncanny," is about 800 words long and appears under the "Parting Shot" header (meaning it's on the last page). As per Apex's Guidelines, the payment for a story of this length is $20, which ain't bad at all for a first-sale piece of flash fiction.
To give you some idea, my first sold poem was published back in January in issue #4 of The Shantytown Anomaly. I was paid a dollar. When I published the first issue of Spinning Whorl in May 2006, contributors received no cash payment at all.
So basically, there's not a ton of money in writing short stories (granted, it gets better--there are a few magazines out there handing out four-figure paychecks), and if you can even get paid anything for your poetry, you're in minority territory. Not everyone realizes this. In fact, people often have odd ideas of how money flows in the fiction world; I remember one awkward conversation in which I explained to my father that no, The Atlantic Monthly would not pay me $20,000 if they published one of my short stories. I've also met a lot of people who find it only logical that the writer should pay the publisher, not the other way around.
Even more confusing is that the pay scale didn't always work like this. To quote (I think) Steve Eley of Escape Pod, "Fifty years ago, magazines paid a few cents per word for short stories. Nowadays they pay... a few cents per word." To get a better idea, check out this article by the ever-so-helpful John Scalzi (if you've never heard of Robert Heinlein, his books included Stranger in a Strange Land and Starship Troopers).
When people ask me how you're supposed to earn a living like this, all I can say is "don't quit your day job," and that's usually about the size of it. Even better, just keep in mind that "writer" may be a profession, but it is rarely a primary source of income.
Sure is fun though.
