5rivers News, Views and Points of Interest

Five Rivers to re-issue Schnarr's horror collection

2012-01-26T15:39:00.002-05:00

In an agreement reached this week between J.W. Schnarr and Lorina Stephens,Five Rivers has acquired the publishing rights to Schnarr’s collection of 22 horror short stories, entitled Things Falling Apart.

Although Schnarr originally self-published the collection under his imprint, Northern Frights Publishing, work commitments became such that he was pulled in too many directions. “It's really all about time and fatigue,” he says. “I've been finding there really isn't time enough in the day to handle all the extra work publishers put in sending off emails, review copies, promoting multiple books at once, etc. I finally decided enough is enough.”

Schnarr and Stephens were introduced through Five Rivers’ Editor in Chief, Dr. Robert Runté, when Schnarr and Runté met at When Words Collide 2011.

“Having J.W. Schnarr join Five Rivers’ authors is very exciting,” says Lorina Stephens. “His work deserves an audience. He writes very much in the tradition of classic greats such as Edgar Allan Poe and Guy de Maupassant, but of course with a completely modern, fresh voice. With Schnarr it’s not so much about gore and splatter, as it is about sliding like a scalpel inside your head and lodging there. His characters are very believable, ordinary people who are hurtled into horrific situations, sometimes of their own making whether through love or stupidity, sometimes not.”

Cover art has been assigned to Schnarr’s long-time artist colleague, Gavro Krackovic, who lives and works in Podgorica, Montenegro.

Things Falling Apart is scheduled for release August 1, 2012 in both print and digital formats.

Second Week in Update

2012-01-13T14:50:00.000-05:00

Things are cooking along here at Five Rivers, and just two weeks into 2012.

North by 2000+ by H.A. Hargreaves is now available for preorder in print from Amazon and Barnes and Noble and available from them and Smashwords immediately in digital format. It is soon to be available through Apple and Kobo. It can also be ordered directly through Five Rivers.

Discounts are available for class sets for schools and universities, as well as to indie bookstores wishing to circumnavigate the distribution chain. Email us for more information.

Review copies are now also available.

The collection officially releases March 1, 2012.

H.A. Hargreaves is one of Canada's remarkable, one might even say legendary, speculative fiction writers. He is a retired professor of English, formerly at the University of Alberta (Edmonton), and was twice nominated (1982 and 1983) for the Lifetime Contributions category in the Prix Auroras. His collection of short stories, North by 2000, in its time received wide critical acclaim from both peers and periodicals.

Five Rivers is pleased to announce the rebirth of that remarkable collection of short stories by Hargreaves. This new edition, entitled North by 2000+, features not only all the quintessentially Canadian stories of the first edition, but five additional published short works, along with a foreword from the author, and an introduction by Dr. Robert Runte.

Growing Up Bronx also by H.A. Hargreaves, is now waiting upon proofed galleys, which should land here sometime next week, and is scheduled for release April 1, 2012.

Growing Up Bronx, allows readers a poignant insight into the mentors and influences that shaped one of Canada's brilliant writers of science fiction. Hargreaves takes you through the Great Depression and WWII, in his native Bronx neighbourhood, into the lives of shopkeepers and family, heartache and triumph.

This is definitely a must-have collection of short stories to complete the canon of H.A. Hargreaves' work.

John Lennon: a biography, by Nate Hendley, is now in Barb Geiger's capable editorial hands, and scheduled for release September 1, 2012.

The celebrated singer and pop-culture sage is profiled in an objective, fact-based account of John Lennon’s rocky ride to glory.

As always Nate Hendley brings to his biographies the human side of the figures he examines, lifting them off the pages of history.

Butterfly Stitching author, Shermin Nahid Kruse touched base with us last week, updating us on her progress revising her debut novel. How she's managing to juggle her career as a partner in a major law firm, a mom of twins, as well as author is quite remarkable. Sher assures us, however, she's steadily polishing the story.

The novel is an honest, at times heart-breaking, window into the world of Samira, an Iranian woman caught in the contradictory and eventually revolutionary world of 1979 Tehran. Ultimately a very female novel, we feel very strongly this story will resonate not only with women on a global scale, but people who struggle daily for balance and sanity in an often radical and repressive world.

We originally hoped for a release in March 2012; however, given the demands on Sher's time, we're looking to a release later this year. It will be well worth the wait.

Mik Murdoch: Boy Superhero, by Michell Plested, is now back in Mike's hands for a final polish after being edited by Robert Runte and Amy Bright.

We can't begin to express how excited we are about this hilarious and touching YA novel. A debut novel it may be, but we have very great expectations about this book, and the entire Mik Murdoch series.

In a nutshell we can tell you this is a delightful and truly Canadian tale of a 12 year old boy's quest to protect his prairie town of Cranberry Flats, and in his search to acquire super-powers finds the most awesome power of all lies within his own inherent integrity.

Think of W.O. Mitchell meets Spiderman

We're hoping for a release in late summer, maybe even in time for When Words Collide.

The Insistence of Memory by YA author Simon Rose, is in the revision and editorial process.

The novel takes readers into the schemes and subterfuge of the Cold War era, through the time-slipping of Max, who finds out an imaginary childhood friend was more than an overactive imagination.

We're hoping for a release sometime late in 2012.

88 author, Michael Fletcher, popped off an email to editor Barb Geiger regarding his progress on the revision of his debut SF novel. Apparently he's slashing and refining like a madman, and is on schedule to have the revision back to Barb by the close of April. Another debut novel, this one is a dark forray into a dystopian world where children are harvested for the quality of their brains.

We're hoping for a release late summer to early fall 2012.

Caliban by Lorina Stephens is currently in revision and slated for editing by the close of January. This is a speculative fiction novella, dealing with the concepts of reality and beauty, through the voice of an alien creature known as Tine. Several agents and diplomats have gone missing on the planet of Edain, a bastion of the arts and home of the legendary Dreamweavers. Tine is sent in to investigate, and while doing so uncovers an abomination so vast it threatens reality itself.

The novella is slated for release late summer to early fall of 2012.

Looking toward 2012

2011-12-30T12:15:00.000-05:00

It's been a profoundly busy year at Five Rivers, with some profound changes in the publishing industry, not the least of which was Indigo's retail restructuring. While that impacted us, it also challenged us to develop new markets and strategies.

We welcomed to our editorial team Amy Bright and Barb Geiger.

We also signed several new authors (Mike Fletcher, H.A. Hargreaves, and Susan J. Forest), and released five new books:

Crystal Death: Methamphetamine, North America's Most Dangerous Drug, by Nate Hendley
Dutch Schultz: brazen beer baron of New York, by Nate Hendley
The Organic Home Garden, by Patrick Lima and John Scanlan
Memories, Mother and a Christmas Addiction, by Lorina Stephens
Stonehouse Cooks, by Lorina Stephens

Next year we'll launch 10 new titles by eight authors:

88, by Mike Fletcher (debut science fiction novel)
Notice, by Susan J. Forest (collection of speculative short fiction)
Growing Up Bronx, by H.A. Hargreaves (short fiction collection, part memoir)
North by 2000+, by H. A. Hargreaves (collection of speculative short fiction)
John Lennon, by Nate Hendley (biography)
Steven Truscott, by Nate Hendley (biography)
Butterfly Stitching, by Shermin Nahid Kruse (mainstream debut novel)
Mik Murdock, Boy Superhero, by Michell Plested (YA fiction)
The Insistence of Memory, by Simon Rose (YA fiction)
Caliban, by Lorina Stephens (speculative fiction)

We're also planning on having a presence at When Words Collide in Calgary, in August. Robert and Barb will be there waving the Five Rivers flag.

Beyond that, we're looking forward to reading more submissions from Canadian authors. We'll continue to develop markets and marketing strategies, possibly expanding into audio books, maybe even screen rights if things align propitiously.

All things considered, we're cautiously optimistic. Oh hell, we're outright excited!

From Five Rivers to You

2011-12-24T07:25:00.000-05:00

Wishing you contentment, health and prosperity.

Patrick Lima Interview

2011-12-21T14:26:00.000-05:00

We caught up with Patrick Lima at his Bruce Peninsula home, Larkwhistle, via Skype this week, and chatted about his new book, The Organic Home Garden, and the principles of organic gardening.

The result is this informal, four part interview.

Memories, Mother and a Christmas Addiction

2011-12-11T09:00:00.000-05:00

Another book trailer for the festive season.

For the Gardeners...

2011-12-09T08:00:00.000-05:00

... a tempting tease of spring to come, winter dreaming and scheming, The Organic Home Garden book trailer.

Five Rivers to Publish Susan J. Forest Collection

2011-12-07T07:51:00.001-05:00

Susan J. Forest

In an agreement reached yesterday, Five Rivers is pleased to welcome Susan J. Forest to our conclave of authors, with the 2012 release of Notice, a collection of 12 speculative fiction short stories. Nine of the stories have been previously published, while three make their debut with Notice.

Forest’s work has appeared in Analog; OnSpec; Tesseracts 10, 11 and 14; Asimov’s Science Fiction and Legacy, among others, and she was the 2011 winner of The Galaxy Project, juried by Robert Silverberg, David Drake and Barry Malzberg, for her novella, Lucy.

Her YA novel, The Dragon Prince, was awarded the Children's Circle Book Choice Award and her story, Back was a finalist for the 2009 the Prix Aurora Award.

You can check out her website at http://susanforest.speculative-fiction.ca/

Forest is also a fiction editor for Edge Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishers.

Notice will release from Five Rivers in both print and e-Book formats in 2012.

Dutch Schultz Book Trailer

2011-12-06T15:12:00.001-05:00

To tease you for the festive season, a book trailer for Dutch Schultz: brazen beer baron of New York, by Nate Hendley.

New E-scapes Book for Christmas

2011-12-03T13:44:00.001-05:00

In time for Christmas, we're pleased to present you with a garland of three, tender seasonal short stories by Lorina Stephens, Memories, Mother and a Christmas Addiction. Set against the backdrop of the Great Depression, WWII, and the indigence of a fatherless home, the stories explore the character of Barbara Brown, from ages four through fifteen, and the excitement and challenges she faces.

Now available for Kindle through the link provided here, as well as through Smashwords, and hopefully before Christmas from Apple, Sony, Nook, Kobo and Diesel.

New Editor at Five Rivers

2011-12-01T15:20:00.001-05:00

We're pleased to announce Barb Geiger has accepted the position of editor at Five Rivers, promoting her from an editorial intern.

You can read more about Barb on Five Rivers' website.

Welcome aboard, Barb!

Spinning the Spud

2011-11-30T06:43:00.001-05:00

Available at Indigo and Kobo

This morning brings me to the latest McDonald’s commercial I’ve seen, in their attempt to health-up their image.

So the commercial features some alleged mommy group visiting the potato farms from which McDonald’s allegedly buys their potatoes, and the women are like, "I like the fact this is all family run." and "I had no idea raising potatoes was like this" (and I’m thinking you’re a moron!), and then the grand statement of all, “I feel much better about McDonald’s fries now that I know where they come from.”

Say what? Are you insane? Go, right now, and throw yourself off a cliff because you’re too stupid to live! It’s the PROCESS, you idiot, that makes a potato bad, even if it’s raised in an organic environment! Deep frying. All that fat. All that sodium that’s then dumped on them. Did you ever think to ask what are McDonald’s frying their fries in? Oh no. Now that we’ve been to the farm and seen that ohmigodlookatthat they’re gown in (gasp!) real dirt! – they must be okay because it was a FAMILY that dug them up!

From McDonald's own website: ingredients in French Fries: Potatoes, canola oil, hydrogenated soybean oil, safflower oil, natural flavour (vegetable source), dextrose, sodium acid pyrophosphate (maintain colour), citric acid (preservative), dimethylpolysiloxane (antifoaming agent) and cooked in vegetable oil (Canola oil, corn oil, soybean oil, hydrogenated soybean oil with THBQ, citric acid and dimethypolysiloxane.

::headdesk::

Yeah, and like that’s good for you?!

My fries, roasted not fried: potatoes, olive oil, sometimes rosemary if I want to switch up and sometimes chilli peppers. Salt if you feel like it, but I don’t add. 30 minutes tops to prepare and roast. How fast food is that?

In fact, you can make a whole fast-food fish and chips meal in that time by trying my Fish Sticks, Fries and Pepper Sticks recipe in my cookbook, Stonehouse Cooks, which is available in print and eBook formats from online booksellers everywhere.

Five Rivers Report

2011-11-20T11:12:00.001-05:00

It's been awhile since I've updated our followers regarding upcoming titles and happenings here at Five Rivers. That silence is in direct relation to how busy we've been around here.

By the close of the week galleys for North by 2000+ had been prepared and sent off to H.A. Hargreaves for review. One step closer to release, which is slated for late winter 2012 in both print and eBook. Right on the heels of that I'm into the edit of Hank's other collection of short stories, Growing Up Bronx.

In the meantime Barb Geiger and I completed the developmental edit of M.E. Fletcher's debut novel, 88, and the manuscript is now in his hands. Mike tells me his sleeves are above his elbows and he's well into the revision. We're hoping to see 88 release either late 2012 or early 2013.

Mike isn't the only one deep into a revision; debut author Shermin Nahid Kruse is now addressing my developmental edit for Butterfly Stitching. If she can pull it off, we hope to see the launch of the novel in both print and eBook on International Women's Day 2012.

Across the country, Amy Bright and Robert Runte are working on the developmental edits for Simon Rose's forthcoming YA fiction, The Insistence of Memory, and Michell Plested's debut YA fiction, Mik Murdock: Boy Superhero. Both novels are slated for release in print and digital in 2012.

For readers who are looking for print copies of Patrick Lima and John Scanlan's fabulous gardening book, The Organic Home Garden, The Ginger Press in Owen Sound, Ontario, now carries the title. You can also obtain copies through online booksellers globally in both print and digital formats.

And that is just a general overview of the happenings here at Five Rivers. We've had a year of progress here at Five Rivers, and the way things look 2012 will continue that momentum.

As always, we welcome any comments and suggestions our readers and supporters may have.

On the 11th hour, on the 11th day, of the 11th month

2011-11-11T10:38:00.001-05:00

Why would Indigo sell Kobo?

2011-11-09T10:06:00.000-05:00

News today that Indigo has sold off its rising star and dark horse, Kobo, to the Japanese e-commerce company Rakuten, came as a bit of a surprise to the publishing industry. During the past year-long restructuring at Indigo we’ve seen:

the reduction of floor space for books;
the decision to carry a title only for 45 days before returning to the publisher (meaning the customer only gets to see best-sellers and new releases);
the increase of giftware;
the complete revamping of its corporate image from the red, white and blue Chapters/Indigo to the blue Indigo;
the shutting out of small publishers.

One has to wonder if Heather Reisman’s vision isn’t more about an upscale dollar store than about books.

And given the consistent reports of losses from Indigo (allegedly because of development expenses related to Kobo), one has to wonder why Indigo would sell off what appears to be a division poised for the greatest potential gain and growth, and why they would do so for only US$315 million.
To my mind there is only one likely answer: Indigo’s cash-strapped.

I very much suspect in the coming two years we’re going to see Indigo closing the doors of their smaller stores, particularly those under the Smith Books and Coles divisions, which are primarily mall outlets. And I also suspect we’re going to see stores under the Indigo banner, with lower sales volume, such as those in smaller urban centres and more northerly regions, quietly close.

What that’s going to do to the Canadian book buyer’s world is create a vacuum, because back in the day Heather Reisman went on her store buying spree, scores, perhaps even hundreds, of independent booksellers locked and permanently left their doors.

So, now with communities not serviced by a bookstore, more and more Canadian book lovers will turn either to online purchasing (and you can bet more Canadians will turn to the evil Amazon out of pique), or turn to eBooks.

For the indie bookseller this is an enormous opportunity. But, as usually happens, the indie bookseller, for the most part, is going to ignore that opportunity. Instead they’ll continue to grasp that long tail of publishing, waving the flag that reads ‘We’ve always done it this way!’ On their way down to where the light don’t shine they’ll continue to ignore the rise of small, indie publishers.
And with Indigo declining, and indie bookstores declining, statistics about Canadian readers are going to skew. We are, in fact, a very literate country. Just look at the writers we produce.

Unfortunately, no one’s going to realize there is a healthy environment of book lovers in Canada.
But we will, quietly and with determination, purchase those books in whatever form we can find them.

And small indie publishers like Five Rivers will continue to find creative ways to bring our books to market.

Barb Geiger joins Five Rivers

2011-10-28T08:00:00.000-04:00

Barb Geiger

From our humble beginnings in 2006, we've now expanded to 11 authors, with 11 books presently published, 12 books in various stages of editing and revision, and another five in negotiation. You might say we've been a bit busy.

Robert Runte joined us as Editor in Chief three years ago. Earlier this year Amy Bright joined we happy few as an Editorial Intern.

We're now pleased to have Barb Geiger join us here at Five Rivers as another much-needed, and very welcome, Editorial Intern.

Barb, who is huge on enthusiasm and long on editorial acumen, has been critiquing and editing books for colleagues for over 15 years.

She enjoys any genre of literature, as long as it tells a tight story from beginning to end, and believes that while first drafts are perfect just for being complete, the editing process exposes the genius of the work.

Several of her short stories have been published, one winning an honourable mention in the Years Best Fantasy and Horror in 2006. She has several romance novels published under a pseudonym, but will take that name to her grave.

In 2010, she returned to writing fantasy, her first love.

Barb lives in Lethbridge, Alberta.

Bookseller Become Publisher

2011-10-27T11:52:00.000-04:00

A colleague of mine commented on the recent announcements from both Kobo and Amazon morphing into publishers, ‘What if Amazon gives preference to its own titles over other publishers’ titles in its distribution arm.’

In my opinion, given Amazon’s enormous marketing capability, and corporate culture of obfuscating facts, the potential to monopolize the entire beast of publishing, not just the long tail, is something to monitor.

Kobo, it should be noted, is the silent but powerful dark horse in all this. Amazon’s reach is limited to Canada, China, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain and the UK. Eight countries. Kobo is available in 26 countries, and their eReaders are gaining distribution, which are now available in three countries. The beauty of Kobo is that it’s not a platform. Kobo is an eBook marketplace that happens to develop several eReaders of its own. And now Kobo is also a publisher.

There are other concerns for the small publisher in all of this as well. Amazon owns CreateSpace, a POD facility Amazon snatched up several years ago. Earlier this year many small publishers using Lightning Source (and thereby Ingram for wholesale distribution), and the short discount system, found their titles appearing on Amazon as Not In Stock (available in X days/weeks). This precipitated several effects, of which the two most important were:

Many small publishers dumped LSI and moved to CreateSpace so that their books would be listed as available for immediate shipping, although they had to abandon the short discount of 20%.
Those who remained with LSI had to bump their short discount to the regular discount of 55% in order for their titles to appear as being available for immediate shipment, although availability seems to vary.

Bully tactics, plain and simple. Use our POD services or we’ll make it unattractive for customers to purchase your book from us.

There’s an old saying: don’t put your eggs in one basket. I think it very much applies to this swiftly changing publishing industry.

Michael R. Fletcher signs debut novel with Five Rivers

2011-10-26T14:11:00.000-04:00

In an agreement reached late last week, Toronto-based author, Michael R. Fletcher signed his first novel, entitled 88, with Five Rivers.

The novel deals with humanity's ever-growing need for intelligent machines. Though the dream of artificial intelligence lies dead, biological intelligence, once migrated to a more useful platform, has supplied the answer. Black-market crèches, struggling to meet increasing demand, deal in the harvested brains of stolen children. But there is a digital snake in that fractally modeled garden. Some brains make better computers than others.

88, a brilliant autistic boy, has been genetically engineered and raised from birth to serve one purpose: become a human computer. Unfortunately no one told him that. Plagued by distant memories of a mother he never knew and a desire for freedom he barely understands, he sets himself against those who would be his masters. 88's struggle for independence has caught the attention of the powers that be.

Griffin Dickinson, a Special Investigator for the North American Trade Union, is pulled from his cosy desk job and sent into the field to shut-down a black-market crèche. Teamed with a state-sanctioned reporter and a combat chassis inhabited by the depressed ghost of a dead marine, Griffin digs further into the shadowy world of brain harvesting. Every lead brings him one step closer to an age-old truth: corruption runs deep.

Michael R. Fletcher

Michael R. Fletcher lives in Toronto with his wife and daughter. He spends his days entertaining a one year-old and his nights in dingy rock-clubs making loud things louder. Occasionally he records bands in dark, spider-infested basements. Somewhere between playing peekaboo and going deaf he finds time to write. His short fiction can be found in Interzone, On Spec, Daily Science Fiction, and Heroic Fantasy Quarterly. He is currently working on his second book, a dark fantasy novel of manifest delusion, and thinking about a sequel to 88.

88 is scheduled for release late in 2013 in both print and digital formats.

Five Rivers to launch E-scapes

2011-10-24T11:22:00.000-04:00

We're launching a new eBook only imprint, which will feature short, entertaining works both fiction and non-fiction, from 20,000 to 80,000 words.

And we're calling the imprint:

The concept is to capture the commuter and mobile market with quick, easy to read stories, from purely commercial fiction (romance, SF&F, thriller, horror, historical, suspense, but most definitely not porn), to self-help, biographies and the eccentric overview of an arcane subject.

We’ll be paying a royalty of 50% on net, to equalize the profit share a little better, paid in our usual quarterly statements by the 30^th of the month following the close of the calendar quarter.

It goes without saying all manuscripts will have the scrutiny of one of our brilliant editors.

So, if you have that manuscript languishing in the bottom drawer because it’s too short and publishers are generally not interested, pitch us a pitch. If you have a colleague or friend who has that manuscript languishing in the bottom drawer because it’s too short and publishers are generally not interested, have them pitch us a pitch. Just be sure to put in the subject header of the email, E-SCAPES.

Format should be:

· DOC or RTF format,

· Times New Roman 12 pt typeface, double-spaced, 1" margins. Do not under any circumstances use any of Word's built-in formatting for chapters, headers, etc. We will only strip it out, and having to do so will make us cranky. And please set your spelling preference for English Canadian if at all possible.

· Be sure to include your full (real) name, mailing address, email address, date of birth and SIN in your query letter. Doing so will make it easier when we offer you a contract and pay you royalties.

Look forward to hearing from you!

Common Errors in Fiction Manuscripts, Part 9

2011-10-22T08:00:00.000-04:00

Formatting the manuscript
So now you’ve edited and honed your manuscript into the best possible work you can. And you’re ready to submit.

Here at Five Rivers we’re big on less is more. So, pay attention to our submission requirements, which are:

email only, no hard copy submissions
DOC or RTF format
Times New Roman 12 point typeface
double-spaced
1” margins

Do not under any circumstances use any of Word’s built-in formatting for chapters, headers, etc. We will only strip it out, and having to do so will make us cranky. It’s not nice to make us cranky.

Now go forth, write a glorious work!

Comments? Questions? We’d love to hear from you.

Common Errors in Fiction Manuscripts, Part 8

2011-10-20T08:00:00.000-04:00

Punctuation Issues: use of single quotes, double quotes and italics, 5R house style, dialogue, proper suffix for adverbs

Quotation marks and italics

I’m going to delve into purely Five Rivers house style. We have an aversion here to the overuse of quotation marks and italics to create emphasis on a word. If you’ve written your sentence or scene well, emphasis will be implied without any additional gimmick by way of quotation marks or italics. Again the rule, less is more, should apply.

If, however, it is necessary to set a word off in quotes, as in a nickname (Leo ‘The Hammer’ Porter), the nickname should be set off in single quotes, not double. Double quotes, at least in Canada and most especially in Five Rivers’ world, are reserved for dialogue, i.e. “Where are you going?” asked Diane ‘Dix’ Peters.

As to punctuation, some of the common errors we see are:

Over use and misuse of ellipsis. Ellipsis should only be used for a trailing thought or incomplete sentence; three in the middle of a sentence, four at the end where the fourth indicates a period. If in dialogue you mean to indicate an interruption, an em dash is appropriate:

“Where are you—”

“Don’t even ask!”

Dialogue

Too often we see stilted, unnatural dialogue that is poorly punctuated. For example:

He thought about asking her where she was going. “Where are you going Diedre?” he whined, gritting his teeth.

She leered, “Peter don’t even ask!” She tossed her head. “It’s none of your business anyway.”

Revised to eliminate all the silliness and bad writing:

“Where are you going, Diedre? he asked, wincing at the whine in his voice.

“Don’t even ask, Peter. It’s none of your business.”

You will notice we’ve indicated Peter’s discomfort through the fact he’s uncomfortable with the sound of his own voice, as well as saved him a fortune in dental bills. And Diedre’s anger is fully implied, without the need of her attempting to leer something (you can’t leer dialogue), and without the need of the removal of her head so she can toss it.

Proper suffix for adverbs

Call us old fashioned, but we like our adverbs to end in ‘ly’. Why? Because that’s how you know it’s an adverb. It’s like being able to tell the difference between a boy child and a girl child. You know it’s an adverb, not a verb, because of that tail, that ‘ly’.

So, you don’t go down the street slow. You go down the street slowly.

You don’t tell someone to go safe. You tell them to go safely.

You don’t go up the stairs quiet. You go up the stairs quietly, hoping the treads don’t creak and alert the maniac with the knife at the top of the stairs, who will quickly kill you.

Make a song out of the adverb suffix: ly, ly, ly, ly-oah-le-ly, I will sing this song so sweetly.

Comments? Questions? We’d love to hear from you.

Common Errors in Fiction Manuscripts, Part 7

2011-10-18T08:00:00.000-04:00

Overdone Dystopia

While we’re dealing with speculative and science fiction, I’m going to deal with overdone dystopia in SF literature. Just as the evening news focuses on catastrophe, so does SF literature focus on a future that’s gone to fiery regions in a wicker contraption. In fact dystopia has become so common in SF that it’s simply an accepted scenario. We’re all going to wear gas masks. It’s always going to rain. Crime rules. Conscience fled on the arm of Hope and humanity is more cyborg than biological.

Although there is still an audience for this type of literature (and as long as male adolescent geeks exist, so will this literature), it would be refreshing to find a writer who dares to push the boundaries of SF and go where the greats of the Golden Age dared venture – into new territory.

So, global warming is a fact. Instead of writing about a devolved world, however, why not write about an adapted world? What if coastal cities became canal cities and transportation was via overhead rapid transit rail and canal boats powered by wind and solar? What if high-density housing developed into a version of the hanging gardens of Babylon?

Now that could be fascinating reading.

Comments? Questions? We’d love to hear from you.

Common Errors in Fiction Manuscripts, Part 6

2011-10-16T08:00:00.000-04:00

Less is More

Sex/love scenes

We either see sex scenes that belong in an issue of Hustler, explicit in detail and street language, or love scenes reminiscent of saccharine romances. It’s rare to find a debut manuscript that handles erotica of any kind with a deft hand and subtle impact. Here, at Five Rivers, we usually opt for the mantra: less is more, and that applies as much or more to scenes of sexuality. Every action requires justification: does this advance the plot? Does this develop character? Does this sustain tension?

Kitsch techie phrases and neologisms in SF

One of my dislikes in SF is the perceived requirement to invent catchy phrases to describe new technologies, countries, and environments. Doing so is fine to a point, but when neologisms become a flood, all the author has succeeded in doing is alienating the reader. It’s not clever. It’s not cutting edge. It’s just bad writing.

For example, our hero John is running through a space station and holds up his wrist to shout into his percom. I stop and reread that word. Percom. All action halts because I have to process that word, extrapolate meaning. Per/com. Per = personal? Com = communicator? Personal communicator? I then scan a few other phrases around the neologism to see if that translation fits in context. Yes. But what’s wrong with that is my attention’s arrested. The tension you as the author created has broken. Lost opportunity = ineffectual writing.

If you’re creating a new concept or technology, work from the known to the unknown. We already have cell phones, blue tooth headsets. Do a little research (ah yes, that research thing again) and see where the innovative developers are going with personal communication devices, and then allow your imagination free rein within the parameters of logical science and effect a likely evolution both of technology and name.

I recently read one example of a neologism gone awry in Peter Watts’ Maelstrom. Now, agreed, I’m venturing into hallowed territory here, let alone the area where angels occupy the heads of pins. Having said that, Watts creates a spy drone called a botfly.

Now, in the real world, my knowledge of a botfly is a parasitic fly whose larvae burrow under the skin to complete their pupating. So, when I read about Watts’ botfly, it took a moment for me to dismiss the parasitic creature, and extrapolate meaning through the syllables of the neologism. i.e. bot and fly. Bot = robot or drone. Fly = literal action, i.e. the drone can fly.

So, one has to ask, why not simply use the term drone? It is an already established piece of military hardware, often used for surveillance. And by doing so you quickly establish meaning and maintain the rapid-fire tension of the plot.

Comments? Questions? We’d love to hear from you.

Common Errors in Ficton Manuscripts, Part 5

2011-10-14T08:00:00.000-04:00

Research
I’m afraid I’m a tyrant about good research.

I received one fantasy story that had a fellow stop into an inn, and there roasting on the fire was a whole cow. Now, unless that inn was more like an enormous Best Western capable of serving 1000 very generous meals, that's completely out of scale. There’s a minimum of a thousand pounds of meat being turned by some hapless and burly minion, assisted by another minion whose sole occupation is to chop and ferry wood to a hearth that would make the average medieval kitchen hearth of 13 or so feet seem miniscule.

Historically an inn served simpler and smaller dishes. A chicken or a leg of mutton might be the largest you’d see roasted. More often a stew, a pottage, a savoury pie, a plate or bowl of bread (often the plate or bowl was a slab of bread) with cured meats, boiled eggs, seasonal vegetables and fruits, and more particularly cheese would be common fare at an inn.

Then there are the stories that refer to a bowstring as a cord, or have a woman travelling on a train in a full bustle, or people raised for the quality of their intellect on a starvation diet.

In this remarkable age of the world’s greatest encyclopaedia (the Internet), there is no excuse for shoddy research.

Comments? Questions? We’d love to hear from you.

Common Errors in Fiction Manuscripts, Part 4

2011-10-12T08:00:00.000-04:00

Purple Prose
I’m guilty of this, I have to admit. I love words. I love language. Sometimes I get so carried away with descriptors I forget about advancing the plot, and sharpening prose to a keen edge.

So, when I go back to a piece some weeks or months after writing the first draft, I set aside my love affair with the story and words, and become the clinician.

There is one rule: Use one precise word instead of many lush words.

The result? A sentence or passage of such clarity it incises an image into a reader’s imagination.

For example:

Completing another chapter, the eleven-year-old bibliophile gracefully stood and, with the air of a young nobleman, strode across the library to a second reading chair perched comfortably before a tall, gothic-style window.

All kinds of wrong with that sentence. Is the age of the boy necessary? Or can that information be inferred through action and thought? The use of the word 'bibliophile' arrests the narrative. Personally, I love that word, but it’s a bit antiquated for the targeted audience, and isn’t particularly communicative. The description of the boy’s grace when standing creates a cool and distant omniscient point of view that alienates the reader from the character. And besides, is it necessary to know he has grace when standing? Does this reflect upon his character or in any manner advance the plot? The phrase 'with the air of a young nobleman' is redundant on so many levels, let alone irrelevant and ridiculous in its assumption that young noblemen are inherently graceful. Then we have a perching chair. Chairs do not perch. People do. And further a chair can’t be perched comfortably. A chair has no feelings and so the concept of it having comfort, unless we’re dealing with something out of Terry Pratchett’s imagination, is ridiculous. The tall, gothic-style window is known as a lancet window; however, is it necessary to the plot to know the exact architectural description of said window?

Rewritten, the sentence could read:

When he finished the chapter, he crossed to the chair by the window.

Comments? Questions? We’d love to hear from you.