Short Studies

Things have slowed down a bit on the writing front. I'm still waiting on the cover artist's schedule to open up and I haven't written much on the second novel in the last few weeks. But in the meantime...

...I love short stories.

First, the are fun to write. I've mentioned the pair of stories out in Van's superhero anthology, but I've got another one due out sometime this year that I'm even more excited about. I'll talk that up once it is available.

But they are really fun to read and quite educational. For anyone aspiring to write, well-written short stories serve as great studies in story structure. It is important to understand the three-act or five-act structure and short stories are easier to decipher what the author is doing structurally.

I have recently picked up collections of O Henry and Edgar Allen Poe that I look forward to digging into. And Sir Arthur Conan Doyle penned many Sherlock Holmes short stories that are just gems of tight little stories. I have that collection as well.

In between my own writing and my regular diet of comic books, I'll be spending time with these guys as well as other classic authors. Thanks to a few gift cards and a "3 for 2" sale, I have just stocked my shelf with not only Henry, Poe and Doyle, but also Alexandre Dumas, H. G. Wells, Robert Louis Stevenson, H. Rider Haggard and probably a couple of others I'm forgetting.

It was through the study of short stories that I was able to get my head around story structure. Once I knew that, I could easily apply my plot to those requirements and soon I was typing away.

My Short Stories

There is not a lot of news to report in regards to the novel. The cover artist has been forced to delay getting started for reasons that are not only understandable but kind of exciting in their own way. I'll explain further once the artist has been announced.

In the meantime, I have been going back over the edited manuscript and figuring out the story beats for all the subplots in Book 2. I hit the road for a business trip on March 7th and I plan to have my stack of index cards ready by then so I can start working on the second volume during that trip.

But how would you like to read a couple of my stories right now? A pair of my short stories have just been published in the super-hero anthology The Sentinels: Alternate Visions.

I wrote the first one two years ago and I knocked out the second one last September. Both make references to Van Plexico's Sentinels series, but neither require having to read his books first. I'm pleased with both stories, I hope you enjoy them as well.

You can buy a copy directly from White Rocket Books or download the e-book for only $4.95 at the Lulu.com site.

It's exciting to see your work published and I have to thank Van for giving me this exposure. The Sentinels has been a successful enough series for a larger press to come in and buy the rights to it, so here's hoping the anthology can find the same audience.