Author Archives: Bob Evans

A busy busy week

The day job has been a real job all week long. Yesterday started out slow, and I even began composing an essay on the latest rewatch in my James Bond adventure (The Man With the Golden Gun,) but a sudden power failure, stole the piece and I have ventured to recreate it yet.

I have finished the first draft of my latest novel ‘Command and Control,” and I have even finished the revision pass, but I discovered that there were scenes needed that I had neglected to write. So I’m doing what they call in Hollywood, pick-ups. Writing those scenes, smoothing them out, and editing them into the piece so the story will flow properly. I expect to have that done by the middle of next week and then I’ll turn it over to my sweetiw-wife for her proofread pass. After that, Beta readers!

I had a really rough day today. Lots of work at the day job. People making the work harder than it needed to me. The bleeding air conditioning came on and by afternoon I was freezing with my toes colder that Captain America down for a nap. Luckiyl things turned for the better when I got home.

I sold a short story to an electronic online magazine, Encounters. My story, Proof of Principle, if all goes well, will appear in the next issue due out Feb 1. It was only a token payment, but as I really loved this story I am so very happy to share it with a real readership.

 

thats all for now.

 

 

 

Share

Mass Murder and Our Culture

There is no doubt that America suffers a high rate of spree killings than other nations.  A lot of attention is given to the number and availability of firearms in this country because of this, but I believe that this is looking at symptoms and not causes. After all Switzerland has lots of firearms and doesn’t have the problem. The problem and the causes are far deeper than the tools used to create the effect.

The primary cause in my opinion is that we are a culture that venerates the concept of righteous revenge.  Revenge is often the motivation of both our heroes and our villains. Continue reading →

Share

Welcome to 2013 goodbye to 2012

Today was my first day job day back at the desk and so I can safely say that the new year has begun. Strangely New Year’s Day didn’t feel all that different to me yesterday. I stayed at home and relaxed, my sweetie-wife did some shopping and we played a couple of games. (Star Trek The Original Series: the Deck Building Game & Dominion, but fun games.)

I look back at 2012 and see that I achieved all my writing goals. Stories submitted to at least three pro-level publications, entered all four quarters of Writers of The Future, and completed the first draft of my latest novel. (That one was down to the wire with a Dec 28th final session.) Once the novel was completed in its first draft I relaxed and planned on no more writing for about a month.

My plan is to read the novels I have purchased, but have laid around on my Nook unread. In fact I have read two books already, Characters, Emotion & Viewpoint by Nancy Kress it is craft book on writing and it is very good. Also I finished reading last night, Zombie Movies  by Glenn Kay and encyclopedia of zombie movies from the 1930’s through about 2004. For novels I am currently reading The Apocalypse Codex by Charles Stross, and after that I have Snuff by Terry Pratchett, A Summer of Night by Dan Simmons and Quantum Coin by E.C. Myers.

Somewhere in the middle of all that I will start writing again about Feb, working on my next entry for the Writers of the Future, and then start revising Command & Control.After all that? Well, write another book.

 

Share

Happy Holidays

Well the holidays are truly here. Today is Christmas eve and the phone at work are as dead as Romney’s political ambitions.

I wish each and everyone one of you the merriest holliday, whatever holiday it is you celebrate. I don;t get hung up on which one myself, it’s good enough to have a day off to spend with my sweetie-wife and think good thoughts.

(Except about the writing where I think bad thoughts for the villian.)

 

 

Share

A Turbulent Week

Oh, nothing life threatening to me and anyone I know, but this has been a week of highs and lows.

The lows were a couple of things. On Tuesday night I got a flat rejection from Writer of the Future for my 4th Quarter entry. Not Even an Hm. *le sigh* My arthritis has been acting up and today, thursday, it was particularly bad. No evening writing for me, just letting my fingers rest.

The highs have been fairly nice. Mainly in that my novel, ‘Command and Control’ is less than fifty pages from completion, and I have been very productive. (9 pages on Monday, 8 Tuesday, 8 Wednesday, and today the day of pain 5. That’s a total of 30 pages and my weekly goal is by sunday nights having 29 finished, so I am ahead of quota.)

My idea for a new SF short story is coming along nicely and I know exactly how it ends. That is critical to my writing process. Unless I have a clear ending in mind, I cannot write the story.

Best of all, Saturday morning, 10 am, my sweetie-wife and I are going out to see The Hobbit. yes!

 

Share

Sunday Night Movie: Better Off Dead

So, continuing my series of comedic films from the 1980’s, last night movie was one of my favorites, Better Off Dead.

Sharing a commonality with last week’s movie, The Sure Thing, Better Off Dead stars John Cussak as Lane Meyers, a young man in high school obsessed with his girlfriend Beth. When Beth dumps Lane for the school jock, Roy Stalin, Lane is sent into a comedic tailspin of depression, suicidal thoughts, and misfortune. Continue reading →

Share

The Value of Listening

Last night was the twice a month meeting of the Mysterious Galaxy Writers Support Group. I think it was because of the impending holidays that we had a fairly small group turn out, which meant even though I read a bit at our last meeting I read again.

I read out a scene that had been problematic for me in the writing and turned out to be problematic in the reading. Even as II read it aloud I could feel the prose falling flat.

The scenes had no life, no purpose and failed in every objective.

  I got lots of really good feedback and this is where a person had to listen and not just hear. It can be very difficult to be truly open to your own mistakes. This is as true with writing as it is with anything else people do. I tried my best to keep ego out of the way. (Beating down the little monster with a crowbar and burying him is a hole in the desert.) I think I succeeded. I have a much better idea today why the scene failed, and some idea about how to fix it with a total rewrite.

Writers groups are invaluable, but you have to listen.

 

Share

Sunday Night Movie: The Sure Thing

Sunday night I was in the mood for light, but not silly fare. The Sure Thing, Rob Reiner second from, made in 1985 perfectly fit my mood and as Christmas feature in the plotline it was even a timely viewing.

This is an early outing my John Cussak, a very talent actor who for that last three decades has been in a wide range of projects from the expansive and inane 2012 to the small and disturbed Being John Malkovich. Continue reading →

Share