So the novel-in-progress — a near-future thriller — went out to beta readers in November, and by the end of the month I received four sets of comments. The overall reaction was pleasingly positive, and the two issues I’d been most concerned about turned out not to be issues at all. The comments I did receive are all helpful. Several have already been applied to the latest draft as I work through my list — but you know what? Except for one item, everyone focused their comments on different aspects of the story.

This isn’t a bad thing at all. What it means to me is that the overall story works pretty darn well, that there aren’t major issues, and that different people just want more detail on different things.

Of course it isn’t necessary to address every comment a beta reader makes. It’s the prerogative of the writer to leave things as they are, to change them a little or a lot, or to go in a completely different direction than the beta reader suggests.

But what to do if one reader has real problems with a critical part of the story that the other beta readers didn’t question at all? That’s the situation I found myself in. It was tempting to shrug off the criticism. After all, no novel gets glowing reviews from everyone who tries it. Some books just don’t work for certain people.

I let the critical comments sit for a few days, and then I made myself go over them again, while reconsidering the reader, the reader’s preferences, and his reaction to the rest of the novel.

In this case, my beta reader has been an enthusiastic supporter of my work for years, he’s critiqued me before, is a writer himself, was generous with praise for almost all of the manuscript, and gave solid reasons to back his opinions. He’s also a good stand-in for the most demanding corner of my target market.

So should I listen to him, even though my three other readers were okay with the scene? My answer to that was an emphatic “yes!”

Will I be able to address all of his concerns? That was more like a “maybe.”

The challenge with the problem scene is that the protagonist needs to hold onto some level of agency — that his actions and choices determine the outcome — but because of the situation, the element of agency is elusive. Stuff is happening, but the ability of the protagonist to affect it is minimal — kind of like being tumbled in the white water of a breaking wave, when all you can do is roll with the forces around you and hope you don’t get crushed. So in this scene the element of agency is primarily in the relationships between the protagonist and other characters: how he handles the stress, the choices he makes, and what he learns from them.

I wasn’t sure I could address these issues in a different way, but I decided it was worth experimenting with the scene, to see what I could come up with.

So yesterday I spent the entire day rewriting the target section. I was completely involved with it, even while I knew that the new material wasn’t really working out all that well. I’ve been at this game long enough to know that sometimes you have to toss a lot of words around before you find the right ones to use, especially in a situation like this, where the subtleties of dialogue, discovery, and realization are so important. At the end of the day, I’d addressed most of my friend’s concerns, but I was pretty sure that what I had was kind of a hash.

I re-read it after dinner, and yes, it was a mess. So I started in on it again, just as obsessed as I’d been during the day, but I’d had a new insight, a better understanding of the possible choices and the necessary sequence of events, and at that point I was able to drop some of the complications, which tends to be a good thing for me.

So is the scene better? Well, I haven’t actually re-read it since 2AM this morning, and I’m not sure I’ve had enough sleep to properly evaluate it. But I’m glad I ran the experiment. The simple fact that I was deeply involved in the revision effort tells me that it probably needed to be done.

At SF Signal, the table of contents has been posted for ‘The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year Volume Seven’ Edited by Jonathan Strahan, with my own “Nahiku West” at #22 in the list of stories! This is the first time my short fiction has made it into a best-of-year anthology, so I’m pretty happy about it.

The anthology will be published by Night Shade Books on March 5, 2013.

I just finished reading my first Joe Abercrombie novel, Best Served Cold, including an interview at the end of the book in which the author is asked about the genre of “scoundrel lit”:

“I tend to think of it as ‘unheroic fantasy,’ but certainly there seems to be a real current within epic fantasy lately toward darker, grittier, more morally ambiguous, more character-centered writing.”

Suddenly I have a subgenre in which to place the Puzzle Land books–The Dread Hammer and Hepen the Watcher–with their murderous protagonist, Smoke.

I do have to admit that Smoke is not entirely bereft of qualms and affections. Still, “scoundrel lit” is a pretty good description.

Someone out there in twitter-land has declared this the 2nd Annual #ReaderThanks Day, with the theme “What are you thankful for as a writer, a reader, or someone who works with books?”

So, each in 140 characters or less, here are my highlights:

#ReaderThanks For the husband who keeps a roof over my head while I take this 2nd shot @ writing. Married 30yrs in May. How awesome is that?

#ReaderThanks For the readers on FB, twitter, G+, my blog, via email, &via reviews who let me know they like what I’m doing. You’re awesome.

#ReaderThanks For readers who don’t bother w/FB, twitter,G+, etc but read my books anyway. You might never see this, but you’re awesome too!

#ReaderThanks For those readers who take a chance on a writer you’ve never heard of. Even if it doesn’t work out, I’m grateful you tried!

#ReaderThanks For those writers who share their experience, thoughts, and opinions on the writing business, so I’m not fumbling in the dark.

#ReaderThanks For those writers whose work still captures my imagination despite the stress & time-crunch of these modern days.

I could go on and on, but instead I’ll just say Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Back in early October, I published my 2012 Analog story “Nahiku West” as an ebook that also included an older story of mine. It was available only at Book View Café.

Now that another 2012 story, “Nightside On Callisto,” has come off its exclusive period at Lightspeed Magazine, I’ve pulled the original ebook and created a new one that includes both of these two stories from 2012. This version is available at all of the usual vendors (links below).

If you purchased the original ebook of “Nahiku West” from Book View Café, you can replace it with the new one. Just click the “Download” link in your receipt to get the new version. Be aware that the file names are the same.

If by chance you’re an active member of Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) and are reading for Nebula consideration, let me know and I’ll be happy to send you a copy.

Here’s where to find it:

Book View Café (worldwide)
Kobo Books (international)
Barnes & Noble
Amazon.com USA
Amazon UK
Amazon Japan
Amazon Germany
Amazon France
Amazon Spain
Amazon Italy

“Nahiku West” — a 9,000 word novelette, originally published in Analog and now available as an ebook at Book View Cafe.

Long ago — actually last spring — I wrote a companion story to last summer’s novelette “Nahiku West.” It’s called “Out In The Dark” and it’s the second story featuring the reluctant Commonwealth police officer, Zeke Choy**.

Since “Nahiku West” was published in Analog, I sent the second story there as well and waited the summer to hear back on it. Three months passed, and I was just about to inquire on its status when Stan Schmidt, long-time Analog editor, announced his immediate retirement — and I knew the waiting wasn’t over yet.

I did eventually receive good news. Analog’s new editor, Trevor Quachri, will be publishing “Out In The Dark” in a future edition, date to be determined.

And now, I must get busy writing more short stories! I want to do at least one or two more featuring Zeke Choy, as well as striking out in some new directions.

If you haven’t done so yet, please sign up for my Very Occasional Newsletter so I can let you know when new stories and novels come out.

I’ve always been into fitness, but over the last couple of years I’ve been more consistent and have been pushing myself further. My workouts vary between road running upcountry, and treadmill along with weights at the gym. Upcountry runs are usually between 4.5 and 5.5 miles. Treadmill runs are shorter and faster. They don’t involve any hills and take place at sea level which means more oxygen! So it’s a completely different experience from running upcountry.

So I’ve been wondering how well I’d do on a road run on flat terrain at sea level. Could I do seven miles? That doesn’t sound like much for serious runners, but for me it’s meaningful. So for a birthday workout I decided to go down to Kihei/Wailea and run, because I’m not getting older, I’m getting better! Right?

Unfortunately, it didn’t work out quite the way I’d hoped. First, the distance was only six miles, and second, the land was not flat. I knew there were hills in Wailea…I just didn’t remember there were quite that many hills, or how steep some were.

My big mistake was that I left the road and ran along the beach walk. This meant I had the heat of the setting sun blazing in my face, but worse, I had to jog up a steep hill to get back to the road, which was, uh…challenging.

But in the end, I made the 6.1 miles in 59:40 and witnessed a gorgeous sunset. So it’s all good in the end.

Here’s my course:

Confession: I have not written a word of fiction since finishing up the novel-in-progress on October 25.

Why? Two primary reasons: First, I’m having a very hard time letting go of this story and allowing something else to occupy my brain space, and second, I’m fairly stressed waiting on the first full impressions from beta readers.

Does it matter that I’m not writing? Yes. There seems to be a discipline among writers who are successful and that includes writing everyday and continuously producing work. Right now I need to be working on some short stories. Then I need to move on and finish the novel I never quite finished last spring.

Still, it’s not as if I’ve been doing absolutely nothing. I have managed to get the print layout of Memory started, I’ve gone over the unfinished novel, and I’ve developed a possible short story idea. But tomorrow, really, seriously, I need to start writing, even if what I write at first turns out to be only rubbish. I’ve been at this game long enough to know it will get better, so long as I’m doing something.