While a huge honour, I am posting this also as a bit of intentional link bait since I am credited  as “Matte Moore.” Though I have full respect for mattes and all they have done for society, it’s not my name. [UPDATE: I got in touch with Chelsea and she very quickly fixed both entries.]

And while not a huge deal, considering the other famous Matt Moores out there, I can use all the attention I can get. I’ve tried to follow up with Chelsea on this, but can’t find an email address for her.

So, if anyone out there read Chelsea’s excellent article “Sci-Fi Writer Knows More About Aboriginals Than Most Canadians” and searched for “Matte Moore” and found this post: HELLO!

If you have not read her article, go read it. While it mentions the editorial Adam and I wrote in On Spec, we play a minor role. Really, it’s about Robert J. Sawyer, his The Neanderthal Parallax trilogy and issues it explored with Native Canadians. It’s well worth a read—basically, the cultural convention that civilization equals European civilization. How we have to settle in one area and grow our population to be civilization when this is not necessarily the case.

In the meantime, a hat tip to Chelsea and glad the piece Adam and I wrote could get her thinking, inspire her to write her piece, which then got me thinking.

The course is aimed at science fiction, fantasy and horror writers who are early on in their career looking to be more success in their writing. Topics we will cover include:

• The writing life: Finding time to write and staying motivated
• The writing art: How to improve you writing and avoid mistakes that will get you rejected
• The writing biz: What happens when you send off your stories

The workshop will run from 10 to 5. The cost is $40 to support Can*Con: The Conference on Canadian Content in Speculative Arts and Literature, an Ottawa-based SF convention.

Full details are on the East Block Irregulars blog, including how to register.

Out of 44 submissions, I made a single sale: “Ascension” to AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review. While thrilled, some of the rejections were to markets I really wanted to be a part of, namely Mike Kelly’s Chilling Tales II and Blood Bound Books’ Night Terrors II.

Perhaps that’s because this year was mostly a year of revisions. I didn’t turn out as many original stories as I would like, instead going back to older stories and revising them, using skills I have sharpened to fix mistakes I hadn’t realized I’d made. In retrospect, this was not the best strategy. Some of these stories are too long to be marketable, and others are still not at a level I am happy with.

But, this will be my 59th blog post of the year, so at least I am blogging. I have also jumped on Google+ and created a Facebook page.

My career, however, gathered a lot of momentum.

In January, I was thrilled to hear Cast Macabre‘s version of my short story “While Gabriel Slept” (sold in 2010) after a number of other audio markets said they loved it, but didn’t know how to make it work. This rendition chilled me… and I wrote the story! (Download the MP3). Later in the year, Cast Macabre also accepted my ghost story “The Weak Son” (first published in Tesseracts Thirteen), but the site seems to be on hiatus and I don’t know when things will get rolling again.

In mid-2011, I learned “Touch the Sky, They Say,” published on AE, had been nominated for a Aurora Award. While I ultimately lost to my friend Hayden Trenholm, it was a great honour and great experience, especially the support D.F. McCourt from AE gave me. And my friends from ChiZine Publications Erik Mohr, Helen Marshall and Sandra Kasturi won Auroras for their work.

I also made a good friend in Adam Shaftoe, editor of the Page of Reviews site, who interviewed me twice for his podcast and ran reviews of my stories “Full Moon Hill,” “Touch the Sky, They Say” and “Ascension.” He also name-checked me in reviewing Contagion, using my thoughts on what makes a horror story (which was inspired by Gemma Files) to try to define the film.

Speaking of naming checking, Helen Michaud, non-fiction editor over at AE, called me out in her essay “Over the Transom: A Rose Without a Name is Not as Cool a Companion.” Her premise is that characters should be named. Trying to use nameless “he” and “I” and “you” in order to add a certain mystery to the story often falls flat. However, she used “Touch the Sky, They Say” and “Ascension” as exceptions that prove the rule.

In non-fiction news, editorials I wrote ran on AE (about “dark SF”) and The Page of Reviews (about whether we still need to vigoursly defend genre distinctions). Another editorial on the decline of science fiction and rise of fantasy, which I co-wrote with Adam, will appear in On Spec.

I attended Ad Astra, the World Horror Convention and SFCOntario, sitting on panels, catching up with friends and making new ones. Since attending Ad Astra 2008 as a nobody, I find myself run off my feet at these conventions, knowing so many people and often leaving with regrets I didn’t get a chance to talk to this person or that.

I am looking forward to 2012. I have learned a lot over this past year and hope to apply it in the year to come. My goal is to “bring the awesome” (as I am calling it). Not just writing what comes to mind, but telling chilling horror stories and thought provoking sci-fi.

In closing, my heartfelt thanks to everyone who made me feel welcome, appreciated and a part of the wonderful speculative fiction community. I’m looking forward to spending more time with you in 2012.

The ChiZine Connection: Brett Savory, Sandra Kasturi, Helen Marshall, Laura Marshall, Sam Beiko, Brent Hayward, Bob Boyczuk, David Nickle, Gemma Files, Nick Kaufmann, Claude Lalumière, Derryl Murphy, Mike Rowe, Doug Smith, Paul Tremblay, Erik Mohr, Barry King, Kevin Nunn, Tristan Joseph, Rio Youers, Ryan McFadden, Corey Beep

Authors & Editors: Mike Kelly, Madeline Ashby, Suzanne Church, Matt Johnson, D.F. McCourt, Helen Michaud, Diane Walton, Adam Shaftoe, Julie Czerneda

The East Block Irregulars: Derek Kunsken, Peter Atwood, Marie Bilodeau, Hayden Trenholm, Liz Westbrook-Trenholm, Geoff Gander, Agnes Cadieux

See you all next year!

Does your organization have a mobile strategy? What does it include?

And, more importantly, what does it exclude?

Are you including podcasts, ebooks and SMS, or are those older, publish-only technologies not part of a new, cutting-edge, interactive strategy?

To put it another way, by using the word “mobile” are we focusing too much on smartphones at the expense of other devices?

“Mobile” = phones… and just phones

Smartphones are a growing market. (Yes, I just heard your collective “Well, duh.”) Responding to what will soon be the new normal, we’re crafting mobile strategies—apps for mobile devices and sites optimized for mobile screens. But in a trick of semantics, we’ve come to think of “mobile” as just smartphones when plenty of other devices are mobile. (See the note below.) Do you include an ebook reader in “mobile”? How about an iPod or plain-old MP3 player? Likely not, but you should. The risk is we’re focusing too much on a device, not the concept.

Is this a part of your mobile strategy?

And the concept is that our audience is accessing electronic information on small, portable hand-held devices that might not have WiFi or cell network access.

The case for “portable” strategy

That’s why I propose the word “portable.” A portable strategy is broader than a mobile strategy. Getting away from a word that’s too tied to smartphones, the word “portable” includes the following elements:

What a portable strategy covers

• Apps—Programs that run on smartphones and tablets that don’t always require an internet connection
• Mobile optimized sites—Sites designed to run on smaller screens
• Podcasts and vodcasts—Downloadable content one can watch or listen to when they choose, regardless of an internet connection
• eBooks—Not just the new epub and mobi formats, but also the good old PDF, which can read by most ebook readers and is more easily understand by most users
• SMS—Don’t ignore the power of texting, especially that tantalizing beep when a new one arrives that makes people whip out their cell phone
• QR Codes—Jumping from the offline to the online world

Understand why people consume portable information

Passing the time? Trying to get help?

People using their portable devices are likely (1) killing time or (2) solving an immediate problem. Most typing and long-term browsing will be done on larger screens (and keyboards). True, there is location-based taggings and check-ins, but those are so tightly tied to portable devices the thinking is self-evident. And ebook readers are also an exception, but like the physical book one might use it in 10-minute bursts on the bus or for several hours on the couch. So:

• Provide bite-sized chunks of information—30 minute (maximum) podcasts, brief videos, short ebooks (like articles). Give users something they can use to fill their time with in the moment or saved for later. In the past, people killed time with a paperback book or the radio when riding the bus, driving to work, jogging or sitting in a waiting room. A one-hour video or graphically-intense PDF won’t replace that.
• Provide lengthy, detailed information where warranted. People tend to listen, watch or read in short bursts, but not always. For that long car ride or flight, a 90-minute video or book-length ebook is worthwhile. But these will  be times when someone might not have an Internet connection, so make sure it is downloadable. And make the size and length obvious to someone before they download it.
• Not everyone gets the latest gadget. Plenty of people are loyal to their old Samsung MP3 player or Sony eBook Reader. While the latest gadgets make one-click access easy, many people still need to download and transfer files to a device. Make this process as easy as possible and provide explanations of how to do it.
• Social media apps make it easy to check Twitter or Facebook when waiting in line or for the bus. These actions are perfect way to fill a spare few minutes. So what quick, light-weight interactions can you offer via a small screen?
• Look at your web metrics to see which pages are the most popular with mobile browsers/operating systems and figure out what you can do to make them easier to use with a portable device. While using CSS to optimize an entire site is ideal, it might not be possible after 15 years of designing for larger screens.
• Understand a mobile-optimized web application might be better than a downloaded app. While the Web app requires an internet connection, but also keeps a user on your site and can be updated easily without having to push an updated mobile app to the user. As well, you only need to make one Web app versus supporting several mobile platforms.

Don’t go overboard

Those who created mobile/portable strategies are likely innovators & early adopters. We connect our Kobos to WiFi, listens to MP3s on ours smartphone and browser the app store. Not everyone does. We still live in a world where desktop computers, Windows and Internet Explorer are king. So start small. Recognize things are moving toward portable devices, but not at the expense of taking resources away from tried-and-true channels where the majority of your communication still happens.

Data-driven decisions

Use Web analytics when making decisions. Virtually everything is trackable, so use data to decide where to focus efforts, see if you are succeeding, and adjust as necessary. While wanting to do something cool and innovative can fuel a project, it must have a solid business rationale, too. Remember: most apps never get downloaded, most videos are never seen, most ebooks never sell. Don’t spend valuable time and effort on something you might abandon in three months.

What is ideal for a portable device?

QR codes let you move someone from the real world to the online world. While very cool, give careful thought to this process. What situation would someone be in where online content would be needed? Up-to-date information like the weather or travel delays, like in an airport? But make sure:

• You have a call to action so one knows what will happen when they scan the code because while those of us in online communications know what they are, most people don’t
• There is WiFi where you are posting these codes; don’t count on a cell network
• If the QR code points to a webpage, make sure it is optimized for mobile
• Have an offline way to access this information; don’t exclude those without smartphones

And use UTM or some other mechanism to track who often QR codes are used to measure success.

The main take-away

Portable devices are growing, but are far from dominant. And it will be quite some time before a portable device like tablets completely replace the laptop or desktop as the main computer in a household. For now, understand how and why people use portable devices—all portable devices.

And don’t just focus on the those on the cutting edge. An MP3 player might seem passé, but a 50-something mom who got one for Christmas three years ago is probably still using it. Don’t exclude the late majority because you see them as luddites when developing a mobile portable strategy. They probably make up an untapped, under-served market.

NB: Google searches for “mobile phones” and “cell (or cellular) phones” shows more than 4 times the number of hits for “mobile” versus “cell” phones. Google Insights show searches for “mobile” are far greater than for “cellular”. (And even though searches for “mobile” are in a slight decline, it is due to the increase in searches for “smartphone”s.)

Bibliotheca Fantastica

Edited by my friend (and CZP author) Claude Lalumière along with Don Pizarro, this anthology from Dagan Books is looking for

“Stories having to do with lost, rare, weird, or imaginary books, or any aspect of book history or book culture, past, present, future, or uchronic. Any genre. Although the fantastical is not essential per se, stories should evoke a sense of the fantastic, the unknown, the weird, wonder, terror, mystery, pulp, and/or adventure, etc.”

Full details on their site, but the basics are:

• Time Period = December 15, 2011– March 31, 2012
• Payment = 2 cents per word + contributor copies
• Length = 10K words max
• Response Time = Doesn’t say
• No reprints
• No sim subs
• 2 subs per author

Tesseracts Sixteen

From Edge Publishing, they recently released the guidelines for the latest volume in their speculative anthology, which will be edited by Mark Leslie. They’re looking for stories and poems that “focus on art, music, literature and cultural elements which are integral to the story. ” This anthology is only open to Canadians citizens (including ex-pats), landed immigrants (aka permanent residents) and long time residents.

• Time period = Now – February 29, 2012
• Payment = $20.00 for poems, $50 to $150 for stories (see guidelines for details)
• Length = 5K words max
• Response Time = ~15 days
• Accepts reprints, but a “hard sell”
• Accepts sim subs, but not recommended
• Only one story per author

Here Be Monsters Anthology

Here Be Monsters is seeking stories for their sixth issue, out in winter 2012. They will accept stories in any genre. This anthology is only open to Canadian residents.

• Time period = Now – January 16, 2012
• Payment = $30 (flat) + contributor copy
• Length = 10K words max
• Response Time = Doesn’t say
• No reprints
• Accept sim subs

[Please Note: I am not associated with any of these; just passing along the info. Please direct any questions to the editors/publishers.]

[Minor spoilers follow, but nothing major.]

Hershel’s farm lacks Atlanta’s dangers

When word of budget cuts broke this summer, I worried how that would affect the story.

The result: endless days on Hershel’s farm. The narrative McGuffin—finding Sophia—didn’t hold my attention the way zombies-at-the-gate did. The characters never seemed in danger and Sophia was never developed enough for me to care.

By the second or third episode, it was apparent the search for her was just a way to put characters in conflict. While the conflicts—Shane vs. Rick, Rick vs. Hershel, Andrea vs. everybody—have been top-notch in both writing and acting, it lacked the oh-my-god tension of Atlanta.

Walking Dead – Zombies = Little House on the Post-Apocalytic Prairie

Don’t get me wrong—a good show should have different arcs and feels for each season. But there’s been too much character conflict with only a token zombie scene each episode. (The exception, of course, is the beginning of the first episode. It’s one of the most tense scenes on television since the Galactica jumped into New Caprica’s atmosphere to launch vipers. (Better, in fact, because there were no zombies on New Caprica.)) This happened to Lost when they left the island and when Sylar went soft on Heroes.

Zombies don't come cheap

Lower budget means fewer zombies

Not that we need wall-to-wall zombies. This is drama, not action. But zombies’ unique threat is what drives the show.

So where are they? Budget cuts.

Each day of shooting zombies means more extras, more make-up, more make-up artists. Which leads to Hershel’s farm—a less costly practical set, a fixed number of cast members and none of the grandeur of the first season.

But there certainly some things to love about this season

Norman Reedus’ Daryl is a complex, brilliant character. One of two characters not from the comic (the often-absent T-Dog (IroneE Singleton) being the other), Daryl strikes me as someone like Lost‘s Sawyer—a man who never had a chance to be a hero. Now that he is, he’s finally found himself while fighting inner demons.

And we are departing even more from the comics.

The comic’s Andrea is well-adjusted; the show’s is bad-ass.

Carol is completely different.

And it’s no secret the Shane vs. Rick conflict is something different on the show.

Cliffhanger? Not really…

My biggest disappointment was how this half-season ended. We needed one more scene to wrap it up as a complete story. Hershel telling Rick to leave. Or Hershel eating a bullet. Or opening fire.

The resolution of this episode was too easy, like the writers thought forcing characters to choose sides was more thrilling than life-or-death danger. OK, a minor spoiler: there are zombies on the farm, but they never stand a chance against our (well-armed) heroes. (Just how many bullets do they have?)

So what’s next?

AMC has given The Walking Dead a third season, but without Frank Darabont what’s the point? Like ABC’s failed FlashForward, the creative team running The Walking Dead need to make up their mind what this show is.  Horror? Drama? Life-or-death or existential struggle?

I will be back for the second half of the season, but fair warning to AMC: as a horror fan in the plum demographic of viewers you want, my interest is waning. Get Darabont back and give him the budget he deserves.

Agree? Disagree?

What do you think The Walking Dead fans? Leave me a comment.

I was new to Twitter at the time. As I followed more and more users, I sorted them into Lists, then started using HootSuite to track and manage the flow of tweets. Somewhere along the way, I came to realize I wasn’t seeing web retweets. Sometimes I’d even see “Sorry about that last retweet, the link doesn’t work” even though there had been nothing from that user.

Web retweets are not seen in Lists

Turns out, web retweets do not show up in your Lists. According to a post in HootSuite help (posted verbatim):

Twitter does not display Twitter Web Retweets in Lists…

A twitter list is limiting in nature  it gives you a subset of your whole twitter feed.  I like the fact that web retweets aren’t in there – they are literally somebody else’s tweet that i did NOT put in the list.

While I understand the rationale, given the widespread use of HootSuite and TweetDeck, how many retweets are we missing.

A reason to use old style retweets

This information made me realize how many tweets that I had intended to pass along to my followers—because they were interesting, useful or amusing—were never seen. While I understand the rationale that seeing someone you do not follow in your stream can be jarring, consider that someone you follow wants you to see that tweet.

So if you want your followers—more and more of whom are no doubt usings Lists—return to the days of the old school retweet. This will mean that some tweets may need to be shorter, but what the hell. If you can’t shorten a tweet to make it fit, you can always use the retweet button on Twitter.com.

Setting old style tweets in HootSuite

To do this in HootSuite:

1. Go to Settings > Preferences
2. Uncheck “Use Twitter Web retweets.”

How to see others’ retweets in HootSuite

While web retweets will not show up in your lists, there is a way to see the retweets of those you follow in  HootSuite:

1. Click the + button to add a Stream
2. Select Twitter from the menu on the left
3. Select your profile from the top dropdown
4.  Select “Retweets to me” from the bottom dropdown menu

This party is meant to celebrate AE‘s first year online and their accomplishments during that time, including my Aurora Award nomination for “Touch the Sky, They Say.” So, that kind of means I will be a guest of honour. If you are in Toronto and free that evening, please come by to help me and the rest of the AE family celebrate.

Doors will open at 9PM. Admission is free and there will be music, free cake, and a cash bar.

Address is:

Ramada Plaza Hotel
300 Jarvis Street (just south of Carlton) [Google Maps]
Toronto, ON

Full details are available on the SFContario site.

Who is telling the story... and to whom?

In the first part of this three-part series on first person narrative, I talked about why you should use first person narrative and how it’s different than third person point of view. Part two covered how the words you choose for the narrator develops them as a character, and how who is telling the story to whom is important in shaping the narrative.

This post concludes the series and deals with the narrator’s motivation for telling the story and the importance of using first person past tense versus first person present tense.

Why is the narrator telling the story

Before writing in the first person, you must understand why the narrator is telling the story.

Did your narrator survive a haunted house only to be forced back in?

In the works of Lovecraft and Poe, often is it some kind of warning or catharsis. Other stories take the form of letters or journal entries. These reasons shape the story’s structure.

A warning―I went into that haunted house and barely survived, so no one should go in―would start with that warning. From there, the narrator can explain the back story.

A series of letters, though, would likely slow build over time.

But why the story is being told dictates its climax. If it’s a love story, it must end with the culmination of that love. A love story where the lovers come together halfway through the tale is not a true love story. All stories need tension that is resolved in the climax. So know why the narrator is driven to tell the story, which would end with them getting to purpose of the tale.

When did the story take place and when is it being told?

The last question to ask yourself is when did the story take place in relation to its telling?

That is, first person present tense or first person past?

As with third person by default, if the story is told first person is should be past tense. Usually, we tell a story after it’s happened.

(There does seem to be a hipster rebellion against this reasoning with stories told first person present tense for no other reason then just to different. [Full disclosure: About half of my published works are first person present tense, but for good reasons. And, those are the works that are published. The majority of my writing is third person.) While you can tell your story however you wish, understand editors have seen plenty of stories that try to be "different." "Different" does not make a story any better.)

Why the narrator is telling the story also relates to present or past tense. Going back to Poe and Lovecraft, the motivation of the character is to rely some horrible event that has already happened, so naturally past tense. As well, consider most stories begin in seemingly normal situations where something occurs that forces conflict. So it doesn't make sense to begin a story in present tense under normal circumstances since no one narrates their day-to-day life hoping a worthy story comes along.

So, why tell a story in the present tense? The main reason is to tell a story as it's happening. Past tense allows for flashbacks and introspection, but some stories demand to be told as they're happening without flashbacks, forcing the reader to keep up and experience a situation as it unfolds. It also provides an immediate, you-are-there telling experience.

But considering this rationale for present tense, the story must begin at a noteworthy event―a discovery, "I'm pregnant," a sudden explosion.

Taking this idea a step further, telling a story in present tense forbids jumping ahead in time. Telling a story in the past tense allows the narrator to jump ahead a little, back up, resume the narrative, etc. In present tense, the narrator can speculate, but has the same knowledge of the future as the reader. [Hat tip to Helen Michaud for this idea.]

Another reason for present tense is your character is in real danger and might not survive the story. A story told first person past tense indicates the main character will survive. (If you do to tell a story in the first person past tense, don’t kill your character at the end. That’s cheating.)

As well, present tense may reflect the character’s mentality. She lives in the moment, either because she’s a thrill seeker, is someone who doesn’t look back, or is a raving psychopath with no regrets and can’t think more than a few seconds ahead.

Further, the main character is going through changes and is unable to appreciate or remember what has happened to them, such as “Flowers for Algernon” (or my short story “The Weak Son” in Tesseracts Thirteen).

Wrap-up: Use first person properly

First person narration, when used properly, can be a very powerful element to your story telling through immediacy and developing your character in a way third-person narrative can’t do. However, you must keep in mind:

• How does first person writing add to the story (setting, plot, theme, etc.), such as show-don’t-tell
• What information would your narrator know and not know
• What words would your main character use and sensory detail would he/she/it describe
• Is the narrator reliable or has her/his/its perceptions coloured the plot… or is the narrator insane
• Who is telling the story—the main character or a bystander? And who are they talking to and why? What would the narrator expect the listener to know?
• Is the story taking place now (present tense) or has it already happened (past tense)