The Dream Machine

The Art of Fiction

Jacques Barcia — Sat, 26 Feb 2011 03:13:34 +0000

Read Ayn Rand’s The Art of Fiction yesterday. To say I’m disappointed is really a misnomer. I’m pissed off. If the book was just bad, without any deeper discussion about writing techniques, I’d be fine. To be fair, there are one or two useful things in there. But to spend almost two hundred pages to say “I’m the best stylist of my generation” and “The best example of what I’m discussing is this scene from my novel Atlas Shrugged…” and “Objectivism is YAY! Besides hating those damn commies (*spit*) we even write with plot! PLOT! And our characters? They have so many layers! Just like an onion! Not only one or two shallow motivations, like the characters in those stupid Naturalist novels. Like the ones from Tolstoy and Joyce” maybe it was just a little bit beyond abusive. Just a little.

Immersion Book of Steampunk

Jacques Barcia — Tue, 18 Jan 2011 11:42:46 +0000

Alright! Immersion Press announced the TOC for their steampunk antho, the Immersion Book of Steampunk. See if you can find a familiar name.

GD Falksen

James Targett

Anatoly Belilovski

James Johnson

Dan L Hollifield

Jacques Barcia

Toby Frost

Chris Butler

Paul di Filippo

No, no, no! I’m not talking about Paul di Filippo. It’s about me. Yeah. My story The Siege of Dr. Vikare Blisset As Reported By Detective Carlos Verke (gotta love huge titles) will be part of the anthology. How cool is that?

According to editor Gareth D. Jones, the book will be published in dead tree format by mid-April.

P.S.: I’d like to thank Lavie Tidhar again for introducing me to the Immersion staff.

WorldCon or World Fantasy Con?

Jacques Barcia — Wed, 12 Jan 2011 13:07:36 +0000

Time to decide. Which convention I should attend this year? WorldCon or World Fantasy Con?

Though I’m not sure I’ll have the money to face the trip (air travel in Brazil is very expensive), I’m working hard to go to one of these cons.

I want to meet my writer friends. Editors. Agents, maybe?

So. What are the pros and cons of each convention?

(wondering if enough people read this blog to generate a single comment)

Hugo

Jacques Barcia — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 03:33:17 +0000

Hey. I think I’ve three stories eligible for this year’s Hugo Awards.

I guess.

Forgive me. This is all new to me.

So. One story is called The Greenman Watches The Black Bar Go Up, Up, Up (publised in the Shine anthology). The other one is called Salvaging Gods (Clarkesworld #49). And yet there’s this third story called A Life Made Possible Behind The Barricades which was published in Tachyon’s website as a web exclusive for the Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded antho.

Just in case you liked any of these and thought about voting.

End of transmission.

Happy New Year!

Jacques Barcia — Wed, 29 Dec 2010 23:28:59 +0000

Awesome year. Some stories sold. Some stories published. Many, many new friends made. So I’d like to wish you all a very happy New Year. Also, I’d like to say a big thank you to the following people:

Jeff VanderMeer, Paul Jessup, Eric Gregory, Larry Nolen, Lavie Tidhar, Jonathan Wood, Fábio Fernandes, Jim Anotsu, Ana Cristina Rodrigues, Neil Clarke, John Klima, Jetse de Vries, Gareth D. Jones and Christopher Kastensmidt.

Thanks for your help, your friendship and your guidance. You’re awesome.

Christmas book sale

Jacques Barcia — Sun, 19 Dec 2010 02:10:56 +0000

Hey everybody! My friend Paul Jessup is trying to raise money for Christmas, so he’s selling some books from his collection. He’s a really, really nice guy, an awesome writer and he’s selling some great books (including the ones he wrote). Here’s the list:

SIGNED BOOKS

Star Dust – Neil Gaiman (1st edition hardcover, signed but not personalized) price is $70 (normally goes for $90 on ebay)

City of Saints and Madmen – Jeff Vandermeer (original hardcover by Prime Books, full illustrations, signed by Jeff Vandermeer) – $150

The Christmas Inn by Gene Wolf (limited, numbered hardcover, signed but not personalized) $20

PostScripts #10 – Signed by all authors, including me, Steven King and Joe Hill as well as others. Not personalized, but numbered limited slipcased hardcover edition. Price is $100 (normally goes for $300 on ebay)

3 Signed copies of my book, Werewolves- price $15 each. Can be personalized.

10 signed copies of Open Your Eyes (personalized to individual upon request) $10 a piece.

2 Signed (personalized upon request) of the short lived GrendelSong Magazine. Contains fiction by Ekaterina Sedia, poetry by Catherine Valante and others. $8 a piece.

If you’re interested in any of these, just drop an e-mailt to Paul (paul.jessup@gmail.com). You can donate too, if you want, via PayPal.

Too much horror…

Jacques Barcia — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 01:47:31 +0000

Struggling with a horror story. Wondering how much is too much. The point is: scary isn’t enough. Horror fiction should be disturbing. Should haunt the reader for days. As much contradictory as it is, it should make him want to stop reading because the action is repulsive. Only he can’t. Or he won’t. So how much is too much? How much child abuse, rape, dismemberment and heresy a reader can have? How much an audience can have? Because, seriously, the only thing that really scares me is human degradation. Sexual exploitation, slavery, addiction, compulsion, the choices one must make when one has no choice at all. As a writer, that’s a hell of a riddle to solve.

Steampunk! Reloaded!

Jacques Barcia — Tue, 14 Dec 2010 12:31:28 +0000

The first thing you should know is that I’m not a blogger. This is my fifth attempt at keeping a blog and, seriously, I don’t know how much time it’ll live. So, subscribe to the RSS feed and relax. The second thing you should know is that my steampunk/weird short story A Life Made Possible Behind The Barricades is now up at Tachyon’s website. The story is a web exclusive for Tachyon’s Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded anthology, edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer and it was originally published in the Brazilian antho Steampunk: histórias de um passado extraordinário. And the third thing you should know is that…is that…oh, nevermind.