Sharrukin's Palace

The Tumblr annex for Sharrukin's personal blog.

[sharrukin]

The Novel Series: A Tentative Plan

The Novel Series: A Tentative Plan #writing #ScienceFiction

Okay, among other things I’ve been working on, I’ve been sketching out a high-level plan for the series of short novels I intend to write and self-publish. As of today I’m reasonably happy with the overall plan, so it’s time to focus on the first novel in the series, and also to get back to other projects on the priority list. The Premise The series is going to be set in the mid-23rd century,…

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[sharrukin]

Course Correction, New Strategy

Course Correction, New Strategy #ScienceFiction #writing

Most of September I spent dealing with illness and the demands of my day job. That gave me some time to do some serious thinking about my writing. I’ve decided that it’s time for me to try a new strategy. To review the bidding: over an 18-month period from early 2015 to this summer, I concentrated on writing short genre fiction and sending the results out to the slush-piles of the pro markets.…

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[sharrukin]

Review: The Shannara Chronicles, by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar

Review: The Shannara Chronicles, by Alfred Gough and Miles Millar #fantasy

I don’t often post reviews here. Usually, when I do, it’s because I’ve come across something that surprised me in some way, that exceeded my expectations. Something that I find I want to call to people’s attention. This time, it’s a TV series: The Shannara Chronicles. The Sword of Shannara was a fantasy novel by Terry Brooks, first released in 1977. At the time, the American commercial market had…

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[sharrukin]

Time to Rethink

Time to Rethink #writing #ScienceFiction

I believe I have a confirmed diagnosis. Proximate cause: “A Fire in Winter” just picked up a rejection from Fantasy & Science Fiction. Once again it was a good personal rejection, one that indicates that C. C. Finlay personally read and enjoyed the story on its merits, even if it didn’t quite work for him. Once again, an editor has taken the time to specifically identify the problem he saw with…

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[sharrukin]

Progress Report (31 July 2016)

Progress Report (31 July 2016) #writing #ScienceFiction

No major milestones in the past few weeks. Work continues on the rough draft of Worlds Without Number. I’m working on the section which describes the “science of star maps” – the galaxy’s structure, the formation and evolution of stars, how stars are distributed through interstellar space, and so on. Progress is a little slower than I’d planned, but I’m still reasonably confident I can have this…

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[sharrukin]

Progress Report (6 July 2016)

Progress Report (6 July 2016) #writing #ScienceFiction

over hereAs of today, the first section of Worlds Without Number is finished in rough draft, and in the hands of my Patreon backers and playtesters for review. This is the section in which the reader can design (or randomly generate) the stars for a specific stellar system. While people poke holes in that, I think I’m going to back up and write some of the descriptive sections that talk about the…

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[sharrukin]

Progress Report (26 June 2016)

Progress Report (26 June 2016 #writing #ScienceFiction

More incremental progress on several fronts. I seem to have lined things up so that my slush-pile submissions get responses all at once. “A Fire in Winter,” “Guanahani,” and “Pilgrimage” all picked up rejections in the space of three days. “Pilgrimage” went back out to Lightspeed and collected another rejection almost at once, but the others are taking a bit longer for their next response. I’m a…

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[sharrukin]

Some Questions, a Few Answers

Some Questions, a Few Answers #worldbuilding #gurps

Agemegos had a bunch of questions regarding the Worlds Without Number project, some of which I have immediate answers for, others not. Some background: Agemegos is a long-time GURPS fan, who has been interested in the GURPS Space, Fourth Edition world design rules since their release a decade ago. At one point he even built an Excel spreadsheet to implement the system – quite a remarkable feat,…

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[sharrukin]

Progress Report (6 June 2016)

Progress Report (6 June 2016) #writing #Science Fiction

The last few weeks have been busy, but it’s been “incremental progress on several projects” busy, not “major milestones attained” busy. Sometimes that’s how it works out. The biggest push has been on the Worlds Without Number project. I’ve spent most of the last week doing low-level astrophysics research, with the help of a stellar evolution code made available by Dr. Rich Townsend of the…

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[sharrukin]

On Short Fiction and Pacing

On Short Fiction and Pacing #writing #ScienceFiction

I think I may be discovering a weakness in my writing style, and I’m not quite sure what to do about it. Some context. My short story “Pilgrimage” is making the rounds of the slush-piles, rejected so far by Clarkesworld, Apex, Asimov’s, Strange Horizons, and Fantasy & Science Fiction. So far it’s collected a surprisingly high quotient of good rejection messages, in which the reader or editor…

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[sharrukin]

New Project: Worlds without Number

New Project: Worlds without Number #writing #ScienceFiction

This is to informally announce that I’m taking on a new book-length project. The working title is Worlds without Number: A World Design Sourcebook for Science Fiction Universes. I can’t predict the book’s eventual length at this point, but it’s going to be substantial. Here’s a scratch outline: Introduction Background Purpose of the book Mathematical background Standard units Star Maps  The…

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[sharrukin]

The Hugo Dispute: Round II

The Hugo Dispute: Round II #ScienceFiction #fantasy #HugoAward

The shortlists for the 2016 Hugo awards were announced yesterday. The results are a clear demonstration that the Hugo nomination process has a serious vulnerability in it, and that once again, Theodore Beale is willing to exploit that vulnerability to seize control of the nominations process. Out of 81 items on his slate, 64 of them made it to the shortlists, as Mike Glyer counted up yesterday on…

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[sharrukin]

Progress Report (25 April 2016)

Progress Report (25 April 2016) #writing #fantasy #ScienceFiction

Not a lot of movement on the slush-piles since my last note. I have a story at Analog that’s still “open” since mid-December, which is somewhat encouraging. Another is sitting at Strange Horizons at the moment, and I expect to hear back from them within another week or two based on past experience. A third story has gone to Compelling Science Fiction, which is a new web-zine that isn’t qualified…

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[sharrukin]

Excerpt: Harmony's Choice #writing #ScienceFiction #fantasy Here's a short selection from the first chapter of my new novelette, "Harmony's Choice." The e-book is now available on Amazon - 

[sharrukin]

"Harmony's Choice" Now Available #writing #ScienceFiction #fantasy My novelette, "Harmony's Choice," is now available as an e-book via Kindle Direct Publishing. In particular, the story is available for free to Kindle Unlimited subscribers.

[sharrukin]

Progress Report (12 April 2016)

Progress Report (12 April 2016) #writing #ScienceFiction #fantasy

I’ve been down for the last few days with some kind of viral crud, which gives me some time away from the office but also makes it difficult for me to get any writing-related work done. You win some, you lose some. One thing I have managed to muster the motivation for is to prepare my first story for self-publication. “Harmony’s Choice” has gone out to all of the pro markets on my list, and none…

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[sharrukin]

Progress Report (4 April 2016)

Progress Report (4 April 2016) #writing #ScienceFiction #fantasy

It’s been a busy month – six rejection messages! “Harmony’s Choice” has been bounced by Beneath Ceaseless Skies and Fantasy & Science Fiction, with the latter responding once again with lightning speed – they appear to be doing a great job keeping ahead of their slush pile these days. F&SF is definitely moving up on my queue, which is partially ordered by response time. At this point “Harmony’s…

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