Inkabout L. Darby Gibbs

Science Fiction & Fantasy author

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Something new on my blog

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Well, not really on the blog.  I added another page, Creative Ventings, to my blog site, a fiction corner of sorts.  I thought I would include some samples of my writing, but I didn’t want to include anything that I am working on now as such things are in flux until I finalize them.  So instead, I have some mini writings that are inspired by pictures I have taken.  They might become something more, though not right away as I have enough projects to keep me busy for some time.

On this new page, I will add more scribblings from time to time as I remove those that have been setting a bit.  It is an evolving process much like this endeavor to write and publish my own books.  I am flapping as fast as I can.  So wander around, let me know what you like, what you feel needs improvement or give me ideas for my next creative venting.

Tuesday Prompt: 2012 #5

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Something blue & a little magical

This week do a little world building.  Pick a quality you want to highlight, such as magic is a pale sky blue color, and everything that has that color has some degree of magic connected with it.  Now build from this one premise by surmising what would be effected by this one fact and what sort of laws of nature and humankind would need to exist to respond to this single unique feature of your created world.

Books that connect us to life

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Tennyson and my mother

While I was on Goodreads last week, a thread title intrigued me: Stories about books.  I had to check it out and I am glad I did. It was about how books become a part of our lives, imbedded in them and forever part of memories we take along with us through our lives.  I posted a quick story about a book and how it connected me to my mother.  Mike asked me if I would be willing to add my story to his website Stories About Books.  I checked out the site and decided I would very much like to do that.  Go post your story about a book that has become a part of your life.  Click on the link below to read my story.

My book story

Tuesday Prompt: 2012 #4

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Write about camping in an exotic place.  It could be a planet dedicated to campers of all types or a visit to the trout stream not far from your home or a desert oasis in a tent, RV or bed & breakfast.  Take your character some place for a change or imagine yourself there.

Along the lines of finding authors and books

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Four of the masters

One thing
that I have noticed as a reader in this new digital reading age is that
the opportunity to meet writers behind the books that I like has
changed.  And I think it is a good change.  I read some of Rachel Aaron’s blog
posts weeks before I decided to read her sample (a time difference great
enough to have read the earlier posts before she updated her website,
which, by the way, is quite nicely designed, and then her sample after
the update.)  I like that I learned a bit about her and a bit from her
before I took a look at a book she had written.  Her writing as a
blogger convinced me she could write well and hold my attention, so I
expected her books would do the same.  That is not how I used to select my reading choices, say Azimov or Bradbury.  And I found her as a writer finds another writer, not as a reader finds an author.

In the age of
Azimov and Bradbury, who I found by reading books alphabetically down the
shelf marked science fiction at my public library when I was twelve, I would have just jumped
in (and did) and started reading because I believed that anything that
got into print was clearly worth reading or else they would not have
published it.  I think for the most part that was a reliable belief
in the 60’s and 70’s.  It was not until about 20 years later that I finally
ran across a book which made me wonder who in heck thought this was a
good idea. Even so, I felt it was a fluke not a condition.

Times
do change.  So I select a little differently now.  I read comments on
Goodreads, read blogs by writers, check out what SFWA is serving up for
interest and generally keep my ears and eyes open for a good read.
Sometimes I wish I could just walk along that sound-muffled aisle,
bookshelves twice as tall as I and the bookcases running along far
enough to show perspective lines.  Even so, it’s what is inside the books
that I find most interesting though that memory of how I used to find
them stays a pleasant one.

Tuesday Prompt: 2012 #3

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This time write with a symbol in mind.  Focus in on it early.  For example, the first thing you describe is a clock: go into detail about the ticking sound it makes, its unique look (cuckoo, grandfather, a plastic sun or imbedded in the belly of a purple elephant), whether it is on time, slow or fast, not working at all.  As you move away from the clock, bring in the rest of the scene, but very carefully and subtly, also bring in other time-related items.  A worn sock, wrinkle cream on the dresser, a comic desktop flip calendar, a planner, egg timer, etc.

So pick your symbol and maintain the reference, gently, with care and not so it clobbers the reader over the head.