You are currently browsing the monthly archive for March 2010.
The Teaching Front
One thing that grated on my nerves as a college student were professors who stood in class and behaved much like the pundits you see on cable news, hear on talk radio or read in the op-ed sections of the newspaper. It didn’t matter what the subject was, at some point this professor or that would get around to expressing their latest opinion on any given political topic. For the most part this opinion tended to be Left of Center but ever so often, maybe on a blue moon or something, you’d get a right winger.
One example of this was in my Ancient Rome class. For the record, I got an A in the class and I have, in general, a great deal of respect for the instructor. Yet at one point during the semester we were going through Julius Caesar at a point when Bill Clinton was being raked over the coals for his infidelity in the White House. The professor compared the problems Caesar had with the ones Bill Clinton had.
I remember rolling my eyes ceilingward and sighing audibly. Caesar and Clinton are two peas in a pod, are they?
As an instructor myself, I can see the utility in tying something from the past to a present day event. Here in the last week I tied the health care debate to the Constitutional Convention of 1787 and the follow on evolution of constitutional interpretation. I did it to show to the students that the argument over how to interpret the Constitution is not a new one. To the contrary, the argument is as old at the document itself with no clear winner or preferred school of thought.
I could have, if I emulated my previous instructors, at that point, moved onto the soap box. I could have expressed my opinion for government health care. I could have told my stories about what fun it was to try and get health care at the VA Medical Center.
I could have done that.
But I didn’t.
Why? Why not? That is what some instructors would say. Why not preach to them? Why not give your personal opinion?
Well, to be perfectly frank, I do not feel like it is my job as a historian to indoctrinate my students in line with my ideology or politics. Kurt Vonnegut may have thought that was our job but with all due respect to Kurt, I suspect he wouldn’t like my politics and he would probably prefer that people like me be barred from teaching.
I have another reason, of course.
I feel like part of my job is to provide the students with an unbiased view of history. An impossible task but I think I should do my best. My students will, over the course of the semester, figure out a few things about me. They’ll figure out pretty quickly that I am not a pacifist. They will also figure out that I am not someone who is wedded to the ivory tower. The more sophisticated ones will realize that while I talk about wars I do not seem to be someone who glorifies them or tries to recruit anyone for the military.
A final reason is this.
I want my students to think for themselves. I want them to come up with their own opinions, even if they end up disagreeing with me. I want them to feel safe and secure enough in my classroom to be able to express a contrary opinion when it concerns history, especially in their essay responses on the exams.
No one should get marked down because I disagree with them.
Why? Well, it happened to me.
Repeatedly.
If all I expect out of my students is for them to regurgitate my political philosophy back to me then how am I teaching them anything? All I’ve done is reduce the teaching of history down to a bunch of little bits of information that they memorize and vomit back to me without any critical thinking at all. Give me enough crackers and time and I can get a parrot to do the exact same thing.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
We’ve got sun, I’ve got tests to grade and a Woman I Love on spring break.
You figure it out. 
Later.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
The Teaching Front
I got all four of my classes on line for their next exams, the second one of the semester and frankly way later than I like. My evening class should do okay and I think I’ll see marked improvement in two of my morning classes. As for the third . . . . well, I do not predict much improvement class wise. Sure, some individuals will improve but overall, it won’t help the class average.
Part of the challenge is using the allotted time effectively. A fifty minute session meeting three times a week is deceptively short. A nearly three hour class that meets once a week is a challenge because after the second hour even the most dedicated student begins to fade away. Especially if it is a night class. The seventy-five minute classes, to me, feel about right.
Strange how my lecture stride has evolved over the last three years. I struggled in my first year to use fifty minutes properly (meaning fill it). Now I struggle to get out the door at the end of the seventy-five minutes.
Sometimes I wonder this. I can fill the lecture time easily enough now, there is more than enough information for that in my core notes. But am I making the best use of that time? That is what I wonder about.
So it goes there.
The Writing Front
For those that missed it, I sent A Limb Knitter’s Love off to market. Probable response time is 20 to 30 days. Maybe sooner, maybe not. We’ll see. Since it is test week I do not see much progress on the writing front.
The Fitness Front
I swam 300 meters without break today for the first time. Now I need to stretch it to 600 meters. Granted, it was a sloppy 300 with a badly executed flip in the middle of the sequence but I still got through it.
Hopefully next week I’ll start lessons to pick up the breast stroke.
And that’s all for now. Go to Cheeseburger Gothic and read some Without Warning Fan fiction.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
The Writing Front: Submissions
After a few minor tweaks I’m going to send off A Limb Knitter’s Love to market today.
Right now.
Right this instant.
It probably isn’t ready but I don’t think I should wait.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
It is a theme in my writing career. Always just a week or so late. It was that way with Maternal Soldier. It was that way with Convergence Point, my one novel effort to date killed by the collapse of the economy, and if I don’t get my ass in gear and figure out what is wrong with one story, it’ll happen again.
Argh.
Time to get my ass in gear. Deadline to submit is March 31st.
Maybe a deadline is what I need.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
Ponderings on Writing
I may have related this story here at the Pondering Tree or perhaps it was as the first version over at Journalspace. If I did it at Journalspace it is most likely lost forever, in which case I should probably tell the story again.
You probably should not openly state that the quality of a certain publication would be greatly improved if its’ editor stepped out in front of a speeding bus. Especially if this editor rejected your story.
Rejections are strange things. On the surface they are easy enough to understand. “We don’t want your story.” But they can be so much more, to the point where reading them and comparing stories is akin to reading the tea leaves. In Terri Lowry’s Creative Writing course we actually spend time talking about rejection letters and their stages of evolution. I should probably talk about that first.
When you send your first stories off you will most likely receive either no response back or a form letter. The form letter will be pretty clear. Depending on the publisher, the form letter may contain guidelines, frequent errors and the like. This is what I received in 2001 when I sent my first stories off to John Joseph Adams, the Editorial Assistant at The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
Over time, and with some luck, you will evolve as a writer. Editors will begin to leave little comments or notes on your rejections. Gardner Dozois at Asimov’s Science Fiction Magazine was known for doing this. What gave me hope is that I received these handwritten slips in very short order, by 2003.
This is a sign that the editor is paying attention and sees some potential. It is also meant to encourage you. It does not mean resubmit that story. I’ll get to resubmissions here in a bit.
If you are persistent, you will eventually receive a full letter in response to your submission. This letter will most likely be typed or these days e-mailed to you. It will contain a critique of your story, what the editor liked, what worked, what the editor did not like and why the editor isn’t going to buy this story. Again, this is a sign of progress. You are getting closer. The editor is taking valuable time to advise you and mentor you. Gardner Dozois sent me such a letter in response to my story Tranquility Lost, which can be found and read for free at Bewildering Stories.
At this point of the game, two things can happen. The Editor in question considers you to be pro-material. You are on the brink of breaking through, right on the edge. It can go either way with your next submission.
The best case scenario is a straight acceptance. I received my first one in 2007 from Andy Cox and his Fiction Committee at Interzone Magazine. This acceptance will talk about why they like the story and what they are prepared to do in order to acquire the story for their publication.
The next best case scenario can be (but isn’t always, I’ll get to that) the rewrite request.
The rewrite request looks like the personal rejection letter. It contains positives and negatives. It also contains advice and suggestions on how to fix the story. Finally, last but not least, this letter will contain an invitation to resubmit your story after you have made the revisions.
Depending on the editor and the quality of advice, you have two choices at this point.
1. Follow the advice and hope for the best.
2. Disregard and send the story to the next market on the list.
I say it depends on the editor because editors, just like writers, have reputations. Some editors have reputations for being supportive, straight up, honest and fair. Other editors have a reputation for being fickle, unclear, or in some cases they have other agendas driving their mission which have nothing whatsoever to do with your career or your story.
In most cases, I would advise this. If you agree AND TRUST the editor in question, as I trusted (and still trust) Gardner Dozois, then rewrite the story and resubmit it.
On the other hand, if you disagree and DO NOT TRUST the editor in question, then you really need to ask yourself if this trip is necessary. Again, there are no guarantees.
Case in point. Most regular readers know this but Gardner Dozois retired (sometimes I’m inclined to think he was forced out by a controversy that brewed up over a particular story but I have absolutely no proof of this) as Editor of Asimov’s. This affected me personally because I rewrote a story for his consideration and it missed his retirement date by one week or so. In fact, fellow writer Lou Antonelli was the last writer purchased by Gardner, he made it by that one week margin.
The new editor, who I won’t name here for a lot of reasons, took over. They took their sweet time getting back to me while I waited on pins and needles for a response, any response, on my story.
The new editor sent another rewrite request. Unlike Gardner’s, it was muddled, unclear and in my mind, contrary to what I was trying to achieve with the story. In fact, at the time, it read very much like a veiled rejection letter. However, I was prodded, both by people in the community and people here in my personal life, to rewrite my story and resubmit it.
I tried to get clarification on the required changes. I received nothing. I had nothing to go on with this new editor, no track record or anything else. All I had was word of mouth from various people who had met her personally. I wasn’t reassured by what I heard but when a goal seems to be SO CLOSE, you decide to push forward.
I rewrote (actually, I butchered) my story.
And I sent it off.
And then it was rejected. If it says anything at all about this new editor, the rejection was partially written by her predecessor and it was a half hearted one at that.
As I said, rejections are funny things. I’ve received maybe fifty to sixty rejections over my career to date. Given that many writers receive hundreds of rejections before they achieve their first professional sales, I have done pretty well. None of those other rejections make me angry. They are part of the business, part of the deal. You just roll with them. You weren’t the flavor of the month.
And most of the rejections since my first sales have been personal ones which indicate, “So close, Murphy but not quite.”
Now here is what you should not do as a writer.
For nearly two years I kept my anger bottled up, something I am not very good at. My friends and family will tell you that the longer I try to suppress my anger, the stronger, the more virulent, the more powerful it will become. However, I kept it pretty well in check for awhile.
Until my first sale in 2007. The reviews came in and contrary to what I expected, they were all positive.
The common belief, one that I held until those reviews started coming in, is that my success at Interzone with Tearing Down Tuesday should have negated the anger, the growing ball of something that transcends anger to a point where the emotion I experience doesn’t even have a proper name.
Instead, success served to reinforce and fuel that anger. My feeling today is that Maternal Soldier is every bit as good as Tearing Down Tuesday and The Limb Knitter. Yet I can’t sell it to save my life.
With the second sale in 2008, more positive reviews plus lots of reader comments at Apex and again, my anger grew.
At the same time that Interzone purchased Tuesday, Asimov’s rejected a story set in the same universe, featuring similar themes. For the record, they aren’t the same story but they do feature a post singularity world.
The current editor at Asimov’s rejected it. Readers aren’t familiar enough with the singularity to know what I was talking about.
Which was really the final straw, I thought. The same magazine that published Charles Stross and his singularity stories wasn’t going to publish this? Especially when Interzone was willing go do down that road?
I remember reading that reject in my dock office at 1000 Walnut on a very cold, snowy day with a mug of tea in hand thinking, “Are you fucking kidding me?”
The message of that reject was pretty clear to me. Gardner’s replacement wasn’t going to buy anything I wrote, no matter what it was.
Eventually, sooner or later, my anger will vent. If you are an aspiring writer or even a small writers, you’ve got to learn how to manage this. Anger scares the living daylights out of folks who do not live in the Blue Collar World.
My anger vented in a series of postings at the magazine’s forum. I basically stated, in many different forms, that I thought the magazine would be greatly improved if the current editor was hit by a speeding bus.
I didn’t threaten this person directly. That is against the law. However, it is not against the law to openly wish for bad things to happen to people. It is just bad manners and perhaps more importantly, bad for your writing career.
Why?
Well, the editorial community is pretty small and they do talk to each other. More to the point they read the forum comments left by readers and writers. What happened is probably common knowledge.
Now, to date, I have no evidence at hand that indicates that my behavior has resulted in the rejection of my stories. No evidence at all. It is possible that it is a factor, in fact it is probable in some cases that it is a factor. Editors don’t want to be associated with nutters and the like.
However, I’m realistic enough to believe that the rejections I have received pertain more to the same things which caused many of my stories to get rejected. The story doesn’t match the editor’s tastes, or the anthology, they have some quirk or flaw that isn’t worth fixing, that sort of thing. It is, again, part of the game.
I should probably make one additional point.
Folks would probably forget what I did eventually, especially if I didn’t remind anyone about it like I am doing right now. But the thing they won’t forget is this.
I am unrepentant. I do still hope for the eventual replacement of the current editor at Asimov’s. By speeding bus, by retirement, by medical emergency or through getting forced out, it matters not to me. I harbor no good will toward this person who I feel is cowardly, dishonest, unclear and incredibly fickle.
My lack of repentance probably doesn’t help my case.
There are things I could be doing with my career. I’ve been advised more than once to give up on short stories and move off into novels. I’ve got some options I am looking at and I will probably see about that. I’ve been advised to give up on science fiction and try my hand at mainstream literature. I’ve been advised to give up on writing fiction and concentrate on my career as a college history instructor. Given that within a year I will have finally realized a full return on my investment as a historian, I can see that point.
For now, however, I will endeavor to keep writing fiction. I’ll write what I want to write.
And we’ll see how it goes.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
The Health Care Fracas
For those that were wondering what I was talking about yesterday, it seems that activists on both sides have taken it upon themselves to threaten, vandalize and harass elected officials concerning the aftermath of the Health Care Debate. For the most part it appears that Democrats have been targeted.
Trinity was asking what the Tea Party types were thinking. I told her that they were drawing upon their historical inspiration, the Sons of Liberty, in opposing Health Care. The Sons of Liberty opposed British policies during the Pre-Revolutionary Era between 1763 to 1775. In some cases, that opposition manifested itself through vandalism, threats, coercion, and ultimately, violence. The Tea Party folks see the health care system as unconstitutional (they interpret the Constitution strictly, or through the Jeffersonian Interpretation) and they see it as a tax they do not consent to.
Understanding does not equal agreement or consent. I want to be very clear on this point. More to the point, there are means by which the opposition can continue the fight against the legislation. Various State Attorneys General are filing court cases on constitutional grounds in the hopes of appealing the legislation all the way to the Supreme Court.
Trinity asked me what I thought would happen if they were successful.
Given that the court has five conservative justices, which includes the Chief Justice, I suspect they will find in favor of the Attorneys General and declare the Health Care Reform Legislation unconstitutional. I am assuming, of course, that the conservative justices apply a strict interpretation to the Constitution and it doesn’t get to the crux of the issue. Whether or not the Federal Government should be in the business of issuing Universal Health Care. The Supreme Court can only validate or invalidate a law, they can’t write a new one.
My point? The opposition does not need to resort to violence to continue to struggle against the bill. They can use the Constitutionally established system of checks and balances to test the law to destruction.
Now it is possible that the Supremes will verify the law, validate it, decide that the Federal Government does have the Constitutional authority to mandate that Americans purchase health insurance. If that happens then the only option after that will be to repeal the law or modify it in the legislative branch.
Again, the violence is unnecessary and indeed, it is counterproductive.
So it goes.
The Teaching Front
I’m trying to wrap up World War One in my American History 121 class. I should be done in time for the second exam but explaining Woodrow Wilson’s foreign policy (and notably, what is wrong with it) takes a little bit of time. In the American History 120 classes we’ve reached the Election of 1800.
Which ties in with the above commentary. I tell students that the Election of 1800 is where the full potential of our system is realized. For the first time we see the peaceful transition of power from one political party/faction, the Federalists, to another political party/faction, Jefferson’s Democratic-Republicans. As nasty as the election was, when the votes were tallied, Jefferson was sworn into office without any issues concerning violence, coup de tats and the like.
This is no small thing considering that this is where most Republics fall apart or have trouble, accepting the fact that one party lost and letting the winner take office. With a few notable and rather unfortunate exceptions, this will continue to be the pattern in American History. Those exceptions, of course, include the American Civil War.
The Health Care Debate has also allowed me to tie the lectures on the Constitution to something which affects the students right now. Part of the debate revolves around how much power the Federal Government has. The Democrats, using a Hamiltonian interpretation of the Constitution (a loose interpretation) argue that the Government does have the power. The Republicans, using a Jeffersonian interpretation of the Constitution, argue that the Government doesn’t have the power.
I was able to tie that in with a discussion about Hamilton’s Economic Plan during the Washington Administration and to the debate over the First National Bank of the United States. And I did it without editorializing about my own opinion or political views concerning health care.
The students, for once, dialed into the lecture as a result of the modern day tie in. That does not always happen with lectures concerning the Constitution but this one did. And that made me feel pretty good.
Tests are next week. We’ll see how it goes.
The Writing Front
Here are the projects I am hoping to have ready by May 15th.
A Bicycle for Kyle
A Limb Knitter’s Love (changed from A Knitter’s Day)
Joint Writing Project – 02
Maternal Soldier
A Forlorn Harvest
A Forlorn Harvest is a recycle project which I was looking over the other night as I was pondering novel projects. I think it is pretty good as is. Granted, it needs a coat of polish and a different ending but I think I can have her ready.
So five projects by May 15 ready for the main SF markets.
In addition, I received word on a writing opportunity pertaining to novels and short stories. Instead of sending a completed piece they want a sample text plus an outline. I think I’ll generate a three short story outlines and a novel concept as well. Deadline for this project is July 31st of this year.
So, we’ll see how that goes.
Not much else to report otherwise.
So it goes.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
Health Care
You are angry. If you weren’t angry you wouldn’t be issuing death threats, damaging property, so on and so forth. You aren’t happy about health care because you feel like you are getting screwed, blued and tattoed.
I understand. I am angry too.
However I do not believe this crosses the necessary threshold required for dissolving the social contract between the governed and the government.
And you might want to ask yourself this. We’ve fought two major wars in our country concerning the nature of government and such, the Revolution and the Civil War. They were both long, bloody, nasty conflicts. The Civil War still ranks as the worst in terms of people killed (620,000 for those wondering).
Do you really want to go down this road?
If you don’t like the plan, deal with it politically, get active, support candidates, campaign, write letters, blog, whatever.
But this other nonsense . . . not cool.
The Fitness Front
I’ve hit the gym three times so far this week and I’m back to 185 pounds on my benchpress. I’ve also hit the pool twice so far this week. Today I reached 250 meters of swimming uninterrupted.
Not a bad day.
And on that note, I have a dinner date with the Woman I Love. More content later.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
The Teaching Front
We moved up to Woodrow Wilson and The Great War today in my American History 121 class. I can go through the start of the war pretty much off the top of my head without any great effort. I should be well on my way to finishing by the projected test date.
In my American History 120 classes we are going to finish up the Washington Administration and get into John Adams. Once I clear Adams then it will be test time for them.
I think, starting in the Fall, I will transition over to five exams for a semester. In my American History 121 class that would mean a 100 point exam on Reconstruction. In my American History 120 class it would mean an exam on the early colonial era running from 1492 to 1750. My thinking is that I am too slow at getting the first exam out. If I got one out sooner, it would serve as an earlier wake up call to students who are not taking the class seriously enough.
It might also serve to clear off dead weight. Students who sit in the class passively, even when they are quiet, are sort of a psychological dead weight. Their apathy is sort of like a rot which spreads to the more upbeat and interested students. It doesn’t happen in every class but I do have cases where it does happen. I am hopeful that the earlier test will clear those out sooner.
In my American History 120 class I have some lectures to write on the Transportation Revolution, Early Industrialization and a revision of Andrew Jackson’s lecture. I’m going to try to get to that this weekend.
The Writing Front
I’ve been looking over A Knitter’s Day, which is a love story of sorts, perhaps a tragedy. Right now the story has a 600 word gap in it where the two characters fall in love with each other. This gap is the heart of the story and without it, I am pretty certain it will not sell. It won’t work.
600 words doesn’t sound like a lot and it isn’t. I easily write that much per blog entry daily.
The question is this.
How do I get the two to fall in love with each other? I know it happens. The characters indicate as much. Yet sometimes characters are coy and fickle. Sometimes they’ll tell you what you need to know, sometimes they won’t.
I put this to Trinity and she said, “Maybe you aren’t supposed to know how it happens. Does anyone know how they fall in love with someone?”
Which is a valid point. I couldn’t tell you how I fall in love with people (perhaps that is the problem right there). I just know when it has happened. I couldn’t take it apart and dissect it for a class on love and literature.
If I can find out how to convey or show the love, then this story will work. I know in my bones that it will.
On other writing fronts, research proceeds on Joint Writing Project – 02. Hopefully at some point I’ll be able to sit down somewhere quiet and get some work done on it.
The Fitness Front
Monday saw my return to the gym after two weeks of bronchitis. My strength on the weights did not decline that much, maybe ten pounds on all fronts.
More importantly, when I swam my laps on Monday, I reached 200 meters uninterupted which is right where I left off two weeks previously. Hopefully by the end of this week I will reach 250 meters.
Right now I’m mainly concentrating on the front crawl. I want to hold off on the breast stroke until I’ve had a chance to take some private lessons.
The swim goals are as follows:
1. 300 meters uninterrupted by the second week of April.
2. 500 meters by the end of April.
3. Proficient in the breast stroke by the end of April.
4. Lifeguard qualified by the second week of May.
5. Summer job by the last week of May.
6. Longterm goals include 1000 meters and eventually 2000 meters uninterrupted.
Other Fronts
Trinity is watching her grandkids this weekend for her eldest daughter. I have mixed feelings about that. I love her grandkids, it is the eldest daughter I am none too pleased with. However, sometimes you compromise. It is the nature of the beast.
Payday is upcoming which means additional upgrades to the Pod. We are slowly picking up bits of furniture for the office and dining areas. I think on this next pass we’ll pick up another shelf or two. I also need to work at picking up some more books. I’d like to get my own copy of The Remains of the Day and I’d like to read Temple Grandin’s works pertaining to her experiences with autism. Something tells me that Temple is the solution to my creative problems with Tuesday and the other days of the week in the TDT universe.
So it goes. A mundane entry for the most part.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
On other fronts, I’ve been pondering, again, house purchases
Nice little two bedroom number. If you click the link she’ll take you to the interior shots. At first I was put off by the enclosed front porch. Then I saw pictures of the spacious open back porch, which suits me just fine. We have a garage so all I need now is a beer fridge, a potbelly stove and a desk to convert that into a writing office. The price is within striking distance of affordability, just a hair below $80K. If I can get the lifeguard deal locked down and pumping consistent income then I think maybe, just maybe, I might be willing to take a leap on this.
I was looking at other properties, like this one here.
Eh, but there are things about this place I don’t like. Sure it has another bedroom but it doesn’t have a garage. It doesn’t have a dishwasher (gotta have that kids) and it doesn’t have central air. It certainly looks better than the one above though. The one above has cheap paneling for the interior walls and that has to go. The burnt tobacco brown carpet needs to go too.
I don’t know. We’ll have to see. If I do buy a house, it is months away.
Respects,
Steven Francis Murphy
Author of The Limb Knitter and Tearing Down Tuesday
North Kansas City, Missouri
Those that done said stuff