My fiction…in Arabic?

Yes, the inevitable has happened. One of my short stories is now available in Arabic.

I just found this out last night when trawling through some data. It seems my story “System Reboot” first published in English in Nature has been published in the Middle-Eastern edition of Nature and given a translation into Arabic.

Which is pretty cool. That’s one more box I can tick on my achievement list I suppose.

Of course despite actually being an Arab I can’t actually read a single word, or speak it for that matter. So I’m going to live with bringing shame to my ancestors and be content that some oil sheik with a taste for science fiction is reading my work right now. Seems fine to be.

Oh, you can find the story here. Good luck reading it.

March 13, 2016 1

30 Days Around Europe (and Asia!)

I’ve been home for about three weeks now. I have not posted this yet partially because I’m lazy and partially because I’ve been super super busy. But it’s time to post and I shall.

So me and my dad basically shuttled around Europe for an entire month, also stopping in Dubai and Malaysia for a few days. Our trip went like this:

Germany > Czech Republic > Poland > Austria > Italy > United Kingdom > Dubai > Singapore > Malaysia > Australia.

There was a bit of going back and forth while we were in Europe, since all the countries are so close. It says something when you can drive to Italy for pizza and cruise over to Germany for a dive in the swimming pool/spas. I really do miss it – it was winter when we went and anyone who knows me well knows how much I despise the heat. Give me blizzards, snowstorms and the biting wind anyday. No rush, no work, no deadlines. Now that I’m back here I’m getting right into the thick of all those things. Adulting sucks.

Anywho, here are the best photos from the trip.

Innsbruck, Austria.

Brenner, Italy:

Prague, Czech Republic:

Wroclaw and Krakov, Poland.

ddd

And yes, I did need to put that beer there.

While I was in the UK I also visited the offices of Nature, who has published two of my short stories. It was great and I felt like a Real Writer Now™. Here are the pictures, amoung others.

And then there’s Malaysia:

And of course, the best to last…

March 11, 2016 1

Bruce Sterling and Christopher Priest on StarShipSofa!

So it’s been a busy two weeks on StarShipSofa. Last week we played a story by one of the godfathers of cyberpunk, Bruce Sterling. He’s known in and outside of the genre slash sci-fi circles, and it was an absolute pleasure to have him.

Narrating his story is film actor Paul Cram. Paul mostly does indie films, but he’s had speaking roles with actors such as Cilian Murphy (The Dark Knight, 28 Days Later) Woody Harrelson (True Detective) Judy Greer (Jurassic Park) and others. We’re VERY proud to have him join StarShipSofa and narrate this story. Make sure you check out his IMDB profile here. And make sure you look out for some of his films, too.

You can find Bruce Sterling’s episode here.

And we’ve also had the mighty privilege of playing a story by Christopher Priest. He wasn’t that popular in the US. At least not until one of his novels was turned into a the film The Prestige by director Christopher Nolan of The Dark Knight, Inception and Interstellar variety. You’ve almost certainly seen it:

David Bowie acted in this film as well, so we’re very proud to be associated with the project. Priest himself is a masterclass, as the story demonstrates. His best work is The Inverted World, which you have to read. I won’t say much more than that.

I’ve been very proud to have worked on these two episodes and the fine gentlemen who exhibit actual skill in narrating, acting and writing. Make sure to grab the Christopher Priest episode here if you can.

…and that’s all for now.

March 10, 2016 0

Forging ahead and looking back: it’s important

With one’s writing career – and artistic careers in general, I think, there’s a tendency to think about what we haven’t yet accomplished, as opposed to what we have accomplished. Film directors, musicians, script writers and video game designs are all privy to this pothole, but in my case writers especially.

You don’t look back on your sales and your publications that you’ve already earned, you dwell on how much you want to release this story, or finish that next project that just isn’t working out, or sell a proposal that no one’s buying. It happens to all of us. Just recently, David Fincher had Utopia cancelled at HBO. A Oscar-winning director who’s bought us Se7en, Fight Club, Gone Girl, The Social Network, and others, but now he’s had years of work flushed down the toilet. Ouch.

I’m not on Mr. Flincher’s playing field (in case you all weren’t aware of that already), but the same rules apply to everyone. We tend not to focus on what we have already accomplished.

As some of you good good people may know, I’m out o’ town for a holiday. Right of this moment I’m in a little Polish town somewhere outside of Wroclaw. Ensue many Anglos with tongues in knots after attempting to pronounce that correctly. I was here exactly two years ago. I was writing writing away, sending out over a dozen stories to all manner of venues, hoping to land a sale in some department. I was banging my head against the wall because no one was buying a damn word I wrote. Not a single one. Nada.

Sentences like will I ever sell anything and is my career over before it starts kept tumbling through my head. But sitting in this tiny room I kept conjuring up monsters and fantasy landscapes and rain-drenched cities. I kept plugging away without knowing if I’d ever make a sale.

Two years later and here I am. I’ve sold so many stories and articles I’ve lost count (I think the count is close to fifty now). I’ve sold to Nature twice, Strange Horizons six times, and scooped up a Finalist position at Writers of the Future. I’ve had an essay published in one of Lightspeed’s Destroy anthologies. I’ve had the opportunity to produce audio fiction by George R. R. Martin, William Gibson, Kim Stanley Robinson and Robin Hobb for a Hugo-winning podcast that I co-edit. And right now I’m working on a story for my first every fiction solicitation to an anthology that pays pro-rates.

I’ve done all that in two years at the starting age of 18.

It’s not meant as a boast (well, perhaps a little), but it’s more of a look at how much can be done in less than two years of writing.

And yet.

And yet…

I ask myself why I haven’t placed in Writers of the Future. Why I don’t have a pro sale that isn’t flash. Why I haven’t sold to F&SF, Asimovs or Analog yet. Why I don’t have an anthology sale. Why I haven’t appeared in the Best of Years. Why I don’t have an agent. Why I don’t have a book deal. Why I don’t….

Stop.

It can cave your head in just about the whys and how comes that inevitably crop up. I know people who have sold to venues I can only dream about, but then reach for another magazine only to fail. I’m very, very fortunate to be in the position where I am now. Pierce Brown wrote one novel a year for seven years before Red Rising sold. Brandon Sanderson wrote thirteen. I know someone who’s written fourteen novels and had none of them picked up. And I’m sure it’s taken others far longer with many more books.

I cannot even imagine what it would be like, collecting rejections for your tenth novel and wondering if you’d ever have a single word of your fiction published. I’m sitting here with multiple sales to Nature (published by Macmillan) and something inside me cracks whenever I see the latest book launches and wonder how long it’ll take before I get there myself. Thank you very much, brain.

So this is a message to anyone who’s struggling (including myself) that it’s healthy to look back from time to time and see how far you’ve come. Hell, most people don’t even finish a novel, let alone a story. Look at your virtual (or physical) shelf and see your accomplishments.

Two years ago in this very room I didn’t have a single one under my belt. And in two years time when I come to Europe again I want to look back on this blog post and realise how much I’ve achieved since. In the next two years I’m going to get that literary agent, that book deal, that Best of Years publication.

And the two years after that…who knows? Fincher directing a film adaptation of my novel would be nice (ain’t ever gonna happen, though).

Until then I’m going to keep forging ahead, but I’m also going to look back. If you’re struggling, maybe you should do the same. It’s a long long road and there ain’t many pit-stops along the way. Well done on getting this far.

But never stop walking.

January 31, 2016 3

2015: A year in review

Wait, what just flew by me?

Oh wait, that was 2015. Well, that went pretty quick didn’t it?

Looks like I’m going to have to do another one of these.

A lot of stuff happened in 2015. But to get it out of the way, I finished university. This one isa big of a mixed bag. I enjoyed my studies there and the numerous ways in which we were taught to approach subjects like criticism, deduction and scientific research. I loved meeting up with my friends everyday and making plans to do something weird.

One of the weirdest (that I can actually mention here) was in our film class, where we were set to watch the film Taxi Driver. We were ravenous, so we did what one naturally does and trooped along to Subway and ordered two entire cookie platters. Because reasons. Obviously we couldn’t finish it. So we took it into the film threatre and passed it around in the dark. It one point I believe someone started using it as a frisbee, scattering cookies and crumbs over us while Robert De Niro coasts around NYC with a bad haircut and sub nose revolver. Again, not mind-blowing stuff, but that’s all your getting from me. Other less interesting stuff was when a moron posted on 4chan that he would shoot up the university for kicks. Obviously nothing happened, but we could have done without the scare.

So yes, I had a good time there. But it was time to leave. Some classes were nothing more than pointless filler, or in some cases based on the teacher’s agenda – something that went to higher authorities more than one. Other times I just did not feel I was being taught anything practical, especially in creating writing. Some classes were incredible, others less so. There’s only so long you can take people seriously when you’re sitting in a lecture hall listening to someone ramble on about document/collage poetry when you’re signing contracts for Nature and Macmillan to purchase your work.

But I digress. Essentially: university was good and I enjoyed it in many ways, but it was holding me back in many ways as well. Time to move on.

For my own writing, I sold eight pieces of original fiction, all of which were semipro or higher and two of which were to Nature/Macmillan. I still pinch myself when I see the Macmillan publishers logo stamped beneath my stories. One of them, Daega’s Test, is currently being translated into Polish by Szortal. I also managed to reach the position of Finalist in the prestigious Writers of the Future contest Q3. I did not make the top three, but I will know within a week or two if I am the Published Finalist. Here’s hoping.

I also sold 13 reviews and essays, 4 of which have not yet been written as of yet, but are secured. 3 of them are to Strange Horizons, which is awesome. They published my review of Predestination back in January and I am still immensely grateful. And currently I am writing the official review for Star Wars: The Force Awakens for them. Not feeling the pressure at all.

The other significant essay was to legendary John Joseph Adams over at Lightspeed slash Nightmare. I’m going to be part of the People of Colour Destory Science-Fiction anthology, launching in June 2016 in paperback. It was a difficult essay to write and while I’ve never been one to shy away from speaking my mind, I had to dredge up some old childhood memories that I’d rather not talk about too often. But it was important and relevant and I decided to do it, and I’m going to be proud of it when the anthology launches with over 100+ other authors. I’m excited to see the line-up, very much so, but I’m even more excited to finally sell to John Joseph Adams and be published in Lightspeed, something I’ve been trying to do for 2 years now, which is 1/10 of my life.

I sent my YA SF novel out to do the rounds. It got an overwhelmingly good response. I think I scooped up around 14 fulls and 12 partials from major, major agents. I got essay-long rejection letters from some the most highly respected agents in NYC. But no, it’s a pass. I was guttered at first and beat myself up about it. But I told myself to shut up, learn from my mistakes and come back with a better novel.

And that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m 65k into it now, and I’ve got the end in sight. The bones for my next project are slowly brewing, and it’s one I’m really excited about. And that’s primarily what I’m planning to do: focus on writing those novels first and foremost. I will always write short stories, always. But I came into this industry to be a novelist, to have an agent and to be sitting on those shiny shelves in those shiny bookstores. And that’s something you earn. And to do that, you need actual novels. I’m planning to sit down and outline my next novel and then go, full speed ahead. No side-stepping, no distractions, nothing. Hopefully when two months have passed I’ll have a novel. This last one took a whole year (and it’s not finished yet) because of university. I’m not letting that stop me again.

Now. To StarShipSofa.

We had an incredible year at the District of Wonders. SSS and Tales to Terrify alone managed to get over one million downloads. One million. And I worked on every single one of them.

I had the opportunity to work with and produce fiction by authors such as George R. R. Martin, William Gibson, Kim Stanley Robinson, Allen Steele, Robin Hobb, and dozens of others people who are gods in the literary world (if you told me two years ago that one day I would produce audio fiction by the creator of Game of Thrones I’d have laughed in your face). I was able to interview Ellen Datlow, Joe Abercrombie, and a whole range of other editors and publishers. I read hundreds of stories in the slush and picked out and produced audio adaptations of the ones I thought were truly the best. And it was truly an honour and a privilege to helm one of the biggest SF podcasts in the galaxy. And I will continue to be doing it for a long, long time to come.

We will be making changes over at District of Wonders. We’ve acquired two new staff members for SSS, including my intern and assistant Ralph Ambrose (who is incredible – I’d be dead in the water without him). We’ll be uping our game. More narrators, more diversity in narrators, more content, more cool features, more special issues. We’ve already got one narrator locked in who’s acted in major films opposite the likes of Ellen Page, Woody Harrellson, Cilian Murphy and others. We’ve lined up an incredible story by a major author who’s had a film adaptation by one of the most respected director’s today. We’ve got…okay, okay, I’ll stop. All I’ll say is: District of Wonders is upping their game and working much, much more closely together. Expect amazing things in 2016.

Well, that’s it. It’s been a gigantic year for me, both as a writer and an individual. I don’t know what’ll happen next year (which starts in an hour’s time for me), but all I know is that I’ve got my sights set on writing a killer novel that’ll snap up an agent. It’s something I have to earn, and I’m willing to do just that. Failing that, I want to win Writers of the Future, something I consider to be likely in the very near future. But it’s impossible to tell.

I’m going to sign off, but first let me say to the hundreds and hundreds of authors, narrators, publishers, actors, writers, editors, friends and fans I’ve met in 2015, it’s been an honour to know and have worked with you in 2015. Truly, it has. And hopefully I’ll continue to do that in 2016. And maybe, I just might meet you in person.

But that’s another story.

Signing off,

Jeremy Szal

December 31, 2015 2

StarShipSofa: Slush Update #2

Alright guys, a few updates before the new year.

District of Wonders will be expanding in 2016, big time. <a href=’https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tales_to_Terrify’>Tales to Terrify</a> now has a wikipedia page, we’re very likely going to get more staff on board, get new narrators, etc. We’ll be sharing these narrators, working much more closely together, and a bunch of other projects that we can’t tell you about just yet.

As I said, we’re bringing in more narrators, some of which are actors (!!!). If you would like to narrate for us, send over your info and a sample to our address. You’ll be added it our DoW narrator database across all three podcasts. Let us know if you have any quirks (prefer not to use profanity, don’t like horror, etc) and we’ll save that too.

Onto the stories themselves: all stories up until December 21 have been responded to. If you have not received a response, you are in the hold pile. There are some brilliant stories in here. Me and Ralph are finding it hard to let go of them.

But please, do send more stories in. The self-published body horror-avalanche is starting to outweigh the proper stories and that worries us. Please help purge this evil from the slush! I literally got three porn stories are one point (and all of them were boring as hell). Please send your stuff in, or let people know that we’re open.

For what it’s worth, I’m seeing a lot of robot consciousness stories. A lot. I’m a fan of the sub-genre, but it gets hard to pick when I get five in a row.

That’s all for now guys. Let me know if you have any questions or queries. But know that our line up for 2016 is looking very, very sweet indeed.

December 29, 2015 0

StarShipSofa: Slush Update #1

A little update for you all.

Me and Ralph are slowly carving our way through the slush. We’ve gotten a pretty high amount so far, and the decisions of what to take and let go off are getting difficult. Ralph is finding it hard to let go of some of these stories, and so am I. Make it harder for us. And for those of you who are following the Grinder, I can tell you now it’s wildly inaccurate in our case. It doesn’t list even half of our rejections. Charlie was right when he said better authors use it. 😉

We’ve responded to everything up until December 16. If you haven’t gotten a response, you are in the second round hole pile. I don’t have a date estimate for a response then, but just know that you’re getting another look.

Also, if any of you guys are interested in narrating stories for District of Wonders (or know people who are interested) send over a sample. We’re looking to expand our narrator pool and diversify it.

Tales to Terrify is looking for more UK male narrators. SSS is looking for more female narrators of any time, but especially UK. We recently got a South African narrator on board, but we’re still searching for others.

That’s it for now! Keep sending those stories in!

December 22, 2015 0

So. Star Wars: Midnight screening

(Yes, this post is completely spoiler free.)

As the title might suggest, I went to the midnight release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It released early down here in Australia, 17 hours ahead of the US.

And my verdict?

It was okay.

Actually no. It was world-shattering amazing.

They took everything that makes the Star Wars so unique – the grandness, the mystery, the action, the heroism, the cheeky dialogue – and wrapped in up in a bundle of nostalgia and classic space opera and tied it up with a bow made up of a 21st century cinematic slickness.

They actually pulled it off. They did the impossible.

It was one of the best cinema experiences I’ve ever had. Complete with an atmosphere that loved Star Wars, loved science-fiction. The audience broke into applause multiple times through the film. The vibe alone was worth it. People cheered, waved their lightsabers, and donned crazy cosplay for a one-time experience. 10 years ago now (has it been that long?) my dad took me to this exact cinema to see Revenge of the Sith when it came out. The experience stuck with me then and this one will stick with me now for a long, long time.

The film itself scrapes perfection. Every scene is so choked full of witty banter, strong character development, rich worldbuilding and slick action that it’s almost like being on a rollercoaster.The visuals themselves are nothing less than stunning. You could take almost every shot from the film and frame it as a painting. It’s concept-art come to life, bursting with liquid colours that oozed out of the screen like crystals.

The experience was almost ruined by the two guys in front of me. The screen was literally sandwiched between their heads (we were sitting upstairs and far back) and it was grating at me. My dad had to get up and stand (his knee was giving him trouble) so I swapped for his seat and all was resolved. But obviously that’s just whining about the rough edges on a very delicious pastry.

One of the film’s greatest strengths, I think, was it’s casting. They took one of the biggest films ever created and put non-American, small time actors in leading roles. People like Daisy Ridley and John Boyega and Adam Driver are barely known in mainstream Hollywood, and putting them in major roles alongside Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher does no end of good. They put guys like Iko Uwais and Yayan Ruhian from the Raid films (Indonesia action films that likely almost no one in the mainstream has seen, even if they are somewhat popular) on screen in front of what’s probably billions of people. They were focused on bringing in fresh faces and it worked. They could have gone the easy route and made the film stuffed full of an all-star cast, but they did not. They took a risk and put non-American, foreign actors on the front cover of what’s probably the biggest film this side of the decade. There’s going to be some new household names very soon, and it’s marvelous that Star Wars gave these actors the opportunity.

And as someone who works in media and arts, I know how hard it is to try and get noticed. It’s not easy for Americans, and it’s five times as hard for anyone who doesn’t live in the States, or an English speaking country. I can only imagine how people like Iko Uwais felt when they learned they were going to be in a Star Wars movie.

Two hours passed in minutes. There’s no flak, no stupid politics, no dry dialogue, no inane bumbling characters. There’s just a world as rich and diverse and delicious as you like, full of characters we want to travel to the edges of the universe with. And I have no doubt that’s exactly what the future films will continue to do. It’s an achievement in writing, in visuals, in pacing, and plain ol’ cinematic goodness.

But now? It’s edging towards 4am and it’s time for me to go to sleep.

But suffice to say: get off your arse and go see it. No, you don’t have an excuse. Just do it.

December 17, 2015 0