William Ledbetter

The creative process just amazes me sometimes.  Especially the odd little things that trigger ideas.  People have asked me in the past "where in the hell did THAT idea come from?"  My answer is usually "I don't have a clue,"  but here is one example of a very small thing that grew into something big.  During my commute this morning, I caught a quick glimpse of a woman in a passing car and it set off a whole connection cascade.  At first glance I thought that she had an odd shaped face, perhaps some kind of physical deformity, but it turned out to be just a trick of the light/angle/over-active-imagination.  The realization that she was perfectly average and not unique did nothing to stymie the process that had already started in my brain.  Within a heartbeat, a new fictional character , fully formed, complete with personality, background, appearance, etc. leapt into my head.  Then I immediately realized she was the missing piece to a short story I had toyed with a year or so back.  Upon that realization, plot and story segments started clicking into place with a rapidity and precision that made me laugh aloud.
 
This is a good thing right?  Yes and no.  I've been promising myself that I would NOT start another short story project after finishing my current WIP, because I have a novel that my muse keeps pushing to the back burner in favor of short stories. I really need to finish this novel, but now I'm itching to go to work on the new short story.  Stupid muse. *sigh*

As anticipated, I thoroughly enjoyed ArmadilloCon this weekend.  Many of my friends were there and I met some great new folks as well.  My panels were fun and well attended.  Even the "Back to the Moon" panel was full.  That surprised me since it started at 9pm and was opposite a Vampire panel and an interview. 

Highlights of the weekend:

1) A delicious Korean dinner with Adrian Simmons, J. Kathleen Cheney, Patrice Sarath, Nancy Hightower, Melissa Tyler, my friend Sam and some nice lady who ate eel, but I can't remember her name.

2) Being the "official olive distributor" as Adrian wandered the parties offering martinis courtesy of Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.

3) Seeing Michael Moorcock for the first time.

4) Finding out I was "tuckerized" as Guillermo (William) Ledbetter in one of Lou Antonelli's short stories that will soon be available in GUD magazine.

I just sent off another story to Writers of the Future, barely under the wire this time. I think this one is a little better than my story that scored a "semi-finalist" in the last quarter. Of course that is MY opinion and I'm not always the best judge of my own writing. Only three stories out right now. Evidence of the time spent working on the novel this year. I'm waiting to see K.D.'s crit on my "semi-finalist" story before sending that one out again and I have one more that needs some major rework before being sent out. And of course my muse is teasing me with two new stories that are clamoring to be written. I think I'll hold off on those until one of them goes "critical" and forces me to write it. Until then...novel editing!

As mentioned above, most of my writing time this year has been spent working on the novel. I think it is coming along well. I'm slogging through the second draft and as I finish revising chapters, I send them through my writer's group where it has been getting good reviews. Just submitted chapters 11-13 for the next meeting.

The folks who run FenCon here in Dallas will be at Hypericon (June 5-7) and are bidding to host the 2011 DeepSouthCon. Texas has never hosted a DeepSouthCon, but anyone who has ever attended a FenCon knows these fans can do it right. And if you haven't been lucky enough to attend before, stop by their room party on Saturday night and hear all about FenCon and their 2011 bid.  I will no be attending, but will be a guest at SoonerCon if your are going in that direction instead.

Friday –

 No panels on Friday.

Saturday –

10 am – Mars or Bust: Spaceflight in 2009 (Warwick)
Hosted by William Ledbetter (M), Paul Abell, Scott Padget, Linda Donahue
With the change in politics and the decline in the economy, the space program looks like an orphan child. Will we ever get to Mars? What happened to space colonies? Our experts kibitz on what to expect in the coming years.

1 pm – Danger! Danger!: Trends in Science Fiction (Canterbury)
Hosted by William Ledbetter (M), David Weber, Thomas W. Knowles, Kerry Tolan
From protective robots to starships plying trade routes through warped space, science fiction has always been the world of tomorrow. Our experts debate where science fiction is now, and where it will be in the future…

2 pm – Creating Believable Intelligent Creatures (Canterbury)
Hosted by Dusty Rainbolt (M), William Ledbetter, C. Dean Anderson, Adrian Simmons
Tired of that humanoid creature that reminds you of Uncle Wally? Exasperated by the mindless drone that wants to suck your brains out? Our experts talk about aliens of all types – and why the Grey that just emerged from the flying saucer probably WON’T think in English.

3 pm    Reading (Winston)

Sunday –

11 am – Sustainable Ionic Emitters of Death: Creating Weapons in Sci-fi/Fantasy (Warwick)
Hosted by William Ledbetter (M), Linda Donahue, Kerry Tolan, Mary Gearhart-Gray
While the idea of phasers™ and lightsabers™ are now accepted as commonplace because of movies, some of the weapon “technology” is a bit farfetched. Our experts examine unbelievable weapons that make people’s eyes glaze…and how to avoid this.        

My story, "Over the Moon and Running" which is now out in issue #8 of Something Wicked received an excellent review in this issue of The Fix:

"To finish on a positive note, perhaps the best story in the issue is by William Ledbetter, who crafts an unusual and emotionally charged tale around elements borrowed from American Indian shapeshifter folklore. (GO HERE and scroll down to the bottom TO READ THE REST)

Believable in historical detail and internally consistent, “Thief of Hearts” is intriguing and mysterious, and stands out as one of the stronger stories in this anthology. (GO HERE and scroll down about midway TO READ THE REST)

WRITING UPDATE:
Sent my story "Square One" off to Asimov's a couple of weeks ago, so it is still much too early to hear anything on that one.  I just about have my new story "Brave Like Magicians" ready to send in to the Jay Lake/Eric T. Reynolds Footprints antho.  The deadline is Friday...nothing like waiting until the last minute.  My story "Lake Effect" is still in the maybe pile at Abyss and Apex.  I've finally started working "Moonlet Serenade" again.  This is a rare instance of knowing the entire story before I start writing and I can't wait to write the ending.  I have high hopes for this one..if I can manage to get the story in my head into words without mangling it too much.

I also received a contributor copy of Something Wicked with my story "Over the Moon and Running" all the way from Cape Town, South Africa.  A semi-pro sale, but a very slick and professional looking magazine.  All glossy pages, professional artwork and some excellent stories.  And the whole process, submission through cash-in-the-pocket,  was very smooth.  I highly recommend them. 

MY FENCON V

SCHEDULE Oct. 3-5