James M M Baldwin, Sergio de Companion, Jim

It is said, science fiction and fantasy are two separate things. Science fiction; the improbable made possible. Fantasy; the impossible made probable. But what happens when you mix these two opposites? Rod Serling,Twilight Zone The Fugitive 7/9/1962

Born into this mixture between science fiction and fantasy, speculative fiction author James M M Baldwin persists in these endeavors to this day.

After writing three to six hours a night, six nights a week (never on a Sunday), for 15 years, (that’s approximately 21,000 hours), I took a break from writing. From Memorial Day, 2017 to Labor Day, I didn’t write a tittle or a toddle (or a title). I did participate in the Nebraska Writers Workshop’s June Bits of Scripts facilitated by Sally J. Walker. That was a big success this year.

Island of Magic

Portals of Erzandor

You’d think, with that many hours writing I’d have more to show for it. Beside the two novels; SPENCER MURDOCH AND THE PRORTALS OF ERZANDOR and SPENCER MURDOCH AND THE ISLAND OF MAGIC. Beside my science fiction short story collection;  ORION’S ARM: TALES FROM THE MILKY WAY. Beside my horror collection; BEYOND THE VISUAL CORTEX: TALES FROM THE INNER REACHES OF THE MIND. Beside and my long form poetry collection on mental health topics; MENTALCHAOS. Beside the situation comedy, MOCKINGBIRD HEIGHTS, written for the 2016 NWW Bits of Scripts (yes it’s true, sometimes I think I’m funny). And besides turning my short story DREAM HUNTERS into a feature length sci-fi/fantasy/horror script. Besides all that. There’s one thing I’ve accomplished more than any other; rejection.

Beyond the Visual Cortex

Orion's Arm

Pursuing traditional publishing is a tricky path. Convincing an agent or publisher to invest in you is somewhat of a catch-twenty-two. You can’t get them to notice you without a record of successful publishing, and you can’t get that record without getting published (to a certain extent). With that said, Mockingbird Heights’ failure to place in the 2017 Omaha Film Festival (I might not be as funny as I think I am) registered as my 213^th rejection.

I think I've earned a break.

Tatanka, Sergio de Companion

During my hiatus, I finished several large art projects painting under the brush-name Serio de Companion. (If you had read Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor, you’d know I stole the name from my own writing.) As Sergio, working religiously every Sunday, I’ve completed hundreds of works, many abstract, recently swinging almost 180 degrees, creating my own lineal contemporary style. I’ve not started counting gallery rejections. Not yet. While continuing my lineal contemporary series, I’m adding a ledger art line matching historical event drawings with antique ledger paper from the same years. If you’re interested in ledger art, take a look at the great Don Montileaux’s website.

Sergio de Companion Ledger Art

Mental Chaos

Another thing I seem to be good at (whether writing or painting) is ideas. I have lots of ideas. I have more ideas than I have time. In my writing que are two more novels and another screen play, but next on my list is my second poetry collection (yet unnamed).

Bottom line, you’ll see more of me in the future. Whether as James M M Baldwin, Sergio de Companion, or just plain Jim, I’ll be lurking around somewhere. You may have to scan a few asteroids. 

Peace and love, brothers and sisters.

Jim

Dialogue Excerpt from Chapter 2 of Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor

In this excerpt from Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor, Spencer is explaining to his friend and coworker Jack. Spencer notices a couple of strangers working in the field across from his house. I walks over to investigate and notices one of them has a gun. When Spencer sneaks away, something under an unusual bush by his house distracts him. Jack, who always has some wild theory, keeps throwing in his two cents worth.

(Jack asks.) “What do you mean ‘something under the bushes’?”

(Spenser replies. ) “Remember the flash I told you about. Well, there was this reflection, or a flicker of light, like somebody shined a flashlight in the corner of my eye. I don’t know what it was, and I’m not even sure why I care. I suppose it could’ve just been a trick of the light, but you should’ve seen it! I swear it had a direct connection to my thoughts. Like it was telling me everything will be all right.”

Jack stayed uncharacteristically quiet for a minute, before he offered his opinion. “I know what it was.”

“Okay genius, what was it?” Spencer knew one of Jack’s extraordinary explanations would follow.

“The two guys in the woods were probably aliens from another planet! And they didn’t have a regular gun; they had a mind control gun. They must have shot you with a thought ray and that’s what flashed. I bet you’re under their control right now. Yeah, if those two guys are as big as you say, and one of them had a name like Gustav, they have to be from another planet.”

Spencer grabbed his chin and looked down, pretending to consider the out-of-this-world theory. He went back to work without responding.

Jack continued to nudge him from his catatonic state. “They could have been ghosts! Yeah, that’s more likely than aliens. I bet they were ghosts. You’re probably under the influence of some supernatural force from a fourth dimension.”

After another make-believe thoughtful pause, Spencer still did not reply.

A few minutes later, Jack followed with yet another theory. “I know. I know what it was… Bigfoot! It must have been Bigfoot. You know Yeti. Sasquatch! The Abominable Snowman! Those two guys must have been Bigfoot hunters, and they didn’t want you moving in on their catch.”

Another short moment of silence followed before they both broke into laughter.

Spencer shook his head. “I’m glad you have it all figured out. Let me get this straight. You think the flash came from the ghost of an alien Sasquatch named Gustav, right?”

Jack raised his eyebrows. “It could happen.”

Read the entire scene and learn what it is Spencer saw under the bush in Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor.

Get the book at these stores.
James M M Baldwin wix.com
Amazon
CreateSpace
And wherever books and ebooks are sold

Take a look at the scripted version in the video below. It shows the whole scene, so it starts a little before this dialogue. You can skip ahead to 2:04 or just watch the whole thing. The characters and setting are not accurate, but it captures the mood of the dialogue rather well.

Judging a Book by its Cover -or- Knowing a Good Nut from Bad

You've heard the saying, "You can't judge a book by its cover."
It's a metaphor about prejudice. Not concerning race but strictly appearance. My dad used to say, "You can tell what a book is about by its cover. You can tell if it's a romance or science fiction, a mystery or horror. That's what a cover is for." So, can you judge a book by its cover? Not quite. You can't tell whether the book is good or not.

I originally wanted to write this post concerning peanuts. I love peanuts in the shell. I can't go to a baseball game without having a bag. Anyway, I noticed that you couldn't tell what the nut inside was going to taste like by the way the shell looked. Sometimes you can, but not always. Sometimes the prettiest, perfectly colored, flawlessly shaped shell contains a bad fruit. Other times, an ugly discolored shell holds the most enjoyable nut. After a lifetime of eating peanuts, I am better at finding the good and bad peanuts. However, even with my experience, I can still be wrong. I really hate it when the nut I save for last, thinking it would be the most delicious, turns out to be the bad nut. I misjudged and now I'm left with a sour taste in my mouth.

Then I realized the metaphor I wanted to create was already contained in the judging a book by its cover saying.

With books, you can sort of tell what it's about from the cover, but can you tell if it's any good. Does a poorly crafted cover mean a poorly written book? Does a beautiful cover mean the writing inside is just as elegant or enticing. Not necessarily. My dad was right. You can judge a book by its cover, but the saying was wrong. It's been said different ways. It's not that you "can't" judge a book by its cover, it's that you "shouldn't."

It's the same with people. Sometimes the nice looking, impeccably groomed person can be the most deceitful. And the oddest person, the one you might avoid eye contact with, might just be the one that would do anything to help others. Maybe. Maybe not.

But what about books. How can you tell? I guess you'll just have to open it up and see if the first words compel you on to sentences, then paragraphs, and eventually chapters. So next time you're in your local book store, (or church, or wherever) take a look at the person you might ordinarily avoid. Give 'em a smile and see what happens.

Have you ever judged a book by its cover, only to find out you were wrong? What book was it? Or who was it? What misled you?

And while you’re here, go ahead and throw the peanut shells on the floor. I'll sweep 'em up later.

Jim

What is Speculative Fiction?

People often ask me, "What is speculative fiction?" Like all fiction, I like to tell them, it answers the question, "what if?" In speculative fiction, the question is, "What if anything imaginable were possible?" In my stories I've asked questions such as; What if a percentage of light speed travel is possible. What if time travel is possible? What if supernatural monsters are real? What if someone could physically enter the dreams of another person? What if hatred could manifest itself in a biological presence? What if a man discovered a portal between heaven and hell? These are only a few of the questions that have made it into my stories. I have hundreds of questions such as these that have the potential to become future stories and novels.

I know this concept seems like it could be infinitely wide-ranging, but I believe that is what speculative fiction should be. No restraints. Technically, speculative fiction encompasses the genres of fantasy, science fiction, and horror. But even among these three, there are many subgenres. Wikipedia defines it as, " an umbrella term encompassing the more fantastical fiction genres, specifically science fiction, fantasy, horror fiction, weird fiction, supernatural fiction, superhero fiction, utopian and dystopian fiction, apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction, and alternate history in literature as well as related static, motion, and virtual arts.

According to Google, to speculate means to form a theory or conjecture about a subject without firm evidence. They define speculative as engaged in, expressing, or based on conjecture rather than knowledge. Those are fancy ways to say, "making stuff up." That's what we do when we write speculative fiction. I know some "hard science fiction" fans and writers that might disagree with that, but it's still taking what is known or possible and filling in the blanks. Some relevant synonyms might be conjectural, theoretical, hypothetical, or abstract. Put the word fiction after any one of those and it could probably be considered a subgenre of speculative fiction.

GreenTentacles.com attributes the creation of the term "speculative fiction" to Robert Heinlein (one of the big three science fiction writer of all time along with Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clark) in 1941. DictionaryReferance.com gives a precise definition, "a broad literary genre encompassing any fiction with supernatural, fantastical, or futuristic elements. That makes it easy. Right?

Well, I'd better get busy writing. If you want to know more about my speculative writing, stop by my website. In the meantime, what's your favorite speculative genre. Or, if you want to be more specific, who is one of your favorite speculative fiction authors or what is one of your favorite speculative works?

"Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor"

This weekend is the official launch of "Spencer Murdoch and the Portals of Erzandor." In James M M Baldwin's first full length novel a devoted husband and father risks his family’s security to prevent a powerful doctor from controlling a mystic portal initiating a global storm threatening humanity. Spencer Murdoch unearths a supernatural portal beneath his home and discovers an ancient being guarding a gateway between heaven and hell. Spencer must find the person predestined to enter the portal before the mysterious doctor can use it for his own power.
You can participate in the book launch by getting your copy at the following locations.
Amazon, paperback and Kindle edition
Barnes and Noble/Nook
Smashwords

Don't forget to visit me at Facebook or you can send me an email at jamesmmbaldwinauthor@aol.com

Thanks
Jim

Life's Autumn

Life’s Autumn
James M M Baldwin

Silver sunlit rays traverse a lavender sky
A fragile hand clings to life

Purple clouds trimmed in gold hide a setting sun
Hope remains amid enthusiastic prayer

Copper hues dapple autumn leaves
Disease enforces its penalty

Birds speckle the sky departing for southern lands
Loved ones visit but return whence they came

A season ends
Death claims its prize

A distant star lights the dark
A wandering soul finds an eternal home

Writer as Artist

In an e-conversation, a friend of mine, Doug Sasse, asked if I've noticed the similarities between writing and drawing?

This really got me thinking because, as an artist and a writer, I've often pondered this.

In both mediums you are telling a story. You put thousands of little marks on a blank surface to produce a final product. Both forms take hours to produce. You know what they say, "A picture is worth a thousand words." But there is one major difference between the two. With writing, the reader spends hours, days, sometimes weeks absorbing your work. On the other hand, with a painting or drawing, you spend hours and hours producing the work and the viewer usually gets the entire story in a few seconds. Sometimes they might spend a minute examining the work, but never much more.

Continuing our conversation, my friend clarified his opinion on the subject with the following.

Both mediums start with an idea or a subject. You sketch in broad strokes, blocking in the structure. Structure is important in both mediums. Each element has to not only stand on its own, but work with the other elements to be successful. I think they call that Gestalt. Drawing uses different values of light and dark, just as does character development. But then once the basic structure is in place, you refine, refine, refine, until you've completed all of the details. Drawing is a right-brain exercise; writing is, to a large extent, also a right-brained exercise, requiring intuition and creativity. In the end, both mediums create something artificial that, ironically, enhance its creator’s ability to see the world, while providing the viewer a greater appreciation of reality.

I'd like to thank my friend and fellow Nebraska Writers Workshop participant Doug Sasse for initiating this dialogue and giving my cause to think.

What do you think?

Jim

Rabbit Hole vs. Worm Hole

When the going gets tough, some people bury their head in the ground like an ostrich. (I don't know if ostriches actually do that but I saw it in a cartoon once) Sometimes it's easier to hide from a problem than confront it. A rabbit will lay perfectly still, hoping to avoid conflict. But if trouble gets too close, it will go for its hole. The rabbit is quite smart. Remaining undetected is better then becoming coyote dinner. The rabbit however, will always be a rabbit and more than likely will eventually become the dinner for some carnivore. Rabbits don't usually die of old age. As they slow down, they're no longer able to outrun the predator. The rabbit's main defense against extinction is to make lots of little rabbits before the unavoidable day of painful demise.

Instead of remaining inactive and waiting for your chance to escape into the rabbit hole, and eventually becoming eagle chow, there's another option. The worm hole. No. Not the tiny holes made by slimy legless creatures, but the wrinkle in time and space. In a precursory move, if you jump into the worm hole, you'll arrive at a new destination. The problem will have never existed. It won't have time to follow. Your exotic new destination might have its own problems. A new predator might be larger and have sharper teeth than the coyote. But at least you made the decision to act on your circumstance and did something to change it.

Now, if I only had the courage to take my own advice. Which are you more likely to do in times of trouble? Rabbit hole? or Worm hole?

Jim

Happy People, Happy Village

Happy People, Happy Village
James M M Baldwin

Blue covers the heavens like an upside-down sea
Wooly clouds gather like guests at a tea

A white sun coaxes the dull to a colorful array
Stubborn buds burst into a fragrant display

Emerald waves roll toward distant green meadows
Swaying arms sway from a row of old willows

Oaks and maples line a creek, sparkling like glass
A bushy tailed squirrel forages for seeds in the grass

Birds sing a merry song, filling the trees
Butterflies float on a gentle fragrant breeze

A bunny chews in a field of bristly pink thistle
A dragonfly darts like a heat guided missile

Giggling young girls jump rope, skip, and sing
Dressed in sundresses of green, white, and pink

Bare-chested boys play ball as they stroll
Shouting for joy as they tumble and roll

An unsteady woman walks a large hairy beast
It pulls her along, she holds tight to its leash

Young lovers exchange a passionate embrace
Overeager to complete the love that they chase

A child stops playing… she points at the skies
A comet strikes Earth… and everyone dies

Hawk or Squirrel, Hunter or Hunted

This morning I noticed a squirrel standing tall in the middle of my yard. A few seconds later, a Red Tail Hawk swooped in and tried to catch it. The squirrel leapt into the air and avoided certain death. The Hawk landed a few feet away. After several more attacks, and a gymnastic-like presentation of leaps and flips by the bushy-tailed rodent, he escaped into a nearby crabapple tree. The Hawk flew up, landed in the tree, and bobbed its head about looking for the its breakfast. The squirrel escaped by jumping branches through several neighboring trees, leaving the hawk spinning its head in bewilderment and hunger. The hawk eventually flew off and landed on some nearby wires to scan for its next target.

At first I associated with the squirrel; dodging the attacks of life's obstacles. I smiled when the furry little fellow escaped to safety. But as I watched, I realized I was more like the bird on the wire, searching for success and often coming up empty. If he gives up, he'll go hungry. Would God let the Red Tail starve? With no choice but to keep scanning, he'll continue searching for the opportunity to succeed.

What about you? Are you more like the squirrel or the hawk.

Jim

Writer's Rut

From the title, you might presume this post is about the drudgery of writing. Like wagon wheels caught in a rut, trudging on in one direction without hope of rest, moving toward an uncertain destination. No, this post is about something different. This rut is more like the male buffalo during mating season. Late last year, I had so many story ideas kindling (no pun intended) on the fires of my mind, that I could not finish any one of them. They were like the two buffalo, butting heads, fighting for the chance to be the alpha male. That's how these stories were; locking horns, trying to take precedence over the other for control of my mind. The fighting continued until several stories sat at varying stages of completion, and none finding their end. I finally made the decision to put all of those new stories aside, and concentrate on editing, promoting, and publishing stories that had already achieved the top dog status of completion. All of those other stories are still in there, somewhere, jockeying for position among the racing electrical impulses of my brain. They will come out eventually. But for now, I'm still editing a novel for submission. So, if I'm writing, and you happen by, and you hear a dull thud echo from within the deep recesses of my gray matter, don't be alarmed. It's just the buffalo in rut.

Jim

The Gilded Conference

I recently attended the Friday night readings on the opening day of the Spring Nebraska Writers Guild Conference. Here is my synopsis of the evenings proceedings.






The Gilded Conference
James M M Baldwin

A man spoke of aliens, He went on a bit long
His plan well thought out, But something went wrong

Sally took us back, The old west it was sure
To gun fights and saddles, And reckless murder

Jack's song, His explanation too much
Yes it was humorous, And well worth the punch

A Bipolar memoir, Some technical stuff
Not much about treatment, More feelings and such

Lisa's gripping screenplay, Left my stomach in knots
The emotion ran high, Should be awarded for all that its got

Escape Velocity, Flash fiction from Mac
Jimmy can do it, To Saturn and back

Connie's quirky novel, Dee a short story, Mary's tale of school snakes
Janet's Lockets and Lanterns raised up the stakes

Then Dana, Poor Dana, Sleeping toddler she wrote
Not a dry eye in house, And lumps in our throats

Marilyn recited a poem, Of Sixties and Sex
Ignoring advice from her mother, A rating need added the letter of X

Mary Jo entertained, With wielding of wit
No punches were pulled, Good bad and ugly was surely a hit

Lynn set out to conquer a quest, Connie, the morn after, destroyed a whole town
Ronda's dark tale left mysterious clues, Sabrina got hers in before things wound down

And finally yes finally, Lisa read without doubt
Of spelling a bee, The letter p not left out

To all involved, Deserved Congratulations
Opening night a success, Applause and ovations

You Want To Be a Writer

So, you want to be a writer? Okay. Let me ask you this. How thick-skinned are you? You're going to need to be like a duck and let everything roll off your back. You need to be prepared for rejection by the fistful. Are you prepared to spend years of intense work and loss of sleep while you balance your writing and your day job. Don't forget you're going to need a day job to support you while you toil away, year after year perfecting your craft.

What can you do to improve your chances. A college degree in writing is a good idea. Although it's not a guarantee. Then there's the reading. You're going to need to read a lot. You need to read books in the genre you're going to be writing in as well as books about writing. And there's no shortage of books about writing to choose from. There are a lot of things you need to know that you just can't pick up by reading. You also need to find a group of knowledgeable writers to help you hone your craft on a personal level.

You're going to need all the knowledge you can gather before you even start to write. Once you decide what genre you want to write in, you need to decide who your audience is. If you know who your writing for, it will be much easier when it comes time to market your work

Oh yeah, don't forget about luck. Almost every rejection letter I've received wishes me the best of luck. By now, with the number of rejections I've received I should have a whole truckload of luck saved up. Now if I could just access it. So as you journey down this road of writing, let me wish you all the luck in the world. You're going to need it.

Jim

Form Rejection

I wrote my first query letter in 2004. On January 27th of this year, I received my 127th rejection on numerous different projects. Not going into the emotions involved in receiving a rejection letter, have you received a one? Not only that, but have you ever received this exact same rejection?

"Thank you for your query. Unfortunately, I'm afraid this project isn't right for me, but I wish you the best of luck in your search for representation."

Of all the letters I've received, nearly a hundred of them are almost identical to this one. Obviously it's a typical form letter, but what a cop out. I research agents to find out which ones represent my genre. There seems to be a lot of agents casting a wide net, making it easy to fall prey to the dreaded form.

I've read some agent blogs about advice they gave to a writer via their query. How the obstinate writer refused to take their advice and never found representation, or how they took the advice and easily found representation and publication, or how they resisted the advice for years until eventually relenting and finding acceptance. Really? Does this actually happen? Apparently not to me. I would even appreciate a "you stink, get out of the business" letter. Better than a form. I'd love to hear from anyone that has ever received advice from an agent or editor based on a query letter.

Jim

High Hopes Once Again

Last week I diligently upload a novel to the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Awards (ABNA). This will be my fifth entry into the annual competition: an effort that is not without emotional angst. Honestly, what would be the point of entering if I didn’t at least have some hope of winning, or at least making it through to subsequent rounds of judging?

The first year I entered I did not advance beyond the first round: a round which does not actually look at the novel but merely a three hundred word pitch. Yes I was disappointed but continued to submit elsewhere. The second year I was informed that I had made it through the first round, only to be notified a few days later that they had made a mistake and I had not advanced from the pitch round. Having the rug jerked out from under me hurt worse than not making it at all. They made up for their mistake by offering me a five dollar Amazon gift certificate. That made me feel better (NOT). The third year found me cautious when I received news of my advance to the second round where they judge the first 5000 words of the manuscript. It was true this time, but I did not advance to round three. I did receive a prize, two critiques from the amateur reviewers they have judge the first round. They had some good things to say but they also helped me see what I had done wrong. So after reworking the first section, I entered the revised manuscript in year four, only to find I did not advance beyond the pitch round once again. How could the same pitch advance one year only to fail the next?

So basically, here I am at year five; still holding out hope but not holding my breath.

What do you think of writing contests? Worth the stress?

Jim

World's Most Expensive Book

Not having any success trying to sell my books at .99 cents per copy, the following headline caught my attention. "Worlds Most Expensive Book Goes Up for Sale" That peaked my interest. Could it be an original handwritten copy an unpublished William Shakespeare play. Maybe it would be the earliest known written version of Homer's Odyssey. I clicked the link. The new headline read. "Birds of North America will be Auctioned for Between 7 to 10 Million Dollar." Surprise. IT WAS A PICTURE BOOK! I should have known. Don't get me wrong, I understand why this rare, multi-volume 3 1/2' tall hand colored version of every species of bird known in North America in 1800 is so valuable, but come on. This is more art than it is book. I wonder what the most expensive book of WORDS ONLY might be. I doubt it will ever be an electronic copy of my ebook story "Black Wolf." (available at Smashwords.com for only .99 cents.)

Jim

Moving On Up

After nearly 120 rejection, each of which carried its own degree of dejection, I've decided to try something else. Rather than thinking that my stories and novels are just not any good, I've decided that my writing is not the type of formulaic writing that wins contests and gains the attention of literary agents. With that said, I still believe I have something to offer the reader. Therefore, I've decided to enroll with Smashwords.com and begin offering my short stories while I continue to refine my novels. So, if you have an interest in speculative fiction, stop over and browse my author page at Smashwords.com And if you have an extra dollar laying around, try one of my stories on for size. As of today, I only have one story up but will be adding more in the near future.

Jim

Wild Wednesday Leads to Thoughtless Thursday

Great story flowing onto the paper Wednesday night, so much so, that I stayed up past my usual 12:30 AM self-imposed curfew. The story intrigued me. I couldn’t stop right in the heart of the action. Finally, after two in the morning, the Mountain Dew wore off and I came to a stopping place that would be easy to pick up the next night. The next day went swimmingly until late in the afternoon when having only four hours sleep hit me. I made it through until last night when I sat and stared at the computer screen. I knew what I wanted to say but it just didn’t make it to the keyboard. A vacant spot the size of a tennis ball occupied my skull. Something was missing. I slept my usual six hours last night, so maybe tonight will be better.

Strunk and White’s Elements of Style

What a great little book. Call me a nerd, but Strunk and White’s “Elements of Style” Fourth Edition answers many of my grammar questions in one neat little publication. From simple punctuation to more complicated issues of structure, this book covers it all. William Strunk, Jr.’s original “Elements of Style,” published in the 1930’s and sometimes referred to as “the little red book,” is updated to fit modern writing tastes by E. B. White in this little silver book. If that’s not enough for the grammar nerds and writing enthusiasts, this little style manual is now available in an illustrated version. That’s right, illustrated grammar. What more could a word nerd ask for?

You can find your own Strunk and White's here and the illustrated version here.