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Columnists

U=(N/T)M*G: Venom

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Three bees tending to a honeycomb section.

Despite the fact this year has been cursed, and yes I really believe that, we’re lucky a few rays of blissful sunlight have shown through. We, as a society, are figuring out new and exciting ways to connect to each other. Many are taking the lock-downs as a great opportunity to create or hone things they’ve wanted more time on. And yet more are taking that staycation they’ve needed for years. It’s been difficult, stressful, even heart-wrenching at times this year, but we’re managing. Here’s one of those little rays of sunshine to get your writing brain thinking. Bees. Yes, … Read more

Sources of Inspiration

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There are certain books I can read over and over. Not only because I love them or I feel they are good books, but I get a creative charge from reading them. A certain phrase, a particular segment causes my imagination to quicken with ideas. Fragments of story, dialogue, poetry, or simply a response to what I’m reading come to mind. I’m starting to take the time to write down those responses. Certain books I read at a table with a notebook standing by, so I’m ready to jot down a particular quote or a snippet of story, poetry, and … Read more

L. Frank Baum and the Indians – Boogieman in Lavender

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In an era where statues are being torn down and schools names are being changed, this column may be more topical than when I first came up with the idea a few months ago when grabbing at straws for ideas for columns. Namely, the subject of author’s personal lives and opinions and how or if that should affect how the writing is viewed. I have written before about my affection for H.P. Lovecraft in spite of the author’s views on race and nationality (in “The Strange Bust of H.P. Lovecraft,” https://www.queerscifi.com/jeff-baker-boogieman-in-lavender-2/  ) from my vantage point as a Bi man … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Resisting the Source

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Sources of inspiration are all around us. Sometimes I don’t see them. Sometimes I recoil from what the world has to offer. There’s a person I keep meeting when I venture outside of my home to take a walk, one of the few times I dare to leave it. He’s well-built as if he works out. He never wears a mask. He’s always talking on a cell phone. He doesn’t make any attempt to socially distance himself from me or anyone else on the road. He forces everyone else to get out of his way. I could write about him. … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Mythical Norms

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A vivid depiction of a mythical being brought to life in a story often shapes my mental image of it, particularly if a lot of other writers have fallen in love with that depiction, creating something similar. They shape a mythical norm, which becomes what I think that being should be. Anne Rice wrote such a lush, detailed description of vampires in her fiction that it’s very hard for me to see them in a different light, even though I’m writing several Works in Progress with vampires or vampire-like beings. Dragons have also been shaped by my encounters with them … Read more

That’s The Signpost Up Ahead; Jeff Baker, Boogieman in Lavender

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  That’s The Signpost Up Ahead                                     By Jeff Baker Somehow in the last few weeks, nostalgia has been flowing freely here. Not the drinkable kind, but a feeling, that wistful mood of nostalgia for days gone by. Writers and other creative types are particularly susceptible it seems, at least this one is. A few songs play on the radio, a package arrives in the mail and then the nostalgia hits. And it brings up memories of a regret. I have been outrageously fortunate: I have lived a life with very few regrets; one of them goes back nearly forty … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Ritual

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The waters of creativity and inspiration are dryer and shallower than ever. You’d think trouble would be a bountiful source of inspiration. Many a writer has tapped it, creating great literature because of it. I doubt we’d have Lord of the Rings if not for World War II. It might have been a very different trilogy if not for the tragedy and changes which faced England and the world in the wake of it. We’re facing tragedy and change right now, too. Not being a particularly brave or heroic person, I want to hide from it. I yearn to wrap … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Plotting a Project

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Nothing can focus my creativity quite like a project. This may seem obvious, but it’s one of those obvious techniques I cannot repeat to myself enough, of cultivating and harvesting inspiration so it can nourish my creativity, transforming it into a blog, an article, a poem, or a story. Giving my project a title, a plot, a general idea of a plot, thinking about what I want to do or say in this project helps me focus on it, giving my work direction and energy. The more detail and thought I put into it, the more focused upon the project … Read more

Sources of Inspiration: Flourishes from Favorites

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Developing my own style is important. I have to find my own voice, to resist the impulse to imitate my favorites, no matter how brilliant I think they are. I need to build up my own brilliance, even if it’s just a feeble, flickering candle flame at present. There are flourishes I can add to my own work, traits I’ve noticed and enjoyed in my favorite authors and their works. A tendency to turn a pretty phrase or describing a scene with very simple words that still gives it a flowery feel. Using unusual word play in dialogue that isn’t … Read more

U=(N/T)M*G: Immortal

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Quantum physics is weird. Actually, quantum anything is really damned baffling. I know we’re learning awesome stuff about the universe from the quantum sciences, but honestly, most of the science goes way above my head. I think I’ve got the gist of this, though. So, the Laws of Thermodynamics are a thing. Life and death all follow these Laws down to the last syllable in some form or another. Everything in the universe is ruled by these Laws on some level. Quantum particles aren’t any different. Sometimes we get a surprise, on the other hand. Like a particle that bends … Read more