David D. LevineScience Fiction Author

I just heard (via an email forwarded by a mutual friend) from someone who wanted to contact me, found the contact form on my site, but refused to use it. How about you? Do you use a contact form if it’s available? If not, why not?

I see that I also have some good news to share which I have not yet blogged. I’m going to a one-week novel critique workshop on the Oregon coast immediately after the Worldcon, for which I just recently finished the first draft of my YA Regency interplanetary airship adventure, currently titled Arabella and the Marsman. This is my fourth completed novel and I feel really, really good about it, though there’s still at least one more edit pass to go before I start submitting it. I’ve already received some very positive feedback on the draft.

This draft took almost two years to write (11/11/11 – 8/4/13, counting from the beginning of the outlining phase) and I have been SO CLOSE to the end for a long time now. When I hit the end of what I thought would be the penultimate chapter, I wrote one perfect, summarizing sentence and I realized that was the end of the book. I had a whole denouement planned out, but it wasn’t necessary. I cried. This was in a coffeeshop in Seattle and I’m pleased to say that Kate and Janna were both there for it.

Sometimes an ending sneaks up on you. This happened to me once before, with the All-Star Zeppelin Adventures story “Love in the Balance,” and I think that’s one of my more powerful endings. We’ll see if people find this one satisfying.

Heading to the airport, en route to Texas for the Worldcon, in just a few minutes! See some of you there.

On the treadmill at the gym yesterday morning, after working out with my trainer, I had what I thought was a stitch in my side. But it rapidly got worse — a LOT worse, to the point that I had to stop and lie down on the floor, and I also had chills and cold sweats, plus I felt like I really needed to urinate but there was nothing coming out. It was bad enough that I went straight from there to the ER (our nearest ER is, as it happens, less than a mile from the gym) without even showering. Kate met me there.

The doctor, when he saw me, said “You have that kidney stone look. I can diagnose that from twenty feet away.” They gave me IV saline and morphine, and the pain declined from a 6 to a 3-4 pretty quickly. By the time they wheeled me down to get a CAT scan it had fallen to a dull ache, and I spent the rest of the afternoon half-dozing in the ER bed. After a couple of hours the CAT scan results came back: it was indeed a kidney stone, about 3mm, and it had already passed into my bladder (that, not the morphine, is why the pain went away so completely). They sent me home with a prescription for oxycodone if I needed it, a little strainer, and instructions to drink a heck of a lot of water and strain my pee for the next 24 hours in hopes of catching the stone. The stone came out in my very first pee and it didn’t hurt a bit. I’m going to continue to filter my pee until tomorrow, though, in case there are any other bits to catch.

This all happened instead of a planned lunch date with my friend Shannon. I texted her about it as I was waiting for Kate to pick me up outside the ER, and when I said “This too shall pass,” she replied “Okay you are feeling fine. ;-)”

So the bottom line is that I’m fine now, if a bit achy and woozy, and clear to travel to Texas. The doctor did see some “nodules” in my lungs on the CAT scan and recommended I see my primary doctor for a more thorough lung screen as soon as I get back, but they are very likely nothing to worry about. I also need to take the kidney stone to a urologist for an analysis — knowing the stone’s composition may help me avoid future such experiences, through changes in diet or some such. (The CAT scan showed a second, smaller stone in the kidney, but it might never cause any problems.)

Whee. Also ow.

I can’t believe the Worldcon is almost here! We leave for San Antonio on Wednesday.

Here’s my “final” program schedule (subject to change, of course):

Writers Workshop E
Friday 13:00 – 15:00
(Closed workshop.)
David D. Levine, Amy Sundberg

Truly Alien
Friday 19:00 – 20:00
What kinds of life forms might exist in our own solar system that aren’t based on carbon and liquid water? For starters, how about Chris McKay’s cryogenic creature, which might breathe nitrogen, eat aldehydes, and hang out on Titan? What about life forms that rely on radically different energy sources?
Karen Burnham (M), David D. Levine, Patricia MacEwen, Jack McDevitt

Reading: David D. Levine
Saturday 11:00 – 12:00
David D. Levine

The Role of the Companion
Saturday 13:00 – 14:00
The Doctor’s companions are more than just your run-of-the-mill sidekicks. The companions change the Doctor and influence our view of him. This panel will discuss the affect of the Doctor’s companions over the years.
David D. Levine (M), Julie Barrett, Jessica Reisman, Selina Rosen, Lynn Stran, Michael Damian Thomas

Short Stories – What’s Next?
Saturday 15:00 – 16:00
Our panelists discuss the role short stories have and will play in science fiction and fantasy, from proving ground to promotions to the merits of writing and reading short stories. We’ll explore where the form is headed, whether its early popularity is enduring. The panel will also discuss the influence which contests and electronic publishing have had on short stories.
Kij Johnson (M), David D. Levine, Steven Silver, John Joseph Adams, Damien Broderick

Mars and/or Bust!
Sunday 10:00 – 11:00
The colonization of space has long been a trope of SF stories. Enough already! When do we leave? How close are we really to living on other planets? What are the economic, political, and technological considerations?
Michael J. Martinez (M), Karen Burnham, David D. Levine, John K Strickland Jr.

Mad Science
Sunday 12:00 – 13:00
Presenting preposterous theories for world domination and evil conspiracies.
David D. Levine (M), Mary Robinette Kowal, John Joseph Adams, Seanan McGuire

Melding Mind and Machine
Sunday 17:00 – 18:00
Dr. Stephen Hawking is just the beginning. Soon we may be able to relatively inexpensively use brain-machine interfaces to overcome paralysing, debilitatiing infirmities. What is the state of the science, and what is possible? What happens if (when) someone decides to expand normal abilities using this technology — is there anything wrong with that?
Andrew Adams (M), Carol Luckhardt Redfield PhD, Yasser Bahjatt, John M Cmar, David D. Levine

As you may know, I’m a member of Book View Café, an author-owned publishing cooperative. BVC is the publisher of the Space Magic and Second Chance ebooks.

I’m very pleased to announce that BVC has just entered into a deal with Audible.com to publish audiobooks of over 100 BVC titles, with more titles to be acquired in the future. The press release about the deal is here.

What this means for me is that my novella Second Chance will be coming out, some time in the next year, as an audiobook narrated by James Patrick Cronin. This makes me very happy.

This deal does not include the Space Magic audiobook (which is available from BVC, Audible, Amazon, and iTunes). I started work on my own Space Magic audiobook before the Audible deal was negotiated, so I left it out of the deal.

My feelings about this are mixed. If Space Magic had been included in the deal, I would have gotten a nice advance check rather than paying out the expenses of studio and engineering time. But by doing it myself I did get to narrate my own book, which I would not have if it had been part of this deal. And although I did not get any money up front, my royalty rate is (somewhat) higher — if my Space Magic sells as well as the average BVC audiobook over the term of the contract, I’ll wind up with more total money in the end. Time, as they say, will tell.

In related news, I have recently narrated stories for two podcasts! I’ll tell you more about those when I can.

This is just a quick reminder that SFWA’s Pacific Northwest Reading Series is having our next events in Seattle and Portland in two weeks!

On Tuesday, August 13 in the Seattle area, we’ll have the multitalented Laura Anne Gilman, along with New York Times bestseller Carrie Vaughn and award-winning writer Barbara Caridad Ferrer. The University Bookstore will be on hand again selling books and all the authors will be available to sign.

When: Tuesday, August 13, 2013, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Where: Wilde Rover Irish Pub & Restaurant, 111 Central Way, Kirkland, WA 98033

On Wednesday, August 14 in Portland, Laura Anne Gilman will be joined by Phyllis Irene Radford and Diana Pharaoh Francis. Wrigley-Cross Books will be selling books and all the authors will be available to sign.

When: Wednesday, August 14, 2013, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Where: McMenamins Kennedy School, 5736 N.E. 33rd Ave. Portland, OR 97211

See http://www.sfwa.org/for-readers/sfwa-northwest-reading-series/ for more information on both readings. Tell your friends!

I hope you can join us! It should be a lot of fun.

#SFWAPro

SF Signal has posted the first review of the BVC edition of Second Chance, and it’s a doozy!

An evocative, emotional, character-focused novella with enough crunch to satisfy space travel SF grognards … has, in resonance with its title, a second chance to engage with readers in an ebook format from Book View Cafe … I highly enjoyed Second Chance. If I had been aware of the story in 2010, I would certainly have given it a Hugo award nomination at the time. Second Chance does deserve a second chance for readers, and I recommend it to any and all short-fiction genre readers.

Read the whole thing for even more embarrassingly effusive praise.

In other news, Daily Science Fiction has, for some years now, been paying pro rates and sending out a story every day for free. How can they keep this up, you may ask? Well, they’re having a
Kickstarter to fund payments to authors for the next six months. It’s a worthy cause, and if you pledge $100 or more you can get a short story critique from me (I’m tough, but fair).

Finally, my story “One Night in O’Shaughnessy’s Bar” will be reprinted in an anthology titled Mad Science Café, coming soon from Book View Café.

This is just a quick reminder that SFWA’s Pacific Northwest Reading Series is having our next events in Seattle and Portland in two weeks!

On Tuesday, August 13 in the Seattle area, we’ll have the multitalented Laura Anne Gilman, along with New York Times bestseller Carrie Vaughn and award-winning writer Barbara Caridad Ferrer. The University Bookstore will be on hand again selling books and all the authors will be available to sign.

When: Tuesday, August 13, 2013, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Where: Wilde Rover Irish Pub & Restaurant, 111 Central Way, Kirkland, WA 98033

On Wednesday, August 14 in Portland, Laura Anne Gilman will be joined by Phyllis Irene Radford and Diana Pharaoh Francis. Wrigley-Cross Books will be selling books and all the authors will be available to sign.

When: Wednesday, August 14, 2013, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
Where: McMenamins Kennedy School, 5736 N.E. 33rd Ave. Portland, OR 97211

See http://www.sfwa.org/for-readers/sfwa-northwest-reading-series/ for more information on both readings. Tell your friends!

I hope you can join us! It should be a lot of fun.

#SFWAPro

So while I was busy with the ebook of Second Chance, a bunch of good news has crept up on me. Hence, a list:

• My video of “Dr. Talon’s Letter to the Editor” is a finalist for the Parsec Award in the category Best Speculative Fiction Video Story!
• I sold short-short story “Artist’s Retrospective” to Daily Science Fiction!
• Space Magic has received its first audiobook review at the Fantasy Literature blog, and it’s a hit!
  

  It rarely happens that I enjoy every story in a collection, but that’s what happened here. All of these tales are entertaining, I was pleased with the diversity of themes and styles, and I was pleasantly surprised at the quality of the audio production. … [I]n my experience authors are not usually the best narrators for their own material, [but] I was surprised at how well Levine’s audiobook turned out. … Space Magic is a professional quality audiobook and one I have no trouble recommending both for the stories and the audio production.

• “I Hold My Father’s Paws” was recommended by the blog Ten to Infinity.
• I wax nostalgic over at the Book View Café blog about my first computer, a home-built CP/M machine.
• And, finally, I am pleased(?) to report that I will have a silly Green Lantern poem in Flying Higher: An Anthology of Superhero Poetry!

#SFWAPro

I learned a lot at Clarion West, but I was miserable most of the time. But, eventually, I got a novella out of it. This is the story behind that novella.

Clarion West, in case you don’t know, is a six-week “boot camp for science fiction writers” held every summer in Seattle. Seventeen writers who’ve survived a rigorous selection process, but have never met before, live together in a dorm and do nothing but write and critique for six solid weeks. It’s a lot like a reality show, except that there are no cameras and no one ever gets voted off the island — you’re stuck together for the whole time. No one gets a lot of sleep, and the pressure is intense, but you’re all in it together. It’s a lot of fun and you can make friendships that last a lifetime.

At least, that’s the way it is supposed to be. But it didn’t work out that way for me.

Forced together under all that pressure, people can regress emotionally to high school or even middle school. Cliques form; best-friendships are made and broken rapidly; arguments can be intense; resentments simmer. That happened to me, in spades. And for a variety of reasons having to do with who I was at the time and what was going on in my life outside Clarion, I felt extremely isolated. It looked to me as though everyone else was making friends and having fun, while I was failing and failing creatively and ostracized from the group. (I realized much later that I did have friends, the failures were a necessary part of the learning process, and the isolation I felt had more to do with me than them, but that’s not what this post is about.) I cried almost every day, and the worst part of it was that this was supposed to be the best six weeks of my life — something I’d been hoping and dreaming about for years — and now it was ashes in my mouth.

But the thing about being a writer is that nothing that happens to you is wasted… it’s all material. So I put a note in my ideas file: “Old adolescents in space.”

Stan Schmidt, longtime editor of Analog, always said that he was looking for science fiction stories in which the science and the fiction were given equal weight. The science part of my idea was this: sending people to other stars is hard, because people are heavy and require a lot of maintenance, so I would instead just send a few cells, recorded memories, and a very clever robot that would build a space station from local materials, clone up the crew from the cells, and load them up with their previous memories. The fiction part of the idea was that those freshly-cloned astronauts would be experienced adults, mentally, but their bodies would be young and hormonal and their relationships would be middle-schoolish — my main character would be a man who achieved his dream but had it turn out sour because his emotions were all in a roil.

I attended Clarion West in 2001. I didn’t start writing the story until 2006, and when I did I threw everything I had into it. (In retrospect, I did everything I could to make it hard for myself to write. Maybe I didn’t really want to write it.) The main character, Chaz Eades, I made the opposite of myself — a religiously conservative black man whose faith put him on the outside of a diverse, liberal crew — but I demanded of myself that, despite a faith that I will never share, he had to be a fully-rounded human being, not a caricature or a villain, and that he would not let go of that faith. Then I threw issues at him to make his life hell: difficult ones of sexuality, gender, and race. This complex story grew as it was written, from a long short story to a novelette to a novella, but that was the length it needed to be to contain all of the ideas and emotions I’d put into it. I called it “Second Chance,” not only because it was a second chance for me to find some meaning in my Clarion West experience, but because it’s all about second chances. In fact, there are at least three significant second chances in the story, but you’ll have to read it to find out what they are.

Novellas are hard to sell. There were only about four markets that would even consider a story that long, and none of them wanted it, but they each took a long time to say so — actually, one of them folded while I was waiting for a response. But, eventually, I found a small press that was producing an anthology of three novellas, and after considerable editorial feedback and numerous rewrites, they published it in 2010. But, despite good reviews, it didn’t sell well. So, after joining Book View Café in 2012, I decided to publish Second Chance as a stand-alone ebook… to give this novella, so painful and so important to me, a second chance at an audience.

But the second chances don’t stop there.

I tackled some tough issues of race, religion, sexuality, and gender in this story, and in general my treatment of these issues seems to have been well-received. But I got some negative feedback on the transgender character, and upon reflection I realized it was deserved. So when I set out to make the ebook, I ran the story past a transgender friend. She concurred with the issues I’d known about, and also pointed out some others I hadn’t known about, some of which were are deeply baked into the story. I did what I could to address those issues, and I think the story is improved by the changes, but I recognize that even this revised edition isn’t perfect. I’ll try to do better next time.

So, anyway, here it is: the novella “Second Chance” is now the ebook Second Chance, and starting today you can buy it from the Book View Café, Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and Apple ebook stores.

If you’d like to try before you buy, you can download a free sample in EPUB or MOBI format.

Go on. Give it a chance.