To market, to market

This weekend, which included a torrential Saturday perfect for keyboard work, I focused on looking over rejected stories and submitting them again. Most publications will be winding up 2011 soon, and I wanted to catch the final reading periods for the year. I also went in search of new markets, checking out sites like Ralan's and cruising the different publishers to see what's coming up in 2012 anthologywise so I can plan new stories, or pull out half finished ones that fit the themes and bully them into being.

There were a couple of anthologies that caught my attention, especially one with a steampunk/wuxia theme. I absently pulled from my bookshelf Views of 18th Century China, compiled from works by William Alexander and George Henry Mason that were published in the early 1800's, the book which, as I've mentioned before, inspired my story The Viper-Seller's Son, and came across an engraving titled 'A Mender of Porcelain'. Well, this book worked its magic again (I knew there was another story hidden somewhere within its pages). The image reminded me of a story idea I've started and abandoned quite a few times because I couldn't get the voice right or come up with a satisfying ending or shape the main character to my liking, but the phrase a mender of porcelain did the trick and by the time I hit the Xmas swing for lunch this arvo, instead of reading while I ate, I was staring at the garden and imagining the opening scene of the story.

I love it when stuff comes together.

In the meantime, Jenny spent most of the day focused on one particular spot in the garden. Late last night, she wouldn't come inside, and when I checked what had caught her attention, it was a toad the size of my hand, probably out and about because of all the water, which seemed majestically unperturbed by her presence (I went to take a photo, but of course the camera battery was dead) Jenny was agog each time the toad hopped, and squealed in protest when I carried her inside. First thing this morning, she shot across to where she'd last seen the toad and went looking for it, and regularly returned every few hours to hopefully peer about again.

So, a toad, an obsessed cat and a new story...

The Viper-Seller's Son

Still online in Flash Me Magazine's October '09 fantasy issue is The Viper-Seller's Son , a story described by one editor as a 'nice, neat little fantasy'. He rejected the story (not a good fit with the magazine) but it found a home the next time I sent it out into the world.

I mention this particular story because it was a pleasure to write from beginning to end.

I used to live in St Kilda, a forty minute walk from my Afternoon Job. My daily trek took me past the Book House on Fitzroy Street, where the tables of $4 books- or 3 for $10 - constantly tempted me. The bargains that I have scored there (books on weretigers, Antarctic explorers, South American tribes) are legion.

One fine day, the book that caught my eye was 'Views of 18th Century China', a big, colourful volume of watercolours and engravings. It is compiled from two works - 'The Costume of China' by George Henry Mason, a soldier who spent a few months of sick leave in that country, and 'The Costume of China' by William Alexander, a draftsman attached to Lord Macartney's embassy to the Emperor in 1793. These original books were published in 1804 and 1805 respectively, when chinoiserie was all the rage in England.

I picked it up and flicked through the pages. The book fell open to reveal Plate XCII - 'The Viper-Seller'. The picture and the title were so evocative. A few pages later there was Plate LXXXVIII - 'A Serpent-Catcher'. Bang! The process began. I bought the book, tottered up St Kilda Road, and the story was completed in my head by the time I got to work.

There are, I think, a few more stories still hidden in that book, but I doubt they'll be as easy to extract as VPS.