Postby TR Spraks-Johnson » Wed Oct 07, 2020 7:09 am
Hi ya'll! My name's Tony, but I think I'd rather be published as 'TR'. I always liked the ring to it, and I'll respond cordially if you refer to me as TR, Tony, Sparks-Johnson, etc. I'm 27 years old, Sagittarius sun/ Libra moon. He/him pronouns.
Anyways, I got cold feet submitting back in my undergrad days, and I find myself sitting on three short stories I feel have decent potential and would fit in with the Writers of the Future Contest (have read multiple volumes, and now that the pandemic is here, I finally understand why Mark Twain's biographies always mention that he was hard to motivate to write if he didn't really need the money! I have found the motivation to subject myself to potential rejection - oddly freeing, really.
I currently work in an urban public library in the Midwest. I've never been paid for fiction publication, though my undergraduate literary journal gave me a double feature as poet and short story author my junior year, and I've also been published in a local alternative newspaper when I did profile pieces on some comedians that came through town (these were paid freelance gigs).
I was diagnosed with adult AD/HD a few weeks ago so if I 'ghost' this thread for a few days (or weeks!) at a time, sorry ya'll! I'm figuring it out, and am very fortunate to have a supportive and loving wife.
I tend towards reading 'literary' sci-fi (although the terminology makes me uncomfortable) - stuff like Ling Ma's Severance, anything Dick, and Gravity's Rainbow is probably my favorite sci-fi book. My favorite books to read are a little niche, but are very inspiring for writers - I absolutely devour non-fiction written by political revolutionaries of the 20th century. Whether your politics align with these writings isn't the most important thing as a writer looking for inspiration - you can feel the passion and urgency bursting off the pages... it's riveting! But don't worry, folks, I also have a deep love of Dashiell Hammett, Stephen King, and Frank Miller. And I love stupid action movies as much as the brilliant ones, so while I tend towards readings that are more common in college courses than those in genre-lovers paperback collections, you won't have to worry about dealing with snobbery from me. A grown man who enjoys Mission Impossible 2 has no room to talk in that regard!
Let's write some good sci-fi and fantasy!
"Humanity has every reason to place the proclaimers of high moral standards and values above the discoverers of objective truth"
