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Printheads: WHITECHAPEL QUARTERLY: Getting There
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CommentAuthorluckycreature
- CommentTimeFeb 5th 2012
@anchorbeard
My story is on its way to you through the interwebs right now. Thanks again for organizing this next volume! -
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I have a question for the editors. Are you looking for new, never before published stuff? I have a story that's been online, but fits the theme quite well.
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CommentAuthorAlan Tyson
- CommentTimeFeb 6th 2012
@luckycreature: Got it, read it, and liked it! I've got a few (mostly grammatical) suggestions, I'll send it your way first thing tomorrow.
@texture: Mmmgonna as long as it's never been printed (and, presumably, sold for cashy money) then it should be okay! -
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@Anchorbeard, sweet I will polish it up and submit. It's been on Weaponizer, but like, 2 years ago
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Back to OUT OF PLACE, OUT OF TIME for a moment. I have it on good authority that a copy of the book is sitting in the 'to read' pile of a writer who appeared on New York Times Best Seller list.
Returning to WHITECHAPEL QUARTERLY: GETTING THERE... @anchorbeard, I have e-mailed you a rough draft for your consideration. -
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CommentAuthorluckycreature
- CommentTimeFeb 7th 2012
@anchorbeard. Thank you! Look forward to your notes and fixing it! -
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@Beamish - Whu? That's awesome.
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Kelly Sue DeConnick
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Nice. Gotta love Kelly Sue.
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I have Submitted. Thanks guys, and best of luck! Also, awesome news about Kelly Sue DeConnick!
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CommentAuthorAlan Tyson
- CommentTimeFeb 8th 2012 edited
Everyone, I'm sorry I've been a bit slow and absent in all this. I've got a bit of a sickness, and with that sickness comes mind-altering drugs (okay, okay, just amox and robitussin), so I haven't been keeping up as much or as quick as I should be. Please bear with me, folks!
In the meantime, I've done this:
Introduction
by Alan Tyson
Travel, simply defined, is motion with purpose. It is directed, intentional change (though not always directed or intended by the one who is changed), and it is perhaps the greatest force for growth and understanding that humans have access to.
It should surprise no one, then, that the oldest, the greatest, and the most stories all share the theme of travel. The hero goes somewhere they've never been before, and they are affected by this new place, even as their actions change the land they have visited. Maybe our hero has intentionally set out to discover a new world, or perhaps they were dragged there by fate. Perhaps they come to make their destination their new home, or maybe they will return to where they began, though because they have already been changed by their journey, going “home” is nothing of the sort – when you change, the world changes with you. Even the place you started from has become just another destination.
Means of travel are considered important, perhaps even holy, by almost all cultures. Nearly every faith has a god, spirit, or patron saint of travel and travelers, from the Catholics' Saint Christopher (who is often illustrated as carrying young, weak, or endangered travelers on his shoulders) to the Vodoun loa Papa Legba (who, like all loa, may occasionally “ride” priests or other hosts, who are called a name which translates roughly into English as “horse”). Speaking of horses, while it's perhaps not a universal rule, I suspect most ranchers are far more connected to and, appreciative of, their horses than they are of their cattle, even if the animals are for milk rather than beef. In many cultures, crossroads are said to have spiritual or supernatural significance, and why not: they are probably the best physical manifestation of the concept of choice. Which occupation is more romantic, a salesman who works in a store, or a salesman who work out of their car?
The words “journey,” “travel,” “quest,” “road,” and “map” show up in the titles of all kinds of stories. Homer's The Odyssey, which originally just meant “the story of Odysseus” (or maybe “the journey of Odysseus"), has become a word which means “a long journey.” Equally as important and pervasive as Homer's epics are to Western literature is the “Journey to the West,” one of the cornerstones of Asian storytelling. This fascination isn't confined to the ancients, either: just ask anyone who identifies as a “Trekkie.”
We use travel metaphors all the time in our everyday language. Experiencing hard times is like “going through hell,” and if you're willing to endure such hardships for a greater cause, you might go “through hell and back” for it. If you are unable to find a new job, partner, or emotional state, you might say you are “stuck,” incapable of motion, either forward or backward. I've been asked “where are you at with this?” in reference to some project or assignment – have you completed your journey, or are you “stuck” ? Of course, one way to answer this question is with the noncommittal, yet strangely profound, answer: “I'm getting there.”
Getting There is a collection of super-short stories disparate in their characters, moods, and styles, yet tied together by the theme of travel. As previously stated, this is a pretty wide theme. There are a lot of journeys in this book. -
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- CommentAuthorfat face rick
- CommentTimeFeb 9th 2012
Nice -
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CommentAuthorRobSpalding
- CommentTimeFeb 9th 2012
That's a really nice bit of writing.
And now I have to reconsider the title for story 2 - "Piss Break" - as it it now seems to lack that certain something. -
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Well intro'd, old chap.
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CommentAuthorDistractDelude
- CommentTimeFeb 9th 2012
Very nice intro indeed. Just emerging briefly to announce that I have sent a first draft of my submission to your sacrificial editing desk. Having scrapped my previous two, (98% complete), attempts for being too literal in their interpretation of the, journey, concept, I decided it was time to bite the bullet. I look forward to discovering whether my scrawlings live up to the standards required for this new quarterly endeavour. -
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CommentAuthorRobSpalding
- CommentTimeFeb 15th 2012
Sent in my first story - it was an absolute bugger. Never had that much trouble finding the story from an idea before. Hope it was worth it now.
Next up, second story - time to get to work. -
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CommentAuthorAlan Tyson
- CommentTimeFeb 15th 2012
Rob, you sure you sent it to me? I haven't got anything. -
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CommentAuthorRobSpalding
- CommentTimeFeb 15th 2012
I got no bounceback, so I assumed it went through.
I did put gmail and not googlemail in the address, might that have been it? -
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CommentAuthorAlan Tyson
- CommentTimeFeb 15th 2012
No, it's gmail... can you send it again? -
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CommentAuthorRobSpalding
- CommentTimeFeb 15th 2012 edited
Will do
[edit] Have done -