IN THIS ISSUE:
VISIT
THE EDITOR ON FACEBOOK!
COVER
ART:
This amazing image
of the Butterfly Nebula (NGC 6302) was taken by the Wide Field Camera,
a new camera aboard NASA's Hubble Space Telescope. You can see more
such images HERE.
THE
WRITINGS OF TY DRAGO:
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"THE
UNDERTAKERS:
Rise of the Corpses"
Jabberwocky, Spring 2011
Will Ritter become relucantly involved in a war between children
and an invasion of animated corpses.
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"The
Genesis Torch"
Amazon Shorts, 2007
10000 words
A tale of action, desperation and hope set on the Mars of "Phobos." |
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"Parole"
Amazon Shorts, 2006
7500 words
A dark fantasy tale of a bad man in a dark prison who is offered
a chance at the light. |
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"An
Hour on the Marble"
Amazon Shorts, 2006
15000 words
An SF morality tale about a dead world turned into a memorial,
and about the young soldier who goes there and meets "the
enemy."
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"PHOBOS"
Tor Books, 2003/2004
Novel
A critically-acclaimed SF "whodunit" about murder, mayhem,
and a mysterious monster on Mars' largest moon.
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"THE
FRANKLIN AFFAIR"
Regency Press, 2001
Novel
An historical mystery centered around Ben Franklin's 1776 visit
to Paris - a tale of intrique, betrayal and friendship. |
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR:
Dear Mr. Drago -
This is in response
to your call for opinions regarding your habit of "showcasing"
staff writing along with the other, independent works in each issue
of your publication.
Personally, while
I can appreciate your desire to self-promote yourself and your writing,
I can't help but think that doing so in this way undermines the integrity
of the magazine. Those of us who have been following Allegory since
back when it was Peridot Books have become accustomed to the practice.
But newer readers might be put off.
Anyway, you solicited
for opinions and there's mine. I hope I haven't offended you.
- L. Delvecchio
***
Ty -
I saw that letter
to the editor that you got in this issue about how you include one of
your own stories in each issue of Allegory. First, I applaud you for
even posting the letter!
For what it's worth,
I might agree with this person, if you weren't such a competent and
successful writer. I've enjoyed most of the stories that you've posted
over the years and hope to see more.
So ... keep publishing
yourself!
- Emily M., Little
Rock, AK
***
Editor's Response:
The response
I received on this issue surprised me. Almost a dozen message came in
over the past four months. So I picked the two that seemed to demonstrate
the strongest and most adversarial opinions and displayed them here.
Firstly, I'm
never offended by any critique that anyone offers regarding my work,
either as a writer or an editor - ever. So no worries there.
Secondly, I
appreciate the epithet "competent",
though I think "successful" may be subject to some interpretation.
In any event, thank you for your support!
Finally, this
has been an interesting excercise - but, as you'll clearly see in this
issue, I'm probably going to keep right on doing what I've been doing,
regardless of anyone's opinion.
Still, it was
interesting to hear how people felt. Thanks for that, everyone.
- Ty Drago
NAME IN LIGHTS:
This issue's Name
in Lights goes to a number of people who have become very near and dear
to me over the past couple of years.
They are the staff
of Allegory. These folks have each dedicated a portion of their time
to the reading and critiquing of hundreds of submissions each issue
- a task for which not one of them receives so much as a slim dime.
They are, in no
particular order:
Linda S. Cambier
Sharon Reamer
J.E. Taylor
Loretta Giacoletto
Jennifer Shumate
Lynette Eckland
and, of course,
Kelly Ferjutz
Thanks, guys ...
I honestly couldn't do it without you.
- Ty Drago
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The Writer's Toolbox:
The Tricky Art of Conversation
by
Danielle Ackley-McPhail
There is no path so fraught with potential misstep than conversation.
Bad enough talking to yourself—a whole other realm of fraught
there—but bring another person into it and you get three things:
What you said, what you thought you said, and what the other person
heard.
Knowing what to say and when to say it…not so
easy.
Am I getting my point across?
Am I saying too much?
Is this going to be taken wrong?
At some point we have all asked ourselves these questions;
and that is just with verbal communication. Written dialogue…much
more complex. And yet in fiction, as in life, conversations are what
take you out of yourself—or the character's head—and integrate
you into a living, breathing world.
Having trouble with that? Well, let's see if we can't
extract your proverbial foot from your literary mouth…
What to Say
In writing, dialogue is one of the trickiest simple
things to do. I know. Contradiction, right? Not really. We talk every
day. We hear people talk every day. It should be beyond easy to write
two or more people holding a conversation.
Again, not really.
There are nuances of verbal communication that defy
written expression, or at least are difficult to do full justice to.
Expression, inflection, body language. Yes, you can include some or
even all of that, but at what point does it begin to intrude, becoming
cumbersome to read? Your task as a writer is to put in just enough
cues to get your point across without slowing down the pace and flow
inherent in natural conversation.
There are two ways you can learn this (besides through
nifty how-to articles like this, which can only take you so far).
First, go out and listen. Find a park or shopping mall or some place
where there are loads of people and sit yourself down. People watch,
but more important, listen. Conversations are organic, each one unique.
Some people are good at it and others aren't. By listening and observing
you can get an objective feel for how different conversations proceed
and what nonverbal vocabulary is involved.
Your second resource, read!
No, not a how-to book—I know, how ironic. One
of the best ways to get the hang of written dialogue, or any other
aspect of fiction writing, is to study what others have done…and
sold! You want published examples for comparison because they have,
in theory, been through the editing process. Now this doesn’t
guarantee they are examples of literary perfection but the works in
print are representative of what is being accepted and published in
today’s market. You want to read more than a few books to get
a proper feel for the dialogue. Pay attention not only to what is
said and how, but to your own reaction to the author’s attempt
at replicating natural conversation. You don’t necessarily need
to read the full book—at least for the purpose of this exercise—skimming
the dialogue should be enough to give you perspective (this might
be a good time to dust off your library card). To save yourself some
time, you might also ask your friends if they can recommend any books
that had particularly good or bad dialogue.
Once you have a few examples of each, find a quite place
and try reading some of the selections out loud. This will help you
identify the strengths and weaknesses in the written conversation.
Is something is awkward to speak aloud, it is usually awkward to read
on the page as well, though that isn’t always as evident if
you haven’t first recited it. You might think if it isn’t
obvious, then it can’t really be a problem, right? I wish, but
the truth is that readers often pick up on these things on a subconscious
level even if they can’t readily identify why a particular passage
is less effective or enjoyable than another.
Things you want to look for are comfortable pacing,
dynamic exchange (meaning the back and forth between characters, not
the snappy comebacks), conversational language suited to the character
speaking, and nonverbal cues and clues. Everyone is going to have
their own style, but dialogue should read like people actually speak,
with appropriate tone for whatever setting it is occurring in.
The Art of It
Once you can recognize the mechanics of good dialogue
it is time to move on to the conventions of conversation, more to
the point, some of what to avoid.
1. Pace and Interaction. Think of dialogue as a tennis
game. It’s an exchange between two characters, sometimes recreational,
sometimes competitive, occasionally adversarial, but always back and
forth, like the ball going over the net. Think back on some of the
conversations you’ve had in your life. I am sure there are those
that ate away the hours without you realizing it because you were
enjoying the exchange so thoroughly. By the same token, there were
those you thought would never end. As an author, your objective is
to find the right balance for the scene you are writing and the dynamics
between the characters participating. Don’t have one character
dominate—unless, of course, that is the point--get a volley
going. If one character goes on and on for some reason, make sure
to interject with nonverbal reactions and exposition from the other
character.
2. Information overload. Have you ever been trained in a job where
the person training you just goes on and on, feeding you details without
allowing you the chance to ask questions? If not, man, are you lucky!
I can tell you that eventually, no matter how much you attempt to
pay attention, your mind begins to shut off. There is just so much
to take in and no opportunity to process it. The same can happen in
dialogue. If you have a character feeding detail after detail with
very little interaction from the other character/s in the scene, the
reader is going to miss some of what you wanted to get across. To
avoid this share the informational responsibility among your characters.
Dialogue should be reactive: one character says one thing and the
other has some kind of response, either through dialogue, nonverbal
cues, or inner monologue. Dialogue should also be interspersed with
action, otherwise the mind wanders. Come on, you know I’m right…just
think about those family gatherings when you were young, expected
to just sit there quietly as the adults talked around you. It is amazing
the places the mind will take you faced with such tedium. Now, you
don’t want that for your readers, right?
.
3. Stating the obvious. There is no getting around the fact that everything
you write on the page is meant to convey information to the reader.
All of it. That’s the entire point! One of the things you have
to avoid, though, is being obvious about it. You want the reader to
lose themselves in your universe, to immerse in the story. The quickest
way to yank them out of that immersion is to stage your dialogue in
such a way that it is obviously there for the sole purpose of educating
the reader. What do I mean by that? In a conversation with someone
of a similar upbringing or whom you have an existing relationship
with, certain knowledge is common knowledge…to everyone but
the newly introduced reader. One of the ways authors betray themselves
is by having characters share information among themselves that they
obviously would have already been familiar with.
4 . Talking out of Character. If you have done your job properly each
of your characters is going, to some degree or other, have a distinct
personality. They also have an established social position. This translates
into a character’s Voice (I’ll be going into this in more
depth in the next installment of the Writer’s Toolbox). When
writing dialogue, or even narrative, it is very important that your
word choices for a character are in keeping with that Voice, otherwise
you shatter the illusion you have built and the reader no longer believes
in the character.
Closing Words
Well, I have nearly reached the end of my time, though
not quite my word limit. Needless to say there is much more to Dialogue
than the little bit I’ve covered here. For now, follow the good
examples, not the bad; remember to keep the right Voice in your head
when writing from a particular character’s point of view, and
don’t be a bore! Or rather, don’t let your character’s
be, unless, of course that is their purpose in the tale.
Chose your words wisely and I hope you’ll come
back next issue as I’ll be “Continuing the Conversation”
then.
***
Award-winning author Danielle Ackley-McPhail has worked both sides
of the publishing industry for over fifteen years. Her works include
the urban fantasies, Yesterday's Dreams, Tomorrow's
Memories, and The Halfling’s Court: A Bad-Ass
Faerie Tale. She has edited the Bad-Ass Faeries anthology
series, and No Longer Dreams, and has contributed
to numerous other anthologies and collections, including Dark
Furies, Breach the Hull, So It Begins,
Space Pirates, Barbarians at the Jumpgate,
and New Blood.
She is a member of The Garden State Horror Writers
and Broad Universe, a writer’s organization focusing on promoting
the works of women authors in the speculative genres.
Danielle lives somewhere in New Jersey with husband
and fellow writer, Mike McPhail, mother-in-law Teresa, and three extremely
spoiled cats. She can be found on LiveJournal (damcphail), Facebook
(Danielle Ackley-McPhail), and Twitter (DMcPhail). To learn more about
her work, visit www.sidhenadaire.com.
Original
Fiction
These
stories may be viewed:
(1)
By clicking on the title and displaying the text in a browser window;
(2)
Or by clicking the "Download as PDF" button and viewing the
text in Adobe Reader (you will need a browser "plug-in" for
this);
(3)
or by right-clicking on the "Download as PDF" button and saving
the PDF file to your local drive. You may then view the file using Adobe
Reader.
If
you don't have Adobe Reader, you can get it free by clicking below.
"Desolation
Springs Eternal"
by Frank Summers
As I examine each robot that I knew so well before,
and see them motionless and silent, the thought again seeps in. I am
lonely.
Robert told me that my designers gave me certain human characteristics
and emotions. Some of my human characteristics were programmed; others
were anomalies--random, spontaneous anomalies allowed for by my implementation
team. They wanted me to seem more human.
I question the wisdom of their decisions. I would rather not feel this
way. I search for a routine to disable, for circuitry to bypass. It
is too complex.
"Fair
and Square"
by Mark Lee Pearson
I have escaped 23 unaccountably strange deaths in this
small town this week. But disaster is drawing in around me and now,
to top it all The Morning Star is reporting that North Korea
has given the United Nations a final ultimatum. By Sunday the entire
planet will be in the same precarious position as me. I am the only
man in the world with the power to change it all.
"Coffee
Talk "
by Robin Banks
“It doesn't matter what his name is. What is important is
that he has a name, the very act of naming brings him back into the
folds of human society. We need to bring him back, don't you see? It
is a social commentary, I would have thought you would have picked up
on this by now. Any good zombie story, if we have to be so crude as
to use that word, it is always a social commentary. It is culture. It's
all perfectly logical and, when viewed in the right light, not in the
least bit frightening.”
“You're crazy,” I said, beginning to titter a little crazily
myself. “Both of you are insane. What is wrong with you?”
I backed out of the room slowly and turned to the hallway. “I'm
going to check on my children.”
"Something
for Nothing"
by Ronnie Sternberg & Dimitry Papkov
He shrugged and his lips curved into an ironic grin.
“What’s one more conspiracy theorist? Just think about it
-- the government conspired with a world known physicist and a patent
office to destroy the reputation of a Maxwell Daemon’s inventor.
A great headline for the tabloids. Maybe we should run it.”
That dirty sleazebag! If I gritted my teeth any harder they would have
broken. It didn’t help that he was right.
“Good day, Mr. Rosenthal.” I turned on my heels and walked
away.
“Be careful, Dr. Oz,” he said after me. “We can’t
be sure they bought it.”
"Was
Ruth "
by Brian Malone & Kirk Wollert
Day Zero
The strangest thing about living inside of a machine is how completely,
and how easily, one becomes attuned to its moods. It breathes. It creaks
and groans and complains. It pulsates with its own rhythms and cycles,
circulating air and oil and hydraulic fluid. Every sound, every vibration
carries meaning, whispers just below the edge of comprehension. The
machine seems to live, and more, to speak. More strange, perhaps, if
that is possible, is how easily the separation dissolves between person
and machine. Action, thought and belief, commands, systems and subroutines,
these are just parts of the machine.
"Feeders"
by Rhonda Porrett
She stared up at a billboard: perfect people gambling at a casino
and flaunting dazzling smiles down to the destitute. “I saw them,
Dad, in my house. Couldn’t take it anymore, busted the TV. Feeders.”
“How many?”
“Hundreds.”
“There weren’t so many when I was young. Now….”
He picked something out of his beard. “Sometimes I’m sorry
I brought you into this world.”
“How do we stop them?”
"Support
Staff "
by Adrian Simmons
Halfway down the stairs and I can see her, trapped under the debris.
It couldn’t have been a worse situation- a corner lined with utility
shelves. One fell on her, the other on top of it. She’s pinned
by her right leg. Blood pools under it all and she’s moaning and
gulping in pain, struggling weakly to lift the bookshelf enough to escape.
“Oh thank god you’re finally here!” she says, craning
her head around to look at me.
She looks awful, pale from blood loss. Her eyes glance out from puffy
flesh, stained with this morning’s mascara and tears.
Man, they’ve come a long way. You can almost see the light of
hope in her eyes when she recognizes me.
"Come
You Back to Mandalay"
by Fred Warren
The guide muttered something unintelligible and scanned the clearing
and the circle of sky above with a grimace. He swung himself onto his
mule and trotted away up the trail from whence they'd come, the hoofbeats
soon smothered by the dense tropical foliage.
It's so quiet, Edwards thought as he donned his pack, quiet,
but not peaceful.
It was the reason they'd come. In the depths of this forest, a legendary
predator awaited, and silence was its ultimate weapon.
Staff
Showcase
This
is a new section set aside to present some of the creative works of
the ALLEGORY staff - yours truly included. These are, of course, unpaid
contributions and are presented here for your consideration with both
pride and humility.
Enjoy!
"Abyss"
by J.E. Taylor
The pull of the wave tugged at me as it sailed over
the capsized boat. The motor sputtered and died from the rush of saltwater
entering the engine, yet I still had the steering column in my grasp.
The white rope attached to the anchor dangled into the blackness below.
Drifting down beside the rope was Rob’s body, his eyes were
closed and his lips slightly parted, leaving a thin trail of bubbles
as seawater replaced the air in his lungs.
"Supplicant"
by Sharon Kae Reamer
"What is your wish, Protector?"
I want to see your face before I answer. "Tell me of your devotion
to Her."
Your radiance, your innocence, you are so free from strife. Tears
sting at the back of my eyes. I blink them back.
Your soft voice calms me. "She is the One. She brings deliverance
to us all. I am her Servant. She rules my heart and mind and guides
my every action. I am her Tool."
I continue the litany. "What of the promise?"
You do not hesitate. "She is the promise. Her sacrifice for us
all washes the blood of our sins away."
"Youthanasia"
by Loretta Giacoletto
The gasp I inhaled coincided with the “Sonofabitch!”
he exhaled.
We might as well have been looking into the mirror upstairs. Oh, yes,
Peppe had captured us to perfection—every bag, sag, blotch,
pore, and crease. I marched over to where he was leaning against a
post and pounded his chest with my fists. That’s when I first
noticed the bruises on my arms.
Peppe didn’t even flinch. “I told you I wasn’t finished,
Signora.”
"The
Music on the Wind"
by Ty Drago
Twelve-year-old Bobby Kessler ran for his life.
His bare feet beat uneven through the dewy grass, with the sun beating
down on his from amidst a cloudless sky. Each new breath burned more
deeply in his throat, and the stitch in his side worsened with every
step.
And behind him, still a way off but coming ever nearer, the —
being — on the horse was drawing nearer.
I’m going to die, he thought, and he had fight a fresh wave
of tears. There wasn’t time for tears.
And all this, he marveled, for the love of a girl.
Honorable
Mentions
Allegory deals with submissions in
the way that, as far as I know, remains fairly unique in the publishing
world. Each story is individually reviewed and, if considered publishable,
is placed in our "Maybe" pile. At the end of each submission
period, these "Maybes" are reviewed, and the best eight chosen
to appear in the next issue. This final cut is made on the basis of
issue balance, and does NOT reflect the overall quality of these stories.
That said, here - in no particular order - are the "Maybes"
who just missed publication in Allegory. Each one is
a fine tale that we would have been proud to publish. Remember these
names, friends and fellows. You'll be hearing from them in the future.
I guarantee it!
"Children of Ash" by Matt
Athanasiou
"Dust" by Damien Walters Grintalis
"The Gunslingers of Elam" by Ryan McBride.
"A Tour of Hell" by Dren Sokic
"Prima Noctis" by David W. Landrum
"Nick of Time" by Russell Kraus
"Scarlet Hearts" by Christopher D. Reimer
"The Last Notes on Rhapsody Road" by Bret
Tallman
"The Last Wish" by Gregg Winkler
"Gnawing on Bones" by Laura Chesterson
"I'll Be Leaving" by Margaret Karmazin
"Journey to Azamondo" by Craig Shoemake
"Potential Killer" by Fredrick Obermeyer
"The Mirror's Edge" by John Richard Albers
"Aftermath" by Mary Pax
"An Evening at Leo's" by Al Carty
"Bait" by Nicole Duson
"Bastet" by Beaulah Pragg
"Dinah" by Rebecca Nazar
"Exiles of Apraedis" by Bryan Lindenberger
"Firstborn" by Karen L. Kobvlarz
"Flight" by Cody Stanford
"Hi Jason" by KJ Kabza
"Impact" by Rolland Allnach
"In the Belly of the Viridian Whale" by Sean
Patterson
"Into the Black" by G.J. Wise
"Croatoan" by Lora Rivera
"Like a Good Neighbor" by Milo J. Fowler
"Red" by Beth Overmyer
"Return to Impact" by Billy Wong
"Saving Poseidon" by Paul Williams
"Second Intention" by Christine Purcell
"Stiff Jalawineo" by Jesse Anderson
"Succubyebye" by John Wisell
"Survival Idols" by John Tremblay
"The Abandoned Bear" by Andrew Laird
"The God Solution" by M.E. Castle
"The Last Concert" by Danny Adams
"The Last Day of the Postmodern Era" by Collin
R. Skocik
"The Oubilette" by Viktor James Night
"The Plains of Fire" by Manda Benson
"The Vow" by Andrew S. Fuller
"Time's End Tavern" by Patrick MacPhee
"To Watch Things Die" by Chris Stageman
"Vale of Tears" by Ersoy Salih
"Withered Pride" by Josh Wittenberg
"The Hunter" by Ed Kratz
"The Old Man and the Machines" by Michele
Lee
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