An Early Draft Outtake from My Soul to Keep.

Outtake: An Early Prelude

January 16, 2019January 13, 2019 Lynette M Burrows

Long ago, I wrote the first draft of My Soul to Keep. It was a fantasy with dragons. What was I thinking? My next draft or two or three were just as far afield as the fantasy, though they were closer to a science fictional approach. Then, after many discussions with my husband and friends, I came up with the alternate world in which the story now takes place. I thought readers might enjoy a look back at some of the outtakes from those earlier drafts. So, without further ado, here’s an outtake: an early prelude to My Soul to Keep. ~~~~ A Testament for Modern Times The New Book of Samuel Chapter 3, verses 1-17 1. Now it came to pass, in the days after the Great War, that the children of the world did evil in the sight of the Lord. 2. And the anger of the Lord was kindled against the people and He delivered them into the days of darkness called the Great Depression. He overthrew the tables of their moneymakers and money changers; and gold became as water. 3. Thieves, drunkards, and murderers ruled the land known as America. The American leader, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, was […]

A Surprise Written in Mud

January 2, 2019January 1, 2019 Lynette M Burrows

I received a free copy of the January/February 2019 copy of Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine from my friend and mentor, Bill Wu. He autographed his story in this issue, personalized for me. It was a surprise “Written in Mud” on two levels. If you have a chance, grab a copy. This Tall Tale is worth it. “Written in Mud” is the story of four friends who try to figure out how they are going to survive after fraking for shale oil in Oklahoma caused massive earthquakes along the Humboldt fault in Kansas and the New Madris fault in Missouri. The friends are on what used to be a farm belonging to one of them. It is now the shores of Kansas. These four friends try to find a new occupation. They make a trip upriver and discover that the answer to their dilemma was…well, you’ll have to read it. Not only did Bill not give me any warning that he sent this to me, he didn’t tell me the story existed. It’s arrival was a Christmas surprise gifted to me without any expectations or obligations. This story is especially delightful to me because it contains a lot of nuggets or […]

In the Air is a blog post about recent podcasts, livestreaming, and YouTube videos Lynette M Burrows enjoyed recently.

In the Air: livestreaming, podcasts, and YouTube

March 15, 2018August 5, 2018 Lynette M Burrows

Livestreaming, podcasts, and videos on YouTube are an endless source of information, inspiration, and a huge research rabbit hole. Listening or watching while involved in completing mindless household chores, makes my chores more pleasant. Here’s a tiny sample of what I found in the air this month. SFWA-#SpecWomenChat— Episode 2—available on YouTube A fascinating panel discussion of space opera featuring five women who work in the field of or read Speculative Fiction. Ann Leckie, Bonnie Milani, Khaalidah Muhammed-Ali, Chandra Trulove Fry, and Diane Morrison discuss space opera they’ve written, read, and watched. In their discussion, the scope of space opera ranges from hard science to fantasy. The setting involves anywhere other than Earth. And they felt that space opera is at least a journey away from Earth. Listen to their wide-ranging discussion on writing and reading space opera. The Mom Writes Podcast— Episode #35—on Itunes or the author accelerator website In this episode mom writers, Abby Mathews and Melanie Parrish, interview Author and Medium Roland Comtois. Comtois’s experiences as a nurse and personal experiences inform his views on grief and pain. His book, 16 Minutes…When One Breath Ends, Another Begins, chronicles his last moments with his mother before she died. This podcast […]