digitalisobscura.com - ISSN 1756-3046

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Notes from the editor - December’s hold

5:09 pm by D Kai Wilson, editor in Fiction, Issue 2, Issues, Notes from the editor

Winter is always an interesting proposition for writers.  Some of us slow down, cause our bodies decide to act on some primeval body clock.  We feel like we’re hibernating, and so we slow down.

 Others have just come off the frentic pace of the Nanowrimo, and need a break - so slow to a crawl.  And then there’s those writers who are slow and steady, and just continue, come rain, shine, sleet, loss of internet connection…

Whatever type of writer you are, the pieces I’ve chosen, and my editors have chosen for this month’s edition spoke to us on some level.  “Memories” is an amazing sci fi piece that touches on the human psyche, The flight of the Red Kite had the note, ’surreal and very worthwhile’ on it, and the articles we’ve chosen this month reflect what we believe to be important information for writers everywhere.

Thanks for reading, and Salut!

D Kai Wilson
Managing editor, Digitalisobscura.com
http://publishhacks.com

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Memories by Keith Foreman

5:08 pm by D Kai Wilson, editor in Feature, Fiction, Issue 2, Issues

Starsoma has a strange effect upon the mind. Designed to prevent the onset of mental problems during real-space flight, its heady cocktail of chemicals and electrical stimulation creates a montage of looping imagery and cacophonic aural sensation. The speculation concerning the exact nature of these waking dreams has existed for nearly as long as the Starsoma technology itself, remaining one of the most heated points of contention within the space faring community. No final conclusion has ever been reached, as memories seem to merge with dreams without rhyme or reason, and the physical manifestations confuse the issue further. Variations in temperature flow over the dreamer like sand, and the gentlest of air movements can feel like heavy… (more…)

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Five blogging tips

5:04 pm by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 2, Issues, non fiction

By D Kai Wilson, Publish Hacks

Blogging is one of those things that everyone that’s been doing it for a while claims they are good at, and its really easy, after about three months to believe that those claiming they know it all, actually do, especially if they teach you a couple of neat tricks.

I’ve been blogging since 2002 - since before it was ‘cool’ and part of the mainstream internet, and I teach blogging on a regular basis, so I thought I’d share some of THE most important tips I’ve picked up along the way.

One - be authentic.
If you are authentic, people will relate to you better, and more importantly, your language and tone will match your message.  Putting that into plain English, if you use your own voice, you’ll have people responding before you’ve finished posting

Two - post as regularly as you can.
I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but most of us at the Writing Mother try and post once a week, schedule permitting.  So if you’ve got a blog, post to it at least weekly.  Give your readers something to look forward to and check back for, at least weekly.  If you can manage more than that, go for it!

Three - don’t get TOO personal, but don’t be too impersonal either
If you’re too personal, people will RUN for the hills screaming ‘TMI! TMI!’.  Sometimes its funny, and can be done well, but most of the time, people will be seriously put off by sharing the WRONG things.
That’s not to say that if you do share something, that its a problem - like I said before, when done right, it can stir up people into responding.
On the flipside, if you’re not sharing enough for people to get a feel for your voice, they won’t feel happy commenting on your blog - which means they probably won’t come back.

Four - Content is gold - commenters can be platinum
Your blog posts ARE your bread and butter - if you do well with them, you’ll get lots of comments - which makes your commenters some of the most worthwhile people to get to know on your blog.
Commenters tend to tell other people when they’ve found GOOD blogs.  And while you can purchase advertising, and undertake link exchanges and lots more, you will ALWAYS find that getting on the blogroll of someone ‘big’ in the blogging community is gold dust.  Better yet when they talk about you in their main posts.  So make sure your content is what your regular commenters want.

Five, and finally - you CAN make money from blogging, but that doesn’t mean you should.
Most new bloggers slap up a blog, insert Google ads, and then spend the next six months complaining that they’ve made five cents a month.  Nine times out of ten, they’ve put their blog up, they do the ‘bog standard’ and expect that it will make them a small fortune, just for being there.  Unfortunately it doesn’t work like that, so my next post on blogging will talk about the five most important ways you can maximize your time investment and actually make a little bit of money from your blog.  Probably not enough to retire on, but since when was writing easy in the first place

 D Kai Wilson is a blogger, editor, writer and student with Gloucestershire University.  When not writing essays and blog posts, she can be found crafting fiction and poetry, running around after her children, ranting about the inconsistencies of Vista, and playing World of Warcraft and the Witcher.  Information on her books can be found at Books by Kai, or stalking her on Facebook.

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Pot lid by David McLean

5:02 pm by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 2, Issues, Poetry

night slams down a sky
as lid on this sinful kettle,
burning us here
in this hell we live in
seething in our own stink,
this sweaty nothingness
we live in
sin

David McLean was born in Wales in 1960 though he’s  lived in Sweden since 1987. He has  been submitting seriously for about a year and, as of the end of October 2007, he has around 325 poems in or accepted by 143 magazines both online and in print. A chapbook “a hunger for mourning” with 52 poems is available from Erbacce press and Lulu at http://storeslulu.com/store.php?fAcctID=1277957. More information at http://www.myspace.com/david_mclean and a blog at http://mourningabortion.blogspot.com/, where there are links to various online publications.

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The flight of the Red Kite - Phil Richardson

5:01 pm by D Kai Wilson, editor in Fiction, Issue 2, Issues

  It was midday, but feeling tired and somewhat upset about the condition of the world, I was reading in my bedroom when, for some reason, I looked out the window and saw a large red kite drifting by. Not so strange in itself, but, instead of various ribbons dangling from the kite’s tail, there was a row of bats. Their wings were calmly folded and the bats were just hanging on the kite’s tail. I looked more closely at the kite, which was the traditional shape, and realized there was a face painted on it. It was my face in repose–almost a death mask. Shuddering, I went downstairs to see who was flying the kite, but when I looked out, I saw the kite string was attached to a dead apple tree whose broken branches seemed like hands reaching to heaven.

A cold feeling crept up to my neck; I walked over and undid the string from the tree. Just then, the bats unfolded their wings and began to flap them wildly. A strong wind began to blow and before I knew it, I was lifted off my feet and the ground fell away rapidly. Before I could react, I was too high to let go of the string and I prayed it would not break.

My unexpected flight was short, although it seemed an eternity; the wind died, the bats quit flapping their wings and I plummeted toward the earth. I let go of the kite string and fell into a small lake where, after plunging underwater, I surfaced and watched as the red kite drifted away. The bats, having done their job, let go of the string and flew off together. I started swimming for the shore but, no mat-ter how hard I swam, I got no closer. My arms became heavy and I realized I might drown.

I was startled when I felt a nudge on my shoulder and looked behind me to see a flat,yellow skiff. There was no one in it and there were no oars, so I clambered aboard, relieved to be out of the water. The breeze had died and yet the boat seemed to be moving on its own. I tried paddling toward the shore, but my arms soon grew tired again and I lay there looking up at the sky and the dwindling sight of the red kite. Given the spectacle of the bats, I imagined that under the water there were hundreds of golden eels pushing, carrying, and towing the boat.

I had eaten a good breakfast but, for some reason, I suddenly became very hungry and thirsty. Looking around the bottom of the boat I saw a covered picnic basket and, when I opened it, I found a bottle of wine and some biscuits and cheese.

What if it’s poisoned? I thought. It had been a strange day so far, but I was as yet unharmed, so I proceeded to take a drink from the bottle and to chew on a hunk of yellow cheese and a biscuit.

My apprehension diminished somewhat when I felt no bad effects from the food and drink–only the feeling of lassitude that often precedes a nap. The warm sun and the gentle motion of the boat soon lulled me to sleep.

I do not know how long I slept, but when I awoke, the motion of the boat had stopped and it was beached near a small glen. I didn’t know where I was, but it could not be far from my home. I got out of the boat and decided to explore the area. I soon found a narrow path and as I walked along I looked around expecting to find something strange, but the plants bordering the path were the normal weeds and vines that one expects to find in the woods.

It had not been exactly a normal day so I was relieved that there were no more bats or kites or boats. After some minutes of walking, he path ended in another clearing and I saw a tall, stone wall covered with vines stretching out on either side. I walked along the wall searching for a gate, but found nothing.

Finally, after about an hour, I grew tired of searching and decided I would climb the wall. The vines were old and strong and looked like they would support my weight. I am not a strong man, but by resting in my climb several times I managed to pull myself up to the top of the wall.

Stretching out before me was a vast nothingness. No desert, no forrest, no plain. Just a deep blue darkness as though it were the painted backdrop for a movie set or a play. There was no up nor down. There was no here nor there. I sensed that my journey had ended as all life’s journeys end.
Destiny’s slate is often bare.

Phil Richardson has been a freelance writer for about ten years. He belongs to a local writing group in Athens, Ohio. His stories have appeared in The Storyteller, Northwoods Journal, ELf: Eclectic LiteraryForum, Wild Violet, Fantasy, Folklore and Fairytales, Cafe Irreal, and Writing on Walls Anthology. One of his stories was nominated for the Pushcart Prize in Fiction.

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Notes from the Editor

12:36 pm by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 1, Issues, Notes from the editor

Welcome to our FIRST issue of DigitalisObscura!
I just wanted to say ‘thank you’ to all of our submissions - each and every one of the submissions were amazing, and I’m delighted to report that everything we received was of amazing quality.
Our reading period re-opens on the 8th of November, so I’d really love to start seeing more submissions. And by issue 2, we’ll also have our own ISSN, and a new, more permanent site design.

Remember to grab YOUR copy of our PDF edition, and if you like it, feel free to head on over to our printers and order a copy - every copy we sell supports our writers and their honorariums directly.

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Desire and Madness - an anthology

10:00 am by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 1, Issues, reviews

Desire and Madness – a collected anthology from Gloucestershire University’s creative writing students.

Desire and Madness is a simple enough premise – and as themes go, its pretty well represented throughout the works of a diverse range of students. Eighteen separate, and sometimes disparate, yet compelling voices that cover prose, poetry, and one rather interestingly vignette style novella. As the introduction states, in 2005, the final short story submissions for the term, on the fiction course was ‘Desire and Madness’, as chosen by those students and was later extended to the creative writing department as a whole, and the anthology was born. From a modern retelling of Hamlet, to flash fiction, to modern and traditional poetry, the anthology, though relatively slim, holds a lot of interesting and riveting writing. (more…)

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Ten Zen Seconds, by Rahul Prabhakar

9:00 am by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 1, Issues, non fiction

TEN ZEN SECONDS interview with Eric Maisel

Rahul: What is Ten Zen Seconds all about?

Eric: It’s actually a very simple but powerful technique for reducing your stress, getting yourself centered, and reminding yourself about how you want to live your life. It can even serve as a complete cognitive, emotional, and existential self-help program built on the single idea of “dropping a useful thought into a deep breath.”

You use a deep breath, five seconds on the inhale and five seconds on the exhale, as a container for important thoughts that aim you in the right direction in life—I describe twelve of these thoughts in the book—and you begin to employ this breathing-and-thinking technique that I call incanting as the primary way to keep yourself on track. (more…)

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Review - Blood

7:00 am by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 1, Issues, reviews

Review – Blood

Blood, by Nigel McLoughlin is beyond words. Moving, deeply riveting, and most of all standing as both a marker (for lessons learned, in discussion of terrorism through poetry) and inspiration. (more…)

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Tuesday Morning - by Jeanette Angell

7:00 am by D Kai Wilson, editor in Issue 1, Issues, Poetry

The telephone rings
A small thing, a sound
Ordinary, and she reaches for it
In an ordinary way
She says hello
Her mind on the children
Her mind on the meeting
Her mind on the dinner on
Saturday night, his friends from
Kansas, she says hello

She says hello.

I love you, he says (more…)

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