Category : inspirations

Through the Looking-Glass, Diversely

There’s been a lot of talk lately about diversity in fiction (and if I were less lazy, I’d link to some articles and blog posts on the subject). This is something I’ve always been concerned about. For one thing, just because I’m a white man, it doesn’t mean I only like stories about white men. I’ve been inspired by stories about women, people of color,  and so on. For another thing, I’ve always been aware that I’m not the only audience in the world and not every story is for me. While I’m inspired by different kinds of characters and stories, it’s also important to be able to see one’s self reflected in stories, to know that you’re not alone, to know that someone like you is worth telling stories about. And that leads me to another reason why I think diversity in fiction is crucial, a reason I’ve only recently fully recognized and accepted. (more…)

10-28-2015 |

Notes on “The Game of Puppets and Devils”

I wrote this piece of flash fiction for Chuck Wendig’s regular Friday flash fic challenge. It was heavily inspired by a short short story by Robert Sheckley, “Zirn Left Unguarded, The Jenghik Palace In Flames, Jon Westerley Dead”, which I read in an anthology, The Space Opera Renaissance, some years ago. Although Sheckley’s story is meant more as a satire of space opera, I wanted to do something similar that earnestly captured the epic far-out-ness of my favorite space opera books, comics, movies, and TV series. If my piece is short on character depth and focused more on spectacle and flavor…that was purely intentional.

9-22-2015 |

A Peek Inside

The finale of the first season of The Flash was last night and I loved it so much, I was Kermit flailing for hours after it ended. The episode write-up on io9 pretty much nails why it was so amazing. In the wake of the episode, fueled by my excitement over it, I made some extremely rough…well, “notes” seems too generous. Abstract brainstorming is probably a better description. In the interest and enthusiasm of sharing my work, here is a page in my notebook with my abstract brainstorming:

idea cluster

 

5-20-2015 |

The Carnival of the Strange

A recent post on io9 about the Doom Patrol, “the world’s strangest heroes,” reminded me of my profound, uncanny love for Grant Morrison’s version of the team. I was 19 or 20 when I stumbled upon Doom Patrol #28. I was mostly burned out on the superhero comics of the time and wasn’t completely up on who was doing what. But Simon Bisley’s cover was unlike any comics cover I’d seen before and I was intrigued enough to grab it off the shelf and throw some cash down for it. (more…)

5-15-2015 | 2

A Letter to Ray Bradbury

My friend Ellie Ann tweeted a wonderful quote from Ray Bradbury that reminded me of just how much I loved him and how much he’s influenced my writing and my life. So I’ve decided to reprint an open letter I wrote to him on my old blog, a letter he never got to see before he died a couple of years later.

Dear Ray Bradbury,

I’m writing you this letter and posting it to my blog, even though I’m pretty positive you’ll never read it, because you’re a cranky old man who hates the internet. But on this, your 90th birthday, I have something to say to you, and this is my best forum for saying things that I want people to read, so…here goes.

I love you, Ray Bradbury.

Not only have you filled my life with beautifully written stories, you have (through your words–your stories, your essays, your poems) encouraged me to live my life with my heart on my sleeve, my passions and my dreams out front for all the world to see. Like Mr. Electrico did to you, you’ve shot me full of lightning and told me to “Live forever!”

I’ve done my best to do that. I’ve walked in dreams and nightmares, played with my toys and danced through life as much as I can. I’ve sometimes lost my way, but whenever I do, I just reread your stories, your essays, your poems. I stop walking with my eyes trained on my feet and start running again, my eyes gazing up at the stars. You laugh and whisper in my ears, reminding me to love life, to love people, to love the world. And most importantly, when I need it most, you remind me that I can do what I want to do.

You’ve touched my life, inspired me and driven me, in so many ways, at some many times in my life. You’ve been with me more than any other author. You’ve been my friend and my teacher. And we’ve never even met.

I don’t know that I’ll ever get the chance to tell you this to your face, but I want you and the world to know how much you mean to me. You’re a cranky son of a bitch, but dammit, I love you! I love you so much, Ray Bradbury. Thank you for being you and sharing yourself with all of us.

Happy Birthday, Ray Bradbury.

Your friend and fan,

Joshua M. Neff

5-11-2015 |

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