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Post by Deleted on Nov 22, 2020 19:57:41 GMT
This is one of those threads where I (desperately) want to say something, but I can't... yet. Give me a week or thereabouts, and I'll have more then. For now... Oh you Tantalizing S.O.B. 😂
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Post by number13 on Nov 23, 2020 0:12:31 GMT
At the risk of being a bit controversial...
I'd add to the list of very good 'firsts' Adrian Rigelsford's The Roof of the World. I think it's a really good, atmospheric pseudo-historical with a richly-drawn setting, excellent supporting characters and Lovecraftian monsters and strong scenes and storylines for the regulars. I'm not over-fond of 'Great Old Ones' stories in general, but the historical-y setting and the tie-in with Erimem's family history helps to sell it to me and imo this was a better BF Lovecraftian story than the actual Lovecraft story we got (eventually) this year.
The very best 'first' would at a guess be from someone way back in the early days of the MR when most stories were the BF debut for their writers. But which one would be impossible for me to choose; there are many giants in those days.
Among recent 'firsts', the ones which stand out in my memory are all four authors in New Benny 5, splendid volume, and of course J.A. Prentice for that excellent entry in New Benny 6. A story absolutely at home between two by Tim Foley and James Goss; that shows a 'first' of real note.
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Post by mrtc2003 on Nov 28, 2020 10:30:00 GMT
Rob Shearman is the first one that comes to mind for me. But that's partly due to the fact that I really can't remember debuts for most writers. I think I need a list.
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dorney
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Post by dorney on Nov 28, 2020 10:34:21 GMT
This is one of those threads where I (desperately) want to say something, but I can't... yet. Give me a week or thereabouts, and I'll have more then. For now... All right. It’s been a week. Out with it!
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dorney
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Post by dorney on Nov 28, 2020 10:36:10 GMT
Rob Shearman is the first one that comes to mind for me. But that's partly due to the fact that I really can't remember debuts for most writers. I think I need a list. Hell yes. It can also be a shade confusing defining firsts in the current era. For example, Phil Mulryne’s first was Haunting of Malkin Place, but it came out years after some of his other stuff. I think David K Barnes is similarly jumbled up. Even with me I’m not sure. First BF script written was Remember Me for Sapphire and Steel. But if we’re talking Who, it’s Echoes of Grey. But if we’re talking first Who out it’s Solitaire. Confusing, as I say!
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2020 10:40:04 GMT
Rob Shearman is the first one that comes to mind for me. But that's partly due to the fact that I really can't remember debuts for most writers. I think I need a list. Hell yes. It can also be a shade confusing defining firsts in the current era. For example, Phil Mulryne’s first was Haunting of Malkin Place, but it came out years after some of his other stuff. I think David K Barnes is similarly jumbled up. Even with me I’m not sure. First BF script written was Remember Me for Sapphire and Steel. But if we’re talking Who, it’s Echoes of Grey. But if we’re talking first Who out it’s Solitaire. Confusing, as I say! Ahhh so in a round about way I was right on the WHO front..it’s not often I am 😂 as all the women I work with tell me
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2020 11:46:59 GMT
The very best 'first' would at a guess be from someone way back in the early days of the MR when most stories were the BF debut for their writers. But which one would be impossible for me to choose; there are many giants in those days. So many of them were very good, but I'd start with Jacqueline Rayner's The Marian Conspiracy, throw in Stephen Cole's The Apocalypse Element and also Alan Barnes's Storm Warning as my favourite Big Finish writer debuts from back then.
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Post by grinch on Nov 28, 2020 11:51:46 GMT
I really liked Carrie Thompson’s Short Trip ‘The Second Oldest Question’ myself. Had some really oddball humour in it which I adored.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 28, 2020 12:00:55 GMT
This is one of those threads where I (desperately) want to say something, but I can't... yet. Give me a week or thereabouts, and I'll have more then. For now... All right. It’s been a week. Out with it! I'll need a couple more days. Only a couple, mind, until December 2 (AEST). There's some good thunder from another author for something upcoming that I'm trying to avoid thieving. Goodly relevant. Once that's free and clear, I'll talk.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2020 0:10:42 GMT
Okay, so the latest volume of Unbound Imaginings has been blessed two-fold. We've a lovely "Foreword" by Josh Wanisko that chats about his background, joining the forum and welcoming everyone into the anthology (it's really good, as he says: "Happy exploring!"). We also have an "Afterword", written by J.A. Prentice, which delves into some of his background writing his Divergent Wordsmiths stories leading up to his Big Finish debut. Now, I'm biassed. Read both, read all of it, that's my advice. But I wanted to talk specifically about what was shared in the "Afterword" from the perspective of an editor and as the publisher on those first stories. I would never have guessed that he'd come to us with almost no publishing history. I remember thinking at the time that the story felt as though he'd been involved in other projects like ours for sometime. Taking that talent, honing it with practised skill and producing the marvellous stories he did for us (shout out to the Unbound Imaginings, Vol.1 and Genesis of Terror anthologies where you can find them). The quality of the work very much spoke for itself. That's why, when I can, I try to gently nudge our writers towards trying the professional competitions as well. Professional-grade writing... It's very easy to mistake the process for being like a light switch. You click it across and suddenly Ha-ha! you're supercharged with boundless powers beyond the wildest of dreams... To coin an old phrase, the power was within you all along. The training, the ability and, above all, persistence in both, is typically what gets you across the line (a little luck doesn't hurt, either). As Harlan Ellison once said: "It's easy to become a writer. It's even harder to stay a writer." And yet, I saw that happen again and again. He stayed a writer. J.A. Prentice came back with a new story, a new approach with the same high quality that I'd seen in our previous anthology. We missed him that third time around for reasons that, at the time, I'd put down to him being already engaged with another publisher (as happens). I didn't know which publisher, though. I'd just come off releasing that full novel, I was the most tired I'd been in months, I think, and the news still struck right through the fugue. Sharp as anything. Straight through to the brain. Wait, he's where? I still get a smile thinking about it because that's Divergent Wordsmiths mission statement, we're a confidence-building platform for authors. For professional Who work, for us, for independent work, wherever you'd like to go. One day, and this is the pipe dream, I'd like to be able to look at these releases and go: "Oh, yes, this was before they did [Professional Release]. You know the one," for all our creatives who are aiming for that star. Whatever shape it may take. The talent is well and truly there, the skill and -- most importantly -- the desire to continue to improve that skill, likewise. We are, whether amateur or professional, forever blessed with a multitude of beginnings.
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Post by Kestrel on Dec 2, 2020 0:28:41 GMT
Jacqueline Rayner's The Marian Conspiracy and Robert Shearman's The Holy Terror are both contenders for best debut, they've got to be. I'd need a list of all the debut stories to say for sure, but this sure as hell feels right.
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Post by J.A. Prentice on Dec 2, 2020 0:45:05 GMT
Okay, so the latest volume of Unbound Imaginings has been blessed two-fold. We've a lovely "Foreword" by Josh Wanisko that chats about his background, joining the forum and welcoming everyone into the anthology (it's really good, as he says: "Happy exploring!"). We also have an "Afterword", written by J.A. Prentice, which delves into some of his background writing his Divergent Wordsmiths stories leading up to his Big Finish debut. Now, I'm biassed. Read both, read all of it, that's my advice. But I wanted to talk specifically about what was shared in the "Afterword" from the perspective of an editor and as the publisher on those first stories. I would never have guessed that he'd come to us with almost no publishing history. I remember thinking at the time that the story felt as though he'd been involved in other projects like ours for sometime. Taking that talent, honing it with practised skill and producing the marvellous stories he did for us (shout out to the Unbound Imaginings, Vol.1 and Genesis of Terror anthologies where you can find them). The quality of the work very much spoke for itself. That's why, when I can, I try to gently nudge our writers towards trying the professional competitions as well. Professional-grade writing... It's very easy to mistake the process for being like a light switch. You click it across and suddenly Ha-ha! you're supercharged with boundless powers beyond the wildest of dreams... To coin an old phrase, the power was within you all along. The training, the ability and, above all, persistence in both, is typically what gets you across the line (a little luck doesn't hurt, either). As Harlan Ellison once said: "It's easy to become a writer. It's even harder to stay a writer." And yet, I saw that happen again and again. He stayed a writer. J.A. Prentice came back with a new story, a new approach with the same high quality that I'd seen in our previous anthology. We missed him that third time around for reasons that, at the time, I'd put down to him being already engaged with another publisher (as happens). I didn't know which publisher, though. I'd just come off releasing that full novel, I was the most tired I'd been in months, I think, and the news still struck right through the fugue. Sharp as anything. Straight through to the brain. Wait, he's where? I still get a smile thinking about it because that's Divergent Wordsmiths mission statement, we're a confidence-building platform for authors. For professional Who work, for us, for independent work, wherever you'd like to go. One day, and this is the pipe dream, I'd like to be able to look at these releases and go: "Oh, yes, this was before they did [Professional Release]. You know the one," for all our creatives who are aiming for that star. Whatever shape it may take. The talent is well and truly there, the skill and -- most importantly -- the desire to continue to improve that skill, likewise. We are, whether amateur or professional, forever blessed with a multitude of beginnings. Thank you! Yes, while I might be getting muddled with the dates, I don't think I had a story professionally published when I did "The Hollow Inside." I had been trying (and trying quite hard!) for a while and I'd put some pieces out myself, I'd never sold a story. Hearing people tell me they liked my story was a big confidence builder at a point where I didn't have a lot of confidence. I go into more detail in the Afterword, but I just want to thank everyone on this forum (and especially everyone involved in Divergent Wordsmiths) for that. I'm not sure I'd be where I am without you. (I've never written an afterword before either, so that's another first.)
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2020 0:58:42 GMT
Okay, so the latest volume of Unbound Imaginings has been blessed two-fold. We've a lovely "Foreword" by Josh Wanisko that chats about his background, joining the forum and welcoming everyone into the anthology (it's really good, as he says: "Happy exploring!"). We also have an "Afterword", written by J.A. Prentice, which delves into some of his background writing his Divergent Wordsmiths stories leading up to his Big Finish debut. Now, I'm biassed. Read both, read all of it, that's my advice. But I wanted to talk specifically about what was shared in the "Afterword" from the perspective of an editor and as the publisher on those first stories. I would never have guessed that he'd come to us with almost no publishing history. I remember thinking at the time that the story felt as though he'd been involved in other projects like ours for sometime. Taking that talent, honing it with practised skill and producing the marvellous stories he did for us (shout out to the Unbound Imaginings, Vol.1 and Genesis of Terror anthologies where you can find them). The quality of the work very much spoke for itself. That's why, when I can, I try to gently nudge our writers towards trying the professional competitions as well. Professional-grade writing... It's very easy to mistake the process for being like a light switch. You click it across and suddenly Ha-ha! you're supercharged with boundless powers beyond the wildest of dreams... To coin an old phrase, the power was within you all along. The training, the ability and, above all, persistence in both, is typically what gets you across the line (a little luck doesn't hurt, either). As Harlan Ellison once said: "It's easy to become a writer. It's even harder to stay a writer." And yet, I saw that happen again and again. He stayed a writer. J.A. Prentice came back with a new story, a new approach with the same high quality that I'd seen in our previous anthology. We missed him that third time around for reasons that, at the time, I'd put down to him being already engaged with another publisher (as happens). I didn't know which publisher, though. I'd just come off releasing that full novel, I was the most tired I'd been in months, I think, and the news still struck right through the fugue. Sharp as anything. Straight through to the brain. Wait, he's where? I still get a smile thinking about it because that's Divergent Wordsmiths mission statement, we're a confidence-building platform for authors. For professional Who work, for us, for independent work, wherever you'd like to go. One day, and this is the pipe dream, I'd like to be able to look at these releases and go: "Oh, yes, this was before they did [Professional Release]. You know the one," for all our creatives who are aiming for that star. Whatever shape it may take. The talent is well and truly there, the skill and -- most importantly -- the desire to continue to improve that skill, likewise. We are, whether amateur or professional, forever blessed with a multitude of beginnings. Thank you! Yes, while I might be getting muddled with the dates, I don't think I had a story professionally published when I did "The Hollow Inside." I had been trying (and trying quite hard!) for a while and I'd put some pieces out myself, I'd never sold a story. Hearing people tell me they liked my story was a big confidence builder at a point where I didn't have a lot of confidence. I go into more detail in the Afterword, but I just want to thank everyone on this forum (and especially everyone involved in Divergent Wordsmiths) for that. I'm not sure I'd be where I am without you. (I've never written an afterword before either, so that's another first.) To be honest, I thought you'd been professionally published before that point, too. Glad to have given you that boost. Check it out, people, it's all worth reading.
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Post by constonks on Dec 2, 2020 0:59:08 GMT
Thank you! Yes, while I might be getting muddled with the dates, I don't think I had a story professionally published when I did "The Hollow Inside." I had been trying (and trying quite hard!) for a while and I'd put some pieces out myself, I'd never sold a story. Hearing people tell me they liked my story was a big confidence builder at a point where I didn't have a lot of confidence. I go into more detail in the Afterword, but I just want to thank everyone on this forum (and especially everyone involved in Divergent Wordsmiths) for that. I'm not sure I'd be where I am without you. (I've never written an afterword before either, so that's another first.) I haven't checked out New Benny 6 yet but if The Hollow Inside was an official Big Finish story and counted as a debut, it would be on this list! Anyone who hasn't read it and likes Susan and is interested in the "running away from Gallifrey" period of the Doctor's life should DEFINITELY check it out. Just imagine it as an Unbound Short Trip read by Carole Ann Ford...
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Post by newt5996 on Dec 2, 2020 1:17:45 GMT
Jacqueline Rayner's The Marian Conspiracy and Robert Shearman's The Holy Terror are both contenders for best debut, they've got to be. I'd need a list of all the debut stories to say for sure, but this sure as hell feels right. See that's the trouble isn't it? Every writer had to start somewhere and there are honestly a bunch of really good ones.
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