/ en-US Mon, 05 Sep 2022 06:46:54 -0700 60 / 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg /author_blog_posts/22886751-eden-m51-book-trailer Mon, 05 Sep 2022 06:46:54 -0700 /author_blog_posts/22886751-eden-m51-book-trailer here on GoodReads.

posted by G.R. Paskoff on September, 05 ]]> /author_blog_posts/21902898-spsfc-quarterfinals Mon, 08 Nov 2021 11:47:34 -0800 /author_blog_posts/21902898-spsfc-quarterfinals
Well, that moment has come. This summer I entered "Eden M51" in the first ever annual Self Published Science Fiction Contest (SPSFC) organized by Hugh Howey and Duncan Swan (which was itself inspired by Mark Lawrence's Self Published Fantasy Blog Off). Ten judging teams were established. Over 300 authors submitted their best work.

As of yesterday, "Eden M51" is officially a Quarterfinalist in the contest! Semi-finalists won't be announced until late January, finalists in late June, but for now I am riding the buzz.

posted by G.R. Paskoff on November, 08 ]]> /author_blog_posts/18324257-free-short-story-laster Fri, 10 May 2019 08:49:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/18324257-free-short-story-laster
In the meantime, I recently self-published an unrelated short story called "Laster." I wrote it about three years ago but never published it. My intent was always to make it free but it needed a cover. At long last it has one and so the story is now in the public domain. The book-jacket synopsis of it is:

"Leroy was never the best student at school but he was never the worst either. School was always about not standing out, not drawing attention to yourself. Especially since his father lost his job and became a migrant worker. But when his father gets relocated to the mines on Mars, Leroy discovers that nothing on Earth prepared him for a world where just the air alone can kill you.

And being different from the other kids at school? Well, let’s just say Leroy doesn’t want that. Leroy doesn’t want that at all."

You can find it at various e-book retailers, but below is the link on Amazon:



Hope people enjoy it.

posted by G.R. Paskoff on May, 10 ]]> /author_blog_posts/15504707-why-not-a-scriptwriting-contest Tue, 01 Aug 2017 11:42:00 -0700 /author_blog_posts/15504707-why-not-a-scriptwriting-contest
Last summer I came across someone's blog talking about legitimate scriptwriting contests. How they have successfully jumpstarted people along their writing careers. Well, from the beginning, I intended that Eden M51 would make a great movie. I just thought someone else would come to the same logical conclusion and it would be spread across several Hollywood producers' desks by now.

*sigh* Well, like they say, if you want something done you have to do it yourself. And it has been a magnificent and challenging task. I have learned a tremendous amount about proper script formatting and have a good deal more respect when I am getting set to watch a movie and see the phrase, "Based on the novel by...."

All told, it has taken me one year to complete. In my first pass, I converted the entire book into script format and it turned out to be 450 pages. An action/sci-fi script (especially from an unknown, untested author) should be no more than 120 pages. That meant that almost 75% of the script had to be axed. At first there were obvious things I could delete, but it very quickly became not only difficult but painful. Whole scenes had to be cut. Entire characters had to be written out of the story. All the while still retaining the core message from the original.

Well. I think I did it. Time, and this contest, will tell if I succeeded.

Now where was I in those other stories I was writing before I got side-tracked...?

posted by G.R. Paskoff on December, 05 ]]> /author_blog_posts/9867726-why-not-one-more-writing-contest Fri, 05 Feb 2016 13:13:49 -0800 /author_blog_posts/9867726-why-not-one-more-writing-contest
posted by G.R. Paskoff on March, 15 ]]>