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Tag: State of the Art

State of the Art – 07/25/2017

Posted on July 25, 2017 By Jackson Allen

Haven’t written one of these in a while. It makes sense to only talk about the author work when I have something interesting to share; who wants to hear ‘cranking on this’ or ‘tweeting about that’ every single week? Here’s what’s happening right now: Mesh Getting some semi-positive responses on my query letters for Mesh….

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Fast Scifi Notes – 05/07/2017

Posted on May 8, 2017 By Jackson Allen

This ripped tendon is still affecting my typing – saving my writing energy for Mesh. Still seeing/reading/experiencing sci-fi, so let me jot down a few notes.

Guardians of the Galaxy 2

I’m going to get some flack for this, but I don’t care. Having seen the first GotG, and now the second, I am remarkably ambivalent about this Marvel franchise. Yes, the acting is great. In fact, the actors consistently rescue what would otherwise be a plodding, hum-drum action story piling layer after layer of perilous escapes until you’re dizzied and numbed, going “Did Michael Bay direct this thing?”

I mean, if Michael Bay is your thing, great. I’m not going to judge. I just didn’t find anything compelling or interesting in the main plots. I thought the underlying themes of loss, redemption and family were interesting, but I didn’t go into the theater looking for Good Peter Quill Hunting.

And what’s with the music? Are we now living in an era where people are prepared to believe that the Seventies soft-rock classics are the pinnacle of the audio art form? When did that happen. It’s like you’ve never seen a Time Life commercial in your life.

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State of the Art – 03/24/2017

Posted on March 24, 2017 By Jackson Allen

I took a little bit of a beating from what I said about writing sci-fi dystopias, but I’m not worried. You can’t be an artist if you aren’t willing to take the hits. Then Matthew Kressel said something and it represents a bit of a mic-drop on the topic: In that spirit, I’m probably going to write…

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State of the Art – 2/20/2017

Posted on February 21, 2017 By Jackson Allen

Late winter in Eugene is always a tough time of year. Introverts love it, though. As dark, wet and cold as it is out there, I have a perfect reason to stay inside. On with life stuff and writing. I’m getting good feedback about ‘The Battle of Victoria Crater,’ and I’m hoping to submit it…

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State of the Art – 12/11/2016

Posted on December 11, 2016 By Jackson Allen

Been a while since I posted – it’s time to get back to doing this. Here’s what has been happening in the last two months, in a nutshell: Tinkered a LOT with the web page – fixed some bugs New Short Stories in production Published more blogs in Bardist and Geekquinox I posted stuff to…

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State of the Art – 10/7/2016

Posted on October 8, 2016 By Jackson Allen

“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately” – Thoreau When I moved to Eugene, it was with the idea that I would be starting over again. To start over, I wanted to apply some lessons learned I picked up from previous adventures. One of them is that I avoid the news….

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State of the Art – 9/30/2016

Posted on September 30, 2016 By Jackson Allen

It makes me laugh to see ‘Portlandia’ go full meta, with one of their filming locations turning into the kind of people they regularly lampoon. Oregon is famous for that kind of bohemian doublethink. Anyway, here’s the State of the Art for this week: Blogged about writing non-stereotypical sci-fi Professed my love for Stranger Things I finished…

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State of the Art – 9/23/2016

Posted on September 23, 2016 By Jackson Allen

Can’t believe how fast the week has flown by. I’ve been banging away at a few things and I can’t wait to share them with you. On a personal note, I’m working through some stuff. Not fun, but that’s life. I don’t want to focus on my mess. I’d rather tell you about the State of…

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State of the Art – 9/16/2016

Posted on September 16, 2016 By Jackson Allen

Busy week for me. Decided to change the name of the digest to ‘State of the Art.’ I like blog post titles that aren’t boring. Anyway, here’s what went down: Shipped two short stories Personal stuff Talked with people online A list of all the stuff I said on Imgur A list of all the…

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Weekly Digest – 9/9/2016

Posted on September 9, 2016 By Jackson Allen

And we’re off! Finished writing a short story, now time for some blogging. The best part about today is that for one day, both American and European people write today’s date exactly the same. Only happens eleven other times in a year. I updated the site header with something more ‘futuristic’ and I hope you enjoy…

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About Me


My name is Jackson Allen. I'm actively writing, querying, submitting neo-Golden Age scifi. I look for future trends in social and technical expansion and ask "how could you tell that story for kids that makes them feel excited about the future?" Lots of self-published shorts - actively querying for a formal, mainstream publication house.

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