Martin L. Shoemaker is a programmer who writes on the side... or maybe it's the other way around. Programming pays the bills, but a second-place story in the Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest earned him lunch with Buzz Aldrin. Programming never did that! His work has appeared in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Galaxy's Edge, Digital Science Fiction, Forever Magazine, Writers of the Future, and numerous anthologies including Year's Best Military and Adventure SF 4, Man-Kzin Wars XV, The Jim Baen Memorial Award: The First Decade, Little Green Men-Attack!, More Human Than Human: Stories of Androids, Robots, and Manufactured Humanity, Avatar Dreams, Weird World War III, Weird World War III: China, Weird World War IV, ROBOSOLDIERS: Thank You for Your Servos, Gunfight on Europa Station, Surviving Tomorrow, Humanity 2.0, Murderbirds, Vampire Survival Guide: An Anthology for Cautious Immortals, and Tales of the United States Space Force. His Clarkesworld story "Today I Am Paul" appeared in four different year's best anthologies and eight international editions. His follow-on novel, Today I Am Carey, was published by Baen Books in March 2019. His novel The Last Dance was published by 47North in November 2019, and was the number one science fiction eBook on Amazon during October's prerelease. The sequel, The Last Campaign was published in October 2020.
You can learn more about Martin's work at http://Shoemaker.Space
In 2025, Martin L. Shoemaker taught The Jazz Sessions, Zoom classes on writing, taught in the moment. Once a week for twenty-six straight weeks, he discussed craft, business, and occasional tributes to his mentors--because his mentors believed in Pay It Forward. Those classes and this book were his chance to pay it forward to you. This book goes into more depth on thirteen of the most popular sessions, covering craft and business... and soul.
"Martin's ability to teach writing concepts is unlike anyone's I've ever met. I took pages of notes and for someone who attended a lot of writing conferences in the past and thought she heard it all, this was a pleasant surprise- and humbling! Martins mix of information, humor and stories are interbreed with his extensive knowledge and understanding not just of how to write a dang good story, but of the industry as well. So being informative and entertaining was a perfect fit for my adhd brain. Oh to be that talented. Well this book will get you several steps closer to the talent you'd like to pursue. There are only a few places I'd send aspiring authors to learn from, most of the greatest have passed on- but Martin Shoemaker is high on that short list to learn from. Not only do I recommend Martin to new authors, but to my long term author friends as well. Buy this book, you won't be disappointed."
– Bex May"The SouthPark secret, using dictation to produce, produce, produce, or introduction to story modeling on a modeling scale. These three topics one only a drop in the bucket of the information I learned during the Jazz Sessions. Leaving each week with something to ponder as well as feeling confident that I'd mastered topics, but really opening my eyes that a writer must write. It's great to be curious and awesome to try new things. Martin Shoemaker's Jazz Sessions helped me take the next step forward in my writing and created a space wide enough to cultivate anyone's imagination."
– David J. VowellI had a stroke.
But I'm feeling much better now...
It happened in my sleep, and I never really noticed. When I woke up, my only recognizable symptoms were that I couldn't balance well, particularly standing in the shower. I would lean my head back to rinse my hair, and I practically fell over.
But I got dressed, I went down the stairs--listing to the left the whole way--and I got my Jeep and drove to work. I even dictated an hour as I drove; and looking back at the transcription of that session later, my prose was no worse than ever. [Insert self-deprecating joke here...] There was no obvious sign that my brain wasn't working.
When I got to work, I kept veering left into things. My left foot simply would not step forward at the same pace as my right. I banged into walls, and my coworkers were understandably concerned. To my gratitude, they took care of me as I got checked out by on-site medics who then called the ambulance to drive me to Bronson Hospital's excellent stroke care unit.
One of the first things I did after I understood what was going on and felt safe for my next two weeks of hospital and rehab stay was I dictated. I did not want to lose my writing. Dictation became part of my therapy, encouraged by the doctors and nurses because it was a great assessment for exactly how much my brain was damaged. And I was dictating a brand-new novel set in the neighborhood of the hospital across two different times. I was making progress the whole time in terms of words produced any in terms of ideas inspired.
But I haven't finished that book. Not yet. There were parts of it I love, but I couldn't stick to it long enough. It couldn't hold my interest.
And that was the nature of my writing for another fourteen months. I managed to start projects, but I couldn't finish them. Far, far worse than any earlier blocks. My brain was capable, but I was tired. Brain recovery is exhausting. They told me that six months was the earliest I should expect to feel like I was getting back to normal. And until roughly six months, I found I could fall asleep in just about any situation. If I sat down to work order, I could just have a spontaneous nap.
Even after six months, I was tired all the time. I'll be honest: I'm still more tired two years later than I was before the stroke. I can't work such long days. This is the point were friends say Good. They felt I was always working too hard. But when you love programming, and you love writing, it doesn't feel like work.
It still didn't feel like work, but finishing was beyond me. Yet I still wanted to be a writer, to participate in the writing world.
Then, in response to questions from Annemarie SanSevero (my tireless editor), I decided that I did have enough energy to teach. I had done plenty of teaching before at conferences such as Fyrecon (run by Jenna Eatough and DawnRay Ammon). I had lots of material. So I took it to zoom as The Jazz Sessions, and I taught anyone who signed up to listen.
The book you hold now is the result of those Jazz Sessions. I called them that because my new writing brand was Story Jazz: Create in the moment. That was how I was teaching these classes: in the moment. From having the idea to the first session was five days. All I needed to do was gather the audience, clean up some old slides, add some new slides, and teach. Once a week, for an hour or more. I did this for twenty-six straight weeks, discussing craft, business, and occasional tributes to my mentors--because my mentors believe in pay it forward, and this was my chance to pay it forward to you.
After twenty-six weeks, I started feeling that it was time to write again. To finish something. And I did. Fourteen months after my stroke, I finished one story, then another. Then a third. And then I met Bobo Buttons, Private Eye, and I wrote five complete novels with a sixth in progress. But that's a story for another day...
The book you hold now is the highlights of those twenty-six weeks, my paying it forward to you. These were my thoughts in a particular time when I was still a writer, even though I wasn't writing. They got me back to writing. I hope they can get you writing, too.
Biography
Martin L. Shoemaker is a programmer who writes on the side... or maybe it's the other way around. Programming pays the bills, but a second-place story in the Jim Baen Memorial Writing Contest earned him lunch with Buzz Aldrin. Programming never did that! His work has appeared in Analog Science Fiction & Fact, Galaxy's Edge, Digital Science Fiction, Forever Magazine, Writers of the Future, and numerous anthologies including Year's Best Military and Adventure SF 4, Man-Kzin Wars XV, The Jim Baen Memorial Award: The First Decade, Little Green Men--Attack!, More Human Than Human: Stories of Androids, Robots, and Manufactured Humanity, Avatar Dreams, Weird World War III, Weird World War III: China, Weird World War IV, ROBOSOLDIERS: Thank You for Your Servos, Gunfight on Europa Station, Surviving Tomorrow, Humanity 2.0, Murderbirds, Vampire Survival Guide: An Anthology for Cautious Immortals, and Tales of the United States Space Force. His Clarkesworld story "Today I Am Paul" appeared in four different year's best anthologies and eight international editions. His follow-on novel, Today I Am Carey, was published by Baen Books in March 2019. His novel The Last Dance was published by 47North in November 2019, and was the number one science fiction eBook on Amazon during October's prerelease. The sequel, The Last Campaign was published in October 2020.
You can learn more about Martin's work at http://Shoemaker.Space
