Tuckerization

You know, "Dispatches from the Troubles" has the most overt Tuckerization I've ever done. I named the Police Commissioner for the American-Irish Republic "Guillermo Ledbetter" in tribute to my friend Bill Ledbetter.

I'm up to 2,700 words on my latest AH story, "Desarallo Separado" ('Separate Development' in Spanish) which is set in the future after the U.S. loses control of Texas and a racist redneck regime imposes "Texpartheid" on the Mexican majority.

The latest

Mailed off my latest, "Black Hats and Blackberrys" today, also dropped a previous story, "Meet Me at the Grassy Knoll" to a place I've never submitted before,the Saturday Evening Post.

I don't think a whole lot is shaking in the genre this week, with the combination of the summer doldrums and Readercon. I checked the temperatures this afternoon between here and Boston - 63 degrees versus 89. No wonder everyone is going to Readercon!

Finishing up

Finished checking manuscript for "Fantastic Texas" and emailed it back to Ian Strock.

Also finished up "Black Hats and Blackberrys." It's fairly short, came in at 2,200 words.

This is the 84th story I've written since 2002.

Proof-checking time

Hope everyone had a nice 4th of July.

My main project for the rest of the weekend is to check the manuscript for my Texas-themed short story reprint collection which is going to be printed by Wilder Publications. Editor Ian Randal Strock got it to me a few days ago. I want to get "Fantastic Texas" back to him by Monday.

Heroic Fantasy Quarterly

Got word from Adrian Simmons about the launch of a new ezine. Thought I'd give it a plug here. Here is their own description from their web site:

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Heroic Fantasy Quarterly is an ezine dedicated to publishing short works of heroic fantasy. More than that, through both prose and poetry we hope to hearken an older age of storytelling — an age when a story well told enthralled audiences. Traits of great oral storytelling survive the ages to influence treasures of literature, the pulps, radio plays, late-night game sessions, and now Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.

Our favorite storytellers, a few ancient and a few not, deliver action, reaction, and repercussion — and rarely divulge the thought processes that guide a character. These storytellers know that sometimes an audience just wants to see what happens next, that sometimes it’s more interesting to watch a person open a box than to hear about why he or she decided to open it in the first place.

Here’s a little more, then, about what you’ll find inside the HFQ box . . .

As our name suggests, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly isn’t limited to stories about swordsmen or far-traveling adventurers; it’s also about fantastical lands and magicks and creatures — both friend and foe — which together make heroic fantasy tales memorable and distinct from other sorts of stories.

But the tales at HFQ share another quality no less important than any other: our prose starts fast, with an emphasis on action. Be it an exchange of blows or insults, the spurring-on of steed, or the application of poultices to wounds, things happen and happen quickly in the pages of HFQ.

So if you like some sorcery with your sword and the prospect of blood with your poetry, bookmark us (or subscribe via RSS) and look for new issues at the first of July, October, January, and April.

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Their address is http://www.heroicfantasyquarterly.com/

Another sale

Got the email today that my rewrite of the ending of "Dispatches from The Troubles" was acceptable and so GUD (Greatest Uncommon Denominator) magazine has accepted my story for Spring 2010. I have confirmed my acceptance.

It will be published is Issue No. 6. Issue No. 4 is going out in the mail right now.

GUD is a semi-annual and seems to establishing an excellent reputation for itself. "Painlessness" (from issue No. 2) won 2009 Ditmar Award for Best Novella and 2008 Aurealis Award for Best Horror Short Story; "Night Bird Soaring" (from issue No. 3) up for 2008 Sidewise Award for Best Short-Form Alternate History

"Dispatches" has got to be one of the wackiest alternate histories I've ever done, and it's set down smack dab in South Texas. At over 11,000 words, it is the longest story I've ever written (except for the book, of course).

With Abandoned Towers accepting "Across the Plains" a few days ago (I dropped the contract for them in today's mail), that's two stories already accepted for 2010.

Neanderthal tales

Ted Kosmatka is collecting up stories to read with the goal of pitching a Neanderthal-themed collection to a publisher. I emailed him my story "My Ugly Little Self" which ran in the U.K. publication Twisted Tongue in Dec. 2007. Ted's story "N-Words" was reprinted in both the Dozois and Hartwell "Best of" anthologies this year.

Got promising news from a semi-prozine, that they are considering a story for their Spring 2010 issue. The editor asked for a rewrite of the ending, which I've done and sent on its way.

Latest sale

Got the contract in the email yesterday from the magazine Abandoned Towers. It started last year and is up to issue No. 3. They will have a fourth issue in a while and my story "Across the Plains" will be running in Issue No. 5, early next year. It's a small sale, but its a print magazine, and keeps up the process of emptying the trunk. It is a fantasy, whereby I depict an incident that explains where a 12-year old kid name of Bobby Howard gets visions of a barbarian past.

Another Honorable Mention

Tuesday, June 23, was the release date for Gardner's annual anthology, "The Year's Best Science Fiction". This is the 26th annual edition. I logged in and ordered it from Amazon, and it arrived in today's mail (Saturday).

It was nice to see he recognized "The Witch of Waxahachie" in the honorable mention list. That's the tenth time he's done that since the 2004 volume. I've had at least one every year since then except for 2007.

Friday Night Videos

James McMurtry - Levelland