Anniversary coming up

Next Tuesday, March 18, is the fifth anniversary of when Gardner Dozois bought my story "A Rocket for the Republic". When I started writing s-f in the fall of 2002, I quickly realized - after a little research - that Gardner was the most respected editor in the field, so I set a goal to sell him a story.

That's one of the few times in my life I actually succeeded in a lofty goal. Let's face it, folks, we seldom get what we want in life. That's usually for the best (I can't help but feel, just from a cumulative sense of intuition, luck is not random and most of us have more bad luck than good. Then again, considering how estranged we are from the Deity - whether you call him Jesus, Buddha, Mo hammed or whatever - I guess what we get what we deserve.)

Although Gardner retired right afterward, Asimov's agreed to honor his buys, and "Rocket" was published in Asimov's in Sept. 2005.

I've had some pretty good pubs since then, and some good reviews. "The Witch of Waxahachie" - Baen's April 2008 - is probably my most prestigious publication (also, the best paying). "Avatar" in the Brit ezine Dark Matter (April 2007) got the best reviews of any story I ever wrote; its the only story I ever wrote that received unanimously positive reviews.

Right now, I seem to be a period of clearing out the trunk. The acceptance of "The Man Who Machine-Gunned the Lady of the Lake" for the anthology being published by the North Texas Speculative Fiction Workshop, "The 28th Dimension: Tales from the Texas Zone", is my 46th.

Alienskin is publishing my flash "Airy Chick" in its June/July issue. M-Brane SF will publish "Business as Usual in Issue No. 3; I think that will be coming out next month. Science Fiction Trails will be publishing "Professor Malakoff's Amazing Ethereal telegraph" in its annual issue later this year.

Those follow the publication of "Acroscaphe", "Video Killed the Radio Star" and "The Silver Dollar Saucer" in December and January (by respectively, Planetary Stories, Apehelion, and Ray Gun Revival).

Ahh, just scribble, scribble, as they say.