I was sorry to hear recently that a small e-zine called Astounding Tales closed down. It was run by two fellows named Keith Graham and Arthur Sanchez. A message went up on March 1 that said they were closing up shop.
Of course, little outfits like that are a labor of love. From what was written on the web site's forum, it sounds like the fun wore off. Apparently the pair got into a big brouhaha and that ended that.
Although one's first reaction is to think that this kind of stuff is petty, let's bear in mind that these kind of projects are done for the love only, and we have no right to expect anything for nothing. To what extent Astounding Tales published some nice little pieces of writing, we're all better off.
I'll always be grateful to them for publishing "Circe in Vitro" in December 2004. "Circe" was a neat little tale that got good reactions wherever it was shopped, but didn't get a bite. Well, a fellow named Kris Barton accepted it earlier for a webzine he called Revelations S-F, but that went belly up before "Circe" was published. It sounds like "Circe" was cursed, because now Astounding Tales is kaput, also.
My good feeling about "Circe" was confirmed when Gardner Dozois gave it an honorable mention in "The Year's Best Science Fiction" collection last year. It was one of my four HMs and the only one Astounding ever received.
Like I said, sorry to see them go.
Sunday, March 12, 2006
Friday, March 03, 2006
Campbell eligibility
Jim Van Pelt used to maintain a web site for the John W. Campbell Award for new writers, but he relinquished it last year. I never found out if anyone started a new one, until today, thanks to a link on the old site (which is now an archive).
I sent a message to the new site asking to be included in the list of eligible authors. Here's a copy of it:
#
Lou Antonelli has had 22 stories published since he started writing science fiction in August 2002. A journalist by profession, he is the editor of a semi-weekly community newspaper in East Texas.
"A Rocket for the Republic", published in the Sept. 2005 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction, was Lou's first SFWA-level sale. It was also the last story Gardner Dozois accepted for Asimov's before retiring after 19 years as editor.
Lou is a member of the Turkey City workshop in Austin, Texas. He has been a guest at ConDFW, FenCon, Marcon, Conestoga, SoonerCon and AggieCon.
Bibliography:
1. "Silvern" - RevolutionSF, June 2003.
2. "Silence is Golden" - RevolutionSF, August 2003.
3. "Comes the Juju Man" - GateWay science fiction, December 2003.
4. "S*P*P*A*M*" - Bewildering Stories, December 2003.
5. "Rome, If You Want To" - Surprising Stories, May 2004.
6. "Pen Pal" - RevolutionSF, July 2004.
7. "I Got You" - Bewildering Stories, July 2004.
8. "Flash, Boom, Bam (a flash anthology" - Bewilderimg Stories, July 2004.
9. "Doppelgangster" - Bewildering Stories, Sept. 2004.
10. "Double-Crossing the Styx" - Continuum Science Fiction, Fall 2004.
11. "The Rocket-Powered Cat" - RevolutionSF, Dec. 2004.
12. "Circe in Vitro" - Astounding Tales, December 2004.
13. "They Call It Time" - AlienSkin, Dec./Jan. 2005.
14. "Won't You Come Home, Bill Buckley?" - Bewildering Stories, Feb. 2005.
15. "Big Girl" - Ultraverse, May/June 2005.
16. "The Hideaway" - AlienSkin, June/July 2005.
17. "The Honor of the Blue Devil Patrol" - Beyond Centuari, June/July 2005.
18. "The Cast Iron Dybbuk" - June/July 2005, Andromeda Spaceways In-flight Magazine.
19. "Dialogue" - RevolutionSF, August 2005.
20. "A Rocket for the Republic" - Asimov's Science Fiction, Sept. 2005.
22. "After Image" - Surprising Stories, Sept. 2005.
22. "The Queen of Guilty Pleasures" - Bewildering Stories, Oct. 2005.
"Silence is Golden" was honored with an Honorable Mention in "The Year's Best Science Fiction, 21st annual collection (2004)", St. Martin's Press, New York, N.Y.
The following stories were honored with Honorable Mentions in "The Year's Best Science Fiction, 22st annual collection (2005)"
"Pen Pal"
"The Rocket-Powered Cat"
"I Got You"
"Circe in Vitro"
Some reviews of "A Rocket for the Republic":
"Texan tall tale, or sci-fi fabulism? A fun first-person narrative about the first space expedition ÷ way back in the thirties. The eighteen thirties, that is." - L. Blunt Jackson ("Bluejack"), the Internet Review of Science Fiction (IROSF)
"A light-hearted Asimov's debut" - Sheila Williams, Asimov's Science Fiction.
"Very good" - SF Revu.
"A short and amusing tall tale about an experimental rocket and an encounter with aliens in the early 1800s." - Eagle's Path Short Fiction Reviews.
"Steam Punk fans who long for a wholly American twist on the genre will enjoy this story." - Doug Hoffman, Tangent Online.
Review of "The Cast Iron Dybbuk":
"This issue of ASIM opens with the fun little tale “The Cast Iron Dybbuk” by Lou Antonelli. Miners come across a very ancient artifact, and Bad Things happen... the concept behind the story and the humorous note it ends on are enough to pull it through, starting another issue of ASIM off right. " - Paul J. Iutzi , Tanget Online.
I sent a message to the new site asking to be included in the list of eligible authors. Here's a copy of it:
#
Lou Antonelli has had 22 stories published since he started writing science fiction in August 2002. A journalist by profession, he is the editor of a semi-weekly community newspaper in East Texas.
"A Rocket for the Republic", published in the Sept. 2005 issue of Asimov's Science Fiction, was Lou's first SFWA-level sale. It was also the last story Gardner Dozois accepted for Asimov's before retiring after 19 years as editor.
Lou is a member of the Turkey City workshop in Austin, Texas. He has been a guest at ConDFW, FenCon, Marcon, Conestoga, SoonerCon and AggieCon.
Bibliography:
1. "Silvern" - RevolutionSF, June 2003.
2. "Silence is Golden" - RevolutionSF, August 2003.
3. "Comes the Juju Man" - GateWay science fiction, December 2003.
4. "S*P*P*A*M*" - Bewildering Stories, December 2003.
5. "Rome, If You Want To" - Surprising Stories, May 2004.
6. "Pen Pal" - RevolutionSF, July 2004.
7. "I Got You" - Bewildering Stories, July 2004.
8. "Flash, Boom, Bam (a flash anthology" - Bewilderimg Stories, July 2004.
9. "Doppelgangster" - Bewildering Stories, Sept. 2004.
10. "Double-Crossing the Styx" - Continuum Science Fiction, Fall 2004.
11. "The Rocket-Powered Cat" - RevolutionSF, Dec. 2004.
12. "Circe in Vitro" - Astounding Tales, December 2004.
13. "They Call It Time" - AlienSkin, Dec./Jan. 2005.
14. "Won't You Come Home, Bill Buckley?" - Bewildering Stories, Feb. 2005.
15. "Big Girl" - Ultraverse, May/June 2005.
16. "The Hideaway" - AlienSkin, June/July 2005.
17. "The Honor of the Blue Devil Patrol" - Beyond Centuari, June/July 2005.
18. "The Cast Iron Dybbuk" - June/July 2005, Andromeda Spaceways In-flight Magazine.
19. "Dialogue" - RevolutionSF, August 2005.
20. "A Rocket for the Republic" - Asimov's Science Fiction, Sept. 2005.
22. "After Image" - Surprising Stories, Sept. 2005.
22. "The Queen of Guilty Pleasures" - Bewildering Stories, Oct. 2005.
"Silence is Golden" was honored with an Honorable Mention in "The Year's Best Science Fiction, 21st annual collection (2004)", St. Martin's Press, New York, N.Y.
The following stories were honored with Honorable Mentions in "The Year's Best Science Fiction, 22st annual collection (2005)"
"Pen Pal"
"The Rocket-Powered Cat"
"I Got You"
"Circe in Vitro"
Some reviews of "A Rocket for the Republic":
"Texan tall tale, or sci-fi fabulism? A fun first-person narrative about the first space expedition ÷ way back in the thirties. The eighteen thirties, that is." - L. Blunt Jackson ("Bluejack"), the Internet Review of Science Fiction (IROSF)
"A light-hearted Asimov's debut" - Sheila Williams, Asimov's Science Fiction.
"Very good" - SF Revu.
"A short and amusing tall tale about an experimental rocket and an encounter with aliens in the early 1800s." - Eagle's Path Short Fiction Reviews.
"Steam Punk fans who long for a wholly American twist on the genre will enjoy this story." - Doug Hoffman, Tangent Online.
Review of "The Cast Iron Dybbuk":
"This issue of ASIM opens with the fun little tale “The Cast Iron Dybbuk” by Lou Antonelli. Miners come across a very ancient artifact, and Bad Things happen... the concept behind the story and the humorous note it ends on are enough to pull it through, starting another issue of ASIM off right. " - Paul J. Iutzi , Tanget Online.
Tuesday, February 28, 2006
Farewell to the Little Blonde
Well, I was in Dallas at ConDFW Saturday and Sunday. I was on two panels Saturday; one at 10 a.m. on "Escape from the Slush Pile Part Two: Periodicals"; the other at 2 p.m. on "World Wide Writing: Using the Internet to Further Your Career". I was the moderator for the first panel; that's the second time I've chaired one.
Got a nice eboboo when I visited the literature table and noticed the posters for SoonerCon. I am one of the guests they listed. That's the first time I've been on a flyer.
Picked up lots of good info -especially about the upcoming WorldCon in LA, as well as future WorldCon bids.
Weekend ended on a down note, though. Late Sunday, as the wife and I were getting ready to go to bed, we sent our 13-year old Golden Cocker Spaniel outside. When she didn't bark to be let back in, I went outside to look for her.
She had gone over to her favorite spot in the yard to nap - which wasn't so unusual, since she has been known to want to sleep outside at night when it was warm.
But it wasn't particularly warm that night, and when I nudged her, I realized she had taken the Big Snooze.
Bless her little furry blonde heart, she must have felt it coming on, and went down to her favorite spot to "sleep".
We should have such a quick end. She went out like a classy lady.
We've gone from two dogs to none in a month in a half.
Got a nice eboboo when I visited the literature table and noticed the posters for SoonerCon. I am one of the guests they listed. That's the first time I've been on a flyer.
Picked up lots of good info -especially about the upcoming WorldCon in LA, as well as future WorldCon bids.
Weekend ended on a down note, though. Late Sunday, as the wife and I were getting ready to go to bed, we sent our 13-year old Golden Cocker Spaniel outside. When she didn't bark to be let back in, I went outside to look for her.
She had gone over to her favorite spot in the yard to nap - which wasn't so unusual, since she has been known to want to sleep outside at night when it was warm.
But it wasn't particularly warm that night, and when I nudged her, I realized she had taken the Big Snooze.
Bless her little furry blonde heart, she must have felt it coming on, and went down to her favorite spot to "sleep".
We should have such a quick end. She went out like a classy lady.
We've gone from two dogs to none in a month in a half.
Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Going to Dallas this weekend
Well, I'll be in Dallas this weekend as a guest of ConDFW V. I'll be on two panels, both on Saturday.
The first will be in Panel Room 2 (Magnolia) at 10 a.m. "Escape from the Slush Pile Part Two: Periodicals": Hosted by Lou Antonelli, Dusty Rainbolt, Christopher Fulbright, Teresa Patterson, and K.D. Wentworth. Industry pros discuss periodicals and magazines as a route to breaking into the fiction market.
The second will be in Panel Room 3 (Mesquite) at 2 p.m. "World Wide Writing: Using the Internet to Further Your Career": Hosted by Lou Antonelli, Renee Brown, Scott Cupp, Rhonda Eudaly, Rie Sheridan and T.M. Wagner. How can you use online markets to get your stories read? What sites really work and what sites merely lurk? Is there a difference between the fiction that works for the web and fiction that works for the page?
This will be the third time I've attended ConDFW. It was the first Con I ever attended, in 2003. I also was able to make it last year, in 2005.
I'm looking forward to it.
The first will be in Panel Room 2 (Magnolia) at 10 a.m. "Escape from the Slush Pile Part Two: Periodicals": Hosted by Lou Antonelli, Dusty Rainbolt, Christopher Fulbright, Teresa Patterson, and K.D. Wentworth. Industry pros discuss periodicals and magazines as a route to breaking into the fiction market.
The second will be in Panel Room 3 (Mesquite) at 2 p.m. "World Wide Writing: Using the Internet to Further Your Career": Hosted by Lou Antonelli, Renee Brown, Scott Cupp, Rhonda Eudaly, Rie Sheridan and T.M. Wagner. How can you use online markets to get your stories read? What sites really work and what sites merely lurk? Is there a difference between the fiction that works for the web and fiction that works for the page?
This will be the third time I've attended ConDFW. It was the first Con I ever attended, in 2003. I also was able to make it last year, in 2005.
I'm looking forward to it.
Saturday, February 18, 2006
The original ending
You know, I had a thought since I posted "A Rocket for the Republic" on my web site. When Gardner accepted it, he didn't change anything, except the ending.
I still have the original version of the story on a backup disk. So I thought, in case anyone is interested, as sort of a historical curiosity, to print the original ending. It was actually shorter than the final version - but I think you would admit the end product was better.
The first line here is the last line that remains the same, where the change happens:
"Well, here I am at 200. I guess it's time to come clean, huh? "
"So what do you think of that story? You gonna write it up?
"You gonna tell who? Who the hell's Doe-zwah? That some Cajun
friend of yours?"
OK, the original ending was my way in keeping in the spirit of the story - which is what would have happened if some poor schmuck small town newspaper editor (like me) stumbled across the story. The ending, of course, is true to what would have happened if the story had been told to ME.
But I have to admit, in the long run, the ending we worked up was better.
I still have the original version of the story on a backup disk. So I thought, in case anyone is interested, as sort of a historical curiosity, to print the original ending. It was actually shorter than the final version - but I think you would admit the end product was better.
The first line here is the last line that remains the same, where the change happens:
"Well, here I am at 200. I guess it's time to come clean, huh? "
"So what do you think of that story? You gonna write it up?
"You gonna tell who? Who the hell's Doe-zwah? That some Cajun
friend of yours?"
OK, the original ending was my way in keeping in the spirit of the story - which is what would have happened if some poor schmuck small town newspaper editor (like me) stumbled across the story. The ending, of course, is true to what would have happened if the story had been told to ME.
But I have to admit, in the long run, the ending we worked up was better.
Thursday, February 16, 2006
Another gig
I received word yesterday that I have been invited to be a guest at FenCon, which will be held in Dallas Sept. 22-24.
Not only did they post my bio, but they're touting myself (and Deborah Leblanc) as first-time guests on their home page - which is a nice egoboo.
I first met Deborah at a workshop sponsored by NETWO (Northeast Texas Writer's Organization) in Winnsboro, where I used to live, in the spring of 2004. She was a presenter.
Last summer, we were the sacrificial lambs whose readings were scheduled opposite George R.R. Martin's at Conestoga in Tulsa. Ouch!
This is the fifth gig I've gotten so far this year as a guest.
FenCon will have a suite at ConDFW the weekend after next, so I will probably take the opportunity to drop in and thank them in person.
Over on my web site, where I've republished "A Rocket for the Republic", I enabled the option for people to leave their opinions.
Not only did they post my bio, but they're touting myself (and Deborah Leblanc) as first-time guests on their home page - which is a nice egoboo.
I first met Deborah at a workshop sponsored by NETWO (Northeast Texas Writer's Organization) in Winnsboro, where I used to live, in the spring of 2004. She was a presenter.
Last summer, we were the sacrificial lambs whose readings were scheduled opposite George R.R. Martin's at Conestoga in Tulsa. Ouch!
This is the fifth gig I've gotten so far this year as a guest.
FenCon will have a suite at ConDFW the weekend after next, so I will probably take the opportunity to drop in and thank them in person.
Over on my web site, where I've republished "A Rocket for the Republic", I enabled the option for people to leave their opinions.
Tuesday, February 14, 2006
"Rocket" flies again
In case anyone out there in the great blogosphere hasn't read the story yet - or for those of you who want to read it again - I've posted "A Rocket for the Republic" on my web site:
http://www.cedarhillsentinel.com/default.asp
I went back and read my contract just to be be sure I wasn't breaking any agreement by electronically republishing the story, but it looks like I'm in the clear. The electronic rights only extend for the month the magazine was on the newsstands. Just to be sure, I emailed Sheila Williams to double-check, but she confirmed what I supposed.
http://www.cedarhillsentinel.com/default.asp
I went back and read my contract just to be be sure I wasn't breaking any agreement by electronically republishing the story, but it looks like I'm in the clear. The electronic rights only extend for the month the magazine was on the newsstands. Just to be sure, I emailed Sheila Williams to double-check, but she confirmed what I supposed.
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