"The Clock Struck None" is a Best Bet at Kirkus

Hot on the heels of the news of the entry in the Science Fiction Encyclopedia, I see that John DeNardo of SF Signal wrote the review  for "Best Bets for Speculative Fiction Books for February 2014" in Kirkus.

In addition to 20 recommended novels, he ends with a nod to short fiction:

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Here are some short fiction titles this month that are worth a look. Why should you read them? Because short fiction gives you chance to experience new writers and new ideas in easily digestible chunks.

¨  Further Encounters of Sherlock Holmes edited by George Mann

¨  Grim edited by Christine Johnson

¨  Lovers & Fighters, Starships & Dragons by Tom Purdom

¨  The Clock Struck None by Lou Antonelli

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So again, good news! Thanks, John!

My entry in the Encyclopedia of Science Fiction

I just discovered I have an entry in The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, written by John Clute. It's very accurate; it appears Clute is actually familiar with my work:

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US journalist, editor and author who began publishing work of genre interest with "Double Crossing the Styx" in Continuum Science Fiction for Fall 2004, and who has released a large number of stories since, though no novels.

A large number of these are tall tales set in a fantasticated Texas, many of them being assembled as Fantastic Texas (coll 2009; Texas & Other Planets (2010), with more Texas tales included in The Clock Struck None: a Collection of Alternate and Secret History Short Stories (coll 2014).

In a spare, swift, convincing narrative style, conveying in a deadpan voice a wide array of sometimes paranoid suppositions about the world, Antonelli juxtaposes realities with very considerable skill, creating a variety of alternate worlds, some of them somewhat resembling the constructions of Howard Waldrop, and making some sharp points about American history, race relations, dreams, and occasional nightmares in which the twentieth century goes wrong.

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It's dated Jan. 15. I'm honored to be included. I omitted footnotes and stuff in what I cut and pasted above. If you want to read the original entry, here's a link:

Open to new ideas

A while back I took some time to promote my story "Hearts Made of Stone", which was published in the original anthology Song Stories in 2013. Using the Nebula nominations in the SFWA as an excuse, I spent time going through the membership list and making an email list. I typed one version for Associate members - who can nominate for the award but not vote - and another one for full members, the Active members.

I sent the first email out Jan. 5, and the second Jan. 12. I included a link to a page on my blog where I had posted the story. Aside from the practical benefit of spreading the work out, I was curious to see if there was a different reaction between the classes of members.

The email to the Active members suffered from a flaw when I absent-mindedly posted all the names in the CC line instead of the BCC line (I sent the originating email to myself to check it). I mentioned that flub in a post here a while back.

Other than that, the emails were very similar. I thought what feedback I got was interesting. There were more bounced emails from the associate list, and a few "I don't write science fiction any more". A number of people asked me to read their stuff, which I am doing. It seems to have been a nice way to solicit some reading suggestions.

From the active members, a number of people told me what a mistake I made with the CC list, and some were pretty rude about it. There were also some very nice and positive replies, and some people understood the email flub was an honest mistake.

As you would think, the associate members seemed to be much more open to reading my story. The traffic to that web page the week after the email to the associate members was FOUR TIMES the traffic the week after the email to the pros.

Illness strikes

I've been pretty much smacked down by a very bad cold this week. Wednesday night I had such a bad runny nose I had to sleep sitting up in an armchair. Needless to say, no writing done this week.

My wife was so sick she missed four days of work. Since Monday was a holiday (she's a school teacher), that means she missed the whole week. She went to the doctor on Wednesday. I stayed home that day and worked from home myself, to save my strength - I had to work Thursday and Friday because of a special annual section that was being printed.

On personal opinions

This past weekend Jay Lake posted on his blog a long scroll on the subject that everything conservatives have ever supported historically has been wrong.

Of course, Jay is entitled to his opinion, but my experience in the past has been when you make such blanket statements, you will be called out on it, and Brad Torgersen did so Sunday on Facebook. Brad and Jay quickly got into a rapidly escalating heated discussion.

Like a virulent disease, the discussion quickly burned itself out, with everyone feeling a little stupid, I suppose.

My only contribution to this exchange was the following short and succinct summation of my personal position about exchanging opinions:

I've come to the personal decision that if I know someone because of writing, I will talk to them about writing. If I want to talk politics, I will discuss it with someone I've involved in politics with. If I want to talk religion, I will talk to someone I know from church. 

Mixing up these topics online, to me, has been worse than worthless, because it only leads to argument and fights. Religion, politics, and even stuff as trivial as personal tastes in food, are purely personal.

On the reasons the Masons have prospered as a fraternity is that they explicitly prohibit any discussion of religion or politics within its ranks.

Email mistake

Last weekend I spent a little time typing and sending out emails drumming up support and attention - in light of the upcoming Feb. 15 deadline for Nebula nominations - among fellow members of the SFWA for my story "Hearts Made of Stone", which was published in the Song Story anthology by Wakefied Mahon.
I'm proud of the story, and I'm glad I tried to garner it more attention. Like a proud mother, I think every author should love their own offspring.
In my haste I listed everyone's email address in the CC line of the email, which made them visible to everyone. A few people quickly noted the blunder. I thanked them, noting it was a mistake and a bone-headed move.
Some people were very nice about it, and some people obviously think I'm moron. I sent off an email today to one particular person who apparently has a very low opinion of me. Here is is the text, minus - of course - any information about the subject. I think it is as good as good an explanation as any of what I set out to do:
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When I sat down last weekend and spent a few hours pulling out emails from the SFWA membership roster to send my email to about "Hearts Made of Stone", I looked for people I had previously met, dealt with in some fashion, or who I knew of and respected.
You were someone I had heard positive things about in the past, and although we've never met or dealt with each other, I thought you're someone whose opinion I should respect. Which is why I added your name.
Sorry if I offended you. I am just an amateur writer, and in my enthusiasm for my story, I was a little careless. That CC copying was just block-headed, but I've apologized to everyone who mentioned it to me. I apologize to you, also.
My "real" job is as a small-town newspaper editor, and I'm very happy, so any extra fun I get in life from fiction writing is just gravy. I'm one of those old-fashioned types who believes failing is not a problem, the problem is when you don't try at all.
Working to gain a little exposure for my story was a learning experience, so I'm glad I did it, even though it didn't turn out exactly how I planned or hoped. We live and learn.
Maybe some day we'll run into each other, and we'll laugh about this over a beer or a burger. In the meantime, good luck in whatever makes you happy in life!

Today is the last day of my excerpt from "Riders of the Red Shift" being the feature for Futurescope at Amazing Stories.

Thanks to Steve Davidson for letting me kick off the feature.

Starting tomorrow Chuck Rothman's "Staroamer's Fate" will be the featured excerpt.