Thursday, March 31, 2011
Another collection?
I was asked by a publisher I saw at a recent convention to send him something, so I am trying to work up another reprint collection. One complication is that some of the stories only exist on floppy disks now, from their original backups, so I have to work on gaining access to them again.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
"Shadow Gate" debuts Friday
A new print publication, "Shadow Gate", is set to debut on Friday, April 1. They must be close to roll out. I got my Pay Pal payment for my story, "Hopscotch and Hottentots".
In its web site, the magazine describes itself as having "a vision through which we can view many worlds and new exciting situations."
"We are a simple short story magazine that only accepts and presents the best."
They also quote Gene Roddenberry, "For me science fiction is a way of thinking, a way of logic that bypasses a lot of nonsense. It allows people to look directly at important subjects."
In its web site, the magazine describes itself as having "a vision through which we can view many worlds and new exciting situations."
"We are a simple short story magazine that only accepts and presents the best."
They also quote Gene Roddenberry, "For me science fiction is a way of thinking, a way of logic that bypasses a lot of nonsense. It allows people to look directly at important subjects."
Sunday, March 27, 2011
Random updates
Thanks to John DeNardo at SF Signal - again - for posting a link to 4 Star Stories' first issue. He listed the ezine's debut last week under News, and in Saturday's post he listed it under Free Fiction. The leadoff story is my "Meet Me at the Grassy Knoll".
Left work a little early yesterday (I normally work until at least 1 p.m. on Saturdays) and drove to Tyler. The Texas Associated Press Managing Editors had their annual confab at the Courtyard by Marriott there this weekend (which is why I don't mind that AggieCon apparently apparently forgot I'm alive).
It's over a 60 mile drive, and I got there 20 minutes late for the annual awards luncheon, but actually the timing was perfect - I sat down just as they were serving the entree.
The Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune is a small daily, and it shows when you compete in press contests; we're small even in our division, and there are much larger papers that have greater resources. But we took two awards this year, a third in General Column writing and an Honorable mention (4th place) in Feature Series. Since I took over as managing editor we've had two previous awards, an Honorable Mention (in this case, the equivalent of third place) for Spot News Photography in 2008, and an Honorable Mention for Speciality Reporting in 2010 (we were blanked in 2009). After the lunch I called the publisher and also the honorees to give them the news. It was especially nice for the staff writer who won the third in Columns, because she didn't know I had entered her in that category. That was a pleasant surprise.
Since Tyler is a much larger city than Mount Pleasant (15,000 vs. 125,000) - it has a larger selection of stores - so I took advantage while I was there to stop at a health food store and buy some Vegemite. They didn't have Vegemite, but they had Marmite, so I bought a couple of jars. As I had heard, they taste much the same, but the Marmite, if anything, is stronger. It also has a different consistency, it drips like caramel.
I stopped at a local small indy bookstore, "Once Again", and a chatted them up for a book signing. I've pretty much decided to stop wasting time with the chain stores. Asking the staff at a Barnes & Noble or Hastings for help with an author event is pretty much like stopping a member of the crew of the Titanic on the deck while the ship is sinking and asking them where the restroom is. They're going to pretty much ignore you, and they certainly won't help you.
The other route I'm pursuing is setting up events at local libraries, with the local Friends of the Library. I visited the library in New Boston in August and I'm due for a return visit this August.
Before I left the city it was time for dinner, and I snarfed a double clams meal at the local Long John Silver's - we don't have a Long John's in Mount Pleasant.
Getting back to genre news, I have received notification that my money from Shadow Gate is in my PayPal account. Shadow Gate should debut April 1, and it will be a print mag, so I will get a copy in the mail. "Hopscotch and Hottentots" will be my fourth story published this year.
Getting back to Aggiecon, I enjoyed my visits in 2006 and 2007, but since then they've either not sent me an invite, or it went out so late I had previous commitments. Well, it's not like I don't have other places to be...
Left work a little early yesterday (I normally work until at least 1 p.m. on Saturdays) and drove to Tyler. The Texas Associated Press Managing Editors had their annual confab at the Courtyard by Marriott there this weekend (which is why I don't mind that AggieCon apparently apparently forgot I'm alive).
It's over a 60 mile drive, and I got there 20 minutes late for the annual awards luncheon, but actually the timing was perfect - I sat down just as they were serving the entree.
The Mount Pleasant Daily Tribune is a small daily, and it shows when you compete in press contests; we're small even in our division, and there are much larger papers that have greater resources. But we took two awards this year, a third in General Column writing and an Honorable mention (4th place) in Feature Series. Since I took over as managing editor we've had two previous awards, an Honorable Mention (in this case, the equivalent of third place) for Spot News Photography in 2008, and an Honorable Mention for Speciality Reporting in 2010 (we were blanked in 2009). After the lunch I called the publisher and also the honorees to give them the news. It was especially nice for the staff writer who won the third in Columns, because she didn't know I had entered her in that category. That was a pleasant surprise.
Since Tyler is a much larger city than Mount Pleasant (15,000 vs. 125,000) - it has a larger selection of stores - so I took advantage while I was there to stop at a health food store and buy some Vegemite. They didn't have Vegemite, but they had Marmite, so I bought a couple of jars. As I had heard, they taste much the same, but the Marmite, if anything, is stronger. It also has a different consistency, it drips like caramel.
I stopped at a local small indy bookstore, "Once Again", and a chatted them up for a book signing. I've pretty much decided to stop wasting time with the chain stores. Asking the staff at a Barnes & Noble or Hastings for help with an author event is pretty much like stopping a member of the crew of the Titanic on the deck while the ship is sinking and asking them where the restroom is. They're going to pretty much ignore you, and they certainly won't help you.
The other route I'm pursuing is setting up events at local libraries, with the local Friends of the Library. I visited the library in New Boston in August and I'm due for a return visit this August.
Before I left the city it was time for dinner, and I snarfed a double clams meal at the local Long John Silver's - we don't have a Long John's in Mount Pleasant.
Getting back to genre news, I have received notification that my money from Shadow Gate is in my PayPal account. Shadow Gate should debut April 1, and it will be a print mag, so I will get a copy in the mail. "Hopscotch and Hottentots" will be my fourth story published this year.
Getting back to Aggiecon, I enjoyed my visits in 2006 and 2007, but since then they've either not sent me an invite, or it went out so late I had previous commitments. Well, it's not like I don't have other places to be...
Thursday, March 24, 2011
Another bookstore closing
Just received word that Prospero's, a great little bookstore in Marshall, Texas, will be closing April 15. I did signings there last year for both "Fantastic Texas" and "Tcxas & Other Planets", and they went very well. I sold 13 copies of "Texas & Other Planets" there in December.
It's always been hard to run an independent bookstore, and it's only gotten worse in the last few years.
It's always been hard to run an independent bookstore, and it's only gotten worse in the last few years.
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
"Hopscotch and Hottentots"
My short story "Hopscotch and Hottentots" will be featured in the premiere issue of the new ezine Shadow Gate. It is set to debut April 1. That will be the second time in a row I have a story in the first issue of an ezine, since "Meet Me at the Grassy Knoll" is in the first issue of 4 Star Stories, which debuted March 20.
Speaking of 4 Star Stories, it got a little notice upon its launch this week, in places such as SF Signal, SFWA.org (myself and fellow 4 Star author Bill Ledbetter are both SFWA members), the Website at the End of the Universe and SF Scope. I think people in general think it's laudable for anyone to start a new ezine now.
Both ezines, by the way, pay - small amounts, to be sure, but still appreciated.
Speaking of 4 Star Stories, it got a little notice upon its launch this week, in places such as SF Signal, SFWA.org (myself and fellow 4 Star author Bill Ledbetter are both SFWA members), the Website at the End of the Universe and SF Scope. I think people in general think it's laudable for anyone to start a new ezine now.
Both ezines, by the way, pay - small amounts, to be sure, but still appreciated.
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Editors' Choice
"Black Hats and Blackberrys" has been picked as an Editors' Choice in the first quarterly review of 2011 at Bewildering Stories.
Monday, March 21, 2011
"Meet Me at the Grassy Knoll"
4 Star Stories went live yesterday just before midnight with its first issue. I share the TOC with Rhonda Eudaly, Bill Ledbetter and David Gray. In the introduction to the story, the editors said:
"If you had to come up with a word to describe Lou Antonelli, you would have to come up with at least three: talented, fun, and prolific. Lou is a gifted writer and editor who has had more than fifty science fiction short stories published since the summer of 2003. Lou also does an incredible impression of Marlon Brando as the “Godfather.” Living and working in Texas since 1985 has inspired Lou to use Texas as a location for many of his science fiction stories. 4 Star Stories is very happy to offer for your reading pleasure Lou Antonelli's “Meet Me at the Grassy Knoll".
This is my third story published so far this year, which equals all my publications by number (but not output) for all of 2010 ("Dispaches from the Troubles" in GUD was a novelette, over 11,000 words long.)
It is my 53rd story published since June 2003.
"If you had to come up with a word to describe Lou Antonelli, you would have to come up with at least three: talented, fun, and prolific. Lou is a gifted writer and editor who has had more than fifty science fiction short stories published since the summer of 2003. Lou also does an incredible impression of Marlon Brando as the “Godfather.” Living and working in Texas since 1985 has inspired Lou to use Texas as a location for many of his science fiction stories. 4 Star Stories is very happy to offer for your reading pleasure Lou Antonelli's “Meet Me at the Grassy Knoll".
This is my third story published so far this year, which equals all my publications by number (but not output) for all of 2010 ("Dispaches from the Troubles" in GUD was a novelette, over 11,000 words long.)
It is my 53rd story published since June 2003.
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