A rundown

With the addition of "The Goddess of Bleecker Street" to my list of publications, I thought to take a minute to note how many different places I have been published. My last best tally is 34. My first publication was "Silvern" in Revolution SF in June 2003, and since then I have had 57 stories published.

Here is a list of the markets.

4 Star Stories (2)
Abandoned Towers
AlienSkin (3)
Andromeda Spaceways In-flight Magazine
Apehelion
Asimov's Science Fiction
Atomjack magazine
Astounding Tales
Bewildering Stories (9)
Beyond Centauri
Continuum Science Fiction
Dark Recesses
Darker Matter
Encounters
Flashes in the Dark
GateWay science fiction
Greatest Uncommon Denominator
Jim Baen's Universe
Kalkion
M-Brane SF
Neometropolis
Nova Science Fiction
OG Speculative Fiction
Planetary Stories (2x)
Ray Gun Revival
RevolutionSF (6x)
Science Fiction Trails (2x)
Shadowgate
Surprising Stories (2x)
The Fifth Dimension
Twisted Tongue (2x)
World SF Blog
Worlds of Wonder
Young Adult Literature Review

"The Goddess of Bleecker Street"

Ironically, on the day "Cowboys & Aliens" come outs, a story of mine which is completely different from anything weird or westerly I've ever writen gets published. The ezine Kalkion has published my short story "The Goddess of "Bleecker Street", a story in the form of a dialogue between a newspaper editor (it's amazing how many of my stories feature characters who are newspaper editors) and a woman who says she is now God - and wants to recruit him to join her pantheon. This story is pretty much a big horselaugh on the Singularity concept.

This is the 57th story I've had published since July 2003.

Here's a little background on Kalkion from its web site:

"Kalkion is a Literature & Science Fiction web-magazine. It is a collaborative effort of passionate writers who have come together for a noble cause. We publish mainstream literature as well as genre literature such as Science Fiction. The most important goal we have in mind is to publish aspiring as well as established writers. While we publish established and known writers we also encourage the new talent which can carry the baton to the next generation of SF writers. We are also creating an atmosphere of community where our editors will make efforts to work with the writers and improve upon their stories.

On Behalf Of Team Kalkion
Swapnil BhartiyaF
ounder, Publisher and Editor-In-Chief
Kalkion Group Websites

Cowboys and Aliens

Called Howard Waldrop Tuesday. I wanted to check to see if he and Lawrence Person will be going to see "Cowboys and Aliens" when it opens Friday. They will be, and they will review it for Locus On-line.

I learned that while he was ReaderCon recently he had trouble reading, and when he got back home the VA health people told him he's got some bleeding going on. He will be having some laser treatment Friday - and then going to see the movie.

Howard said the doctors found some "dead spots" on his retinas, apparently a side effect of diabetes. The laser treatment will stop the bleeding and prevent any more damage.

Hope it all goes well. It's great that Howard served a stint in the Army during the Vietnam Era and now has VA health benefits.

We chatted a bit about George R.R. Martin. Howard and George are contemporaries - Howard said George and he sold their first stories within a month of each other. Howard visited with George at ReaderCon; he said George had a signing the Thursday before the con at the Barnes & Noble in Burlington and peddled 1,600 copies of his latest book.

Back in 2006 Howard introduced me to Martin at Conestoga in Tulsa.

I told Howard if "Cowboys and Aliens" does big box office, he will make a fortune off "The Night of the Cooters". He said if the movie does well, Hollywood will think "Cooters" is a knock off (not bothering to note the copyright is 1985) and if the movies tanks, they will think he's writing in a dead genre.

"Music for Four Hands" on the way

I poked Lynn Stranathan at Yard Dog Press about the status of "Music for Four Hands. She writes back:

"We’re right on track. It’s in the hands of the printers. We should have books by mid-August—the pub date is Sept. 1. If nothing goes wrong with the printing, binding, and shipping, we’ll be right on track to premier the book at Dragon*Con."

Great news. Here is some info I pulled off the Yard Dog page for the book:

Available for Pre-order - "Music for Four Hands", fantastic stories co-authored by Lou Antonelli & Edward Morris. Due out September 1. “Outstanding and unexpected tales that grip the imagination and twist its tale.” —Joe R. Lansdale"This swell collection of four 2-handed stories has all the hallmarks of the best collaborative work: it doesn’t read like either writer’s usual concerns.” —Howard Waldrop

Here is the link:

http://www.yarddogpress.com/Music%20for%20Four%20Hands.htm

"The Centurion and the Rainman"

I've gotten my story "The Centurion and the Rainman" back from the editors at Buzzy Mag. Buzzy Mag is a new publication slated to start at the beginning of next year. It is being produced by Buzzy Multimedia. I have line edits to review as well as the global comments by the editor who read the story.

The comments and edits seems right on target, the story was read carefully. I have promised to have the story back to them by the end of August. Buzzy Mag is supposed to come out at the very start of next year.

Meanwhile, on the personal front, I am having more trouble than usual controlling my blood sugar. I think a lack of exercise is taking its toll. Since it has gotten so hot I really can't do anything outside by way of chores, I'm going to have to pick up the pace of indoor activity.

Short-handed

Between previously scheduled vacation time, illness, and vacancies caused by people taking other jobs, my department at work has been down at least 25% this past week, so I've been coming home pretty tired and not been doing any writing in the evening - or posting. But a new staff writer starts Monday, and no one else is scheduled for any time off for a while, so things look to be getting back to normal.

Updatatorium

Not much shaking genre-wise. I was busy towards the end of this week seeing a project to a successful conclusion at work. I think the special section turned out well. I have about nine stories in various slush piles, which is not bad. There were times when I was first writing that I might have twice that, but I've written up so many story ideas that I'm naturally slowing down.