Since Thursday

At age 56, I guess I'm officially an Old Man now. I've had my first major bathroom accident.

I stepped out of the shower Thursday and slipped on the tile floor. I fell back and against the toilet so hard the back of it slammed into the wall behind it, and the water tank cracked open, spilling water across the bathroom.

For a moment, I didn't realize what happened but I thought  I'd been hurt badly. When I heard the rushing sound, I thought "Oh, shit, is that the sound your soul makes when it leaves the body! Poor Patricia is going to find me dead on the floor!" Then I felt the water rushing past me and realized what had happened. I crawled on my hands and knees and turned the water valve off, and then threw all the towels - and my robe - on the floor to absorb the water.

Thanks to the toilet taking the force of the fall. I came out okay. If I were older, I probably would have broken my hip.

Obviously, I got to work late, and Friday morning I didn't leave home until noon because of waiting for and on the plumber who replaced the toilet. He was supposed to be here at 9 but showed up at 10:45.

The good news on the fiction front is that I finished and emailed off my latest collection. At about 90,000 words, with 28 stories and introductions, "The Clock Struck None" alternate and secret history reprint collection is off to Ian Strock at Fantastic Books.

The photo is a set-up that caught my eye on my bookshelf. I just had to move the old mechanical alarm clock slightly to pose it in front of my two previous collections. I thought it was a nice tableau to celebrate the completion of the collection.

Progress on collection

Worked my way through making the corrections submitted by my proofreader for "The Clock Struck None" last night. He worked for me as a reporter at a weekly newspaper over 20 years ago, but left the journalism grind and, to the best of my knowledge, has worked ever since as a technical writer. He's a fan and volunteered to read "Texas & Other Planets", also.

The largest part of the work left to be done is collating the introductions I write with the stories, then dropping Scott Cupp's foreword and the Table of Contents at the beginning. It all should be ready to go back to Ian Strock at Fantastic Books by the end of the week.

"The Clock Struck None" latest

Well, I have finished the introductions to the 27 stories being reprinted in my collection "The Clock Struck None" which is being published by Fantastic Books later this year. They came to over 4,500 words all together.

Now to go over the corrections and put everything together--the foreword by Scott Cupp, my stories and the intros.

More on "Raygun Chronicles"

I spent a little time this weekend proofing the galleys of "The Silver Dollar Saucer" that is being reprinted in the Raygun Chronicles anthology later this year. I'm especially happy to be included in this anthology. I always liked the story, and it's nice to be in a this anthology since I was blackballed from the anthology being published later this year in conjunction with LoneStarCon (that little cadre hates me because I admit to being a Christian).

The Raygun Chronicles publisher, Every Day Publishing, issued a news release last week, and I'll help give it a little boost by cutting and pasting it here,

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Demand for Classic Space Opera Confirmed By Kickstarter Success

Raygun Chronicles anthology to be released at OryCon in November 2013

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

PRLog (Press Release) - Apr. 4, 2013 - VANCOUVER, CANADA -
In the golden age of science fiction, readers embraced space opera for its heroes and villains as much as for its gadgets and adventure-driven plots. “Space opera is the subgenre which first nurtured my love of science fiction,” says Bryan Thomas Schmidt, the editor behind Raygun Chronicles: Space Opera for a New Age. “From Star Trek to Star Wars and beyond, it inspired a passion for storytelling and adventure that’s been with me ever since.”

As demonstrated by the support readers showed for the Raygun Chronicles Kickstarter campaign, not only in terms of funding but also in terms of social media support, it’s clear that science fiction fans are interested in seeing more golden-age-style pulp adventure fiction, and they’re willing to invest money up front to make it happen.

When Schmidt originally approached Every Day Publishing to propose the project, Camille Gooderham Campbell and Jordan Ellinger knew at once that it would open doors for them. “Crowdfunding gives us a chance to work with top authors and pay competitive rates which we couldn't otherwise afford,” says Gooderham Campbell. "It's also a practical demonstration that there is a market for this book, that readers want this anthology," adds Ellinger.

For a small press, partnering with an experienced, well-connected editor like Schmidt has proved crucial in connecting with talent that would otherwise be outside their sphere. Top authors writing new tales for the anthology are Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Dean Wesley Smith, Seanan McGuire, Allen Steele, Brenda Cooper, Robin Wayne Bailey and Sarah A. Hoyt, while coveted reprints from A.C. Crispin and Mike Resnick are already in and ready to go. Filling out the collection are many of the best reprints from Ray Gun Revival magazine’s six-year run. Award-winning illustrator Paul Pederson has already delivered spectacular full-colour cover art.

“Crowdfunding has risen in popularity with good reason,” Schmidt says. Raygun Chronicles represents his second crowdfunded anthology effort to date – the first, Beyond The Sun, will be released by Fairwood Press in October 2013. “It provides fans with a chance to support and preorder the projects that they’d most like to see come to fruition, and talent a chance to put out projects which might not have the box office appeal initially to big publishing but for which we have a passion we know is shared by a large audience.”

With 24 contemporary space opera stories sharing a classic pulp feel, Raygun Chronicles is scheduled for launch at OryCon, Oregon’s leading science fiction convention, which will take place on November 8-10, 2013. Schmidt, Cooper, and others plan to attend to sign books and meet fans, and Gooderham Campbell and Ellinger will be there from Every Day Publishing to host the launch party and give away prizes.

For more information from the editor —
please contact Bryan Thomas Schmidt at bryan@bryanthomasschmidt.net or visit his website at http://bryanthomasschmidt.net/.

For more information from Every Day Publishing —
please visit http://everydaypublishing.ca/raygunchronicles/ for full details about the Raygun Chronicles anthology and publisher contact information.

"Custodes"

"Custodes" supposes Archimedes invented the electric motor, and a few hundred years later the Neronian persecution of Christians was broadcast as reality TV.

"Custodes" is Latin for "Cops".

"The Return of Alfred Bester"

When I posted on March 28 that I had no pending publications, I forgot that Roberto Mendes at International Speculative Fiction had accepted "The Return of Alfred Bester". He published it Monday (no, it wasn't an April Fool's joke).

That's my 79th story published since June 2003. Have a read, it's short and fun.

Then I received word last night that my alternate history story "Custodes" will be published by The Fifth Dimension in September. The Fifth Dimension, edited by J. J Alan Erwine, is published by Sams Dot Publishing.

Hall of Fame

Rockland High School logo

Got a nice piece of news in the mail yesterday, a letter from my old high school:

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Dear Louis,

It is my pleasure to inform you that you have been unanimously selected for induction into the Rockland High School Academic Hall of Fame. Your achievements are truly noteworthy and are a source of inspiration and motivation for the current Rockland youth.

The induction ceremony will be held at the spring Underclassmen Academic Awards Banquet on Wednesday, June 5, 2013 at 6:30 p.m. at the Emerald Room in Abington, MA. You and your family are welcome to share in the festivities and join us for dinner.

Susan Patton
Hall of Fame Committee

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I'll make plans to attend. The last time I was back in my hometown was Nov. 2010, for my 35th high school reunion.