The week past

During this past week I spent some time "rehabbing" - for lack of a better word - some stories or partial stories. On the basis of some feedback from an editor who praised - but didn't accept - "Snow Globe", I rewrote the ending a bit. I sent the revised version off the Gordon Van Gelder at F&SF, and since he is one of the last editors who still wants hard copy submissions, I typed a cover letter on my Smith Corona Classic 12 portable typewriter. I thought that was funny - it may be one of the last submissions anyone ever sees in hard copy with a typewritten cover letter.

On the subject of the typewriter, I have been "rehabbing" it some, also, mainly cleaning the keys. It's typing cleaner than ever. You know old typewriters with old cloth ribbons would get dirt lodged in tight spots in letters, like "a" and "o" and "e". Whoever last owned it hadn't cleaned it recently; what's impressive is that, other than being slightly dirty, it's in fine condition.

I also sent back out another three short stories in various slush piles. Right now I have nine stories in various places. With the publication of "The Goddess of Bleecker Street" in Kalkion last week, I've had seven stories published this year, and that's cut down on my supply. There's a few stories that I intend to pull out and rework, now that they've "aged" a bit.

The other main genre-related work I didn't this week was fill out the survey for Fencon, which I will be attending in September in Dallas, and I also filled out paper work for GalaxyFest, which will be in Colorado Springs next February.