Sale!
Electric Velocipede has accepted my short story “Setting My Spider Free.” The story was originally written at Clarion West, and it is my third sale (with both of my previous sales being to Fantasy Magazine).
Yay!!
AnthologyBuilder
Lately I’ve been working on a fun little side project, turning some of my photographs into book covers for AnthologyBuilder.
For those who haven’t heard of it, AnthologyBuilder is a print-on-demand service with a library of short stories from which people can create their own custom anthologies. Once people have chosen the stories they want, they can pick out the cover art for their book.
A few of my personal favorites:
Underwater – http://anthologybuilder.com/cover_demo.php?cover_id=195
Forest – http://anthologybuilder.com/cover_demo.php?cover_id=190
Cat – http://anthologybuilder.com/cover_demo.php?cover_id=192
Fire – http://anthologybuilder.com/cover_demo.php?cover_id=267
Tentacles – http://anthologybuilder.com/cover_demo.php?cover_id=265
My designs are in good company. Other …
Psychology!
A friend of mine is looking for people to fill out a survey so that she can get data for her dissertation. Data is important. It helps all those academic types write non-fiction, which I can later twist around into fiction. So go help advance science — it only takes 20-25 minutes!
http://baerdissertation.jlauser.net
Description from the researcher: “This survey has to do with jury decision making. It includes a case summary and excerpts from the ensuing trial. It takes approximately 20 to 25 minutes to read through the information and answer a few questions.”
In the Spotlight
I recently did my first interview! ktempest asked me a few questions for Fantasy Magazine’s Author Spotlight, including:
What author do you admire yet hope never to be compared to?
Do you find that your photography affects your writing?
I also talk about the inspiration for “Time to Say Goodnight.”
Also, don’t forget to vote for your favorite Fantasy story of 2007. Voting is open until the end of January, and you can pick up to three stories as your favorites. There are some excellent stories on the ballot, …
Quiche
While I was home for the holidays, tinaconnolly came to visit, and we made Quiche Florentine. Our version featured eggs, cream, spinach, onion, bacon (optional, obviously, if you wanted a vegetarian version), and gruyere cheese — in a homemade crust (Yay pastry chef Tina!).
Vote!
Fantasy is running a poll where you can vote on your favorite stories of 2007. You can vote for up to three stories, and the poll will be open until the end of January.
If you liked “Time to Say Goodnight,” go vote for it :)
“Time to Say Goodnight”
My story, “Time to Say Goodnight,” is now available at Fantasy Magazine. Check it out, it’s free :)
End-o-Year Statistics
2007 isn’t quite over yet, but I’ll be visiting family over the holidays, so the stats shouldn’t change much between now and then. Statistical summary of 2007:
Stories Written: 12
Novelette/Novellas written: 1
Novels Written: 1.25
Submissions: 66
Rejections: 56
Sales: 1
Stories currently out at market: 10
Stories Published*: 1
I feel like I did a bit better this year than the statistics suggest, in that I’ve had a lot of near misses. One of my stories was a (non-placing) finalist at Writers of the Future, and several stories have gotten past slush readers …
Trail of Lights
Every year Austin sets up a Trail of Lights at Zilker Park. Peter and I went last night, so I got to play around with my camera (the photograph shown above, for instance, is one where I zoomed out while taking a long exposure). My favorite display was the tunnel of stars near the exit:
As usual, I’ve got more photos up on my flickr site.
Oatmeal vs. Steel Cut Oatmeal
I can’t stand regular oatmeal. The flavor is fine, but the gloppy texture just doesn’t do it for me. Most oatmeal is made with rolled oats — oats that have been hulled, steamed, rolled, and flaked so that they cook quickly. Steel cut oats (aka Irish oats), on the other hand, are hulled oats cut into two or three pieces, rather than being squashed flat.
Steel cut oats take longer to cook, but they have a lovely chewy …
