Wednesday, May 31, 2006

SciFi Directory

While I write a lot about kids or for kids, my love-to-read has always been Science Fiction. I've tried my hand at that as well and did get a couple of stories published.

If you love SciFi, then the SciFi Directory is a site you need to bookmark. It lists just about everything and everybody with links to the appropriate websites.

http://www.directoryscifi.com/

Monday, May 29, 2006

Going with a Test Drive

I was curious about the AdSense and Google search items available from my blog setup, so I thought to give them a test run. While I'm not exactly inundated with traffic here, I'm interested if any visitors have opinions one way or the other.

On most web pages I look at, I simply "tune out" the ads and such. Occasionally, however, I do look at them and have been known to click on something interesting.

I don't consider these additions to be the work of the devil, but I'm interested in seeing what happens.

Call this an experiment, then, and bear with me while I check it out.

Saturday, May 27, 2006

Prostate?

Hi, readers. If you're male then be sure to get your PSA levels tested when you go for the cholesterol etc. testing.

Young guys, go ahead and ask your doctor about a baseline PSA.

My concern comes from my dearest husband's recent diagnosis with prostate cancer.

Now, this is the slowest growing and most prevalent cancer among males. I'm not overly concerned about his future since it was caught early and will most likely have a good outcome.

Still, just as women are constantly barraged with the ads to get breast exams, you guys don't play the macho game or the embarrassed game or any other kind of game. Suck it up, fellas and get the old digital exam and PSA test.

Your embarrassment or hesitation is not worth the possiblities.

Nuff said. I hope.

Monday, May 22, 2006

Lorelei Signal Acceptance

The women's fantasy mag, Lorelei Signal, has accepted by bigfoot story "Chilpequin 22 Miles" for its October/December issue.

Here's a link to Lorelei Signal and I'll update the link to the left when the story comes out:

Lorelei Signal: Chilpequin 22 Miles (Oct/Dec)

Sunday, May 21, 2006

I Think I Am, I Think I Am

Addition after the fact: I have a confirmed acceptance of Cadida and the Djinn.

Sounds something like the "Little Engine Who Could." That is, I believe I've got an acceptance for at least one of my fantasy stories about Cadida and her weirdo djinn, Bascoda.

Yes, this story was published on Scribal Tales (see link to left), but it also went to Sam's Dot publishing. I didn't hear back from them so assumed it was dead and sent the story to Scribal Tales, where Dan Olarnick snapped it up with glee.

Then, Tyree Campbell of Sam's Dot sent me a note saying the story was too long for their ezine KidVisions, but he might want to publish it as a chapbook. Totally, Dude (as Crush the Turtle would say). I emailed back that the story was already printed in Scribal, but that Dan would release it and take it out of archives if needed. Nice guy, Dan.

Then, nothing, nothing, nothing. I decided to take a flyer and sent the second two Cadida stories to Tyree.

Amazingly, yesterday I heard from him again. His wording suggests that the first story will be published and the second two also if he likes them. He said he didn't receive them previously. That's fine. So, I sent them off again.

So, what's a chapbook? Essentially, it's a very short book of around 20 pages. My stories run about 5000 words, so I'm dividing by the standard 250 for that number. These little books are sold at Sam's Dot and a few other sites for around five bucks each. How much do I get? I haven't a clue, but I'm sure it won't be a lot.

Okay, long article, but if even one of the stories is printed it would be very neat. If they take all three, then that's a big woo hoo!

Thursday, May 18, 2006

Writers Post Journal PDF



The downloadable version of the June issue is now available for $4.00. See the link to the left. Here's the illustration used with my story "The Cattle Drive."

The drawing is by Paul Campbell.

Wednesday, May 17, 2006

Living Large at Disneyworld

I mentioned that I spent a week at Disneyworld in Florida. Of course, one always posts travel pics, so here are some of the Animal Kingdom Lodge where I stayed. Nice place.


One of our neighbors:












The Lobby:












The Pool area:












Another neighbor:












Back entrance to lobby:

Monday, May 15, 2006

Ultraverse - First Duty

Now available on the Ultraverse website, my story "First Duty" is up and running.

Ultraverse: First Duty

Writers Post Journal Now on Sale

The June issue, which contains my story "The Cattle Drive," is now for sale on the LBF books website. It's $9.00 a copy. I know, I know. That's a lot of money to spend. But, sometime within the next month or so a PDF downloadable version of the magazine will be available for only $4.00. Am I worth that much? If nothing else, you can go there to see the cover art.

Another writer from Wordsmiths, Swimfishyswim, also has a story in the June issue, so maybe a two-fer will get you excited. Her/His/Its story is titled "Do You Remember." Congrats to Swim for the acceptance. She/He/It also has a story in the WPJ May issue titled "One Last Kiss."

Ah, well. The link to the purchase site is on the left under Published if you're interested. They also have a lot of books for sale there (LBF is the parent company of WPJ and is a small publisher).

Sunday, May 14, 2006

The Cursed Valley

This fantasy is now live on Scribal Tales. The link is to the left in the Published list.

Disneyworld was both fun and exhausting. The hardest part is now catching up on email, crit sites, and all that stuff one does at home that does not get done when one is not at home.

Saturday, May 06, 2006

Florida Trip

I'm heading to Florida for the next week. A little fun, a little sun. Also, Disneyworld and a visit with my son and daughter-in-law.

So, this is a worthless post just to show that I'm still alive, but will be off-line for about a week.

I'll write a trip report of some type when I return.