Illegal Aliens

My 85-year-old father asked me to put something on the Internet. He'd like comments or opinions from other people, so if you're reading this, maybe you could pass this question through to your own blogs for reactions.

Here's his idea:

Illegals, aged 17+, should be offered citizenship if they join the National Guard (or any service, I assume) and serve three years. They're on good behavior while they serve and if they get an honorable discharge (or choose to remain in the service) after three years, they would get legal status, possibly even citizenship.

My father grew up in Texas, so he was in close proximity to quite a few Hispanics. He's always believed them to be hard-working and generally honest folks. Do you agree with him that this type of amnesty is a good idea? Not? Please leave your opinion in the comments. He'd really like to know what others think.

If you could repost on your own blog, let me know so I can check for any feedback there.

Thanks.

In the Movies

The anthology, A Time To..., from Lorelei Signal came out a few weeks ago. I've got a story in it, of course. The latest to hit the web is the video trailer for the book. These trailers are becoming more popular all the time. Check it out below and buy the book at Lulu.com. A Time To...

Recent Acceptances

On the theory that if you shove enough stuff out the door, somebody will bite, I've have two acceptances this week:

Final Exam to The Fifth Di... I liked this since it was first accepted by Abyss and Apex, then the editor changed her mind. It came home with tail between legs. Fortunately, J at The Fifth Di... (Sam's Dot Publishing) liked it. Watch for it in the March issue:
The Fifth Di...

The Hunter to Diddledog. Yeah, yeah, the editor is a personal friend, but I know he's not shy about saying no, so this is a good acceptance. It's a short horror piece that I kind of liked. Next issue at:
Diddledog Flash

Maybell's Magical Journey

I've been working on a children's book with a lady who runs a website for Disney travel. The idea was to produce a book for kid's to get when the family plans a Disneyworld vacation. It's supposed to be the first in a series to cover all the Disneyworld parks.

The first is the Magic Kingdom, the place we all think of when we hear Disneyworld. Cinderella's Castle, Peter Pan, Pooh--all the really great kid stuff. The idea of the book is to give the kids a taste of their trip by showing them the adventures of Maybell Moth as she discovers the magic of Disneyworld.

It's finally coming together, so I thought I'd post this lovely illustration of the type you'll see when you buy the book for your child or grandchild.

Blogs by Women

I've added a little logo and link to the Blogs by Women site. They collect blogs by and for women and keep them in a nice central place. Are you female? Have a blog? Check 'em out.

Addicted to the Internet

I found this and am deeply ashamed.

You Are 62% Addicted to the Internet

In your opinion, life without the internet is hardly worth living. Could be, but you probably need a bit more fresh air and sunshine to think clearly.

Are You Addicted to the Internet?

Preditors & Editors Poll

I bugged most everybody I knew to go vote in this poll. Of course, it's a popularity contest. A lot depends on how many people you can browbeat into voting. Still, an entrant doesn't come up in the top 10 without a few other people voting for them as well.

My folks at SDP hauled down many top tens, so we know that's a primo outfit. Tyree Campbell, in particular, showed in the top 10 in several categories.

Now, I begged for votes for my two stories and some others I had a close connection with. Here are the results on those:

Individual Art
7. Chilpequin 22 Miles, Holly Eddy - This is my story and you can see the artwork on this blog somewhere. I'm happy that Holly got a good spot for the illo.

Book Cover Art
14. A Time Too..., Lee Kuruganti - Chilpequin is included in this anthology (A Time To...) of stories from Lorelei Signal.

Book Editor
17. Carol Hightshoe, A Time To... - Not in the top 10, but respectable.

Fiction Ezine
9. The Lorelei Signal - Kudos to Carol Hightshoe for a very nice ezine.

Zine Art
6. Lorelei Signal, Amy Harlib

Zine Editor
9. Carol Hightshoe, Lorelei

Here's how I came out in the poll. The 12th spot is quite gratifying. The 17th in Romance is not bad considering it's a huge group of stories. In my humble opinion, If You Could See Her is the better of the two stories.

Short Story (other genre)
12. Extraordinary Rendition, Marva Dasef, The Deepening-Aug Issue

Short Story (romance)
17. If You Could See Her, Marva Dasef, The Deepening-Nov Issue

The Color Purple

No, not the excellent book or even the movie, but the color my blog is supposed to be as determined by a short quiz. I'm not sure I agree. I'm generally not all that fond of purple.

Your Blog Should Be Purple

You're an expressive, offbeat blogger who tends to write about anything and everything. You tend to set blogging trends, and you're the most likely to write your own meme or survey. You are a bit distant though. Your blog is all about you - not what anyone else has to say.

What Color Should Your Blog or Journal Be?

Contest!

Anybody out there have kids or grandkids in the middle-grades? I've got three copies of my Luluized novella, "Spirit of Bear Valley" to give away. That includes postage and it will be an autographed copy. Woohoo!

Here's the deal. Have any kid of the more-or-less middle-school age group send me a 200+ word essay on bald eagles, wildlife refuges, conservation, Native American traditions, or anything even vaguely related to these topics. I'll judge the essays and send a copy of the book to the top three winners.

Mail the essays to me at mdasef@clearwire.net and include name, age, street address, and email address (this can be parents' or grandparents' address).

I'll pick the top three and publish them on this blog. Winners get a copy of the book, "Spirit of Bear Valley." 120 pages of fun reading for kids of all ages.

More Lulishness

I'm enjoying formatting my writing for publication, so I thought that maybe e-books on Lulu wouldn't hurt my street cred very much. My story "The Cursed Valley" is now available at Lulu for only .49 download only.

The Cursed Valley

I Never Intended to Self-Publish

Okay, so I sent the file up to Lulu and the devil forced me to put my book up on Lulu. Now that the shine is dulling, I'm going to take the book off Lulu for public access. I set the price to minimum so it's a free download. On January 15th, it disappears from the Lulu shelves.

So, this is last call. If you want a freebie copy, go for the download. If you'd like the print copy, I promise you it's the absolute rock-bottom price.

When this book disappears from Lulu, I'll decide whether it lives or die forever.

So, LAST CALL:

Spirit of Bear Valley at Lulu

However, the print edition looks really, really good. It's a great book for middle-schoolers, so take advantage of this last call.

Best Seller!

Yea! Cadida and the Djinn is on the Genre Mall's December best seller list. It ain't the New York Times, but it's a start!

Cadida and the Djinn