4th of July

Can we still celebrate the 4th of July with any enthusiasm? I'm one of those who chokes up at the Star Spangled Banner. I believe that the US Constitution is the most important document in our history--maybe even in the history of the world.

I think you know where this is going. I have come to believe that the current administration should be tried for not only high crimes and misdemeanors, but for treason. George Bush and his minions have attempted or succeeded in supervening nearly every amendment in the Bill of Rights, except for the Second. However, you happy NRA folk, don't get too complacent. An armed populace is not good for a tyrannical government.

Am I anti-war? No. I fully and completely supported George Senior's decision to go to war against Iraq. But, the current war on Iraq is not the war that was touted. It is not a war on terrorism. Instead, it has made terrorists out of people who might have remained peaceful. Maybe they're not even terrorists. I'm sure George III called the American colonists whatever was the 18th Century equivalent.

As you salute the flag, march in a parade, picnic, and watch fireworks on the upcoming 4th of July, think about what has been stolen from you over the last six years. If you don't see it, then there's no helping you. You're just a good German, only following orders. A pox on you for standing aside while a handful of right-wingers destroyed your country.

I've Got a Website

In my on-going desire to present a professional image as a writer, I got a website to be my presence on the internet. I'll continue to use this blog for announcements, thoughts, and just stuff.

I've put a link to the left just under my profile for the website. So, if you're reading this, just shift your eyeballs left a bit and you'll see it.

The advantage of a website over a blog is the ability to make certain information more permanent to the site. On a blog, you write a post and it slips down down down then disappears as it get archived each month.

The new website isn't spectacular, but I hope I can tweak and modify it to be a good marketing tool for the Marva juggernaut of publishing. That last is just hyperbole. I'm practicing to write cover blurbs.

July WPJ Issue in PDF

My story "The Corn Patch Incident" is in the July issue of Writers Post Journal. The PDF downloadable version is only $3.95.

For less than the price of the printed (on paper) magazine, you can get both the June and July issues with my stories inside.

See the link to LBF books to the left. Find the Ezine (PDF) link and go from there.

Michelle Ma Belle

I should have mentioned this weeks ago, so I'll try to make up for my remissness now. M.E. Ellis (as she prefers over Michelle, though I don't know why since it's a perfectly lovely name) ... where was I? Oh, yeah. Ms Ellis' book Pervalism is available at Wild Child Publishing. It's an E-book, so you can store your very own copy on your computer. Here's a link to it:

Big WooHoo Came Through

Last month I wrote that at least one of my Cadida stories was accepted by Sam's Dot Publishing. I just heard from the editor that all three of the stories will be published in a single volume and marketed to kids.

There will be illustrations, so now we'll all get to discover what Bascoda the Djinn actually looks like. He is a changeable fellow, so who knows what the illustrator will come up with.

So, Congratulations to me on my first book (little, skinny book, but it's a book damnit!).

The timeframe for it to come out is September/October. These things take time and I'll probably die of anticipation in the meantime.

Cover Art - Writers Post Journal

I've got stories in both the June and July issues of Writers Post Journal. The Cattle Drive in June and The Corn Patch Incident in July. Since none of you cheapskates are likely to shell out the $9 for each issue, I thought I'd post the cover art here.

New Game in Town

A friend has decided (I tried to talk him out of it) to start a ezine devoted to flash fiction--erudite writings under 1000 words. Since he put one of my flashes up on his site, I can do nothing less than support his foolish efforts.

So, go to the site, read the guidelines, and send off your best shorts to Diddledog:

Diddledog Flash Fiction

The Bone Hunters

The Bone Hunters is now up and running on Long Story Short. I'm pleased that so many of the stories from Tales of a Texas Boy have been accepted here and there. I hope that I can have the entire set of stories published as a book someday.

Long Story Short: The Bone Hunters

Writers Post Journal - July Issue

My story, "The Corn Patch Incident," will be printed in the July Writers Post Journal. The cover is already up on their site.

Writers Post Journal-July: The Corn Patch Incident

Acceptance - At Last!

I've been working with Abyss and Apex since last December on my science fiction story, "Pressure Drill."

First, I got some terrific input from their science editor, which helped to improve the story a lot. Mostly, my science sucks, but he thought the story was okay. After a lot of research having to do with antimatter (don't ask), I rewrote and sent the story back to them in March. Then, I waited. I finally got the word that the story will be appearing in their September issue.

The great part: I get paid!

Abyss & Apex: Pressure Drill(September)

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/

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.

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.

Big Bessie's Place

The May issue of Green Silk Journal is up.

Green Silk Journal: Big Bessie's Place

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)

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!

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.

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:

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).