Little Eddie Goes to War

The Custer-Hawke Gazette has taken a poem I wrote about my father enlisting in the Army Air Corps as WWII began.

It's a print journal, but occasionally has some of its material on-line.

It is specifically for WWII-related material. I may post the poem after it has gone to print. Here's their website:

http://www.operation-wwii-remembered.com/

Keeping it light

More Sam's Dot Folk

J Alan Erwine edits a couple of the Sam's Dot Publishing zines and writes a novel or two himself. Find J at his website:

http://www.jalanerwine.com/

John Bushore - Friends in Dark Places

John is a fellow Samdottian (Sam's Dot Publishing). His book "Friends in Dark Places" can be purchased through the Genre Mall coming up this week at:

http://www.samsdotpublishing.com/purchasecenter/novels.htm

John's website is:

http://www.johnbushore.com/

Republican Rebels

Ha! What a load that is. Now that elections are only a month and a half away, some Republicans are growing a set of gonads and "standing up" to Bush's torture demands.

I don't believe that this is anything other than another smarmy attempt to win elections. I'm certain that the White House is complicit. "Okay, you guys act like you're against what we want, then we'll give in and you get to be heroes." Puhleeze!

Democrats have to get tougher if they're going to win the upcoming elections. If the Republicans continued to hold all three branches of government, the future of the nation will continue to go downhill into fascism.

Be sure to get your absentee ballot so you can have a paper trail of your vote. Those states using the Diebold machines have no auditability and can easily be hacked. Make a copy of your ballot before sending it in. Get out the vote. Drive old folks to the polls. Whatever you can do, then do it. Your nation's future is at stake.

Couldn't Resist This One

Freeway Blogging

Blogging is, as you are well aware, a method to state one's opinion on the internet. Sometimes blogs are just rambling journals of thoughts, sometimes they have a theme or point to be made. Freeway Blogging is going low tech by placing thoughts on paper - BIG pieces of paper - and hanging them somewhere along freeways for everyone to read.

This is a growing artform. To see how some people are doing it, go to:

http://www.freewayblogger.com/

Express yourself, even when your computer is down.

9/11

Rehashing the events of 9/11 is not productive. It opens wounds for the families. Do you "celebrate" every year on the anniversary of when your loved one died? I think it doesn't do any good except to the Republicans who want to keep fear in the hearts of Americans.

It happened. Get over it. What can we do in the future to keep cynical neocons from using our national emotions to gain political points.

They want to destroy your rights as outlined in the Constitution's Bill of Rights. This is so wrong, it makes me want to puke. Don't let them do it. Get rid of them. Vote them out. Impeach them. Whatever it takes to rid us of the blight of the neocons.

Republicans: Wake up and smell the deceit and lies. They are using you to create that New World Order that they warn you liberals are trying to create. Your freedom is in jeopardy!

Have a nice day.

For a Good Cause

M.E. Ellis (Nutter's Gang) at http://www.meellis.blogspot.com/ is donating the proceeds of her novel Quits to NSPCC (National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children). Take a look at the cool trailer on YouTube and buy the book if you'd like to help a good cause. You can go to M.E.'s blog and click on the links to buy the e-books. If you like the trailer or bought the book, stop at M.E.'s blog and let her know.

I'll see if I can get the trailer embedded here.

Wingspan Quarterly

I wrote a drabble (exactly 100 words) for Wingspan Quarterly and they accepted it for their September issue. The link is to the left.

The title is "Last Will and Testament."

The Cadida Tale Tale Tale

I just heard from Sam's Dot Publishing's Tyree Campbell that the Cadida stories will each have their own little chapbook. They'll come out in January, March, and May of next year.

Since Cadida and old Bascoda the Djinn are finding a place in the publishing world, I've decided to write another one. So, that's my top of the pile project right now.

Running in second place: A science fiction novella titled "First Duty." This started with two short stories. Part 1 will be published in Abyss & Apex sometime or other. It was October, but it's looking more like January as they like to "theme" their issues. Part 2 is already hanging out in the August issue of Ultraverse. I was starting a third in the series (do we see a trend here?), when I decided to try for one longer work using theose two stories as yeast. I've got a 35,000 word novella now which I'm workshopping.

Running in third place: I'm still pushing the Tales of a Texas Boy. LBF liked three of the stories (June, July, September) for their Writers Post Journal, but their reader didn't seem to care for the idea of a book, so I've sent it elsewhere.

Running in fourth place: I'm writing a few short stories outside these themes and seeing if any of them fly.

Other than that, I'm lolling around on the couch and eating bon-bons.

Croc Hunter

Crikey, we'll miss ya' mate!

Fish Story

The September issue of Fifth Di... is available for your reading pleasure. My tale, "Fish Story," is right here:

http://samsdotpublishing.com/fifth/fishstory.htm

Oregon Tour

I live in Oregon in a mid-Willamette Valley town named, strangely enough, Eugene. It started out as Skinner City (Eugene Skinner), but for reasons only known to the City Fathers, it was changed to Eugene.

Eugene is the home of the University of Oregon. Way back in the late 19th C. when it was formed, the sports teams went by the name of the Tall Timbers. Okay, that's silly, somebody thought. So, they changed that to the Ducks.

If you're getting the idea that Eugene may be a bit wacky, you'd be on the right track--running track, that is. Eugene is also the Track Capitol of the World (not sure who awarded this) because of a guy named Bill Bowerman. He invented the Nike running shoe. He used rubber treads from old tires. Okay, wackier still, right?

For the last thirty or so years, the nearby town of Veneta (another great city that bears somebody's first name) hosts the Oregon Country Faire. Come on by around the first part of July if you'd like to party like it was 1969. Ah, the area is a hotbed of leftover hippies, organic farmers, hemp growers, and yurt makers--just about anything you might want for that alternate lifestyle you've been pining after.

I was born here and, barring a complete takeover by the even more wacko neoconservatives, I'll probably die here. This place is just too darn entertaining to give up.

People leave Eugene to go to the bright lights and big cities, but just about everybody eventually comes back again. They just can't stay away. So, be careful if you come to visit. You might be sucked into the Oregon Vortex. Wait, that's about 125 miles south of here in Gold Hill, so I guess Eugene is like a blackhole, or whirlpool, or the Elephant's Graveyard. Yeah, something like that.

I Love Illustrations!

I think it's especially nice when one of my stories is illustrated for publication. I've posted a few of those illos before and here's another. The October issue of Lorelei Signal has my Bigfoot story "Chilpequin 22 Miles." This illustration is by Holly Eddy. I'll post the direct link to the story on October 1st.

Copyright 2006 Holly Eddy

Happy Birthday to Me

Today is my birthday, but since it's one of those off-year no-count ones, I'm not doing anything special.

I did get a spiffy new 20.1" wide screen monitor last weekend. It's very cool. I can now read the screen without too much eye strain.

I treated myself by finishing my novella. Of course, it's still got a ton of work, but all those summary notes starting with (((( on the page are now replaced with actual paragraphs and such. So, that's a nice accomplishment and a better milestone than being a year older.

A Lesson Learned

Okay, I placed a story with a non-paying ezine. Cool. Nice of them and all that. So, here it is a few months later and I'm thinking "Reprint?" So, I search about and find another ezine that takes reprints, but they kind of want exclusive web rights. Okay, fine. I contact Ezine #1 and say "Can you take that story out of the archive?"

Then I wait, but no response. I emailed them again and finally got a sort of huffy note saying that they took the story down but somehow or other my decision has totally ruined that issue of the magazine while putting some photographer's photo off the ezine as well. I apologized for the inconvenience and suggested they simply just wipe out the story text and put in "Removed at Author's Request."

Now, I know this isn't rocket science. They don't have to completely break the link to the story. They just have to change the text. What is so damned hard about that? I could do that with any of the posts I've put on this blog.

Obviously, I'm a bit peeved by the ezine's inability to handle something which should be a perhaps not common, but at least a sometime occurrence.

I loved that ezine's format and dedication to making it a very nice venue. But, their assumption that nobody would ever request that their work be removed is simply naive on their part.

I think this whole internet publishing thing needs to get some standards set up so that authors and publishers will know how to handle simple things like this.

Well, I learned that ezines that don't pay you a penny for your work, somehow feel that they own it and not you, the author. They need to understand about copyrights and infringements on same. When I say "take it down" I ain't messin' around. The ezines need a procedure to handle it.

Am I getting better?

Or are the ezines getting desperate for coherent writing? Ah, that is the question.

5th Story Review, a brand-new ezine, just accepted by alternate history story, Jonathan Swift Finds Nemo. I have kept pushing this story on publishers because, damn it, I like it! Should I admit how many rejections I got? Nah, I'll leave that to your imagination, but suffice it to say there were plenty.

But, I'm happier than happy that one of my favorites now has a home.

I'll post the link when the story comes up.
Update: Here's the link:
http://www.5thstoryreview.com/Authors/Dasef.html

Another Acceptance at The Deepening

I got my first reprint published. The story "If You Could See Her" was originally published in the February issue of the Lily Literary Review. It is scheduled for the October issue.

The Deepening has accepted it and with a very nice note:

Thanks, Marva. Wonderful story. It is so rare to have a male romance that works, and one that allows hope to spring for even the "less than model thin." Excellent, excellent, excellent.

One Fine Dog - WPJ September Issue

I just heard from Teresa Tunaley, the head honcho for Writers Post Journal and Artiste Extraordinaire. She was so kind as to send me the preview on the drawing she did for One Fine Dog appearing in the next WPJ issue. Here 'tis.