Steve Berman's Blog, page 7

mroctober @ 2011-11-28T07:39:00

JoSelle deserves a great deal of praise for making this book happen--she worked on the anthology during a very stressful period of her life. My role as co-editor was merely facilitator of agreements and helping to assemble a wide variety of stories for her to peruse and choose from.

That said, the aim for Heiresses of Russ is to have a new main editor every year (if you are curious--I have not chosen next year's editor).

Here is the final Table of Contents:

Introduction... JoSelle Vanderhooft ( upstart_crow )
Ghost of a Horse Under a Chandelier... Groegina Bruce
Storyville 1910... Jewelle Gomez
Her Heart Would Surely Break in Two... Michelle Labbé
Black Eyed Susan... Esther Garber / Tanith Lee
Thimbleriggery and Fledglings... Steve Berman
The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers beneath the Queen's Window... Rachel Swirsky
The Children of Cadmus... ellen_kushner
The Guest... Zen Cho
Rabbits... Csilla Kleinheincz
The Egyptian Cat... Catherine Lundoff
World War III Doesn't Last Long... Nora Olsen
The Effluent Engine.... N. K. Jemisin

I am so happy that JoSelle chose such a wide variety of storytellers... and that is so-happened the ethnicities of said storytellers is just as varied. That was one of the reasons we chose this cover.

Alas, because we did not have a chabce to create ARCs (because of all the difficulties that occurred around the time this anthology was being worked on), I will need the help of the Internet faithful to spread word of the anthology.

A new annual anthology in honor of Joanna Russ

Details coming...

No turkey for us... all for Daulton

Thanksgiving has become an odd holiday for me. When I become persona non grata with my sister, my parents decided not to go to her house for Thanksgiving. But, I insisted it was ridiculous for my mother to make a large meal for three people; it's too much work for her, none of us like turkey that much. So I treated them to one of the few restaurants open in south NJ. When my dad became ill and could not eat out, I began "take out"--picking up the food at that same restaurant (La Campagne). It's expensive and juggling lots of bags is never easy but it's less work and stress on them.

This year I am picking up dinner from a different place. Little Tuna in nearby Haddonfield.
It's a seafood restaurant, obviously. I have ordered enough food for two nights since Little Tuna is closed tomorrow:

For tonight:

-BBQ bacon wrapped jumbo shrimp served over a bed of sauteed spinach
-Bleu steak & bacon bites broiled and served with creamy horseradish sauce
-Chicken pot stickers tossed in a sweet chili and garlic sauce
-Creole crab minis in a pool of creole lobster bisque
-Lobster bisque soup

Reheated for tomorrow:

-8 oz. center cut filet mignon
-Flounder stuffed with lump crabmeat
-Jumbo lobster ravioli & sea scallops in a sun-dried tomato garlic white wine sauce

Hopefully Mom and Dad will enjoy the meals. For dessert I bought a fruit tart and a pumpkin carmel cheesecake (I miss chocolate, sigh).

I worry about future Thanksgivings. Eventually, it will just be Mom and me. And then, one dark year, just me. Not even Daulton. Just me.

Red Sheets

Last night I slept on red sheets. Sort of slept. My mother told me that Dr. Oz claims white sheets reflect too much light and are little help with insomnia so I asked her to buy me a set of red sheets, which is the better color. Alas, they did not help. I could have used a Xanax. Benadryl finally rescued me after much tossing and turning. And Daulton was a bit bothered by the change in color... he was not sure where to rest his weary self.

Tomorrow night I pick up Thanksgiving dinner for my parents and me. Seafood. None of us are fans of turkey. But I did buy some sliced turkey for Daulton to nom. He is thankful.

I'm still struggling with the depression. And the workload. I hung another picture in my apartment and pondered if anyone other than my mother and I would see it. Doubtful. That bothered me. I realized how much I miss conversation--I want to share thoughts and observations with another guy. I want to tell him how I acquired this knickknack or this painting or what this piece of art means to me. But I never will have that. And when I die, all of the stuff will probably be tossed in the dumpster. So, in the end, it has no meaning?

So...

So I have been neglectful of this LJ. One reason is a growing unease with social networking (I have deactivated my Facebook account for a variety of reasons). Another is I have so many jobs these days (day job--Lethe--acquisitions for BSB--occasional author) that I feel overwhelmed and/or too tired to come up with a post that seems worthwhile. Which leads into the next issue, what do I post? Some friends of mine use LJ as a way to reach readers, some as a venting machine that dispenses cookies. Neither is wrong. I've certainly pounded on the LJ for snickerdoodles a lot. But whining akes me even more exhausted.

Maybe I should just update what's been happening in my life?

Daulton) Remains a source of joy and frustration, as every good cat should. At 20, he remains playful, especially late at night when I want to go to bed. He's thin but not unhealthy looking. And his purring helps comfort me.

Parents) Father's IPF is slowly killing him but at a slow decline. Some days are better than others. Mother has become so worn down by his constant need for her (bathing, dressing, preparing meals, bed, etc.) that I worry she will die of his disease first. Very frustrating. And both have grown more clingy. They would prefer I eat dinner over their place every night.

Day Job) Still vacillates between feast or famine in terms of workload but I have been assigned new duties that might make things busier. Also, my health insurance is going to cost double next year. Yikes.

Health) Since I mentioned the insurance let me say that I'm on a 4-5 pill regimen between all the various prescriptions. Unless I take Xanax, I cannot sleep at night. The insomnia is awful. And I have to be wary of GERD. And depression. Always depression. And I've gained so much weight. Then, my scalp and face peel and crack like they are trying to shed skin. I've tried a multitude of ointments and nothing helps longer than a day or two. Between my face and my waistline I feel ugly.

Lethe) The press does well. We're selling more ebooks and even print sales are good thanks to some starred reviews. I probably published way too many books in 2011, so we'll be drastically reducing the number of new releases next year--it might seem counter to success, but in '11 we did several books that had very poor sales or were really outside of our area of expertise. I'd like to focus on a core of queer spec fic for the main press and then the imprints.

Icarus) Well, I never thought the magazine would be a huge seller. I hoped for more subscribers. It is a loss-leader for Lethe, providing some advertising of our books and the books of colleagues. At least I'm not losing much money.

BSB) So far I've really only acquired one other YA title for Bold Strokes Books: Street Dreams. But I did edit Speaking Out for them and the forthcoming Boys of Summer. A moment on the latter--despite an open call, I received so few submissions. Half of what I received for some future Lethe anthologies. I was really shocked by this. Yes, payment of $200 is small by the standards of YA anthologies released by the major NYC players (who pay at least 5 cents a word). But what gay press pays that much for a short story? Best Gay Romance does...what, $75? I would have thought that writers of gay fiction would have been enticed by the fee and try their hand at good YA story. But no, I had to beg some friends to write...and I could not beg the "big YA" friends because it's not worth their time. Sigh.

Writing) I had wanted to take 2012 off from Lethe duties to write. But because of staff reductions, that will be impossible. I finished I think 3 stories this year. I still have to work on 2 more before the end of the month. But we all know the truth: stories are nice, but if you don't write novels, people will never treat you like a serious author (even Kelly Link gets asked "When are you going to write a book?"). And I honestly fear I just cannot summon the enthusiasm or confidence to write beyond chapter two.

Social Life) Limited. Almost none. Except for visiting my parents for dinner, the only other outing I make is to watch bad movies on Saturday night. No dates, no hook-ups. I'm about as sexually active as one of the old men at the senior center. I don't even have a gay friend that I could hang out with, go see a movie with. I might as well be straight. I'm pretty much a failure as a fag and it saddens me so much.


Ahh, that last but sounds like a token for a cookie. Please don't. I have gained 30lbs in the last year. I'm pretty much unhappy whenever I look in the mirror as is.

"Bottom of the Menu"

I don't suppose anyone has a spare 48hrs to beta-read a weird and dark meta story I wrote for Jerry Wheeler's Dirty Diner anthology. "Bottom of the Menu" (less than 3k long) is not as lurid as it sounds. More strange.

Hmmm...I think I paid for a nihilistic_kid that I never got....Do I dare use it?

Vorpal

Today I embar on a straight razor to the neck. No, nothing grim-my depression is still raging and all--but I will go to the male customer only salon and get the deluxe shave to I do not look like a derelict for this:

"Outsiders In/Of Science Fiction and the Fantastic"*
Monday October 24, 2011
7:00 pm
FREE/ RSVP:
http://www.centerforfiction.org/calendar/big-read-outsiders-inof-science-fiction-and-the-fantastic
or call (212) 755-6710
At The Center for Fiction / 17 E. 47th Street / NYC

I owe many people emails. It's been hard to motivate myself to communicate--nothing person, I just feel so lonely that the fact email is my primary means to talk to anyone just seems... well, like why bother to cling to such an inefficient method that is prone to errors and misreadings.

S

Make sure school libraries have a queer book

http://igg.me/p/46379

So I started an Indie GoGo campaign to donate funds to buy high schools around the country copies of Speaking Out. Please spread the word!

Just a reminder, feel free to share...

So, just a reminder to those folks who write gay fiction or YA fiction or some combination thereof:

I'm still reading submissions for Boys of Summer, which releases from Bold Strokes Books next May.

Here's the marketing copy:

Walt Whitman referred to a "Mad, naked, Summer Night!" In the pages of Boys of Summer, acclaimed editor Steve Berman's latest anthology, talented authors and fresh voices reveal the allure and excitement of the season for gay teens. June always promises romance. July entices with its raw heat, and August offers a languid fire that will burn out before autumn's approach. These are stories of young love and adventure, when the sky's ceiling is a bright blue marvel, when another boy's laughter at the beach can distract from dull summer jobs.

More details:

All the stories have to involve gay teenage boys. Such boys need to be openly gay and not torn by their sexual identity.

All the stories need to have summertime as an important theme of the book. We're already covered such pursuits as sailing and graduation and camp. So, please come up with creative alternatives.

The stories could be romantic. Could be adventurous. Mystery. Inspirational. Please, nothing spec fic at this point unless it's friggin brilliant and is contemporary. I already have three magic realism stories and I think that's pretty much enough.

Stories should be sent to me as rtf files. Send it to my Yahoo account.

No story less than 1,000 words. No story more than 10,000 words. I stated earlier that pay would be $200. Obviously for stories that are slim (1k) or long (10k), I will make adjustments to this.

So far I've accepted stories from: L. Lark, Alex Jeffers, and Shawn Syms.

Any questions?


Deadline is November 1st.

OA

I've left the Outer Alliance group/membership. While I think they possess a great deal of good intentions, it has become clear to me that many of the members possess the same mindset that has caused me grief and frustration. I cannot belong to the group anymore in good faith. It's especially irksome, as an author, editor, and publisher, when the group basically maintains ignorance about efforts to provide quality spec fic with LGBT elements because the parties beyond such materials consider themselves gay writers first and foremost.