James Dorr's Blog, page 100

Sins and Other Worlds Contract Received and Signed

The life goes on.  Amidst contests and interviews, Wednesday’s email brought a contract from Shacklebound books for my story “The Cyclops,” set to appear in the reprint flash anthology SINS AND OTHER WORLDS (cf. June 17).  Originally published in DARK MOON DIGEST YOUNG ADULT HORROR for June 2013, “The Cyclops” is told from the point of view of a fast-growing baby with physical problems, but with an advanced enough intelligence that he’s beginning to figure things out.  Say what?  Well, the contract went back to Editor Eric Fomley later this afternoon as requested, so watch here for further information on when SINS is published and ready for purchase to see for yourself.

Stories Neck and Neck In 100 Word Contest, Plus 2016 Interview Reprised

Exciting times!  A story of mine is running neck and neck in Carrie Ann Golden’s latest A WRITER AND HER SENTIMENTAL MUSE competition, this one for a tale of 100 words or less as prompted by the picture just below.  And as [image error]of last notice there were two entries in the running, each with exactly fifty percent of the total vote.  Or most likely, each has just one vote.

Should you wish to tilt the odds, you can find stories “A” and “B” in their entireties, the picture again, and a link for voting in the poll here.  And as a bonus, scroll toward the bottom and there’s a link to an interview Carrie Ann did of me on her blog back in 2016.  See early comments on my as yet to be published novel-in-stories TOMBS, as well as some dish on THE TEARS OF ISIS and on New Orleans’s filles à les caissettes.  What better to read on a warm, sunny Wednesday?

And, as for which of the stories is mine, well, you know me.  It’s likely to be the more “horrible” of them.

Mid-July Royalty Received for Tombs

Well, “mid-year” more accurately, and it’s not something to get rich on, but it could buy lunch.  Actually it’s good to see that copies are moving at all, as is the case with all royalty payments, but with a single-author novel-in-stories like TOMBS: A CHRONICLE OF LATTER-DAY TIMES OF EARTH (that is, all by me) it’s especially nice since even modest [image error]amounts add up.  I might add to that, if any here would care to contribute to the mid-winter royalty check to come, Amazon still has some bargain discounts the last I looked (two, at least, under $10.00) which can be checked out by clicking the cover picture of TOMBS in the center column.  Also, if you’re seeing this and you have read TOMBS and you think it worth while, might I suggest you might write a review and send it to Amazon, Goodreads, et al.?  Reviews need not be long or detailed, just a sentence or two perhaps mentioning what stands out about it for you, but for all authors honest reviews can be a huge help.

Just saying.

Summer Star*Line Published Sunday in PDF

Yes, I’m going through a “thing” with alliterating headlines.  Just a quick note though that the summer edition of STAR*LINE, the journal of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Poetry Association, has just been published in PDF with the print edition to be ready in the near future.  My pig, as it were, in this poetry poke is “What She Learned” (cf. also July 7), a thrilling account of vampirism and education, nestled at the bottom of page 22.  The issue number is 41.3 with more to be reported here, including most likely a cover picture, when the mailed copy arrives, while more information on STAR*LINE and the SFPA can be obtained by pressing here.

A Giant Parisian Elephant for Bastille Day Fun? Monumental Building Projects that Never Quite Came Off

A Frank Lloyd Wright mile-high Chicago tower?  A water-spouting Parisian elephant?  How about a project by Gaudi for lower [image error]Manhattan?  These and more can be found in “The 7 Wildest Buildings That Were Never Built” by Tim Newcomb, on POPULARMECHANICS. COM.  A giant Tokyo pyramid?  Food for thought for science fiction scenarios, including some steampunk (the Paris elephant predates the Eiffel Tower — had it been built instead would it have changed history?).  For all these and more, food for thought for one’s own wildest fancies (or maybe just le Quatorze Juillet fun), one need but press here.

Children of Sky Proof for Frog Pond Received, Returned; Pre-Order Info Reported for August 1 Debut

This came late yesterday afternoon, actually, but had to wait till I could respond (my music group meets Tuesday evenings), the proof copy from Schreyer Ink Anthologies for my entry, “The Frog [image error]Pond,” in their upcoming CHILDREN OF THE SKY (see July 5). Originally published in England in HUB MAGAZINE in 2006, “The Frog Pond” is about the opening of a new planet for exploitation, but with one possible hitch that needed to be checked out first.

CHILDREN OF THE SKY itself is scheduled for publication on August 1, with the corrected proof for this story going back late last night (or, depending on time zone, the wee hours of this morning). And indeed things are moving fast, this having been just received:  The pre-order link is now live on Smashwords. The book will also be available through Smashwords’ extended retailers (Kobo and iBooks) in the next few days. You can find it there by searching. It will be live on Amazon in a day or two . . . [t]here will not be a paperback preorder but the paperback will be available on Amazon on August 1st.

Gas to Re-Terrify, or, Pole to Pole Publishing Does It Again

I can’t say that I didn’t sort of anticipate this, or at least hope for it, another email from Pole to Pole Publishing this afternoon:  Thank you for sending “Gas” for Pole to Pole Publishing’s RE-TERRIFY anthology.  We appreciate the chance to read it, and have decided to accept “Gas” for inclusion in the anthology.  This is the companion volume to the RE-ENCHANT anthology which accepted my story “Dust” [image error]just a few days ago so, adding previous volumes RE-QUEST and RE-LAUNCH, I seem to be four for four so far.  I might also add for fellow writers that like RE- ENCHANT, RE-TERRIFY is open to submissions through August, for more on which see the link in the post just below.

RE-TERRIFY, to quote the original call, will join our previous submission calls (now closed) for RE-LAUNCH and RE-QUEST in the Re-Imagined Series of anthologies. RE-TERRIFY requires dark science fiction, fantasy, or horror reprints on the theme of monsters which terrify.  “Gas,” which was first published in the December 1994-5 issue of EULOGY, involves cutting edge (if not on the entirely up and up) biochemical research and was inspired by the real-life basement of the Indiana University Chemistry Building.

Dust is Newest Pole to Pole Publishing Placement

Well, I do seem to be doing okay with the Pole to Pole folks this year having placed two stories with them already, “The Blade of Gudrin” in RE-QUEST and “The Game” in RE-LAUNCH on February 2 and 4 respectively (cf. also June 1, et al.).  These are two in a series of reprint anthologies coming out from Pole to Pole Publishing, and more are planned.  Thus a subsequent call:  Pole to Pole Publishing is seeking short, re-print fiction for the RE-ENCHANT [image error]anthology to be published in late 2018.  RE-ENCHANT will join our previous submission calls (now closed) for RE-LAUNCH and RE-QUEST in the Re-Imagined Series of anthologies.  RE-ENCHANT requires dark stories and myths about faeries or faerie-like creatures.  And to which, as it happens, I responded.

Today, Sunday, the email came from Editors Vonnie Winslow Crist and Kelly A. Harmon:  Thank you for sending “Dust” for Pole to Pole Publishing’s RE-ENCHANT anthology.  We appreciate the chance to read it, and have decided to accept “Dust” for inclusion in the anthology.  Your contract and additional information will be sent to you soon. “Dust” is a story originally published in my first collection, STRANGE MISTRESSES: TALES OF WONDER AND ROMANCE, concerning two maidens and a fairyland-like castle in Spain . . . and spiders.

Also for the writers among us (as with the posting two items below) might I note that RE-ENCHANT, along with another new companion volume, is still open for submissions through August?  For more information on both press here.

A Poetry Proliferation: Proofs Received from Two (Count ‘Em!) Publications

The poetic cup runneth full this Saturday with proofs received from not one, but two upcoming publications.  The first in order of fulfillment, that is to say reading the proof sheet and sending it back with minor corrections, was from our fast-moving recent friend ALTERNATE THEOLOGY (ALTERNATIVE THEOLOGIES?), cf. July 1 and 2.  Either title seems to exist depending on the page you go to, but to the chase, my part is the poem called “Tit for Tat,” a “little [image error]Willie” in which our naughty lad finds the afterlife not as had been advertised.  The poem itself has been published before, originally in an anthology called GHOSTS:  REVENGE (James Ward Kirk Publications, 2015), but the subject seems one worth repeating and, with one or two minor editorial changes, has been returned.

Then a PDF for the Summer issue of STAR*LINE was perused, with my entry in this one a new poem, “What She Learned,” one of five accepted last February and four of which have already appeared in the current Spring issue (see May 16, April 11, et al.).  Things thus moving fast all around, within the hour that proof was returned as well to editor Vince Gotera with other information requested and a note that no changes were needed.

Frog Pond Selected for Children Of the Sky

The call was for a series of anthologies from Schreyer Ink Publishing, with the one with the guideline window for May and June titled CHILDREN OF THE SKY.  The description read Science Fiction:  stories of alien invasions, first contact, our first steps on alien worlds.  It didn’t say if reprints would be okay, as they often can be for themed anthologies (that is, the editor can hope for first class stories at “used” story rates — in this case, in fact, payment would be just a royalty share), but it didn’t say they wouldn’t be either.  So off went a story from way, way back, when I was writing much more science fiction, about planetary exploration and alien first contact purposely gone wrong called “The Frog Pond,” published originally in the UK in HUB Magazine, December 2006.  Details on first publication history were included of course.

The reply came yesterday, the Fourth of July, from Editor C. Schreyer.  Thank-you for your submission to Children of the Sky. We are excited to inform you that your story has been accepted for publication.  Please find attached your contract.  A bit more information was asked for and so, this afternoon, all went back, signed contract, formatted copy of story, and bio.  If all goes well, the next step will be receiving a proof copy, more on which will be told here when it happens.  Also, other writers, for more information on Schreyer Ink Publishing and future calls (one of which has just opened for this month and August), one may press here.