Josh Strnad's Blog, page 3

New Logo

As I branch out as a publisher, I think it’s important to have an imprint that says something about who I am and why I do what I do. After some consideration, I’ve decided to go with the name “Serpent and Dove Speculative Fiction.” Check out the awesome logo my good friend Chadd Bonesteel designed for me. Behold!

Cool, huh? I’m pretty excited about it. You can (and should) check out more of Chadd’s work at www.chaddbonesteel.com, especially if you’re ever in the market for freelance graphic...

Silent Screams Update

I’m now almost halfway into the second month of reading forSilent Screams, with a month-and-a-half or so to go. I’ve actually done a good job so far of keeping up with the reading as stories come in. It’s slow going, but some progress is taking place. Here’s a quick rundown of statistics for you number-crunching types:

SUBMISSIONS SO FAR- 70
EARLY ACCEPTANCES- 6
REJECTIONS- 49
MAYBES- 15

So far the anthology is about one quarter full, as far as my vision for it goes (I’m hoping for around 100...

An Update on Writing, Editing, Life, Etc.

Since I’m not good at blogging (and the first to admit it), there’s a temptation to meta-blog whenever I do get on here. Obviously the rare times I do update this page are the moments when it’s on my mind, and since it’s on my mind it’s what I feel like writing about. this makes for lame reading, I know.

Since my posts tend to be so few and far between, major life changes tend to take place in the interim. It seems like only a few months ago that I wrote about my move to Statesville, NC and m...

Announcing Serpent And Dove Speculative Fiction

Writing and publishing are an adventure, and, like any journey, full of bumps, potholes, and unexpected twists along the way. Many of you are aware that Pantheon’s publisher, Musa, went out of business some months ago. It was a bummer, but in the process all rights to my book (as well as all the editing work that Musa staff put into it) reverted back to me. Pantheonwas removed from online retailers, and I was left with several boxes of Musa-branded paperbacks to sell at conventions and signin...

Guest Post: Misty Massey and the Weird Wild West

Howdy All, Today I’m turning my blog over to author/editor Misty Massey to talk about her upcoming anthology of weird westerns (Westerns crossed with elements of science fiction and fantasy, i.e.Pantheon by Yours Truly). I met Misty (along with anthology contributer Gail Z. Martin)at AtomaCon a couple of months ago, and had a great time hearing about this project. Check out their Kickstarter, and if you’re interested, consider supporting the book– they’re getting very close to their funding g...

2014—My Year In Books

The past year has been a whirlwind of activity—One that at times threatened to swallow me whole in its vortex of business and stress, but one which also marked several major accomplishments for me—namely the publication of my first novel (go buy it, if you haven’t), and the completion of my Masters degree. It also marked my move to a new city and my taking a new job.

In the midst of all this, somehow I also found the time to read (which is why the excuse some people make about being too busy t...

Soda Saturday: A Coconut Beveridge and a Book Signing

Coconut is the sort of thing that a person either loves or hates. Me, I’m a fan, so coconut soda sounded like a good plan. This is another Goya product (of cola champagne fame) but I didn’t hold that against them. They also happen to make one of my favorite spicy ginger beers, so I can forgive them if not everything they make is as awesome.

You know that water from the inside of a coconut? This tastes kind of like that, but blander, like it’s been diluted with sugar water. Seriously, I was alm...

Soda Saturday- Tamarindo and Grad School Blues

Today I’m drinking another Hispanic soda– Jarritos Tamarind (Tamarindo). I had heard of Tamarind, but when I picked up my bottle of this stuff (at Walmart), I honestly had no idea what it actually was– m best guess was that it was some sort of exotic spice or root– I imagined something like a weird sort of ginger. According to my extensive research *coughwikipediacough*, the tamarind is actually a fruit that grows in hard, pea-like pods, and is native to Africa.

So what of the drink? Appearanc...

Soda Saturday– Refresco Goya Cola Champagne (And Upcoming Book Signing announcements)

In an effort to better discipline myself into updating my blog on a more regular basis , I’m instituting a new feature here, starting today– I call it Soda Saturday. Every Saturday I’ll drink and review a novelty or international soda (suggestions welcome), which will serve two purposes– first, it’ll be fun (I like trying new things as much as anyone), and second, the taste-test will provide a reason to get me to my blog and a launching point for whatever else I have to write about that day.

S...

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

So much for blogging regularly over the summer. That’s all I have to say about that.

In summary– I worked a lot, read a lot more books, went on a men’s retreat with my church, interviewed at a lot of different schools, attended my first sci-fi convention (ConCarolinas), and in general avoided writing almost entirely (I did manage to get one short story done). Oh, and I did get a job teaching high school English and moved to a new town a couple hours away from my parents.

It’s the move and all t...