Last Outpost Update - January 2016

I tuned in to the President’s State of the Union speech last night and I have to admit my mind was wandering during most of it.  The local impact of his speech included the realization that I needed to post this State of the Book update.   In case you’ve forgotten, Last Outpost, the third volume in the Far Orbit space adventure series was open for submissions from September 15 through December 15, 2015.  During that time, we had an open call for military space adventure stories.  A gratifying number of you responded to the call and I am thankful for your submissions.    
 
Submissions
The submission period is closed and everyone who submitted during the open window should have heard from me.  Let me know if you have not received a response yet.  During this submission cycle, the average response time was
 
Intermission
Once the initial parsing was completed, I took a break to reset and clear my head.  My last acts during the intermission were (a) purchasing a Lottery ticket for the $1.5 billion drawing and (b) a two hour self-directed fantasy where I was Trumpianly rich and able to piss people off in wholesale lots.  The cost for the whole experience was less than a movie ticket.  The infernal villainy - priceless.  
 
Short List Parsing
At this writing, I’m back in editor mode; re-reading shortlisted stories and making lists, revision notes, and first-pass line edits.  This is the exciting and frustrating part of the book creation process.  In order to create a work that appeals to a broad range of readers, I sometimes have to say, “No thanks” to very good stories.
 
And Finally…
The State of the Book is strong and we hope to start making notifications in mid-February.