OLD News

A few minutes ago, I was washing dishes.

Not, for the most part, a particularly hazardous activity. Except when a plate decides, without warning and without obvious cause to suddenly shatter into four pieces.

There was no impact; I didn’t drop it. The water wasn’t that hot; my hands were in it. I was simply holding it in one hand, scrubbing with the other, and then suddenly I was holding only one part of it, and I was bleeding. A lot.

They are, thankfully, all minor cuts. Like, "band-aid and ointment" minor. It could have been a lot worse. But there are several of them–thumb, wrist, forearm–and they were all pretty free-bleeders. (Especially the thumb. Thought that one would never stop.) And this was a dirty dish that had been sitting in the sink, so antibiotic ointment was not optional.

There are, of course, those would say that I probably shouldn’t be aggravating them by typing up this entry. Such people are clearly neither authors nor bloggers. 😉

So, yeah, it hurts–again, the thumb especially–but I’ll be fine. It was certainly rather a bracing experience, though.

And speaking of short story markets, there’s a new sci-fi market. Lightspeed is an online magazine, focusing specifically on sci-fi (no fantasy) shorts. And they pay professional rates, too (though they’re closed for submissions until mid-July).

Wow. At this rate, spec-fic short story writers may actually have options again before too long. 😉

So, I’m about to start reading a book.

This, as you may imagine, is not the potential milestone to which the subject header refers. I have, oddly enough, read a few books in my time.

No, it’s the fact that this is an advanced copy of a book, that I’ve been sent because I’ve been asked–for the very first time in my career–to provide one of those little blurbs/cover quotes that you see on the back covers, or first few pages, of various novels.  😮 😎

Obviously, I can’t say what the book is, or who it’s for–but I will say that being asked to do a blurb actually feels really damn good. The idea that enough people may like my work for my recommendation to be worth seeking out… Well, it’s a really nice feeling.

I don’t know if there are any official markers on the road to "making it" as an author, but if there are, this almost has to be one of them, doesn’t it? 😀

So, I’m about to start reading a book.

This, as you may imagine, is not the potential milestone to which the subject header refers. I have, oddly enough, read a few books in my time.

No, it’s the fact that this is an advanced copy of a book, that I’ve been sent because I’ve been asked–for the very first time in my career–to provide one of those little blurbs/cover quotes that you see on the back covers, or first few pages, of various novels.  😮 😎

Obviously, I can’t say what the book is, or who it’s for–but I will say that being asked to do a blurb actually feels really damn good. The idea that enough people may like my work for my recommendation to be worth seeking out… Well, it’s a really nice feeling.

I don’t know if there are any official markers on the road to "making it" as an author, but if there are, this almost has to be one of them, doesn’t it? 😀

My latest Suvudu column, in which I discuss (read: rant and lecture about) the majority of modern "Lovecraftian" fiction, and how/why it’s really anything but.

Even though I’ve been doing this for years, even though I’ve published (or signed to publish) seven novels so far, I still get nervous any time I turn in a novel manuscript to an editor/publisher/whoever for the first time.

Why do I mention this? Guess who just sent the first draft of the current project to his agent. 😮

(Not that I expect her to have any major problems with it. But then, expectation isn’t really the issue here, is it?)