Good News and Other Things

Last week, I got some happy news. In case you didn't see it on FB, I sold a second story this year. That's pretty great since I've only completed two stories in the past six months. I'm a very slow writer when it comes to non-novel length stories. I find that I need to know where the thing is headed and what it's really all about, and well, a lot of fumbling around results before I can discover those things. Yeah, being an organic writer is a pain in the ass sometimes. Nonetheless, my bar story (technically a novella), Second Verse, Same as the First, has a home in the Genius Loci anthology, and my mermaid story (technically a novelette), A Siren's Cry is a Song of Sorrow, will be published in the September issue of Apex Magazine. I'm thrilled to death for both. It's hard to get stories in magazines. There's a great deal of competition. I've been trying (on and off) for my whole career. (Novels are my natural story-telling length, and that has something to do with it.) Five novels later, though, I finally did it. I am super happy about that.

Never give up. :)

And now, some things I like. First, there's this series of Fantasy travel posters by artist, Chet Phillips. I love them. I can't decide between the Scotland with dragon or the England Cthulhu poster. Oh, who am I kidding? I'm probably going with the Cthulhu poster--not because I like Lovecraft. (I really, really don't.) But because I love Cthulhu pastiches, and that image pretty much sums up my feelings of lurking horror these days. He also does a series featuring SF films. Under the music category...well...I haven't done much venturing into new territory since most of the writing I've done since the first draft of Persephone Station is complete has had a strong nostalgic bent to it. So, have some old favorites.

LCTD is old school goth. :) Sometimes I just have to go there. Next up, I love Tracy Chapman. There's just something about her voice that I find so inspiring. She's wonderful. This song is particularly uplifting.

I've said this before, but I adore Mimi Page's cover of Wicked Game.

I just discovered the video that goes with one of my favorite VAST songs. It's creepy as shit.