Friday, December 31, 2010

2010 in review

What a year it's been. In May, Rebecca and I were finally able to get married after so many delays. Then in November we welcomed our new baby, Alexis. Our two older girls are thriving in school and growing up so fast. On a personal level, 2010 was the best year I've ever had.

On the writing front, it was a pretty good year as well, although not as productive as I would have liked. I finished (not wrote) two novels. One of them, Red Moon Rising will be released by Sam's Dot Publishing in February. The other is getting some serious consideration from another publisher...so hopefully there will be some good news in early 2011. I only wrote three short stories this year. Two of those stories will be published in 2011, and I'm waiting to hear back on the third.

I did a lot of writing for the Ephemeris RPG, and although sales on the game haven't been booming, we have seen fairly steady sales year round.

So, overall, I would have to say that 2010 was a damn good year!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Merry Christmas

Around here, we don't celebrate Christmas as being the birth of a god, or the birth of a son of a god. Instead, we just celebrate it as a time to be with family and friends. So, to all of my family and friends, Merry Christmas.

Here are a few Christmas songs you might like...







Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Sleep deprivation

I'm having a lot of trouble adjusting to having the baby in the house and working early in the morning. My new job starts at 6 am every day, so I have to be up at 4:30, and of course, anyone who has ever had a baby will tell you that they don't sleep through the night.

At first, Rebecca was doing a lot of the staying up with her because she was still on maternity leave, but she went back to work last night...and Alexis was not too happy about it. We had a very rough night with her basically screaming for hours on end. So, I didn't get to sleep until Rebecca got home at midnight.

Tonight's been a much better night so far. Normally she wants to be held whenever she's sleeping, but I've been splitting time between that and putting her in the car seat next to my desk and gently rocking her. She hasn't had any fits yet, and she seems quite happy...so it seems to be working.

Needless to say, trying to adjust to her and the job has meant that my writing and editing have suffered a lot, but I'll get back into the swing of things in the next week or two, and then everything will be back to normal...or as normal as it ever is in my life...

Saturday, December 11, 2010

Great holiday gift idea

If you're looking for a great gift idea for the science fiction or fantasy fan on your holiday list, might I suggest the Sam's Dot Publishing calendars? Not only do these calendars feature the usual holiday dates, they also feature important dates like the birthdays of some of your favorite authors, the dates of major literary and scientific achievements, and much more.

There are two varieties of the calendars, and here is the cover art for each:





You can find them at The Genre Mall. Just scroll down to the Sam's Dot Calendars.

Sunday, December 05, 2010

Anthology story

I finished the story I was asked to write for an anthology. The actual deadline was the end of November, but the editor is a nice person, and she gave me extra time since I was quite busy during November, and because I was losing a lot of sleep due to the new addition to our family.

I still feel like my short story skills are a bit rusty, but I'm two for two on the stories I've written so far this year, so maybe I just don't know what I'm talking about.

Hopefully the story will be accepted. It would be a new publisher for me, and a publisher who puts out some good books, so I would certainly be happy to see my name in one of their collections.

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Anthology rough draft

As I mentioned previously, I was asked to write a story for an upcoming anthology. I finished the rough draft a couple of days ago, and now I'm getting ready to start on revisions. I think the story still needs a lot of work, so these will probably be some long and tedious revisions...

November recap

A lighter month of blogging with the birth of the baby...

Writing stuff

Alexis

Getting back in the swing of things

Ephemeris holiday bundles

Happy Thanksgiving

Black Friday Specials

R-Complex

Cyber Monday Special

Sunday, November 28, 2010

Cyber Monday Special

DriveThruSciFi has a special bundle offer on four e-books from Nomadic Delirium Press. Three of the books are mine. You get Seedlings on the Solar Winds, The Opium of the People, and Marionettes on the Moon from me...and from James Baker, you get The Poet. All four e-books are just $5.

Go to http://scifi.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=65958 and order, because the deal is only good for one day.

Saturday, November 27, 2010

R-Complex

My short story "R-Complex" has sold to Aoife's Kiss. This is only the second short story I've written this year, and it's my second sale...pretty good run.

The story will appear in the June issue, which will be a very special anniversary issue. I can't go into details yet, but I do know that there are two VERY BIG authors from the SF field who will also appear in this issue.

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Black Friday Specials

Smashwords has three of my e-books on sale for 99 cents for Black Friday.

You can order Seedlings on the Solar Winds by going to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/16551 and using coupon code TD26P.

You can order The Opium of the People by going to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/16609 and using coupon code TX57H

You can order Marionettes on the Moon by going to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/16865. This book is always 99 cents, but if you're ordering the others, you might as well order it too.

Happy Thanksgiving

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the U.S. A lot of Thanksgivings I use this blog to talk about something that's very important to me...Native American rights, but I'm going to forgo that this year and talk about the things I'm actually thankful for.

First, and most obvious, would be my beautiful wife Rebecca. And right along side her would be my three wonderful daughters, including the youngest, who will be celebrating her first Thanksgiving...although she's not actually aware of that.

I'm also thankful for my extended family, as well as my friends, who have been there through good times and bad, and supported me every step of the way.

I'm also thankful for all of my readers...all two or three of you :-). You guys make all the hours I spend away from my family at the keyboard worth it. I'd also like to say that I'm thankful to all of the editors who have supported my writing over the years. Without you guys, I wouldn't be anything.

So, make sure you let everyone in your life know that you're thankful for their being there, and have a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Ephemeris Holiday Bundles

There are two Ephemeris bundles available at DriveThruRPG at special holiday prices. The two bundles are virtually the same, except that one features the core rulebook and the other does not. This way the bundles are good for the new Ephemeris players, as well as the seasoned Ephemeris players.

You can find them at:

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=86038

or

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=86042

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Getting back in the swing of things

Life is starting to return to normal here...or at least as normal as it ever gets. Alexis is turning out to be a great little baby. She pretty much only cries when she's hungry. She had her first sponge bath yesterday, and didn't complain once. She really doesn't seem to complain about the things that most babies complain about, and we're happy about that. Her circadian rhythms seem to be off a bit, as she sleeps more during the day than at night, so we've had a couple of rough nights, but hopefully we're getting her rhythms shifted.

I'm finally starting to get caught up on the pile of work that has fallen on me. I've seen early proofs of my next book cover, and I can't wait to share it with everyone once we have a final copy. I'm putting together notes for a story I need to write for an editor who approached me at MileHiCon. I'm hoping to get started on that in the next few days. All the other little annoying things that take up my time are also being taken care of.

I realized that in my last post about Alexis, I didn't post a picture, although most of you have probably already seen her...so, here she is...

Friday, November 12, 2010

Alexis

Alexis Brianna Erwine was born on Monday Nov. 8th at 2:14 pm. She weighed in at 9 lbs. 3 ozs. and was 21 inches long. Although she is my third daughter, she is actually my first biological daughter. I've heard a lot of people talk about how you instantly fall in lover with your child when they're born, and I figured I knew what they were talking about...but believe me, this is one feeling that really does have to be experienced to truly understand it.

We got home from the hospital Wednesday night, and we were prepared for a long night, but she slept pretty well. She woke up a few times to eat, but went right back to sleep. Last night she was a little fussier, but overall she has been a great baby. She doesn't cry a lot, although she does have a little of her mom's attitude when she doesn't get her way.

So far there hasn't been a lot of sibling rivalry, although the cat wants nothing to do with her...but we pretty much expected that.

The hardest part for me has been that I came down with a rather nasty cold from sleeping in the air conditioned hospital room. As a result, I have to limit my contact with her...which I REALLY don't want to do. I told Rebecca today that as soon as I'm over this cold, I'm going to be fighting her to hold Alexis.

Rebecca came through the delivery amazingly, and she's now recovering well. I was so amazed at the birth that I have a whole new level of respect and love for my wife. She is truly an amazing human being...and together it looks like we've created a truly amazing "little" baby.

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Writing stuff

Assuming the baby doesn't make an appearance in the next 12 hours, I should be finishing up a new short story. This will only be the 2nd piece of short fiction I've written this year, but I'm hoping to place it in a special edition of one of my favorite zines. After I get that sent off, I'm going to start working on the story I've been asked for for an anthology. I will say it's nice to be writing short fiction again.

On an editorial note, I'm in discussions with a publisher about the possibility of editing a new anthology...more on that as it's available...

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

E-book sale

Now through the end of November, Smashwords has two of my e-books on sale for 25% off the usual cover price. This deal is being made available only through my blog.

Seedlings on the Solar Winds use coupon code JM58Q at checkout

The Opium of the People use coupon code BK29K at checkout

My short fiction muse

I'm trying to find my short fiction muse. Over the last year, I've spent most of my writing time finishing up two novels and writing material for the Ephemeris RPG. I've actually only written one short story in that time, but I obviously need to write more.

While I was at MileHiCon, I was approached by an editor who wants me to contribute to an anthology that she's working on. In addition, I had another editor (who was not at the Con) tell me that he's holding a spot open for me in a very special issue of his magazine. This means that I need to write two short stories and soon. Most non-writers don't realize that there's actually a big difference in how you go about writing short fiction as opposed to novels, but there really is, and now I need to get that part of my brain back into shape and get it working.

I would love to make an appearance in this anthology and in this zine, so I'd better get to work. Of course, there's also the matter of the baby who should be making an appearance any time now...

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

MileHiCon Day 3

Sunday came up on quicker than any of us could have expected. We didn't really have much going on in the early part of the day, so we decided to do some of the kids stuff.

We started out with "Carving with the Pumpkin King." The girls got to do some great relief pumpkins (even thought it was really the adults doing all of the hard work). I've never really been a big Halloween person, but I have to admit that this was kind of fun. After carving, the girls had a "Ranger" meeting. This is kind of like a LARP game just for the kids. They go on missions throughout the con trying to solve problems in the hopes of protecting their kingdoms. I think it's a great little thing for the kids to do, and I'd love to see it expanded, although that could be hard on the parents.

My final panel was "Villains: An Author's Best Friend." We had some great panelists on this one: Hilari Bell, Rachel Caine, Gary Jonas, and Katherine Kurtz. Since there were two of the Guests of Honor on this one, we drew a pretty big crowd, and I think we all had a really good time...and hopefully we imparted a bit of wisdom along the way. We bounced around in the discussion from Hannibal Lecter to Lando Molari, and on to Hitler. We were kind of all over the place, but it was one of the best panels I've ever done.

After this was the closing ceremonies, and it was time to say "So long, and thanks for all the fish!"

Rebecca didn't feel all that well through the whole con, but we still had a great time. I think the ConCom outdid themselves this year, and this was one of the best MileHiCons I've ever been to. And I'm not just saying this because I know that Rose sometimes reads my blogs, but Rose really did a phenomenal job with the scheduling this year and deserves several hearty rounds of applause. Thanks, Rose!

I can't wait for MileHiCon 43, but for now, I'll just be waiting for the birth of our baby...

Monday, October 25, 2010

MileHiCon Day 2

Saturday was to be the crazy day for me, but unfortunately, it didn't turn out to be as crazy as I'd hoped it would be.

I had a 10 am reading with Dan Hoyt. Readings in the morning are always hard to get people to come to. A lot of people party late into the night (or is it early into the morning), and they're not ready for readings at 10 am. Nevertheless, we had about 8-10 people, and I read the first chapter of Red Moon Rising, and the whole time I was wishing that the book had been released so that I would have had copies.

After the reading, I had a signing, which didn't draw much of a crowd. Last year they moved the signings out of the dealer's room and into the atrium. I'm guessing that the logic was that people were more likely to see the writers in the atrium, but I've noticed a definite drop in sales since we've moved to the atrium. I think more people might see the authors, but in the dealers room, more people who want to spend money will see the writers, and I think that works better.

After that I did something called "Speed Date an Author," and no, I was not cheating on Rebecca. The idea behind this was that there was a room full of authors and readers or author-wannabes could come in and talk to us. They had three minutes to talk to us, then a bell went off, and they moved on to the next author. I think it was a great idea, and I had some great (but very short) conversations with a lot of people. I'm hoping that I was able to pass on some good advice to a few of the author wannabes, and I'm hoping I gained a few new readers. I think if they do this next year, they need to lengthen the time to five minutes and have better organization of the movement of the readers.

Later in the day I was on a panel called "DM Bootcamp." This was a panel with Doris Beetem, Laura Givens, and Daniel Peak. As you can probably guess from the title, this was a panel about running RPGs. We had a lot of fun on this panel, and I think we gave out some good information to a rather large crowd. There seems to be one token gaming panel every year, and this is the second year that I've been on it. One thing the large crowd made me realize is that there seems to be a lot of interest in gaming at the Con. I noticed a lot of people playing games throughout the Con, and maybe they need to embrace the gaming aspect a little more...maybe even bring in a gaming guest of honor...if money allows.

After this panel was what I'd really been looking forward to...I was going to run a new adventure of Ephemeris. Unfortunately, a lot of people were grabbing dinner before the masquerade started, and the belly dancers next to the gaming tables seemed to draw a lot of people's attention away from the games, and I couldn't get enough players, so we couldn't debut the new adventure. Since we couldn't play, I was able to watch my oldest in a sword fighting contest. She'd never done anything like this before, but she made it to the third round...where she was knocked out by an adult who teaches sword fighting. Still, we were all very proud of her!

The night ended with us attending the masquerade. There were a few good costumes this year, but not as many as usual.

Rebecca was having a lot of problems during the Con. She wasn't feeling good, and being 38 weeks pregnant, she was very uncomfortable. Still, we did manage to get a few photos taken, which I've posted on my Facebook page. I noticed a lot more cameras flashing around me this year than in years past, so I'm sure more horrible pics of me will show up somewhere in the near future.

I'll post about day 3 tomorrow...

666

This is my 666th blog post...just thought I'd point that out.

MileHiCon Day 1

Friday was the start of MileHiCon. We spent the first few hours getting checked into our room, and then the Con. After that we just hung around for a while talking to old friends we hadn't seen in a year or so.

My first panel was titled "Small Press & Ezines: Finding the new Markets." There's always at least one small press panel at MileHiCon, and I seem to almost always be on it, but that's ok. It's a fun topic. On this panel we had Betsy Dornbusch, Ron Sering, David Lee Summers, and James Van Pelt. It was a good panel, and we talked about a lot of different things, but like many panels, we only had 50 minutes, so we couldn't go into as much detail as we would have wanted. On James Van Pelt's blog http://jimvanpelt.livejournal.com/294443.html, he mentioned that he thought we may have glossed over the e-book versus print book numbers, and I would tend to agree with him. A lot of times for a small press author, a shift of 30 or 40% in either direction is actually only a few books. Looking back, I agree with Jim that I wish we would have gotten into that more.

Immediately after my panel were the opening ceremonies, which were lead by toastmaster Paolo Bacigalupi, and with a theme like Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy (this was MileHiCon 42, after all) we were in for a great time. The Con was set to be demolished in 48 hours by a Vogon Destructor Fleet.

We closed out the night by going to the Floatilla, which is handmade boats raced in the pool. Not the most exciting part of the weekend, but the kids seemed to enjoy it...at least until they got too tired to keep their eyes open.

I'll report on days two and three later...

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Ready for the con

The oldest's fever has broken, and we also went to the Dr. for Rebecca today, and she said that it's not likely that she will go into labor this weekend, so it looks like we're ready for MileHiCon.

This will be the first year that we stay in the hotel, and the girls are really excited about it. I think it will be a good thing for Rebecca too, so she can retreat to the room if she gets too tired...which she usually is.

Hope to see some of you at the things I'm doing. Of course, if you see me Saturday night, I will probably be pretty worn out as I have quite the schedule for Saturday...but I'm happy with it. I think we've figured things out well enough that it shouldn't stress Rebecca too much...at least we're hoping...

Monday, October 11, 2010

Book orders

I've had a few people e-mail me about where to get my books before MileHiCon starts. I will be bringing a few copies of most of my works with me, but if you wanted to order something ahead of time, here are some links for you...

Seedlings on the Solar Winds

The Ephemeris Science Fiction Role Playing Game

The Opium of the People

Lowering One's Self Before Fate

A Problem in Translation an illustrated short story book

Future Syndicate an anthology that I edited

The Martian Wave Issue 1 a magazine that I edit

Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 9 The best of Sam's Dot's webzine anthology that I also edit

Sunday, October 10, 2010

10/10/10

Everywhere I look on the internet today people are talking about 10/10/10 and how significant it could be. It seems like over the last few years, I've been seeing a lot more of this, and the answer to 10/10/10 is the same as it was for all of the other significant dates we've seen of late...no, it has no significance. Numerology is just mumbo jumbo like most other mystical ideas.
First of all, not everyone on this little planet of ours uses the same calendar, so the date is actually different in some parts of the world.
Second of all, the calendar we currently use is pretty arbitrary. It was started on a certain day, which actually is not all that important in the orbit of the Earth around the sun.
There seems to be this growing need to believe that our lives are somehow connected to something mystical, and I really don't understand it. The simple fact that humanity evolved is pretty amazing in and of itself, and we don't need to attach mystical meanings to everything that happens. As a society, we should have evolved beyond that need long ago. That sort of need is based in the "reptilian" parts of our brain, and it's these parts of the brain that teach us to fear the "other," and also leads us blindly following leaders, even if they may be bad for us.
It's time for humanity to put mysticism aside, and actually move towards the future instead of tying ourselves to the past, a past that we should really not be taking pride in...

Friday, October 08, 2010

My MileHiCon schedule

Don't Panic! The MileHiCon 42 schedule is now out, and I'm going to be a busy boy. So, make sure you know where your towel is, grab yourself a Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, and join me at any or all of the following:

Fri. 6 pm: Small Press & Ezines: Finding & Dealing with New Markets

Sat. 10 am: A reading of the 1st chapter of Red Moon Rising

Sat. 11 am: Book Signing

Sat. 12:30 pm: Speed Date an Author

Sat. 4 pm: DM Bootcamp

Sat. 5 pm: A game of Ephemeris in the gaming area

Sun. 4 pm: Villains: An Author's Best Friend

This looks like it will be a great con, so hope you can all make it!

Sunday, October 03, 2010

The Diplomat's and Explorer's Sourcebook

For those of you playing the Ephemeris RPG, the Diplomat's and Explorer's Sourcebook is now available...

http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=84383

And remember to stop by our discussion board to talk about the game...we are very interested in hearing from other players...

http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/ephemeris/main.htm

The link for the board is towards the bottom of the page.

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Ultrasound at 34 weeks

We went for an ultrasound this morning. The tech of course can't give us any info, so we'll find out if everything is ok when we go to the Dr. on Thursday. The baby is currently weighing in at 6lbs. 10 ozs. plus or minus 1 lb., and it looks like it's in the right position.

So, here is the baby...

Saturday, September 25, 2010

Banned books week

Banned Books Week starts today, and I think everyone should go out and read a banned book this week. Here's a great list of books to start with:
http://www.ala.org/ala/issuesadvocacy/banned/frequentlychallenged/challengedclassics/index.cfm

I don't necessarily have a problem with people trying to keep books with excessive sexual content in them away from children. We wouldn't let our kids read those types of books, but it's our decision as parents to keep them away from our children. The biggest problem I see is that most books are banned not because of sexual content, but rather because they portray political or religious ideas that are frowned upon by certain conservative groups. To me, this is misguided. If we are to survive as a nation, then we must have access to books that show us how things could be. 1984 or Brave New World are not advocating the types of societies they portray, but rather they are warning us about the dangers we could face if we continue down the road we're on. These books shouldn't be banned for this...they should be praised!

Do yourselves a favor and read a banned book this week. Meanwhile, I'll continue to write material that could be banned. Let's face it, if The Opium of the People had ever become a bestseller, it sure as hell would have been banned, and when Red Moon Rising comes out, it will probably ruffle a few feathers as well.

And all I have to say to that is..."So What?"

Reviews

This entry is geared more towards readers than writers and editors, but I think most writers and editors would agree with what I have to say.

When a reader finishes a book, the most important thing they can do (especially if they liked it) is go to Amazon, or any other site, and review the book. Reader reviews do more to help a new book than any promotion, especially with small press titles. With large presses, a new book might have a couple of months to gain a following, but in the small press, the time is much shorter, and all small press writers are dependent upon people reviewing our work. Sometimes even a bad review can help, but obviously we prefer the good reviews. If a potential reader can read a well thought out review from an objective reader, they're much more likely to take a chance on a small press book. Most readers assume that if it's small press, the author must not be very good, but this isn't always the case, and a well thought out review can convince them to buy the book.

I think it's also important to actually review the book...not just rate it. Giving a book a star rating without saying anything about it doesn't really help...especially one and five star ratings because that just makes other readers think that someone was either being a prick (one star rating) or is a friend of the author (five star rating).

Those are just my thoughts on book reviews, so if you've read something that you liked recently, please go and review it. One review can do a lot for a small press author and several reviews can make a career...so help the small press writer out, even if it's not me...

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Clarification on The Baby Game

As many of you know, we're holding a little contest to guess the date of birth and the weight of our little one, but we've had a few questions about the contest, so I decided to clarify them here. First of all, in order for an entry to be considered, it must be made at:
http://jalanerwine.blogspot.com/2010/06/baby-game.html.

The criteria for winning:
Only guesses that get the date right will be considered. After that, whoever is closest to the baby's weight will win. If things are still tied, whoever guesses the baby's gender correctly will be the winner.

All entries must be received by October 15th...and there is no entry fee.

Hope that clears up some of the questions.

Saturday, September 18, 2010

An Ephemeris Discussion Board

We've created a discussion board for players to talk about the Ephemeris RPG, and to see what we're up to. If you're interested, you can find it in the links area at http://www.nomadicdeliriumpress.com/ephemeris/main.htm

I'm not really sure how much interest there's going to be in the board, as we certainly aren't one of the BIG games out there, but there does seem to be a growing interest in the game, so we figured it was worth a shot...

Thursday, September 16, 2010

Ephemeris is a bargain book at Amazon

Apparently the core rulebook for the Ephemeris RPG is currently a bargain book at Amazon. This means that you can get the book for $2.96 at the moment. The rulebook is over 400 pages, and it has everything you need to start playing the game.

I'm not sure how long this sale will last, so if you want a cheap copy of the core rules, you need to act soon...

Ephemeris at Amazon

Tuesday, September 14, 2010

Kindle price increases

Apparently Amazon is reorganizing their royalty structure. As a result of this, the price on two of my Kindle titles, Seedlings on the Solar Winds and The Opium of the People, will be going up tomorrow (9/15). Right now, they're priced at 99 cents, so it's really a great deal, but obviously you need to order soon...

Seedlings on the Solar Winds

The Opium of the People

Monday, September 13, 2010

A sale, a sale

Recently I posted that I'd written a YA SF short story, and it was the first short fiction I'd written in quite a while. Well, I just got news that the story has been picked up for the April 2011 issue of Beyond Centauri. This will be my second appearance in this magazine...and I know people might find it strange that I sometimes dabble in YA SF, given the type of stuff I usually write, but whatever outlet the muse wants, it gets...

The Ephemeris Supplement Bundle

There's now a bundle of e-books available from DriveThruRPG that are a must have for anyone currently playing Ephemeris. You can order The Ephemeris Supplement Bundle at http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product_info.php?products_id=84030.

Included in this bundle are:

Ephemeris: Critters and Pests
The Expanded Ephemeris Equipment List
Necessity's Call
The Ephemeris Species Compendium
The Law Enforcer's Sourcebook
The Scientist's Sourcebook
The Soldier's Sourcebook
The Trader's Sourcebook

All of these are available for just $25. If you already own the Ephemeris core rulebook, then this will be a great addition to your game.

Sunday, September 12, 2010

School fundraising for the kids

Both of our girls recently got their fund raising kits for their school. They seem to do this a couple of times a year. This year the oldest came up with the idea that I have lots of friends on the Internet, and I should see if they wanted to buy anything. I tried explaining that many of my friends have kids of their own, and I also tried to explain that money is very tight for everyone right now, but neither of them would be dissuaded...and it is very hard to say no to kids when they try so hard...

So, if anyone is interested in buying items to help my kids' school, here are the links to do so...

http://www.eZfundraising.com/customer/customer.asp?evtId=81064&parId=140630

http://www.eZfundraising.com/customer/customer.asp?evtId=81064&parId=140708

We do ask that if you're going to buy more than one item, to please split them between the kids because if you have kids, you know what's it's like if one gets more of something than the other does.

Also, all orders have to be in by September 20th. I don't know why they don't give us more time on this.

Thanks for reading this...

Saturday, September 11, 2010

I said short fiction!

Since finishing my last two novels, I had decided that I wanted to spend some time working on short fiction...so why is it that I find myself plotting out a new novel today?

Stupid brain!

Sunday, September 05, 2010

Share and share alike

I've now made it possible for readers of this blog to share my entries on Facebook, Twitter, or wherever else they might want to. So, if you think I've actually managed to say something that others might be interested in, or if you think some of my work looks interesting, please feel free to use those share buttons...

Saturday, September 04, 2010

The first appointment of the month

We had another Dr's appointment yesterday. Things are still looking good. Rebecca isn't suffering from anemia or gestational diabetes. She did lose a pound which has prompted the Dr. to put her on a prescription for her heartburn. Hopefully that will help clear it up and she'll be able to eat better. She's been so exhausted. Everything is so hard for her, and I feel very bad for her.

Here's a pic of the belly that I took two weeks ago...



There's still a little bit of time left to get in The Baby Game if you're interested. Simply go to http://jalanerwine.blogspot.com/2010/06/baby-game.html and make your guesses. The entries close on October 15th...and that's not too far away.

In other news, I had a job interview yesterday and things look really good for me to be going back to work in the next couple of weeks. It would only be part time, but we need the extra cash, and if we decide to switch things up with our work roles next summer, I need to be in a job soon so we can make that happen.

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

Wondorus Web Worlds Vol. 4 on sale


Sam's Dot Publishing has placed Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 4 on sale through The Genre Mall. You can order it for $10 with no shipping & handling, but the sale only lasts through the end of September.

For those of you that are new readers of this blog, the Wondrous Web Worlds anthologies are the best of the web collections that Sam's Dot puts out each year. They feature the best poems and stories from Sam's Dot's on-line zines, as voted on by the readers. This is an anthology that I edit, but in this particular issue, there is also a story from me..."Lost in the Dark."

You can read a complete write-up of the anthology, and of course order copies by going to http://www.genremall.com/anthologiesr.htm#www4.

Sunday, August 29, 2010

Red Moon Rising release date

The original plan had been to try to get this book out by MileHiCon, which is in less than eight weeks, but with last minute edits, and changes to the Sam's Dot Publishing schedule, that's just not doable, and I'm ok with that. I'd rather they put out the best version of the book that they can, as opposed to rushing the book.

So, the official release date for Red Moon Rising will be February 1st, 2011. I'll be bringing you more details about the book as we get closer to the release date.

Saturday, August 21, 2010

Another Dr.'s appointment and a baby shower

We went to another Dr.'s appointment yesterday. Rebecca had to do the glucose test for gestational diabetes, and I know any woman who is reading this and has had to go through this just gagged. Everything is still looking good, although when the Dr. went to do the Doppler test so we could hear the heartbeat, our overly active little spaz of a child kicked the Doppler. It had us all laughing.

Today is the baby shower. Luckily it's not going to be a typical baby shower. It's just going to be a bunch of people sitting down and eating together. I don't think either of us could have put up with all of the ridiculous shower games...

Tuesday, August 17, 2010

Saturday, August 14, 2010

Just Because

A few years ago, Sam's Dot Publishing released a trade paperback that I edited called Just Because. This book was a collection of poems, essays, and stories by ProMart founder James Baker. For those of you that don't recognize the name, Jim, and his little publishing house ProMart, were responsible for helping a lot of writers get their careers started...including me. ProMart even published the works of a future Hugo nominee...so Jim obviously had an eye for talent.

I'd been editing for a while for Jim when he sent me a story by an unpublished author by the name of Tyree Campbell. This would be the first of many stories we would publish by Tyree, and when Jim was stricken with cancer, and we knew he wouldn't make it, it was Tyree who stepped up and took over the company...creating Sam's Dot Publishing.

After Jim's untimely death, I put together this anthology, and we released it as a trade paperback. Now Nomadic Delirium Press (the publisher I now run) has released the book as an e-book. You can get a chance to read some of Jim's works, and maybe get a sense of who he was. The book is also peppered with commentary from the people who knew him best...his ProMartians, as he called us...

https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/21599

Friday, August 13, 2010

Time flies...or does it?

I'm still having trouble believing that the oldest started the fourth grade last week. Even harder to believe is that the youngest (soon to be middle) started kindergarten. It seems like they didn't even have a summer vacation.

Next Saturday (the 21st) will be our baby shower. This also will mark our three month anniversary. It's hard to believe that we've been married for three months. It seems like we just said, "I do."

At the same time, however, tomorrow marks the start of the third trimester for our next little nerd, which means we still have 12 weeks until the due date. It seems like Rebecca has been pregnant for almost a year, and I'm sure it seems even more so to her...given how sick she has been through this whole pregnancy.

So, is time flying, or is it dragging? I really have no idea...

Saturday, August 07, 2010

Respect your editors and publishers

I've been working as an editor for more than a decade now, and there are some behaviors I've seen from writers that I consider disgusting. I'm not talking about not following guidelines, although that happens a lot. I've never edited anything that accepts horror, and yet I'm constantly inundated by it. I'm talking about things like sending nasty letters to an editor after they've rejected your work, trying to sell reprints as originals, slandering editors or publishers because they didn't want to accept your work, and anything else that might be similar.

It might seem hard to believe that writers can act this way, but they can, and believe me, they do! I used to comment on every piece I rejected, but at least once or twice a month I'd get a nasty e-mail back from a disgruntled author, and because of that, I rarely comment on author's work anymore, and that's a bad thing for authors. Feedback from an editor can be a real help to an aspiring writer, but because of a few childish people, fewer and fewer editors are giving feedback anymore.

In a sense, editors and publishers are something like a writer's employers and they should be treated as such. Most people aren't going to call their boss a jerk because their boss wasn't happy with their performance, but since the internet isn't face to face, people seem to have a lot more courage to act like fools.

One thing that writers don't seem to realize is that editors talk to one another, and if someone is misbehaving, there's a good chance that other editors will find out. If your work is rejected, and you're not happy with the rejection, then feel free to write a nasty rant to the publisher...but DON'T SEND IT!!!

Never try to sell first rights to a story that has already been published. It's simply a form of dishonesty, and no one likes dishonest people, plus when you get caught, a lot of other editors will find out, and it could end your career.

And whatever you do, don't go around posting nasty things about editors or publishers because they've rejected your work. You look foolish when you do it, and there's a good chance that other publishers and editors will read your rants, and they'll be much less likely to want to work with you...

Thursday, August 05, 2010

The Genre Mall

As many of you may know, I run an on-line "store" for small press genre titles. The site is called The Genre Mall and it has been around for quite a few years.

Traffic and sales have been increasing at the site, and I'm working on ways to try to maximize this. The most obvious reason for doing this is that I've been looking for a "real" job for a while, and haven't had any luck, so we need any extra income we can get.

We're using three different approaches to try to increase income from The Genre Mall. The first, and most obvious, is that we've added donation buttons to a number of the pages. I've heard mixed reviews on taking donations from a wide variety of genre sites, so we'll see how this goes.

The second thing we're doing is contacting the publishers that have been with us for a while that we haven't had any recent updates from. We're hoping that they'll decide to stay with The Genre Mall, and that they'll have a lot of new titles to add.

The third thing we'll be doing is making a big push to sign up some more publishers.

All of this is a lot of work, and it really needs to pay off, or we may be forced to pull the plug because I can't invest a lot of time in something that doesn't pay off if I should happen to find a real job.

If all of this does pay off, then I'm hoping to make some changes to the site...mostly cleaning it up, and if it pays off big enough than I'm planning on setting up some kind of store front, because the current site is just too clunky right now, and I haven't been happy with it for quite some time...