It's just a rock folks

There's been a lot of talk lately about the picture released by NASA of what looks like a Martian reclining on a rock...



I've got news for you folks. It's just a wind-shaped rock. The human eye has a tendancy to want to put familiar forms into anything we see. That's why we see patterns in clouds and in ink blots. This is just the same thing. There aren't humanoid Martians hanging out on the surface of Mars waiting for our rovers to drive by...nor is there a human face on Mars as so many people thought after the early Mars missions.

If, and it's a big if, there is life on Mars, it is probably microbial, or maybe small microbial colonies, and it would be beneath the surface where the UV won't destroy it.

Search inside Seedlings

Amazon now has it set up so that you can search inside of my new short story collection before you decide to buy a copy...and you know you want to buy one...

Simply go to http://www.amazon.com/Seedlings-Solar-Winds-other-stories/dp/0980170303/ref=sr_11_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1201198135&sr=11-1 and have a look around.

And if you don't want to go through Amazon, you can have your local bookstore order a copy by using the ISBN: 978-0-9801703-0-6.

More stories at Anthology Builder

I now have six stories available through Anthology Builder.

They are...

The Galton Principle
In a fascist state ruled by eugenics, one young man realizes he's not as perfect as he thinks...nor is his society.

Lowering One's Self Before Fate
No one ever really knew what happened during the massacre at Kira Len until the day the story mysteriously "appeared."

Who Listens to the Voices of the Past?
When humanity discovers a new sentient, but "less-developed" species on a new planet, will they make the same mistakes that were made when Europeans came to the Americas?

The Opium of the People
When the radical Christian Right seizes control of the American government, one man is forced to make decisions he never thought himself capable of.

Seedlings on the Solar Winds
One man is driven to madness by what everyone else says are imaginary voices in his head...but are they just imaginary?

Living in the Styx
One family is driven to the brink of madness by odd events in their lives, but are the events real, or are they only in their minds?

The site let's you put together your own collection with your own cover, and the book will be uniquely yours, so what are you waiting for?

A scary man

I'll be the first to admit that George Dubya Chimp scares the hell out of me, but comments by Mike Huckabee in Michigan recently have really worried me. He basically has said that he thinks it's ok to amend the US Constitution to better fit with the Bible. Never mind the fact that God isn't even mentioned in the Constitution. Never mind the fact that we're supposed to have separation of church and state in this country, this man wants to bring us one step closer to a theocracy.

He's a very scary man...please don't vote for him!

Read more, and see his comments

Anthology Builder

I'd read about the site Anthology Builder on several blogs, and I've finally had a chance to check it out for myself. The basic idea behind the site is that a reader can go there and chose from a variety of stories and build their own anthology, which comes to them as a print trade paperback. I think it's a great utilization of POD technology.

For a reader, they can pick and chose exactly what they want to read. They can chose from established writers and newer writers, thus trying out a new author without having to pick up an entire anthology from that person.

For writers, it's yet another way to expose people to your writing. The royalties aren't great, so if you're hoping to get rich from this site, it's not going to happen...but then most of us that write really aren't hoping to get rich...we're a little too realistic for that. Still, if someone happens to pick one of your stories, and they like it, they may pick up one of your books...exposure is great.

With all of this in mind, I sent them my story "The Galton Principle," and they've accepted it, so you can now build an anthology with one of my stories. What could be better than picking that story from Poe that you like so much, and including "The Galton Principle" as well. Like I said, it's a way to try and get more exposure.

Over the next few days, I'm going to send them some more of my stuff...maybe they'll want to include that as well.

For now, check out the site...then build your own anthology featuring some of my stories...

An update

I've been a little quiet here lately, so I thought I'd post an update on what's going on.

The bronchial bug I had seems to be in retreat now, although I'm still hacking crap up...that will probably go on for a while. My lungs were pretty thick and heavy during the worst of it.

Sales on Seedlings on the Solar Winds have been a bit sluggish, but that's kind of to be expected with a small press book. I have several review copies out, so if I can get a good review from a major source, it should help sell some copies...and if you want to buy a copy for yourself, there are links on the left side of this blog.

I filled out my application to be a panelist at Denvention3 today...that's WorldCon. I realize that the odds are kind of slim given the kind of talent that will be there, but I had to at least take a chance. I can only imagine what it would be like to do panels at WorldCon...assuming my anxiety about speaking in front of people didn't overwhelm me!

Having been sick, I've mostly been focusing on the big things that I need to do, and a lot of smaller things have fallen through the cracks, but I'm starting to get caught up on them. Unfortunately, I have to go back to the job that's worse than death tomorrow at 5 a.m., so I'll start falling behind again. I really hate that place!

I haven't been doing much writing lately. I've decided that I'm going to do another round of revisions on A Problem in Translation, and then start circulating it among some agents. Once that's done, I'll start on the revisions of the newest novel...the one with global climate change at the core of the story...sorry, Jim...you might not want to read that one if I find a publisher for it.

Now that I'm feeling better, I'm hoping to start blogging more. I have some writing stuff built up in my brain, and I have a lot of political stuff running through my head that needs to be expressed...look out President Chimp, you're going to be a blog target again very soon!

The Hugos

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FROM SAM'S DOT PUBLISHING:

We realize that the odds of this working are pretty slim, but we here at Sam's Dot have always prided ourselves on tilting at windmills.

Since many of our readers and contributors will be attending WorldCon in Denver this year, we've decided to make an effort to get ourselves on the Hugo ballot. Anyone who is a current member of the Con, or who becomes a member by the end of January is eligible to nominate for the Hugos, and we feel we should be represented in three categories.

If you're interested in nominating Sam's Dot titles and people, we ask that you follow these nominations:

FANZINE:
Aoife's Kiss
Beyond Centauri
Illumen
Hungur
Sounds of the Night

FAN WRITER:
Tyree Campbell
J Alan Erwine
David Lee Summers
Ken Goldman
Lawrence Dagstine

FAN ARTIST:
Laura Givens
Cathy Buburuz
Mitchell Davidson Bentley
Lawrence Hollien
Marge Simon

If you haven't purchased your membership yet, you can buy it at http://www.denvention3.org

Thank you for all of your support over the years, and please feel free to repost this like crazy!

The P&E Poll

I really hadn't planned on participating in this year's Preditors & Editors Poll. In the past, they've had numerous problems with it, and don't even get me started on the debacle that was last year's poll...but I just got an e-mail from someone saying that they'd nominated me in several categories, so I guess I'll try to garner some votes.

I'm nominated in several categories as both a writer and an editor, so just look for my name and vote. Also, please feel free to vote for anything nominated from Nomadic Delirium Press or Sam's Dot Publishing...they're good people. I also noticed that Laura Given's cover for Seedlings on the Solar Winds was also nominated in a couple of places, and she was nominated as best artist...so vote for her too.

The address is http://critters.org/predpoll.