An Amazon review

Marva Dasef posted an Amazon review of Seedlings on the Solar Winds. She really seemed to enjoy the book.

Cyberpunk? Really? I'll have to give that some thought...

The missile test

So, the US shot one of its own satellites with a Navy missile to protect us all from the dangerous fuel. Now, does anyone really believe this was the reason, or are you like me and think it was some macho stunt by the current adminstration basically saying that "Ours is bigger than yours!"

I really can't wait for January so we can get these idiots out of office...granted, I'm not really impressed with the next possible presidents, but at least they're not Bush and his cronies...

Eclipse

It was supposed to be cloudy here in the Denver area tonight, but it's cleared up enough that I was able to watch the eclipse. This was probably the sixth or seventh total lunar eclipse that I've seen, but I still think they're cool every time. This one was the darkest and most purple that I've ever seen, which made it different than what I was expecting.

As I'm watching the eclipses, I always like to think of what it might be like on another planet to watch an eclipse. What would it be like on Jupiter (somewhere in the upper layer of clouds) if you could watch any of the Jovians eclipse the sun. I remember seeing a recent piece of space porn that I think was a solar eclipse caused by Titan. I'll have to see if I can find it, then I'll post it here...

Anyone else catch the eclipse tonight?

You can now order stories from me

I've now made it possible for you to order individual stories from my website. Simply go to http://www.jalanerwine.com/stories/index.htm and you can order stories in groups of three or five. It's $2 for three stories or $3 for five stories. The stories will be delivered to your e-mail box as PDF files.

Promoting your favorite author

David Louis Edelman has a great blog today about the do's and dont's of helping to promote your favorite author.

I'd strongly suggest everyone read it...and then of course follow the do's for my books....

The Locus Awards

Tyree and J continue to tilt at windmills. This time we're thinking it would be worth the effort to try and get some nominations for the Locus Awards. These are annual awards that are put together by Locus Magazine. You can think of them as the number three awards behind the Hugos and Nebulas.

The good news is that you don't have to be a member of anything. You just have to fill out their ballot, making sure to use a real name and a real e-mail address. This is a very reputable magazine, so they aren't going to spam you if you give them your e-mail address.

All you have to do is go to https://secure.locusmag.com/2008/2008PollAndSurvey.html and fill out the ballot. For the titles we're about to recommend, you have to fill in the blank spaces, and be sure to fill them in just as the drop down menus are done.

Here are our recommendations...

BEST SF NOVEL:
The Dog at the Foot of the Bed by Tyree Campbell
The Guardner's Tale by Bruce Boston
The Poet by James Baker

BEST FANTASY NOVEL:
The Deadwalk, by Stephanie Bedwell-Grime

BEST NOVELLA:
Living Stone by Edward Cox
Tales of Weupp: Little People Must Surrender, by Ralan Conley

BEST SHORT STORY:
Oh, Mallary by Rick Novy The Martian Wave
The Quinx Solution by Tyree Campbell The Martian Wave
416175 by Laura Sanger Kelly Aoife's Kiss
Siren of Rain by Edward Cox Between Kisses
Singer by Melissa Mead Hungur Magazine

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

BEST PUBLISHER:
Sam's Dot Publishing
Nomadic Delirium Press
Bedazzled Ink
LBF Books

BEST ANTHOLOGY:
Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 7 edited by J Alan Erwine
Potter's Field 2 edited by Cathy Buburuz

BEST SINGLE-AUTHOR COLLECTION:
Seedlings on the Solar Winds by J Alan Erwine
A Nice Girl Like You by Tyree Campbell
Like Birds in the Rain by Marge Simon

BEST EDITOR:
Tyree Campbell
J Alan Erwine
Terrie Leigh Relf
Cathy Buburuz
David Lee Summers

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

Happy birthday Jules Verne

Along with H.G. Wells, Jules Verne is basically responsible for helping to create the field of science fiction. Verne is responsible for creating what would be modern hard SF, and writers like David Brin, Greg Bear, Mike Brotherton, and others owe him a debt of gratitude. I don't know if these writers were directly influenced by Verne's writing, but it was Verne that paved the way for the development of hard SF.

Wells, on the other hand, is responsible for creating what we consider soft SF, and as a writer, I owe him more of a debt of gratitude than I do to Verne, but I still love to read a good hard SF story, and some day, I hope to write a few as well.

I know that I read Verne when I was younger, but I honestly don't remember which of his books I've read, but I know he helped to get me into science fiction, and so I wish him what would be a happy 180th birthday.

On a personal note, today is also my dad's birthday, and since he reads this blog occasionally, I'll say happy birthday here...and remind him that at least Verne would be a few years older than he is...........

Romney's out

He said he was in it for the long haul, and now he's not anymore. What does it mean? Maybe it's true that he wants to help unify the party against the democrats, but in my very bitter and cynical view of politics, I'd say it means that either the GOP or McCain has promised him the VP spot on the ticket.

I could be wrong, but I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if I was right!

My thoughts on Super Tuesday

Well, Super Tuesday has come and gone. The Republican race looks much clearer now, and the Democratic race hasn't even started to sort itself out. I didn't take part in Super Tuesday here in Colorado. As a registered independent, I wasn't able to participate in either caucus.

The results of Super Tuesday really weren't what's important to me. After all, anyone who reads this blog knows that I see both the Republican party and the Democratic party as parts of the same evil that now haunts the United States. I'm always encouraging people to vote third party and help us break the stranglehold the two main powers have over We the People.

So, my main interest is in the way the media has portrayed this thing. I haven't seen much national news lately, so instead I'll focus on some of the analysis from local "experts."

Many people are saying that a lot can be said for what will happen in November based on what we saw on Tuesday. They point to the fact that Colorado has a slightly higher population of registered Republicans as opposed to Democrats, and yet significantly more Dems turned out to vote. The experts say that this shows that a Democratic candidate could take Colorado this year.

I think there are two important factors they're missing. First, if Hillary gets the nomination, almost every Republican will turn out to vote for McCain, whether they agree with him or not. Second, fully a third of registered voters in Colorado are registered as Independents. We will be the ones to have the final say in November, and nothing in Super Tuesday can predict how we will vote. Granted, my vote won't make a difference because I won't vote for either party. I'm done with them, but other Independents will make a difference, and this is something the mainstream media has tended to ignore...or should I say marginalize? The people who aren't committed to one party or the other have a chance to make a big difference in this election, and now that Nader has thrown his name back in the ring, things have become even more confusing. And I'm sure there are a lot of Dems out there who are upset with him because they blame him and the Green Party for giving the 2000 election to Bush...but let's face it, if the Democratic party still believed as it used to, liberals and progressives wouldn't be looking for an alternative...

January's over

The month started out with that horrible bronchial thing I had going. I'm still coughing occasionally, and when I walk in the cold, I can still feel a bit of heaviness in my chest. I also worked a lot of strange hours at the job that's worse than death, so it's kept me a little off balance all month.

No story sales to report for January, but that's not much of a surprise. I only have a few stories circulating, since I've spent the last couple of years mostly working on novels. And on the novel front, I'm working my way through revisions on A Problem in Translation, and I hope to have them done in the next week or two, at which point I will begin the search for an agent...it might take me a few weeks to write that all important query letter...I really hate those things. Once those are done, it will be time for a major re-write on the new novel. There's a lot I really like about the book, but it still needs TONS of work.

Book sales are still trickling in, and at The Genre Mall Seedlings and Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 7 both made the Bestsellers list for January...which means that maybe I can treat myself to a fast food dinner one of these nights.