We've lost another one

I went to lunch today at the dreaded "real" job, and was quite surprised to read the news that Ray Bradbury had passed away. Just about every speculative fiction author out there is writing about this in their blog today, so I don't know what I can really add...but I'll try any way. The Martian Chronicles and Fahrenheit 451 are two of my favorite books ever. Fahrenheit is of course a classic dystopic novel, and I'm sure it had a big influence on my writing of The Opium of the People. I've read The Martian Chronicles a few different times, and I remember last year I was watching the cheesy 80's mini-series based on the book, and it gave me an idea for a series of short stories that I'd love to write. I, of course, haven't had time to write them yet...but I will...one of these years. Ray Bradbury will definitely be missed. He was one of the giants of speculative fiction, and his voice will be heard forever.

An important message for writers

When you're submitting your precious manuscript to an editor, be sure to read the guidelines first. If you've written a horror story or a detective story, and you're submitting it to a science fiction magazine, and the story has zero sf in it, then it's a good bet that the story will be rejected. Considering that response times for a lot of magazines can run into the months, why not take a couple of minutes and save yourself and the editor a lot of time. Rant over...

To politic, or not to politic...

...that is the question. Years ago, I used to talk about politics a lot on this blog, and I've noticed that at that time, I got a lot more comments and a lot more hits. It's also important to note that I did a lot more posting to, so that might have something to do with it. The main reason I stopped posting so much about politics was because I was worried about what it might do to my writing "career." My views are often outside of what is considered acceptable among certain parts of American society, and I certainly don't want to alienate any potential readers by having them judge me based off of my blog writing as opposed to my fiction writing. More established writers have lost readers because of their political views, and that seems like a bad thing to me. Granted, anyone who has read The Opium of the People or Red Moon Rising can pretty much guess what my political views are. Hell, they might even be able to figure them out based off of the titles and covers of those books. Still, I wonder if I've seen a decline in readership because of a lack of posting, or because of a lack of posting anything controversial. Obviously I'm trying to post more lately, so maybe we'll figure out which it is in the coming months.

The Martian Wave Vol. 3

The 2012 issue of The Martian Wave is now available for purchase. It will probably ship in about two weeks. This is the third print edition of the zine, which used to be a quarterly on-line zine. This year's issue features some great work, so make sure you pick up a copy at http://sdpbookstore.com/tmw.htm. Here's what you'll find in it... What lies beneath the sands of Mars? What will happen to humanity when a possible extraterrestrial signal is received? What can explorers do to save themselves when they discover a completely alien lifeform? These are just some of the questions asked and answered in the 2012 issue of The Martian Wave. With fiction from Robert J. Mendenhall, Scott Virtes, GC Rosenquist, Phil M. Berger, Glen R. Stripling, Ross Gresham, Robert N. Stephenson, and H. David Blalock, you will explore worlds you never expected, and encounter characters you could never imagine. This issue is seasoned with relevant poetry from G. O. Clark, Kurt MacPhearson, Marge Simon, Shelly Bryant, Terrie Leigh Relf, WC Roberts, and Janette Sullivan. Stories Robert J. Mendenhall: Absence Or Evidence Scott Virtes: Newton's Window GC Rosenquist: Moontide Phil M. Berger: The Blue Marble Signal Glen R. Stripling: The Geysers Of Enceladus Ross Gresham: Last Word From Kismet Robert N. Stephenson: A Hole H. David Blalock: Sparks Poems G. O. Clark: Last Chance Kurt MacPhearson & Marge Simon: Entry Center Shelly Bryant: The Distant Planet Terrie Leigh Relf: A Child's Prayer To Raise NASA Funding WC Roberts: New World Matisse @ Spaceport America Janette Sullivan: constantly

May recap

A better month of blogging. Hope to be doing more and more in the months to come. Surprise, surprise May madness The Martian Wave has been delayed A May update on the game Translation has been Nooked May madness has almost come to an end The second chapter If you're coming to my book signing

If you're coming to my book signing...

...and you'd like to pick up a copy of A Problem in Translation before the signing, here are a few places you can get it... The Sam's Dot Publishing Bookstore Barnes & Noble Amazon And if you'd just like to read the e-book, you can pick it up at, among other places, Smashwords.

The second chapter

For a very brief period of time, you can read the second chapter of my new novel A Problem in Translation on my website at http://www.jalanerwine.com/translationch2.htm The first chapter is also available for those of you who haven't had a chance to read it. You can find that at http://www.jalanerwine.com/translation.htm.

May madness has almost come to an end

What has been a crazy busy month is almost over, and I will be happy about that! The older two are now out of school, which makes some things easier...like not having to worry about after school programs and such. Of course now they get bored around the house and try to raise hell...but that's what kids do. I still have the Sam's Dot updates to get through before this month ends, and the arraignment, and a doctor's appointment for Rebecca...plus the dreaded hours at the "real" job. June is shaping up to be a better month as far as time management goes. The only major events we seem to be looking at are my book signing, Rebecca's birthday, Father's Day, and check-ups for the older girls...of course, something else is bound to jump up and take away from our time. One day I will be able to quit my "real" job, and then time management won't be so important. Is it really too much to dream that one day I will be making at least a part-time living from writing, editing, and game design? I don't think so.

Translation has been Nooked

I'm not sure why it's taken so long, but A Problem in Translation is now available for the Nook. You can find it at http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/a-problem-in-translation-j-alan-erwine/1109126049?ean=2940033082612&format=nook-book.

A May update on the game

Progress has slowed quite a bit on the new game in the last few weeks. Mostly for two reasons, one: I'm to a point now where I'm having to do a lot of research on 19th century weapons and such, and that's taking a lot of time... two: the little one's sleep habits have changed a bit, and she's not napping as much as she was, which leaves me less time to work. I'm still trying to figure out a way to put in more hours at home, and fewer hours at the "real" job, but I haven't quite figured that one out yet. Still, I'm liking the way the game is setting up, and I'm looking forward to releasing it upon the world...eventually...

The Martian Wave has been delayed

The 2012 issue of The Martian Wave was supposed to be released on May 1st, but with the changes at Sam's Dot and the push to get things done right, we've decided to delay this one until June 1st. I think this will be a great issue, and it should be well worth the wait!

May Madness

What a crazy month this has been, and will continue to be. The two oldest kids get out of school on the 23rd, so we have all of the end of school festivities: concerts, talent shows, field days, etc. Plus there's a doctor's appt. for the little one (she'll be 18 months in a few days, hard to believe), a couple of court dates because of the robbery, and then all of the usual madness that seems to surround life. Needless to say, I'm looking forward to the end of the month...maybe I can get some rest in June...........

Surprise, surprise

Whatever time of day it is when I first get on the computer, the first page I always go to is the Sam's Dot Publishing page...even before I check my e-mail. Imagine my surprise when I opened up the Sam's Dot message board and found out that Sam's Dot had been acquired by White Cat Publications, LLC. I have to admit that my first thought was one of sheer panic, but after reading an e-mail from Tyree, I realized what was going on and decided to embrace the change...since there really won't be much change. Overall, I think this will be a great merger, and as I've looked more deeply into White Cat, I've realized what a great organization it seems to be, and I'm looking forward to the future.

April recap

An early April update Breaking ground on the new game A Problem in Translation e-books Earth Day sale An interesting note about Amazon Another interesting note about Amazon

Another interesting note about Amazon

I've had a few people complain to me because my publisher has not discounted my book through Amazon. The truth is, Amazon controls the pricing, and they haven't discounted my new book because my publisher only offers a 50% discount to bookstores, instead of the 55% that Amazon wants. So what this means, I will also leave up to you...

An interesting note about Amazon

If you go to the listing for my new book at Amazon, you'll see that it says that the book ships in two to three weeks, which actually isn't the case. What's actually going on here is that my publisher offers bookstores a 50% discount off the cover price, but Amazon wants a 55% discount...therefore, they will not actually stock a physical copy of my book. Now, when you place an order with them, they will immediately order it through Ingrams (the main distributor), and the book will ship within a couple of days. Why does Amazon do this? I'll let you come up with your own answer for that...

Earth Day sale

On Earth Day, Sunday April 22nd, you can order the e-book version of my environmental SF novel, Red Moon Rising for 25% off. Simply go to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/40341 and when you're checking out use the coupon code JR98J. Celebrate Earth Day with some environmental SF.

A Problem in Translation e-books

Just a reminder that my new novel, A Problem in Translation is available from a number of locations as an e-book.

You can pick it up at Smashwords by going to https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/137568

Or you can pick it up for the Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/A-Problem-in-Translation-ebook/dp/B007O13I5M

Keep in mind that you don't need an e-reader in order to read e-books. Smashwords has formats that can be read directly on your computer, and Amazon has a Kindle reader that you can download on to your computer for free...so what are you waiting for? Go read my book!

Breaking ground on the new game

It's been a long time in development, but tonight I started on the actual writing of the new RPG I'm working on. I've managed to crank out almost 1,000 words, so that's a pretty good night for me.

Creating an RPG is quite a bit different than writing a novel, and the word counts will certainly vary from day to day, but it's nice to actually be putting some words on a page. It will probably take a very long time to write the rulebook, but I will keep all of you apprised.

An early April update

My health is slowly improving. I'd say I'm at about 70% right now. I'm still having the pressure in my chest, and the back pain that they didn't have an explanation for.

I've been editing furiously as I try to get caught up on everything I've fallen behind on. The 2012 issue of The Martian Wave has been delivered, and we're looking at a May release. I've started gathering up e-mail addresses and putting together files that will eventually be Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 10. This will be the best of Sam's Dot's on-line zines for the years 2009-2011. We don't have a release date yet, but I know some of the readers of this blog are contributors, so you can expect an e-mail from me some time in the next couple of weeks.

Since I've actually had free time, and I haven't been feeling up to working, I've actually had time to read a book...imagine that. I read Warren Hammond's Kop, and even though noir isn't always my thing, I think this was a great book, and I'd highly recommend it to anyone. Now I just have to find the time to read the rest of the series...

And for the record, Warren will be signing with me (or vice-versa) at the Broadway Book Mall on June 10th.

Assuming that the baby stays asleep for a little while longer, I'm going to start working on the new game again. I haven't touched it in a while, so I'm going to have to get back up to speed on where I am in the design process.

That's about it for now. I hope to actually start doing some fiction writing soon, but time always seems to get in the way of that one...