A travel day
Wait, TWO actual personal updates in a row? No reviews in between? Who am I???
Drive today was clear-skied, just a little chilly, until I got to Metairie, LA, where apparently my "bring bad weather" knack is in full force. Was in the elevator with a guy who commented about how cold it was (low 40s, possibly dipping into the 30s overnight), and how they'd had a mild winter so they should have expected a bad cold snap in March. And I'm thinking, "ORRRR, it could just be me."
Listening to Justin Cronin's THE PASSAGE still. Made it through half of the 7th cd (out of 12, I believe). I have to say, it's not the story I thought it was, but overall I'm enjoying it. The time jump mid-book felt jarring while listening to Edward Hermann read it -- I'm wondering if it would have felt as jarring if I'd been reading myself. Also, apparently I never really read the back cover copy, because I had no idea that time (and focal character) jump was coming.
I received in email today "The Antics of Anton Ardno," Joseph Pittman's contribution to THE MANY TORTURES OF ANTHONY CARDNO. It's a Todd Gleason short, and we all know how much I love me some Todd Gleason crime-caper fun. Its a fun story that I can't wait to share with everyone (and Joe joins jaylake, Dennis Miller, Dennis Sullivan, and Sabrina Vourvoulias among the folks sending me original stories for this anthology (or is that anthonyology? cardnocopia?)).
Speaking of folks writing for the antho: I posted my interview with Damien Walters Grintalis today. Damien's story "Scarred," from Fireside Magazine's second issue, is one of three reprints appearing in TORTURES. Check it out.
I'm also going to signal-boost for some friends who have some Kickstarters going on:
Raygun Chronicles, a book of space opera short stories in the classic Golden Age mode, edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt, has 4 days to go and needs to raise about $4,000.
Fireside Magazine, which put out three issues last year under publisher/editor Brian White, is looking to relaunch as an online magazine. They've got about 70 hours to go and need about $13,000.
A group of young actors from Oakland CA have a chance to take their stage play "Signs of Our Occupy" to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. The school and their parents are paying for a lot of the costs out of pocket, but they're trying to raise the actual production costs through Kickstarter. They've got a month to go and need about $3,000 to hit goal.
And LONG HIDDEN: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History is a new anthology being put together by editors Daniel Jose Older and Rose Fox, under publishers Crossed Genres. They just launched, and already have almost half their goal with a month to go.
In the realm outside of Kickstarter: My young friend Sam Lant is doing his usual Walk For Kids fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House out in Los Angeles. I'll be making my donation at the last moment, because my donation depends on how many times I can get his mother to slap him upside the head for me, at $5 a slap. We're up to $35 bucks so far. You can help Sam out by donating here, and tell him Anthony sent you.
Drive today was clear-skied, just a little chilly, until I got to Metairie, LA, where apparently my "bring bad weather" knack is in full force. Was in the elevator with a guy who commented about how cold it was (low 40s, possibly dipping into the 30s overnight), and how they'd had a mild winter so they should have expected a bad cold snap in March. And I'm thinking, "ORRRR, it could just be me."
Listening to Justin Cronin's THE PASSAGE still. Made it through half of the 7th cd (out of 12, I believe). I have to say, it's not the story I thought it was, but overall I'm enjoying it. The time jump mid-book felt jarring while listening to Edward Hermann read it -- I'm wondering if it would have felt as jarring if I'd been reading myself. Also, apparently I never really read the back cover copy, because I had no idea that time (and focal character) jump was coming.
I received in email today "The Antics of Anton Ardno," Joseph Pittman's contribution to THE MANY TORTURES OF ANTHONY CARDNO. It's a Todd Gleason short, and we all know how much I love me some Todd Gleason crime-caper fun. Its a fun story that I can't wait to share with everyone (and Joe joins jaylake, Dennis Miller, Dennis Sullivan, and Sabrina Vourvoulias among the folks sending me original stories for this anthology (or is that anthonyology? cardnocopia?)).
Speaking of folks writing for the antho: I posted my interview with Damien Walters Grintalis today. Damien's story "Scarred," from Fireside Magazine's second issue, is one of three reprints appearing in TORTURES. Check it out.
I'm also going to signal-boost for some friends who have some Kickstarters going on:
Raygun Chronicles, a book of space opera short stories in the classic Golden Age mode, edited by Bryan Thomas Schmidt, has 4 days to go and needs to raise about $4,000.
Fireside Magazine, which put out three issues last year under publisher/editor Brian White, is looking to relaunch as an online magazine. They've got about 70 hours to go and need about $13,000.
A group of young actors from Oakland CA have a chance to take their stage play "Signs of Our Occupy" to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival this summer. The school and their parents are paying for a lot of the costs out of pocket, but they're trying to raise the actual production costs through Kickstarter. They've got a month to go and need about $3,000 to hit goal.
And LONG HIDDEN: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History is a new anthology being put together by editors Daniel Jose Older and Rose Fox, under publishers Crossed Genres. They just launched, and already have almost half their goal with a month to go.
In the realm outside of Kickstarter: My young friend Sam Lant is doing his usual Walk For Kids fundraiser for Ronald McDonald House out in Los Angeles. I'll be making my donation at the last moment, because my donation depends on how many times I can get his mother to slap him upside the head for me, at $5 a slap. We're up to $35 bucks so far. You can help Sam out by donating here, and tell him Anthony sent you.