My new story, "The Rearguard," is available for viewing on AlienSkin's web site. I'm very pleased.

I managed to get through my second day of work without trouble, even managing to bill past the daily goal/quota that's been set for me, all the while finding the work interesting. Very nice.

I passed today on a very good poem submitted for Lone Star Stories. Its weakness? The Texas connection was just not strong enough. That's the second poem sent by that author, and I've liked both -- just not enough to accept them. I hope he sends me more. In fact, I hope I receive more poetry submissions in general.

I received a very complimentary e-mail from a professional author regarding the flag photo on the home page of Lone Star Stories. I never expected such a positive reaction to a product of my own ultra-amateur photography. It's definitely made me think about shooting other pieces for future issues.