A few rejections lately, though nice ones, and none of them form letters. One from Ideomancer (for "Wake Up Call") that liked the story but thought that I used to many similies (which I'm puzzled about, but will take a look at). Two from Strange Horizons, a day apart: one for poetry ("Solipsist's Lament") and one for fiction ("King of the Traffic Lights"). The poetry editor (can't remember her name off the top of my head) said that she enjoyed the poem (though not enough to buy it) and hoped she would see more from me. Jed Hartman said the story was probably the best he'd seen from me, and even if he wasn't going to buy it, that it was extremely charming.

So some good news, but ultimately bad news. At this point I really want to crack Strange Horizons. Many of my fellow journalers (journalists?) are writers who have been published there, people associated with a new wave of fantastic fiction (called, very tongue-in-cheek, the Amorphous Blob Movement by some, which no one has talked about in a while, so I thought I'd bring it up again), what Jeff Vandermeer has called "a new Golden Age of fantastic fiction." (My apologies to JeffV if I've misquoted him.) It's a very exciting time to be writing the things I'm writing, and Strange Horizons is publishing some of the best stuff out there. They seem very willing to take on new talent, but pay professional rates as well, which makes them incredibly enticing to a writer at the beginning of his career. They're like the Asimov's of my generation. They've become my newest (short-term) grail.

And speaking of JeffV, if you haven't read Veniss Underground yet, what the hell are you waiting for?

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Now Reading:
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon

Stories Out to Publishers:
9

Books Read This Year:
18

Novel Word Count:
9200