Woke up this morning to work some more on the novel rewrite, and found a nifty journal entry written by fellow writer Sherwood Smith about my soon-soon-to-be-released short story collection. Sherwood very kindly read the entire book as an electronic file so she could write a review for Tangent Online. She let me post her initial thoughts from her online journal:

"I finished reading Gunning for the Buddha by Michael Jasper. What an excellent collection. I liked every story in it; as always, some worked better for me than others, but there was no sense of "what's this doing in here?" that I've gotten from some collections, particularly from newer writers who have not yet built up a body of work from which to cherry-pick the best stories. Jasper has landed running; it seems to me his strongest suit is his ability to find the right voice for each story, an ability that shows off his range. I like what he does with structure as well. The stories range from science fiction (the near future scenarios are pretty universally grim) to fantasy. I particularly like the four stories that center around the arrival of an alien species. My favorite story is "The Disillusionist." How's this for a hook? I rode west, followed hard by spirits."

I can't think of a better way to start a cold, frosty Monday than this.