Reading: ZEN AND THE ART OF WRITING by Ray Bradbury
Music: Utopia's Redux '92 - Live in Japan
Link o' the Day: The Challenger Fanzine webpage

I started Ray Bradbury's ZEN AND THE ART OF WRITING today and already it's been giving me ideas.

Damn.

I have too many ideas and projects going on. Just the same I took some of the choicer ideas and scribbled them down so I wouldn't forget them. One is just too brilliant to ignore--and it's all mine! Bwahahaha! (Unless someone else has already thought of it. Dang.)

Received a rejection from F&SF with disheartening swiftness. Mr. Adams's letter was positive and all, but I miss reading "Alas". In any case, I've already picked out the next market and will send the poor misjudged story out again come the morn.

Speaking of submissions, "Walter Gibson's Clockwork Cat" has been at Cicada since October. I sent a query via their special e-mail setup and wonder if I'll get a response. I'm torn about selling this story to them. The main character is one I'd like to write about again, but Cicada likes to purchase all the rights. _If_ they buy it, I'm going to see if I can get them to consider other stories featuring the same main character at least. I wish I knew more juvie markets that took short SF.

And speaking of writing, I've been catching up (somewhat) on what I call my Lo(c)Karma. For those who don't know, a LoC is a Letter-of-Comment usually sent in response to a fanzine one has received. Such correspondence encourages dialogue and further fanzines. I've fallen quite behind in my LoC'ing and feel my karma needs restoration. Today I mailed out two LoCs. Tomorrow I'll mail out two more. Because I feel my Lo(c)Karma needs an extra boost, I'm using more traditional snail-mail.

LoC'ing, like writing a webjournal, is an interesting exercise again in focused writing. The topic is whatever all is covered in the fanzine I'm responding to, and the audience could just be the faneditor, or the fanzine's readers if the letter is published. I don't have the same flair that many of the long-time letterhacks do, but I think it's good to provide some feedback just the same--even if it's to say, "Hey, nice job! I found the such-and-such article very interesting and it made me think of such-and-such and you-know-who and the time he did it with that cow."

You know, that sort of thing.

And speaking fanzines--why that segues neatly into today's link of the day, the Challenger Fanzine webpage! Challenger is a regular contender for the Best Fanzine Hugo and editor Guy Lillian is a nice guy, for a lawyer, and a great fan editor. He and his wife are the current DUFF representatives and will be representing North American fandom in Australia sometime soon.

It's Monday and boy-howdy, doesn't it feel like one? But like the bus drivers say, "Hey, if it wasn't for Mondays, you'd be complainin' about Tuesdays."

Such wisdom. Just drive the bus, willya?

Okay--I'm tired and it shows. Signing off!

Cheers!