Catching up

I spent yesterday updating my records listing my publication credits, etc.  Also, MindFlights (formerly The Sword Review and DKA) has a free online submission tracking, so I updated that too.  I tend to forget to keep track of issue #'s and publication dates, so I went back and filled all that in.  I also caught myself up with crits from a private crit group I'm in.  Now I'm ready to start jerrygordon's new draft of his novel, "Severed Dreams."  I wanted to have a pretty clean slate so I can devote my attention to that.  After that, and in between too, I have to get up off my lazy butt and do editing passes on about 4 stories and get them subbed.  I probably keep saying that.  Did I ever mention what a big procrastinator I am?

After I wrote that, I stopped and thought.  I spend 11 hrs a day taking care of a 14 month old.  He takes two naps a day, an hour and a half in the morning and an hour in the afternoon (usually).  That's a long day.  And I do it 3 days a week.  On the 4th day, I take him to the baby sitter for about 6-7 hrs, so I only have him about 4 hrs that day.  And in between, I run errands and try to keep up the garden (which is being sadly neglected).  After he goes home I cook dinner and clean up.  I pay the bills and balance the checkbook and for the last 2 years I've spent at least 10 hrs a month on Master Gardener duties.  So yeah, I don't have a lot of writing time.  Whew I feel better now, knowing I'm not a lazy ass after all.  ;-)

Realms of Fantasy, June 2008

I finally got around to reading the June issue of Realms of Fantasy.  In my continuing quest to learn how to synopsize stories, I offer you my thoughts on this issue.  For a change, I liked almost every story in this issue.  I've been feeling lately that the offerings from this magazine haven't been at all to my taste.  Maybe my taste is changing, because I like epic and high fantasy, and yet none of these stories fit that bill.  The one that came closest was my least favorite.  Go figure. 

 

REALMS OF FANTASY - June 2008

 

"The Snake: A Story of the Flat Earth" by Tanith Lee

On the way to his wedding, a prince is struck down by a snake.  His princess lays down in her bridal finery, refusing to eat or drink, and only the medicinal spells of sages keeps her in her body.  Her father sends messengers to the four corners of the world, searching for something or someone to save his beloved daughter.  One messenger, Keshom, finds a mage named Thus, who agrees to help.  When Thus beholds the sleeping princess, he falls in love and awakens her with a kiss.  Although this story has shades of Snow White and Sleeping Beauty, what follows is anything but traditional.  It was beautifully written in just the type of descriptive language that I love to read.  The story has a twist that I really didn't expect.

 

 "Lest Our Passage Be Forgotten" by Bradley P. Beaulieu

Yasuo is a smokeman.  With his oils and glass jars, he pulls memories from people before they die, and then folds them into fireworks for a funeral display where all the people attending can share the now-dead person's memories, making the passage into the Lands of the Dead bright and festive, and ensuring a good livelihood upon arrival.  Yasuo is asked to gather memories from the Daimyo's elderly mother, a cantankerous prank-player who resists his attempts by giving him memories that show her family in a bad light.  In the process of discovering why her memories are all tainted by negative thoughts, he finds strength and courage to move his own life forward.  My favorite line:  "Everything can be tainted if you look back upon it with a sour mind-set.  It's up to you to find the memories and to let them shine...."  I guess this story resonated on a personal level with me, for it's all about choosing how you view events, choosing a positive or negative mind-set and moving forward.  Or it was for me, anyway.  And wonderfully written besides.  This was a long story, but I did enjoy it very much.  Probably my favorite story in this issue.

 

"The Self-Fulfilling Prophet" by Way Jeng

The teaser on this short short said "This story will make you smile."  And it did.  The Great Prophet Colin makes all sorts of prophesies, mostly without really realizing he does so.  On the Day of Discovery, Colin told his friend there was no use buying lottery tickets, because, "I'll lose.  I always lose."  He also had a knack for getting off on the wrong foot with people, as is evidenced by his proclamation upon first meeting his new manager at the Incredible Mug Company:  "We'll find some broken mugs and we won't have enough raw stock to keep up with the production schedule."  Needless to say, she didn't find the Great Prophet Colin to be funny at all.  Trouble ensues. 

 

"The Good Neighbor" by Betsy James

The Good Neighbor is the name the tribe uses for the faces of the gods when they come to dance.  On the eve of Tedemke's becoming a man and learning the secrets of the gods and manhood, he and his friends watch his uncle bleed the bull that guards the entrance to the gods' house. The uncles will take the blood to paint with, and the boys dare to hint at the Good Neighbors' true name:  masks.  Tedemke goes alone that night to peek into the room where all the secrets are held.  He learns some things are best left to men, and things are not always as they seem.  The ending on this story was a little flat for me.  I didn't feel at the end that he'd truly come by any greater knowledge.  But maybe I just didn't get it. 

 

 "The Summer of Lucy" by Kate Riedel

Lucy is a dog that shows up one dry summer day at the farm of Ed and Dot.  She's half-starved and it's apparent she has just given birth to puppies that are most likely dead.  Lucy howls at the moon one night, her grief showing in her long-drawn out moans, and Dot can relate:  not long ago, her son was stillborn, the umbilical cord wrapped around his neck.  During that dry dusty summer without rain, Lucy and Dot are inseparable.  A neighbor thinks she saw a dog like Lucy with an old woman one day, walking down the road to Mr. Clute's place.  Mr. Clute claims he can make it rain with an old Indian secret--if the townspeople band together and pay him a large sum of money first.  With Lucy's help, Dot finds the secret to Mr. Clute's claim--and gains a new friend in the process.  I really liked this story too.  It had a quiet calm and a dignity to it, and a lesson about kindness and friendship and a banding-together of community.

 

"Here's What I Know" by Dennis Danvers

This was an interesting take on a ghost story.  Dennis's dad is a convivial sort of guy, the type everyone loves talking to.  He draws a crowd with his stories and jokes everywhere he goes.  Only problem is, no one remembers him after they've met him because he's been dead now for 23 years.  He admits he was a lousy father, once sending a ten-year-old Dennis to the movies for the afternoon so he could screw a woman.  Charming guy that he is, he persuades Dennis to go to Philadelphia to look for a half-sister Dennis never knew he had, a child the father thinks is the result of an affair with "the love of his life."  What ensues is the forging of a relationship between father and son and an understanding--of sorts--of his parent's relationship.  And hopefully, an understanding of his mother.  I liked this story too.  Dennis's dad is a charming guy, and the dialog between father and son is fast-paced and witty and thoroughly enjoyable.