The author, his writings, and his warped little mind.
Just a quick update before bed. I have discovered that the blog Baryon Review reviewed Zero Gravity and had a sentence about my story “Leech Run”. The implication is that the reviewer enjoyed the story; he explicitly says he liked the book.
My brief con report for ChattaCon will be up tomorrow or Tuesday. I didn’t make any sales (that I know of), but I made some great contacts and new friends. Check back for more details.
Not sure how well known the Preditors and Editors Reader’s Poll is. It’s a small award whose prize is a lovely animated gif to post on your website. This year’s poll (for last year’s stories) is open for voting through TONIGHT AT MIDNIGHT (not sure which time zone).
Why do I mention this so late? Mostly because it was just brought to my attention that “Leech Run” is on the poll for Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Story! I didn’t put it there, but I’m thrilled. Similarly, the anthology in which it ran, Zero Gravity, is also up for Best Anthology. Very cool.
Anyone can vote and voters are selected at random to win prizes, too. It’s probably tacky to tell you to go vote for me, so just go vote. If it’s for me, so much the better. 🙂
I’ve been going about this short story submission thing all wrong. As it turns out, the only sale I’ve made in the past six months is one I withdrew (details to follow). So maybe I just need to go pull all my stories out of slush so they’ll get bought. Or perhaps I should take this anomaly for what it is and move on.
I am selling “Leech Run” to Escape Pod podcast/ezine as a reprint, my first reprint sale. More excitingly, it’s my first audio sale! It’s just as exciting as having “Poison Inside the Walls” illustrated. Having another artist/performer interpret my work is very exciting to me.
The Escape Pod sale was not without hitches. I won’t bore you with the details beyond the fact that the fine people at Pill Hill Press — the editors of the anthology Zero Gravity: Adventures in Deep Space where “Leech Run” originally appeared — have been fantastic in their help to allow things to progress naturally. (You should go buy Zero Gravity on Kindle. Five bucks for thirteen awesome stories in deep space. Or buy it in paperback. Or special edition hard cover if it’s still available…but I think that was just through the end of 2010. Or buy all three!)
This reprint sale has me wondering how many people would enjoy “Leech Run.” Would it translate well? There is money to be made in foreign sales, even for short fiction. Other stories might also do well translated. Or in audio. “Excuse Me” would probably be better performed. Maybe I could do an audio recording for this site? It could be fun. Surely I can find a student actor or two willing to read some lines. Hmm… [sticks idea on shelf to revisit later]
Now on to my latest obsession: Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog!! It’s a short film done by Joss Whedon (and family, it seems) starring Neil Patrick Harris as the eponymous villain-on-the-rise (was that Horrible or Howser?), Nathan Fillion as his heroic but egotistical nemesis Captain Hammer (or was that Reynolds?). Funny, dark, and musical. The cleverness and musicality of the songs hearkens to the South Park movie. Afterall, NPH is a Broadway guy. I love it in all its cheesiness. I’ve been listening to the soundtrack on my iPod nonstop for two days. If you have not seen this 42-minute marvel, find a way. I’ll likely bring my copy to ChattaCon for a potential (small) viewing party/sing-along. Consider the love shared. If you too love it, I have done my duty. If not, well, you may want to have your funny checked. (You should do that every ten thousand miles anyway.)
When I get details regarding Escape Pod, I’ll let you know. Until then, read Zero Gravity, watch Dr. Horrible, and eat Mezzetta Garlic-Stuffed Olives.
Found another little blurb on a blog about Zero Gravity. One story seemed to get more word space than others. Guess whose. 😀
The stories that stood out for me were ‘Leech Run’ by Scott W Baker. Leeches are people that can suck the power from any source so are particularly dangerous on a spaceship. Although illegal to transport leeches anywhere Captain Titan is unscrupulous enough to do it at a high price. But of course things go wrong as one of the leeches escape from the hold. I liked the idea of ‘leeches’ as if they were a new kind of vampire and the mystery of how one could disappear from a sealed hold to reappear again was intriguing. There was a nice little twist at the end too.
The whole review can be found at Jacqueline Kirk’s blog.
The first review of Zero Gravity has popped up on the net. Not a glowing endorsement, but generally a positive review. I definitely take his comments on “Leech Run” as positives, more so than perhaps some other stories’. Which is too bad; I haven’t read a bad story in there yet.
Mere days before I flit off to LA to live a week like I’m something special, I realize I am special. I’m in a book on Kindle! Yeah, yeah, lots of people are, even people who aren’t in a real book…stop trying to burst my bubble. I’m on the biggest electronic reader in the world.
For the bargain price of five bucks ($5.00), you can read “Leech Run” and all the other stories in Zero Gravity. Big savings over the paperback price of $15.29. There’s something spacial about having a story in tangible print on paper that I can keep on a shelf and point to. There’s also something special about having my story distributed through cutting edge technology.
I suspect I may end up on the Kindle again when Writers of the Future XXV! comes out. Ooh, I just checked and found something cooler!!
How pretty is that? It’s available for pre-order through Amazon. People are pre-ordering me! *giggles like maniacal school child* They aren’t advertising it for Kindle yet, but I bet it will happen after the first surge of paperbacks sell…but wait. Previous years’ anthologies aren’t available on Kindle. Huh. I’ll ask about it next week to see why. But a print book is still great. They did an audio book of volume 24 that was excellent; I’d love to see that happen this year.
I guess I should go to sleep now. I have that real job thing in the morning.
For those interested, I’ll try to throw up a note here every day or so while I’m in LA. Nothing long winded until I get back. Now go buy me on Amazon!
I’m on Amazon! Well, the anthology I’m in, Zero Gravity: Adventures in Deep Space is available on Amazon. Pill Hill Press seems to be assembling some very good collections. This one is pretty much all space opera. Fun stuff. Grab a copy or two. They make great stocking stuffers (never too early).
After a response drought I end up with two in my inbox in two days. This one (S.H.) was a rejection from IGMS. It never even made it to Ed the editor (nice guy, met him at ConCarolinas). Too bad. Now I need to select another market. I may try Daily Science Fiction; other Codexians seem to be scoring there. If not, their response time is only a notch or two slower than Lightspeed or Clarkesworld.
On a bigger note, I have received confirmation that Zero Gravity will be out later this summer. A quick turnaround is an advantage of a small press, I guess. It’ll be a trade paperback (size of a hardcover just without the hard cover). It looks like it will sell at around $15 from Amazon based on Pill Hill Press’s previous anthologies. I’ll link to it when it’s available.
A sale!
How long ago was I complaining about not hearing any responses, two hours? I ran out to get a movie (more on that in a minute) and come home to find that the anthology Zero Gravity has accepted my story “Leech Run”! They’ve had it on hold for a little while. Submissions closed today and I guess no one managed to bump me.
“Leech Run” has been seeking a home for a long time. It’s the story that got me waitlisted for Clarion West last year. Honestly Zero Gravity seems about the perfect fit. It’s a Pill Hill Press anthology, due out late next summer (I’m finding conflicting dates, so it may be soon and it may be 2011); more waiting before “Leech Run” sees the light of day. But a sale’s a sale, 25 bucks I didn’t have before. A credential I didn’t have before. Being read by people (eventually) that hadn’t heard of me before.
As for the movie rental, I went to a RedBox for the first time. Efficient, affordable, the way of the future. I went specifically to get…*cough*…New Moon. I know, I know. Not my choice. The wife needed to see it again before she drags me to Eclipse on Friday. Two in the same week. I’m going to have to read some Moby Dick to balance it out.
At long last, some good news for L.R. I sent the story to the Zero Gravity anthology. I heard today that it made the short list for publication. It will be July before publication can be confirmed, but if it went to press tomorrow, I’d be in it. Works for me.
That puts two of my stories on short lists: L.R. and S.R. (on hold at ASIM). I don’t expect both will necessarily come through, but either one would be nice. It puts me in a happy place going into the weekend.
Scott W. Baker .net 