March in Review

March began fairly lamb-like and it looks to end the same.

I wrote three short stories this month: "The Watchful Eyes of Los Abuelos", "Fed by Other Than the Sun", and "Heroes Can Live Forever". The first two are solid efforts. The last needs a good deal of work. I also penned a piece of flash entitled "Inked" which needs another quick edit before it heads out to submission land. A few stories left home for the first time in March, and I hope they don't find themselves too lost out in the wide world.

During March I put the final edits to The House Eaters. Yep, the "s" is back just 'cause I like the way it sounds better than "Eater". The title works either way. Currently, I'm querying for that one. I also tinkered with Rock Gods and Scary Monsters some. More work is needed. One of those 3 AM epiphanies struck me about Rock Gods...a "now playing" list is going to accompany each chapter to help set the tone.

I sold a few shorts, most notably to Triangulation: Dark Glass and Return of the Raven. Some long standing subs came home alone (i.e., were rejected), including a 137 wait from Murky Depths. Try, try again.

Ruthless People's Magazine was kind enough to publish my dirty little "Man Bites Man" and The Black Garden was released in March.

Oh, and I tried to anger some Morlocks, but they wouldn't bite. Do you realize they have a Wikipedia page for Birkin Bags but not Permuted Press? True.

(stupid Morlocks)

We Have a Winner-Ninja; Monday Rant (Die, Wikipedia, Die)

First and foremost, Carrie Harris is the winner of my "help this schlub write a query" contest. If Ms. Harris will ninja her address to aaron_polson (at) hotmail.com with choice of book (The Black Garden or Monstrous) I will be happy to ship off her book post haste. I sent one query off with edits recommended by my dear readers and received a full request. Fingers crossed, but not too tightly, 'cause I know it's going to take more than one full request to land an agent. My naiveté is spent on the publishing process. I'm in this for the long haul.

The Rant^TM:

At the risk of angering all those wikis hiding in their parent's basements, I must add to the list of why Wikipedia sucks.

We all know the articles are either too brief or ramble on. The "editors" might check for facts, but sure can't take care of grammar, syntax, or style. I'd rather read a roomful of cereal boxes than a poorly written Wikipedia article, rife with misspelling and misinformation (yes, despite your best efforts, ye Morlocks, misinformation does exist on Wikipedia).

Here's the reason for the rant: Wikipedia has removed the Permuted Press article. Yes, Permuted is a "small press". Yes, I understand the Wikipedia content rules about advertising, promotion, yada yada. But, c'mon? Permuted not worthy of an article?

Permuted books have been optioned for film. Stories from Permuted anthologies have garnered honorable mentions in the Year's Best anthologies. Kim Paffenroth writes and edits for them. Um, yes, that Kim Paffenroth, the one who won the Stoker Award a few years back.

The folks at Wikipedia should not be the arbiters of reality. What happened to an "open source" encyclopedia? What happened to democratizing the process. Is this just further proof that power does indeed corrupt?

Look, a Wikipedia article does not advertise anything, as it shouldn't. But should the Morlocks that offer up articles for deletion be allowed to do so, just because they don't feel like something is important? Have you even read the trivial bull-shite on Wikipedia about semi-pro basketball players, actors, or musicians? Better yet, have you read any article about a video game? Talk about trivial.