Short story submissions

I note that some writer friends post news about the progress of their short story submissions in public domain places such as Facebook, MySpace and in their open blogs. Now, it might seem silly but I am wary of telling the world that a favourite story has just been rejected. For example a favourite of mine is Janet and John Deconstruct the Cassini Ring. A fun science fiction piece written in the style of a Janet and John primary reader. It’ll either tickle or provoke sputum. It is being judged at the Fylde Brighter Writers competition, the results to be announced at the end of April. Wish me luck! Statistics are against it winning but hey ho you have to try. If it doesn’t get placed should I announce that too? Other writers do. However, if a magazine or anthology editor winds up his web search engine he’d find those stories that failed x number of submissions. Seems to me that making public one’s failures is asking for more. I do get the need for writers to be open, gather support in virtual group drowning of sorrows, but I’m dubious.

Checking the blog statistics there are more hits from the one page on my climbing Tryfan than for any writing page. Maybe some climbers will be tempted to buy Exit, Pursued by a Bee – sales are in decline even though there must be millions of Science fiction fans who have yet to be scintillated by it. Come on readers head for http://geoffnelder.com/exitbee.htm

Expecting too much?

I decided to give non and token-paying magazines a miss this year and try damned hard to get into the biggies. So I wrote a short science fiction story for Interzone. It’s been through two critique groups, reworked and polished. I’m not saying it is perfect but I believe fellow editors would see its worthiness.

I’ve bought and noted the changes in story styles in Interzone over the decades. I said this in
my cover. However, once again Andy sends me the standard form
reject letter with no hint at why rejection but including a tip to
read Interzone along with a flyer to order it! Does he never read the
cover notes sent with submissions? I get hundreds of subs for EV too
but I always say a brief why for rejections. I don’t think I’ll be
subbing to Interzone again – though I said that last time

Even if an acquisition editor receives hundreds of submissions IMO he or she should at least give a hint why a piece is rejected – it’s only good manners and part of the culture of helping writers. If there are too many then close subs for a while. Am I asking too much?

Tripping over reviews

Dimensons cover

By a freak meandering through the web I came across a pod people review site and found my first anthology, Dimensions posted there last year. Isn’t it a funny feeling to find yourself like that when you didn’t even know you were missing! The review is

Title: Dimensions
Author: Robert Blevins and Geoff Nelder
Price: $9.98
Genre: Sci-fi/Anthology
ISBN: 978-1-4116-6087-8
Publisher: Adventure Books of Seattle
Point of Sale: http://www.lulu.com/content/185340

I just finished reading “Dimensions,” a science fiction short story collection by Robert Blevins and Geoff Nelder. The book is well-put together, with a small illustration for each of its 23 short stories. Like any collection of shorts, I like some stories more then others, but overall it was quite a readable book.

The first short story in the collection, Blevin’s “Cruel and Unusual,” was to me perhaps the weakest in the collection. It seemed to be a rift on the old “Twilight Zone” episode of a convict (in this case a mass murderer) marooned on a distant and hostile world. He spent over twenty years trying to get back to Earth, in the process becoming completely reformed, only to discover that he should have stayed where he was.

The strongest story, in my view, was Geoff Nelder’s “Prime Meridian.” Geoff is a Brit, and his story is set in London. The protagonist, a schoolteacher named John Forrister, inherits his grandfather’s house. John finds the whole setup lacking – the only bright spot in his life is that his neighbor likes to wash her hair at the kitchen sink sans shirt. Things become more interesting when meteorites start piercing his house every day at 3:15 PM. The ending is both unexpected and cute.

Blevin’s story “Hole Card” is another short story, and quite solid. It turns out that the aliens at Roswell, NM were from the future – and the surviving pilot was human. Also of note is Blevin’s story “A Smaller Step,” which puts an alternate-history spin on the death of Yuri Gagarin. When I finished it, I had a case of goose bumps.

Although there are 23 short stories, a number of them are more vignettes or episodes then full stories, covering a page or two. Still, considering that the book is available for just under $10 at Amazon.com, I have to recommend “Dimensions” for anybody seeking new science fiction.

Dimensions can be purchased at
http://www.adventurebooksofseattle.com/currenttitles.htm#93071219