Was treated to seeing a prerelease of Blade: Trinity by dire_epiphany, astralfire, and their son Blake on Thursday. Traffic getting to the theater was appalling. It took us an hour and a half to drive there, and under a half hour to drive back. Also felt rather queasy in the car. I think I was actually motion sick from all the accelerating and decelerating. Weird. I don’t usually get car sick.
Trinity (spoiler-free) was great fun. There’s a dearth in writing, huge plot issues, yadda yadda ya, but it’s shiny, and everyone is so pretty! Rawr. Ryan Reynolds’s character was the major high point. I think he got all the best lines. I giggled right out loud. And the Pomeranian! The Pomeranian was fantastic! Urg, I can’t say any more without giving out spoilers . . . um, LJ cut to the rescue: After the movie, I wanted to inject Hobkin with mutated vampire virus so that we’d have a vampire skunk with bifurcated jaw! Glah, the cuteness of the Pomeranian when it went all fangy! Squish.
It was much fun, and then we stood gabbing and catching up in the theater lobby for a long while. A delightful evening, yup.
Writing Stuff:
Received:
– My honorable mention certificate from the Writers of the Future folks for “Gifts Not Asked For” except the certificate says “Illustrators of the Future” rather than “Writers.” Humph. Going to toss a note to the coordinator, but it’s no biggie. I’ve already got a certificate that says “Writers” for “Running on Two Legs.” The variety is, at least, interesting.
– The edits from IROSF for my cyberpunk article! That’s a pretty good sign that the publication will continue and that my article will be going up . . . eventually. Whew.
– Six crits so far from Critters on the slipstream piece. It’s being well received, although I’m getting flack about the minimalist speculative element. Probably should have put a disclaimer in the author’s notes at the bottom that I knew it was borderline mainstream.
– A 17-day “We enjoyed reading this but” from Aeon with a “we look forward to to seeing more submissions from you” to salve the burn. Sigh.
You know, I have to say I LOVE your little icons. Do you make them yourself?
~Maggie 🙂
Thanks, Maggie! In a fit of too-much-time, I made a slew of them from This Site to be my writing icons.
I’m still waiting for my response from WotF myself. Sigh.
17 days from AEON, eh? Well, I can start looking for MINE at any time then… 😎 Mine’s been out to them about that long now. 😎
The HM was from from 2nd quarter. I don’t think WotF is anywhere near judging stuff from this quarter.
“17 days from AEON, eh?“
Nice, fast response! Did you also send yours via email?
Mine’s 3rd quarter and the guy who won first place has already heard and announcing… so… who knows.
There’s an explosive thread on the OWW forum right now about whether WotF benefits the Church of Scientology, and if so, whether that’s ethically problematic. As a convert of Xenu.net, I started wielding the napalm early on. To be honest, all the evidence I’ve found seems to suggest that the contest and the “church” are are kept strictly separate. Nonetheless, the contest still gives me a “squicky” feeling now. Others in the forum feel the same way. What do you think?
Six crits so far from Critters on the slipstream piece. It’s being well received, although I’m getting flack about the minimalist speculative element. Probably should have put a disclaimer in the author’s notes at the bottom that I knew it was borderline mainstream.
Yeah, that probably would have been a good idea. Critters have certain base expectations of stories in the queue, and of course, they make other assumptions based on the F/SF/H classification. Oh well. I got the same flack for “Pennyfer,” if it’s any consolation. 🙂
“To be honest, all the evidence I’ve found seems to suggest that the contest and the “church” are are kept strictly separate. Nonetheless, the contest still gives me a “squicky” feeling now. Others in the forum feel the same way. What do you think?“
I’m ambivalent. On the one hand, I really dislike the Scientologists and their philosophy (and business practices). But, regardless of how scuzzy I happen to think they are, they’re still just a religion (or whatever) like any other, and if people want to waste their time and money following it, it’s their prerogative.
And on the other hand, the WotF contest has some really sweet prizes, and some very prestigious judges. And from what I’ve seen and heard, aside from the funding, WotF and the Scientologists don’t mingle particularly. But even if they did, it’s still a fiction market. I’ve submitted and sold stories to Leading Edge and they’re run by Brigham-Young. I’m not a Mormon nor a believer in the Mormon philosophy, but I don’t knock them off my “to submit to” list because of that. If I only submitted my fiction to editors that shared my world view, philosophy, and ethics I suspect I’d have very few viable markets.
And with regard to WotF, it’s largely moot for me anyway. This is the last quarter I qualify to send them something before my professional publications toss me out of the running. And I’m resigned to the fact that I just don’t seem to write stories that appeal to their “money round” preferences. I’ve made semi- and quarter-finals multiple times, but I can’t seem to get any further.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on this! You’re definitely on target about the “very prestigious judges.”
Like you, I’d have no problem at all submitting a piece to The Leading Edge, even though I think the Mormons perpetuate some dangerous ideas. To me, LDS is a “real” religion. The Church of Scientology, on the other hand, is a criminal enterprise dressed up as a religion. It’s a conscious fraud, IMHO.
But we all must draw our own lines. We must decide which compromises we’re willing to make and which go too far. It’s largely arbitrary, in the end.
As you say, though, WotF participation is a moot point for you. And that’s a happy thing, in multiple ways! *worships Eugie*
Yeah…
Yeah, I’ve been half reading that one as well. It’s a weird situation and apparently has people very opinionated on it.
I finally decided it was good money (if you can get it). It does have prestigious judges. Most people don’t even make that connection half the time, and my personal beliefs are strong enough to not be “brainwashed” (as some have said) by whatever they might say.
And hey, if they want to part with money my direction, I’m not gonna say no. I’m a hack and proud of it.
Didn’t know about LEADING EDGE – thanks for that bit of info.
Re: Yeah…
Yeah, I’ve been half reading that one as well. It’s a weird situation and apparently has people very opinionated on it.
I’m probably the most opinionated contributor to the thread. I think this is because scams and fraud really, really annoy me. I’m not sure why that is, but it could have something to do with my generally skeptical outlook. Anyway, when I receive one of those urban legend chain e-mails, I’m usually the first to fire back with a link to Snopes. I froth at the mouth when I discuss the Atkins diet, which the mainstream medical community resoundly rejects.
Regarding Scientology, I believe that it’s a conscious fraud, and that the Church of Scientology is a criminal organization that cynically uses the religion label as a shield against prosecution. Many countries in Western Europe don’t recognize Scientology as a religion at all. It’s even been banned in some otherwise tolerant countries.
And hey, if they want to part with money my direction, I’m not gonna say no.
Fair enough. Personally, though, I’d feel uncomfortable accepting the money. Granted, it comes from a specific fund Hubbard set up to help new writers (IIRC), but I believe that he acquired that money by defrauding people. (The IRS was about to indict his ass when he died.) Imagine the irony, though, if I donated the money to an anti-Scientology organization. Bwahahaha! (Like I’d ever have a chance of winning, but I can dream.)
Do you mind if I friend you?