Did I Say Write?

What I meant was complete. In my 52 in 2010 post (I'd link to it here, but shit, just scroll down!) I said my goal was to write 52 stories in 2010. What I meant was complete 52 stories. Because I'll gladly pick up half finished things from months and years gone by, rework them and send them out. I'm not changing my goal, I just misstated my goal. I knew what I meant, if no one else did.

So, we're one week in, how's it going so far? Not as well as I'd hoped. I submitted one story yesterday and haven't quite finished my first story of the year, even though it was one of those three-quarters finished stories from last year. Oh, well. We fight on. It'll be done within twenty-four hours. I also have to figure out what I'm going to write next. I've taken on way too much stuff. Not the goal, but the goal plus everything else, meaning other writing things I've sort of promised to do. But it's cool. What the hell else was I doing with my life anyway?

Hey, the Sofa rocks! First off, the winners of this year's Sofanaut Awards have been announced. I'm actually lifting this from the always excellent SF Signal because it was actually written there and only on audio at the Sofa itself.

• Best Main Fiction: "Exhalation" by Ted Chiang (ep #66)


• Best Flash & Short Fiction: "Then, Just a Dream" by Lawerence Santoro (ep #84)


• Best Poetry or Song Contributor: Neil Gaiman


• Best Narrator: (Tie) Lawrence Santoro and Spider Robinson


• Best Fact Article Contributor: Jim Campanella (Science News)


• Best Artwork: StarShipSofa Stories Volume 1 - Skeet

Larry won twice! Way to go! Speaking of Larry, I'm happy to report that the Sofa raised $5,353 (US) for Spider and Jeanne Robinson. When you figure most of the donations were $5 a pop, that's pretty incredible. Thank you, to all of you who donated and all of you who helped get the word out!

On top of all that, StarShipSofa has a really cool show out this week with Amy talking about Trollope (Who shares a birthday with me) and a story by one of my favorite authors, Paul Di Filippo

Aural Delights No 115 Paul Di Filippo

Editorial: Lord Dicken’s Final Tally by Tony C Smith 04:00

Fact Article: Looking Back At SF History by Amy H Sturgis 16:20

Main Fiction: iCity by Paul Di Filippo 30:00

Fact Article: The Winners: The Sofanaut Awards 57:30

Narrator: Jeff Lane

Cossmass Productions

Lastly, I haven't yet read Kick-Ass (though a friend is loaning me his issues in a couple of days (Thank you, Jim)), but this trailer wowed me. It's not to be watched when the kids are around. Even if the kids are in their mid-thirties. Saw this on SF Signal as well. Maybe you should just go over there. I can't post the damned thing here, but go see for yourself:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9zLsdBEsr90

The Intersection of Fantasy & Native America

Hey, folks! Amy H. Sturgis, whom you all know from the StarShipSofa podcast, has just co-edited a scholarly work on Native America, fantasy and the intersection thereof called The Intersection of Fantasy & Native America. Eat it up right here:
http://www.mythsoc.org/press/fantasy.native.america/

Tahiti Screams! A story for every mid-life crisis. Episode 17 of Beware the Hairy Mango can be heard here: http://bewarethehairymango.com/episode-17-tahiti-screams/

A Bunch Of Things

Welcome new follower and fellow Twit, Meika! The army grows. Meika's a sculptor from Tasmania. Yes, that's a real place, Americans. If you follow him on Twitter (@meika) you know that he has a strange fondness for wallaby dung (no, really).

Here's some great music you can listen to online at NPR.org, probably for a limited time. It's a collaboration between Danger Mouse, Sparklehorse and David Lynch with lots of nifty guests like Iggy Pop and Frank Black among others. David Lynch sings! It's called Dark Night of the Soul. Just click the title, you'll get there. My favorite track is Star Eyes. Cool stuff!

Sent out story 111 yesterday, The Circle of Life. I took another stab at the novel (The Inner Workings of the Artificial Mind) today, reworking chapter 11 which was a confusing mess. I think I originally wrote it twice, with two different foci in mind and today I mashed it all together into one narrative string. I want to go back to it and reread it in a couple of days to make sure it doesn't completely suck, but it's done for today.

Also, I'm digging around in my head for a flash fiction idea for this contest. You writers out there may want to take a crack at it yourselves. There's money to be had! Yay, money! Not that I'm a whore, or anything. We prefer to call ourselves Ladies of the Night.

A nifty Sofanauts this week. Amy's on with Tony, Jeremy and Paul Raven. They talk Orson Scott Card, Star Trek, mundane science fiction and other geeky things.

That's all for now. Tomorrow, I'll post a poem for Memorial Day. Not my poetry, but some good stuff by a dead guy. You look at all the poetry out there and most of the good stuff seems to be written by dead people. Discrimination? You decide.

I've Been A Wiener

But what's new? It's been what? Like a couple of weeks since the Sofanauts Awards, and I haven't mentioned the winners, which I would have had I won. Sorry. Amy won in my category and I'm happy, because although I told people to vote for me, I voted for her. For the simple reason that I think her articles are better than mine. Here are all the winners:

Best Flash Fiction: Spider Robinson - "In The Olden Days"

Best Main Fiction: Ted Chiang - "The Merchant & the Alchemists Gate"

Best Poetry Contributor: Laurel Winter

Best Fact Article Contributor: Amy H Sturgis

Best Narrator: Spider Robinson

Pretty much anybody who was nominated could have won and I would have been happy with the results because the Sofa is just that good.

Now That It's Over, Happy Poe

Okay, Happy Poe's Birthday for one more hour. I just got home from work. Had I though of it I would have posted this morning. Two-hundred years, the old dog! If you haven't listened to it yet, check out Amy's Poe episode of the Sofa. It's good and good for you.