C'est La Vie

Fifteen minutes of Halloween as I write this. Probably be over by the time I post. I'm going to go back to my novel The Inner Workings of the Artificial Mind. I've salvaged what I could from .Doc files sent to friends of the first twelve chapters and an old .rtf and google doc, but I'm sure I had stuff on my (apple) pages file which I can't get to. Oh well. C'est la vie, right, baby? I'll put together what I can and move on.

My productivity has been shit this year. I don't know why. I'm not objective enough to dissect the past year and see what went on. Don't know if it will get any better. Not sure if I care.

Mow No Mo'

First off, Episode 12 of Beware the Hairy Mango is up! It's called, "The Next Vampire Story." Go listen to it!

Couldn't we help the environment if we all stopped mowing our lawns? More grass would mean more carbon is being held in vege-spension, right? Not only that, but we'd emit less carbon dioxide because we wouldn't be running our lawn mowers. Spread the word on this. I can't stop mowing because those in charge of the place where I live apparently frown on unmowed lawns. I even had a cop hassle me about my lawn once. But if we can get the idea out now, maybe ten years from now it will be a movement. Let's go! No mow!

A new StarShipSofa is out there, ready for the taking! Go get it!

Aural Delights No 104 Sean Williams

Poem: The Send-Off by Lyn C. A Gardner

Fact: Talk by Amy H Sturgis

Intro to Mines of Barnath by Sean Williams

Main Fiction: A Map of the Mines of Barnath by Sean Williams

Fact: Progress Report 4 by Lawrence Santorow

New Titles: by Tony C Smith

StarShipSofa - Aural Delights No. 104

This week StarShipSofa is pleased to present Aural Delights no. 104. Blast off!

Aural Delights No 104 Sean Williams

Poem: The Send-Off by Lyn C. A Gardner

Fact: Talk by Amy H Sturgis

Intro to Mines of Barnath by Sean Williams

Main Fiction: A Map of the Mines of Barnath by Sean Williams

Fact: Progress Report 4 by Lawrence Santoro

New Titles: by Tony C Smith

Important Lessons

1) There are bovine growth hormones in the milk that we drink. (The former wife and I kinda figured this from the effect it had on the Boy's body. We only buy organic milk now.)

2)Corporations have a great deal of input about what the news shows us.

3) It is not illegal to broadcast lies on the news.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JL1pKlnhvg0

Some Stuff From Your Negligent Host

I've got about a million things to talk about, so why haven't I been blogging? Because I'm a knucklehead. Here are just a few things so I have something to forget to blog about tomorrow.

Beware the Hairy Mango is up to episode 9!:
http://bewarethehairymango.com/episode-9-boss-conversion/

In it, you'll hear that my house was broken into a couple of days ago and my laptop was stolen. Mega-bummer.

The new StarShipSofa is out:

Aural Delights No 102 Charles Stross

Editorial: StarShipSofa and the Future by Tony C Smith

Cover Art: Evan Forsch

Poem: Clone Assassin by Lyn C. A Gardner

Fact: Movie Talk by Rod Barnett

Fact: Science News by JJ Campanella

Flash Fiction: The Arrival of the Cogsmiths (oil on canvas, by Turner, 1815) by Fábio Fernandes

Main Fiction: Down On the Farm by Charles Stross

Fact: Progress Report 3 by Lawrence Santoro

New Titles: by Tony C Smith

Narrators: Julie Davis, Chris Booth, Diane Severson

Solomon Kane Trailer

Some of you may know that Robert E. Howard, creator of Conan, is one of my favorite authors. Another one of his heroes, Solomon Kane, will be featured in his own film at the end of this year. The trailer looks great. It's taken some liberties with the source material (who's surprised?), but it feel quite Kaney. Take a gander:



You've got a good three months before it comes out. Plenty of time to read the book:

Sofa Stuff(ing)

StarShipSofa Stories Vol. 1 is now available here:
http://www.starshipsofa.com/anthology/

You can buy a real live book or download the pdf for free. Buying the book helps keep the Sofa flying. Here's the table of contents. Lots of big names in there and lots of great writing. Give it a go!

Table of Contents

1. “Into The Blank Where Life Is Hurled” by Ken Scholes
2. “London Bone” by Michael Moorcock
3. “The Second Coming Of Jasmine Fitzgerald” by Peter Watts
4. “Lester Young and The Jupiter’s Moons’ Blues” by Gord Sellar
5. “Vampire Kiss” by Gene Wolfe
6. “Vinegar Peace (or The Wrong-Way Used-Adult Orphanage)” by Michael Bishop
7. “Godzilla’s 12 Step Program” by Joe R Lansdale
8. “Jesus Christ, Reanimator” by Ken MacLeod
9. “The Sledge-Maker’s Daughter” by Alastair Reynolds
10. “Mars: A Travelers Guide” by Ruth Nestvold
11. “The Empire of Ice Cream” by Jeffrey Ford
12. “The Ant King: A California Fairytale” by Benjamin Rosebaum
13. “In The Olden Days” by Spider Robinson
14. “Tideline” by Elizabeth Bear
15. “Little Girl Down The Way” by Lawrence Santoro

In other Sofa news StarShipSofa is proud to present Aural Delights 100! It's a special all short fiction episode with behind the scenes info on how the book above came into being.

StarShipSofa Aural Delights No 100

Intro by All!

Editorial: We’ve Reached 100 by Tony C Smith

Fiction: End Of Oil by Gwyneth Jones

Fiction: Bob The Dinosaur Goes To Disnyland by Joe R Lansdale

Fiction: Two Dreams On Trains by Elizabeth Bear

Fiction: Thought War by Paul McAuley

Fiction: Feast or Famine by Naomi Novik

Fiction: Billy In Dinosaur City by Terry Bission

Fact: The Pulp Story by Lawrence Santoro

Narrators: Peter Seaton-Clark,, Gareth Stack, JJ Campanella, MCL Studios, Amy H Sturgis, David M Smith (my Dad) Cori Samuel

Music for Congratulations 100 by Kevin MacLeod

Beware The Hairy Mango!

There are buckets of news touting swell things, but today I've got to mention the release of my very own podcast into the cold cruel world. Beware the Hairy Mango! That's not just good advice, that's the name of my podcast. Fans of my flash fiction will dig it, because I read one of my stories, lifted from this very blog (among other places), on each episode. What are you waiting for? Get over there and listen!

http://bewarethehairymango.com/

The Salt Line

Go check out The Salt Line by my friend, Grant Stone, in text or audio right here (for free!):
http://www.wilywriters.com/blog/?p=1015

I have something nifty coming up. I'll tell you about it sometime in the next couple of days.

StarShipSofa Stories, Vol I

To celebrate the one-hundredth episode of Aural Delights, StarShipSofa is releasing its very first print book, StarShipSofa Stories, Vol I!



From Tony:

"StarShipSofa Stories Volume 1 is only a few days away from going on sale. Here’s a sneak preview of the cover art, designed by Skeet.

"Skeet’s brief was to create a picture that would pay homage to the 50s SF pulp magazines. I think he’s produced an amazing piece of work.

"Get ready for the 16th September when the book will be available to buy in print form. There will also be a new website and free eBook released on that day.

"I hope you think it captures the style and feel of the SF Golden Years?"

The Moon Is Disgusting

A half an hour ago, I didn't know this guy existed. Thanks, William Gibson and Colin Peters for shouting about him. I watched a different vid first and asked, "What the hell is that thing?" Why, it's The Magic Pipe, of course! As a very mundane bass player, all I can say now is, "Cool!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wGMsOhaPJs&NR=1

Dad

My dad passed away yesterday. As you may know from previous posts, he hadn't been well for the last three months. I'll talk about him in some future post. We're having a viewing here in Florida in a few days, then a funeral in Connecticut on Friday. We're asking that instead of flowers, people donate something to the veterans' charity of their choice. That's all for now. I'm taking a fiction-writing break until I get back from Connecticut.

Sauntering Out Of Control

There is erosion out on the far edges of me. Far edges because I think I'm pulled in tight. And there is crumbling out there and I'm watching it all with a strange calm, wondering at it like I'd wonder at the stucco cracking. Life isn't spinning out of control. It's more of a saunter. There is no interesting thing that happens at the end of that out of control, unfortunately. I'd like a good story to tell, of madness and despair and guns and firetrucks. But honestly, that's just in the movies. In real life, once you've sauntered out of control the only difference is a different batch of shitty things crop up in your life. How dull am I that I can't even lose control in a way that would grab my own attention?

I could really use a little something interesting right now. I'm not even going to go so far as to ask for exciting.

The Eighth Age Is Up

The Eighth Age is up at Everyday Weirdness: http://everydayweirdness.com/e/20090812/

Wrote a flash fiction piece early this morning, The Girl with the Halo. Don't know what I'm doing with it yet. It may become 117 if I find the right place.