Ahoy me hearties, it be International Talk Like a Pirate Day, which be one o’ me favorite days o’ th’ year.  In honour o’ this fine day, I be givin’ away a wee bit o’ booty.

In the unpacking o’ our boxes, I found a stash of Shimmer‘s Pirate Issue, edited by Cap’n John Joseph Adams and illustrated by th’ fearsome James A. Owen. I’ll bestow one o’ these treasures on th’ matey with the best piratical exclamation.

“Shiver me timbers” be so old it be swimmin’ w’ th’ fishes.  Show me yer most inventive expression.

So, from now til th’ witching hour on the Pacific Coast, drop yer name in th’ hat o’ comments with yer best piratical speak and I’ll pick me favorite.

Issue 10 of Shimmer was my last one as art director, so I’ve been anxiously wondering how it was received.  Behold! The reviews are in and it is good.

IROSF gives our cover story, Caitlyn Paxson’s “Carnivale of Abandoned Tales” a Recommended as well as Becca De La Rosa’s “River Water.” Lois Tilton says,  “highly imaginative look at love and death and storytelling,”

Sam Tomaino at SF Review weighs in:

The stories in Shimmer are like pieces of rich fudge, all very different but quite delicious. It is worthy of our support.

Grab your copy of Issue 10 today: you can download the electronic edition for free, or subscribe. Delicious stories waiting to be read!

I’m looking forward to Issue 11, which will be the first with the wonderful Steven Stanley as art director.

We’re celebrating Shimmer’s tenth issue by giving it away for free ! We’ve got twelve fantastic new stories and an exclusive interview with Cory Doctorow that you won’t want to miss — and don’t let your friends and family miss out, either.

Download your free copy today, or buy the lovely print edition and celebrate with us!

Apex has invited Beth Wodzinski, editor in chief at Shimmer, to be a guest blogger.  She’s talking about publishing, but the excellent advice could be applied to almost anything.

The real lesson for me is one I’ve had to learn over and over, in every area of my life: shut the fuck up and act. Do something. Get on with it. You can’t just sit there paralyzed by how huge or impossible the task is and how hopeless and despairing you are; none of that actually matters. What matters is taking action. You have to just jump in and do it anyway. I don’t care if you’re talking about writing a novel or running a magazine or painting your kitchen or finishing a triathlon: if it’s something you want, then STFU and do it.

Shimmer has reopened to submissions! Spread the word. I’ve uploaded Issue 10 to the printer and typically we release the new issue about two weeks after that, so keep your eyes out.

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone, but my plate is getting consistently fuller.  For the past couple of months, we’ve been getting ready to relaunch Shimmer and one of the major changes is that I’m stepping down as art director.

This is a very hard decision, because I love the magazine and am proud of the work that Beth does with it.  But the sad truth is that, as a free-lancer, paying gigs always came first. Shimmer kept getting pushed to the back burner and that delayed the issues from coming.  With the novel sales, well, you can see where things were heading.

Fortunately, the wonderful Stephen Stanley has signed on as Shimmer‘s new art director.  He has had illustrations in several issues of the magazine and is also an Illustrators of the Future winner, as well as having had a long career in graphic design. I can’t tell you how delighted and relieved I am to be handing the reins over to him. I look forward to seeing the new and exciting work to come out of the magazine.

As a bonus for me, I can finally submit to a magazine that I have loved. I sent a story in to Shimmer this morning and you should too.

I was a little distracted today but still managed to wrap up a story and edit another. At one point, to keep from checking my email every two minutes, I headed into the kitchen to start cooking and made some Deep, Dark Chocolate cookies. Gluten free, I’ll have you note.

We all trouped out to a matinee of Coraline, which was really enjoyable although there were aspects of the book that I seriously missed.

I’ve now stayed up waaaaay too late, finishing the final touches on Issue 10 of Shimmer. I’m going to print it out in the morning and barring any surprises, we’ll send it to the printer on Monday.

Meanwhile, I’ve got a story that I’d like to start tomorrow.

I’m reposting from Beth Wodzinski, Shimmer’s editor-in-chief.  This is a great magazine to work with and a really fun team.  Plus, good parties at conventions.

Shimmer will be relaunching soon (just a few weeks!) with a new site design, some new staff, and a fantastic new issue. We need two more staffers to help get things off the ground: a slush reader, and a web assistant.

The slush reader will read an average of 1-2 submissions per day, and either reject them, or forward them for further consideration. I’m looking for someone who can be fast, friendly, and whose approach to stories is somewhat similar to mine.

Web assistant: Our site is based on WordPress. Our redesign will be done shortly, and we’ll need help moving our current content into the new layout, and maintaining it going forward. No programming or other heavy lifting required–just some skill with WordPress pages and posts.

We’re an all-volunteer staff, but fun to work with, and I’ll buy drinks if we’re ever at a con together. If you’re interested (or want more information), e-mail beth AT shimmerzine DOT com.

via Beth Wodzinski: Shimmer: Help Wanted.

I’m so pleased that Angela Slatter has made the Aurealis Awards short-list with her story from Shimmer‘s art issue. Here’s an excerpt from an interview with her.

Angela has been short-listed in the Best Fantasy: Short Story category for her story ‘Dresses, Three’, which was published in Shimmer magazine. She has had stories published in the US, UK, Canada and Australia but ‘Dresses, Three’ had a rather unusual genesis.

“Shimmer put together an art issue,” Angela says, “where they gathered five of their favourite artists and five of their favourite writers. They presented each writer with a piece of artwork and asked us to write a story about it. The piece I was given was by Chrissy Ellsworth and showed a woman looking over her shoulder, wearing a fabulous dress.

“The story I wrote is based on the old tale ‘Donkey Skin’ and in my version the three dresses are made of peacock feathers, butterfly wings and words.”

Sam Tomaino, at SFRevu, gives the current issue of Shimmer a a glowing review.

A teaser:

The editors of Shimmer have put together another fine issue, well worth your support.

We were given a lovely review in The Fix for the latest issue of Shimmer.

Here’s a teaser:

Beneath the glossy cover art by Aunia Kahn, the 2008 Spring issue of Shimmer is filled with illustrated stories loosely based on relationships, and how the power of love or the lack of it influences people’s lives. This issue will satisfy the widely diverse palates of fantasy readers.

Yarrr! Shimmer has a special treasure for you this fine day.

In 2007, Dred Pirate John Joseph Adams, of the MS Fantasy and Science Fiction, commandeered the MS Shimmer for one special issue: the Pirate issue, released November 2007.

In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day, a holiday dear to our hearts, we’re making the electronic edition freely available. One day only: Plunder away!

Also, if ye be wonderin’, throughout my journal all the text be converted to proper pirate speak. Even what ye landlubber’s post in the comments below.

Check out the brand new issue of Shimmer!

Our 9th issue, now available! We’ve got 100 pages of Shimmery goodness in this issue: eleven new stories by authors including M. K. Hobson, Angela Slatter, and Stephanie Campisi; an interview with Dave Farland, a Lucy cartoon by Chrissy Ellsworth, and terrific art from Aunia Kahn (check out that cover!) and Sandro Castelli.

I’m delighted with this issue. Once again we are incredibly fortunate to have such skilled artists working for us. They make me very proud.

I remember when I got my computer thinking that 40GB was a monstrous amount of space and way more than I could ever possibly need. Today, I had a program freeze up and decided to defrag the hard drive. The computer refused because I didn’t have enough space. I had less than 1GB left. I dumped a bunch of files and now I’ve got 5GB of space, so I’m doing a backup and then will dump all the photos, videos, and old issues of Shimmer off my computer. Hopefully then, I’ll be able to finish the project I’m working on..

Today was, if not lazy, at least filled with dull work. I got home from that around seven and took the evening off. Granted, I had stuff to get done, like, say, the last of the fifty bajillion edits in Shimmer. But it’s been so long since Rob and I were both home in the evening that taking some leisure time seemed mandatory.

He’s washing the dishes now, so I’m going to go rub his back. Have I told you about that? It’s been our deal since shortly after we met. Whoever does the dishes gets their back rubbed. I’m going to go pamper my husband a little.

Michael Livingston pointed out this handy tutorial called “The The Impotence of Proofreading.” If only everyone who submitted to Shimmer would study this closely.