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.

Later this summer I’m going to start with my official SFWA duties and I need to simplify my schedule before then. Step one: Ask someone to help with layout duties for Shimmer.

Job Description: Layout stories to conform to an existing template. Adjust for widows and orphans. Confer with art director on art placement.

Time Requirement: 10-20 hours per issue, quarterly.

Benefits: Exactly what I get. Bio and credit in magazine. Two copies of magazine per issue. Opportunity to hob-nob with talented writers during our conventions parties. Licensed copy of CorelDraw X3 graphic suite. ¹

Skills Required: Some experience with layout preferred, but will train the right person.

Drop me a line or pass this along if you know someone who might be interested.

1. If you make a strong case for moving to a different platform and are willing to do the work to make it happen, then we can talk about another program [↩]

Yesterday, while working at the theater, I ran to an internet cafe so I could check on the status of a prop I’d ordered. Two things popped up in my email.

1. Your account has been suspended.

2. An IM from Neil Clarke asking if I’d like to sell him “Clockwork Chickadee.”

So, while I’m on the phone with technical support, I’m also having a conversation with Neil about the story. See, the funny thing is, that I didn’t submit “Chickadee” to Clarkesworld. I sent it to Fantasy Magazine. Yeah… A week or so back, I had a conversation with Cat Rambo, editor, about how she liked the story but had reservations about anything clockwork, because she’s expecting a deluge of them due to the Shimmer Clockwork Junglebook issue.¹ But she liked the story, so she showed it to Sean Wallace, who then showed it to Neil and they decided to move the story to that venue.

This is, I think, the most roundabout way that I’ve ever seen a story of mine take, but I couldn’t be more delighted. It’s due out in June.

1. To which, I’m not allowed to submit anything because I’m on the staff [↩]

Things I say

1. I’m moving back to Shimmer land. Screw the gods.
2. Just be sure you aren’t screwing when the actors get there.
3. Can I get a stiffer rod?
4. I can retain his rods if I hold them between my pelvis and his head
5. May I touch your dead animal head?
6. He couldn’t get it up.
7. All I have to do is buy this moosehead and then pick up some KY jelly.
8. I think I can give you a donut but I’ll have to sacrifice a baby bunny
9. Give me a second to wash the blood off my hands
10. All right. Who wants to be tied up?

What it really means

1. I had been painting Greek gods for a show all day and needed to get back to layout
2. Discussing set construction at a theater.
3. The metal rod had too much spring in it for the weight of the puppet’s hand.
4. I kept dropping the arm rods of a puppet that stood waist high.
5. I was moving some taxidermy heads
6. At the end of a long day, a puppeteer was too fatigued to lift his arm, and heavy puppet, over his head.
7. I needed to complete a purchase of a taxidermied moose head on e-bay to be used as set dressing in a show about Teddy Roosevelt. The next item on my to-do list was to pick up KY jelly for another show. It goes in the bottom of ashtrays as a fire safety measure.
8. We needed a donut to appear magically on stage. The only foam that I had that had the right density was part of a baby bunny prop.
9. I was mixing stage blood and had it all over my hands
10. I needed to test a trick rope that had a quick release.

This is Shimmer’s first review at The Fix and so far I’m pleased. It’s nice to have another short fiction review venue, especially one that doesn’t pull punches.

Save for the first story, which was written based on the cover illustration, the art and the stories they inspired are printed together. Unfortunately, this means the art is printed in black and white on plain paper stock, often resized to accommodate text on the same page and apparently printed with a standard printer. Given the detailed linework that features in so many of the pieces, this isn’t the best approach. Images are blurred and details are lost, and while this is likely the result of budget constraints, when the art is the purpose of the publication, it can’t help but have a negative impact. Only the illustration on the cover, “Penny’s Grave” by John Picacio, is printed on heavier paper stock, sized so that the details are fully visible.

Ow. I have two reactions to that, one is that we used our regular printer, which I believe is offset. And two, that the reviewer is right. Some of the images are not as crisp as I would like. This has been a problem in previous issues, but one that I thought only bothered me or at least, no one else seems to notice it. And that, is the value of a good negative review when they say something that can make you acknowledge a flaw.

Now, there are also things in there that just make me giggle. Like the reviewer wishing that Chrissy Ellsworth artwork had been printed in color. It’s funny because the original image is black and white. Only one was created in color and that’s Carie Ann Baade’s beautiful artwork in Kuzhali Manickavel’s story. Nor did I resize anything to accommodate the text. The half page images were horizontals, so they don’t fill a full page when their width is the same as a vertical. But, the point is taken that it would be nice for our next art issue to have bigger pictures and to really talk to our printer about the importance of clean images.

Fortunately, the reviewer loves our fiction. Here’s the last line of the review.

Despite the formatting problems with the featured art, this is a solid example of good fantastical short fiction, and an issue of Shimmer well worth acquiring.

Today is the last day to get your submissions in for Shimmer’s Clockwork Jungle Book special issue.

This is going to be a spectacular issue. Just wait until you see the art… So, hurry. Finish that story and submit.

So, that box the post office tried to deliver yesterday wasn’t Shimmer.

It contained my contributor copies The Solaris Book of New Science Fiction, volume two. Keen!

I want to give a shout out Mike Munsil, who created Liberty Hall Writers, an online group that does weekly flash challenges. My story, “Evil Robot Monkey” came out of one of those. Each weekend, you get a trigger and then have an hour and a half to write a story.

The story itself is sort of the product of two triggers. See, at Shimmer we have a running gag which stemmed from when we were testing the submission system. Beth sent in a trial submission called “Harry Potter and the Evil Robt Monkeys!”¹ Brilliant. I decided that whatever the trigger was, my story would have that title. The trigger itself was a piece of clockwork art.

Here’s the first bit of the story.

Sliding his hands over the clay, Sly relished the moisture oozing around his fingers. The clay matted down the hair on the back of his hands making them look almost human. He turned the potter’s wheel with his prehensile feet as he shaped the vase. Pinching the clay between his fingers he lifted the wall of the vase, spinning it higher.

You can see that I kept the hairy potter.

1. The misspelling is intentional. You’d be amazed by how many people send in stories with misspellings within the first five lines. [↩]

I arrived home today to a flurry of compliments about the art issue of Shimmer and a slip from the post office saying that they were sorry they’d missed me. Curses! Now I must wait still longer to see this issue.

Sure, sure… I’ve been looking at the galleys and such, but it’s different when you get to hold the smooth pages in your hand and fondle the glossy cover with art by John Picacio.

le sigh.

Coming February 20!

For this issue, the art comes first. We selected art, and then invited some Shimmery favorites to write stories inspired by the images. Our cover image is Penny’s Grave, by award-winning artist John Picacio; we used it as the trigger for a contest at the Liberty Hall Writer’s Workshop. The winning story is Penny Wise, by Kurt Kirchmeier.

Sandro Castelli’s Cherub inspired Michael Livingston’s A Very Young Boy With Largely Clipped Wings.

Conceptions of the Mind, by Fatima Azimova, was the trigger for Aliette de Bodard’s Within the City of the Swan.

Chrissy Ellsworth’s My Career as a Fashion Designer inspired Dresses, Three, by Angela Slatter.

And Carrie Ann Baade’s Untitled (Hawk headed infant with frogs) gave us Flying and Falling, by Kuzhali Manickavel.

These art-inspired stories are joined by new stories from Daniel Rabuzzi and Josh Vogt.

View the full table of contents, or pre-order your copy today!

Swing by Shimmer and enjoy the .pdf of our 2007 Holiday Bonus Story, “What Child is This I Asked the Midnight Clear” by Ken Scholes.

Still looking for that perfect Christmas gift? Look no further!

Subscribe to Shimmer by January 10, and you’ll get 4 issues of terrific new speculative fiction and art for only $17.00 (plus postage). We’re going to raise our rates then, so this is your last chance to subscribe at this price.

Bonus: We asked Shimmer favorite Ken Scholes to write a special holiday story for us - and he came through with “What Child Is This I Ask the Midnight Clear,” a post-apocalyptic Christmas tale. We’ll be posting the story on our site soon; but as a special thank-you, anyone who subscribes (or renews!) by January 10 will get a lovely signed chapbook of the story.

Looking for a writing challenge? Look no further.

Shimmer is pleased to announce The Clockwork Jungle Book. Think steampunk animal parables! It’s a special double-length issue, guest-edited by George Mann of Solaris Books, scheduled for Autumn 2008. Now accepting submissions. Read the guidelines for more details.

Grasping for the Wind has a review of the Shimmer Pirate Issue.

The highlight for me was, of course, this:

The illustrations throughout this issue were very well done. They had detail and connected very well with the stories. The cover was appropriate and appealing, with a simple graphic design that grabbed the eye without shouting too loud. Inside, the layout was excellent, the stories very readable and the binding solid (it had a graphic novel sort of binding). It was held easier in the hand than a mass market paperback, and each story is just the right length to get you through lunch at the office.

Way to go James and Jeremy Owen, to whom we owe all the art.