It's Personal: On Imagination

If you've been following this weblog for a while, you may have noticed that while I frequently write about my opinions, it's not often that I write directly about myself. Not only would it be, in my opinion, hopelessly narcissistic, it just wouldn't be that interesting. From time to time, though, things happen that I'd like to share.

Upcoming Event

On Sunday, December 6th, from 2 to 3 or 4 PM (I've heard both), I will be appearing with fellow authors Shauna Roberts and Ken Edgett at Mystery & Imagination Bookshop in Glendale, California, where we will be signing copies of Return to Luna, the anthology that contains my short story "The Platinum Desolation." I think this is the first Return to Luna-specific event that's been held, and considering LCROSS' recent detection of water on the moon, I think the timeline is pretty appropriate.

So, if you're in the Los Angeles area on December 6, come and see the three of us at 238 N. Brand Boulevard in Glendale. I will do what I can to ensure that it's totally awesome. Thanks go out to Christine Bell at Mystery & Imagination and Eric Reynolds at Hadley Rille Books for getting this event off the ground.

Milestone

As I've said earlier, but which you may not have read, "The Platinum Desolation" is my first work of published fiction. When the announcement of the winning Return to Luna stories was made at Denvention 3 back in 2008 (I wasn't there, but I read about it on INTERNET), I was electrified. At the same time, though, it presented a problem - what if it was one of a kind? I've heard stories of people laboring to create a work of fiction for which they eventually manage to find a home, and never being able to replicate that. What if I couldn't make lightning strike twice?

I consider it good news for me that I don't have to worry about that anymore. Last night I received a self-addressed envelope with an Edmonton return address, containing a check for $175 (hard currency - Canadian) and a countersigned contract for my files. I can now comfortably announce that my short story "You Source of Tears" will be appearing in a forthcoming issue of On Spec. When? I'm not too sure; On Spec publishes on a quarterly basis, but hopefully it will be sometime in 2010. I will say more about it once I learn more about it.

It's taken me twelve and a half years, from my hamfisted completion of "Corona" on June 5, 1997 to this, to sink my writing foundations into the ground. In that vein, I have high hopes for what I'll be looking back on in 2022.