Sit Rep

I just subbed electronically "Ra-Gho-Zu" to the e-magazine Strange Horizons.

It's nice to save on postage and time and gas going to the post office. The response will be electronic and speedy.

We'll see.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

Today I got both the reception postcard and the form rejection from Gordon Van Gelder at F&SF for "Ra-Gho-Zu" in the same mailing. Van Gelder did me the favor of typing my name at the top of the rejection and signing it.

He apparently looked at all of one paragraph then rejected the story right after an office aide sent off the postcard.

Can't say I'm surprised after meeting him at Clarion 2004.

I'll figure out who next I'll submit to.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

A few days ago, I got a form rejection for "Ra-Gho-Zu" from Asimov's. Since it's my impression that Sheila Williams has literary tastes, I wasn't shocked.

Today I mailed "Ra-Gho-Zu" to the Magazine of Science Fiction & Fantasy. I'll see how Gordon Van Gelder likes the story. He has literary tastes, too.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

This evening I subbed online two film scripts to the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting.

The Nicholls is the most prestigious film script contest there is. Placement even as a quarter-finalist could get a body some attention and script read requests. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The deadline was May 1, 2009. Ideally, I would've liked to have subbed the scripts in January 2009 when competition first opened, but I hadn't been planning on subbing to begin with. When I finished rewriting the scripts, I felt they were damn fine. Hopefully, the judges'll think the same. :-)

I subbed "Ra-Gho-Zu: Heaven's Sword."

Storyline: A peacemaker descended from samurai sworn to protect the innocent must save the Empress Apparent from the galaxy's deadliest shadow assassin, an immortal spirit.

It's based on my short story "Ra-Gho-Zu," which placed in the semifinals of the 1st qtr of the 2008 WOTF contest and is currently being read at Asimov's. I plan on novelizing the script before I market it.

The second script is "Destiny."

Storyline: When Eris, Goddess of Strife, saves Alexander the Great, Lucius Julius, an obscure ancestor of the famous Caesar, must save Rome from antiquity’s mightiest conqueror.

I plan on novelizing this script, too, before I market it.

I now have some novels to read for recreation, 3 more scripts, and 1 fantasy short story to rewrite.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

Last week, I got a rejection by Analog on my "Automatic Pen" story. Unlike the other one, which was a preprinted form, I got a word processed letter with a single two line sentence saying the story wasn't suitable for Analog and it was signed by Stanley Schmidt himself. A sheet with the standard Analog submission rules and the first page of my story were also included. And the envelope was taped, though it was a self-sealing one. I wonder why so much care was put into sealing a rejection?

Anywho, I mailed on Saturday "Automatic Pen" to Asimov's, which also has "Ra-Gho-Zu." Sheila Williams can get to contrast a Mark Twain-type 21st century tall tale with a space drama. I hope she likes one or the other.

On the screenwriting front, I finished my newest draft of "Ra-Gho-Zu: Heaven's Sword," where my protagonist gets to play on a larger stage. I plan on subbing it and a Rome-Alexander alternate history epic to a major screenplay contest soon, called the Nicholls Screenwriting Competition. It's something of a mega WOTF for screenwriters. Extremely prestigious. The submission deadline is May 1, 2009, but I'll fire off these two within the week. I'm just doing some editing and final quick reading.

Hailing freqs closed.