Ruminations of an Old Goat

by Henry Vogel

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It's Monday morning, May 25, and I've been pondering what to call this column for several days; ever since Bruce gave me the green light to continue writing a Monday morning column. Yes, I know this column is appearing on Tuesday. It's a strictly temporary measure due to Memorial Day. Meanwhile, back to the column title.

I played around with all sorts of ideas, each one having it's own issues and problems. Most were too convoluted or too cute or too big of a rip-off of some other column or blog title. With fewer than 24 hours before this column was due to appear, I even considered just calling the column "Ponderings," as I have free reign to write whatever I feel like writing. In one of those brains-work-so-strangely moments, my brain rapidly took me from "pondering" to "ruminating" to "ruminants" to "goats" (and cows and sheep, too). Then my brain tossed out something else I was told long, long ago.

The summer after turning sixteen, I worked as crew on a racing sailboat (lake racing, not ocean racing). The skipper passed along his knowledge of sailing lore, including the little tidbit that any sailor over 50 was called an "old goat." I haven't sailed in 25 years, but know I can still handle a sailboat, and I turned 52 ten days ago. I've decided that makes me an "old goat." Thus was born the title of this column, complete with a minor play on words.

So, what am I going to write about? As I said, Bruce gave me free reign to write about whatever I wish. In general, most of the columns will be associated with writing and reading. I may discuss authors who are particular favorites. I may discuss actual history, usually military history, and point out science fiction and fantasy novels based on that history. I may touch on politics or economics, probably to moan and groan about how little the American public seems to understand either one. I'll definitely review graphic novels and online comics of note. I hope to gain access to online science fiction magazines and write reviews of those magazines.

In other words, I'm going to write about all sorts of stuff. As with "Writing for Comic Books," I'll continue to be interested in topic suggestions from my readers. Simply post them in the comments section.

Before I close out this first column, I'm going to provide a couple of links I think will be useful to all of us. Both links come courtesy of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA).

First is a link to the membership requirements for SFWA. What I found most interesting on this page was the list of qualifying short fiction venues. There are quite a few I'd never heard of, including many online magazines. Many of the listed venues have URLs, but they are not working links. You'll have to copy/paste the URL to your browser to visit the web page. I'd like to think a group for science fiction writers could get something as simple as working web links right -- and they do everywhere else on the site. Go figure.

The second link is to the Writer's Beware section of the SFWA site. A wide range of information is available here, all intended to save the new writer from making the same mistakes other writers have made. I know we'd all like to think we wouldn't fall prey to any of the publishing predators out there, but none of us can entirely keep up with the ever changing publishing landscape. Writer's Beware can help us all avoid the odd pitfall as we strive for publication.

That's all for this week. I'll be back next Monday with a new column, this time about a single subject.

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Henry Vogel is a storyteller and former comic book writer. He is a prime mover for The Curse of the Were-Weasel. His column, "Ruminations of an Old Goat," appears weekly on Monday mornings.