Ruminations of an Old Goat

It's time for some more random thoughts from my random access mind.

My third year as a professional storyteller is going to be the most successful year I've had thus far. I'm hardly making enough money to support my family doing this, but the $1675 I've earned so far are the equivalent of selling short stories totaling 33,500 words at a pay rate of five cents per word. So why do I feel as if I would be more excited if I had made that money selling short stories rather than as a storyteller? I guess you always want what you don't have...

Mentioning storytelling, one of the things I wish I could find is some science fiction stories to tell. Many folk tales easily fit the definition of fantasy but there just aren't any science fiction folk tales. Perhaps it's time for me to start searching for folk tales that can be converted to science fiction. Hm... If anyone has any story suggestions, please feel free to pass them along.

Is it time to predict the demise of the science fiction short story again? It seems like that prediction has been floating around science fiction circles since I first started thinking about becoming a science fiction writer. And, to answer my own question, I say no. While print magazines seem to be losing circulation, there are more and more online venues available to authors. Besides, all you really have to do is take a look at the number of entries we get from all of you each week in the Friday Challenge to know people will continue writing short stories even if there is no paying market.

Mentioning non-paying markets, are there still print science fiction fanzines? I know fanzines tend to fly beneath the radar anyway, but has electronic publishing changed this staple of science fiction fandom?

Since I'm talking about fandom, this seems like a good time to remind everyone about ReConStruction (aka the North American Science Fiction Convention), the "replacement" convention held when the World Science Fiction convention is held overseas. As most of you already know, the convention will be held in my hometown, Raleigh, NC, August 4 - 8, 2010. There isn't any new information up on the website, yet, but I'm keeping a close watch on it for all of us.

While I'm writing this, I've got the Panthers-Cardinals football game on in the background. I looked up to check out what was going on and found a commercial instead of football. Worse, it was yet another stupid truck commercial. Has there ever been a smart truck commercial, even if all you're doing is comparing the truck commercial to some other commercial? I mean, really, does anyone ever choose the truck they buy based on the macho themes and gravel-voiced announcers?

Ah, football returns. And, hey, my Panthers are kicking butt! That's pretty rare this season.

I used to have a nice, tall stack of must-read books sitting on my shelf. As I finished one must-read book, I'd grab the top book in the stack and dive into it. Only rarely would I find myself spending 10, 20, even 30 minutes scanning my bookshelves looking for the next book to read. These days, I don't have any kind of must-read stack and find myself spending more and more time looking for my next read. What I really need is to find a few new authors who can grab my attention the way my favorites do. I'm open to suggestions.

Well, the football game is still on (the Cardinals are mounting a comeback) and once again I found myself watching a commercial. This one was less stupid, as it was a trailer for Disney's A Christmas Carol. Call me crazy, but I was sure Charles Dickens, not Walt Disney, wrote that story. I'm a big fan of the story and don't consider it's Christmas season unless I watch the version from the '80s starring George C.Scott. The Boy wants to see the movie, so I won't be able to just change channels if I don't like Disney's take on it.

Well, I finally saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. I'm just as happy I waited for the DVD release. But now I wonder even more about my friend who loved this movie but thought Star Trek was poorly written piece of crap.

My random access mind is shutting down now. I'll be back next week with an actual topic.