Or what else is on your mind, that you feel like sharing with the group here?
Update 9:00 CST, by brb: With all due respect to M, this being the last post of the year and all, it seems to call for something a bit more dramatic than the usual Saturday "Open Mic" call. It's a day that calls for reflection; for taking stock; for looking ahead. What are your thoughts about the year now ending? What are your hopes for the year to come?
Me, I'd like to take a moment now to shout a big "THANK YOU!" to M, Henry, Kersley, Vidad, and Arisia, for going far above and beyond the obligations of mere friendship, for keeping the Friday Challenge going while my attention has been focused elsewhere, and for midwifing the birth of STUPEFYING STORIES. It's been a challenging year—especially for Henry and his family—but with three books loose in the world and a fourth about to be released, I think you will agree, we've accomplished something pretty cool here, and we have done it together. I'd never have made it beyond the daydreaming stage without you. THANK YOU.
Next, I'd like to express a moment of thanks that we live in the 21st Century, where things like Positron emission tomography are daily working realities and not merely visions of what might be. Thanks to a half-century of slow and steady scientific research and the efforts of doctors, nurses, and medical technicians too numerous to name, my wife and I now have a future to look forward to together. Whatever your other doubts and complaints about the 21st Century may be—yes, Henry, we all know, you still want your flying car—it is a marvelous time to be alive, and miracles do still happen.
As for my hopes for 2012: I'll just come back to what I call STUPEFYING STORIES 1.4 and everyone else is calling the January issue.* The crew has really come together, the contents have really come together, and we're on the home stretch to releasing it soon. As I look at it and everything that's in the queue behind it, I can't help but feel very optimistic about 2012. Upward and onward! Per aspera ad astra!
Here's hoping all of you are looking forward to a bigger, brighter, and better New Year!
Kind regards,
Bruce Bethke
* P.S. To clear up any confusion, since we've now published four volumes of STUPEFYING STORIES, one in 2010 and three in the last quarter of 2011, and since we pay actual cash money to contributors, STUPEFYING STORIES can now be considered a Semiprozine. I don't see this as making a difference in our operations or philosophy, but apparently this is a distinction of great significance to people who think about categories and awards, and I certainly wouldn't object to adding a few more of the latter to my collection.
Posts
