After the Crash

31 December 2004 and Counting Down

Finally have the 'puter back up. Thank you, leto.

Have good news from Apollo's Lyre. I had a book review accepted, "Walter Mosley's Little Scarlet", for an upcoming issue. I have an interview w/Mosley that PF asked about as well. Hopefully it is not lost due to all the computer meltdown experienced and will be retrieved and sent at the end of this weekend... AFTER the magnum of champagne and the box of truffles, of course.

Received the latest Lawrence Block newsletter. I've had the very good fortune of meeting him three times now and have considered myself a Blockhead for some years. (My sister has probably considered me a blockhead most of my life.)

He has a great essay "Abridge This!", in the 29 Dec-4 Jan issue of Village Voice. For those of you who can't find a Voice, go to villagevoice.com to read it.

Have many of the bios of the anthology's authors now. Still need those few remaining, however. Kicking it all up a notch to publish, to do a really class act antho with what is more or less a Maiden Voyage (for me, anyway) is proving to be a challenge and life experience.

Best of the rest of 2004.
CW

The Short of It Review

22 December '04

Here is the previously mentioned review in the blog, "The Short of It".

Nice Tie
"Nice Tie" by Candace Wiggins, Hardluck Stories, Fall 2004

This story has nothing of a criminous nature in the first 90% of the tale, but the writing is so good you don't care. The interaction between Trace and Kate is terrific. There is a true attraction between the two that keeps things going.I haven't hung around the art scene much, but I have hung around a lot of architects who are, by nature, artsy. The showing and the after-showing party seemed completely authentic to me.

I'm not sure how she did it, but Ms. Wiggins had me convinced from the first page that something important was going to happen. I wasn't sure what it was, but I was determined to find out.

When it happens, it happens off stage. And, unusually for me, I didn't care. In fact, it's probably better than it happened out of the reader's sight. I believe the attractiveness and the likeability of the main characters would have suffered had we been baldly presented with the ultimate act.

Now someone who has read the story will have to leave a comment telling me whether I was completely blind in not noticing one important fact about the couple of Kate and Trace before they begin to explain the significance of the phrase "nice tie". I swear I had no clue.

There was a hint in Ms. Wiggins' bio that Trace and Kate might make a return appearance. I'm already looking forward to that. -- Bob Tinsley, Colorado Spring, CO


I can get used to this. HA. I am having to get used to the 'Ms. Wiggins' first and foremost. T keeps saying, "I told you it was good." I knew it was good. I know T is objective to boot, but this is a total Unknown Reviewer who has no whatsoever, NO, vested interest in giving me a review that, to me, all but glows.

Well, it's not like I am just starting out. It's simply great to get one like this when every other thing you write is indeed given that simple but profound "No".

I keep bashing my head on the very hard wall that is CD. I am constantly told, "Try us again." I read some of the drivel in these mags and go, "Wha...?" Not that I don't doubt this is what is popular, but some of the writing is simply "Man drools over tits, Man tears human (or defenseless animal, whathaveyou) limb from limb, bodily fluids are everywhere, Something evil drools over man (genitalia included) and tears him limb from limb, bodily fluids -- i.e., blood, snot, viscera -- splatter profusely and the underlying sense of 'We Don't Understand or Care Why This Happened but Isn't It Scary?' "

Uh. No. Simple and profound, eh?
(Yet the ed. says the mag *doesn't* want this. Eventually I hope to crack this Da Vinci. T says CD is a godawful and boring magazine with the exception of the occasional and marvelous Joe Lansdale aka Bow Down, Earth Mortals. Her comments may well be true but it's been around 15 years and is the pinnacle of achievement so to speak in the horror community.)

Ah, just 2 more days. Then 3. Then we start over.

CW

Holy Week and More

The week started out pretty damned good, holiday or no.

Monday.
Bob Tinsley's 's blog -- news to me -- titled The Short of It gave my short mystery titled "Nice Tie" a good review. Actually, it is a stellar review.

I was 100 % blindsided by this. But we likes it, Precious, yes we does.

"Nice Tie" is still up on Dave Zeltserman's ezine, hardluckstories.com. A great webzine, and the stories are balanced oh so nicely by articles and interviews. I owe Fleur a great big karma gift for letting me know about the review as it introduced me to a decent web log and thru Bob's blog a few other fun bits.

Tuesday.
Work. Work. More work. 2 calls. 1 out of 4 audits. No fuckin' kidding. My shoulders are on fire.
And everyone is passing around holiday cards and cookies and the radio station is really 24/7 with the Christmas spirit in the form of songs.

Despite the fact that we are blowing each other up... ah me, sleep in heavenly peace. Yeah, yeah, yeah.


Well, I promised I would finish up on a critique of a story and have not. Shame on me and I do indeed mean that. I am behind on the crits for J.Wood in my writers group. I am also behind on my re-editing a story from the more than very patient Sharon. I need bios but do feel antsy in asking for them when I haven't even loaded the re-edits for the anthology. Skata.

I hope, after the holiday crazies, I will be able to do more. More and better. Before busy season shows up in Jan. Yech! I could get so much more done if I didn't have to work. Couldn't I? I know I did whenever I would be laid off or between freelance assignments, whathaveyou. Of course, my days were topsy-turvied. I wrote/lived at night and slept during the day. At night, you can *really* get stuff done. No phone calls, no sudden drop-ins.

A few emails of note from Claud, from Cal, from Thister. A great cellphone converse with Miss Lee. And here we are, The Big Day all but upon us and there is still a lot to do and a goddam road trip. There and Back Again in 24 hours, and then T and I can go to Mallada's for our annual Binder's Holiday Reunion and Love Feast Accompanied by Tons of Liquor and Dishes of Dirt. I simply have to see Leon. That's all there is to that song.

Sunday, sleeping late or going to a Boxing Day Brunch. Either will be grand. A matinee. A movie. A video. A couple of hours' quality time with My quality peeps.
Good night.

CW

Oh yes...

Going to Athens Saturday with the Professor to look at hogs.
CW

17 December

What a day.

A 9am live call ended up being 1:30 long because CarMax just could not shut up about its 3rd quarter. At least they were comprehensible and goodhumored. Most CEOs and analysts are horrifically poor speakers, mumbling, rambling or sounding like strung-out chipmunks. And the grammar is pathetic. "They is, They was, They am." I shit thee not. Bush would be proud.

So I finished it just after 12pm and had to rearrange some things. The trip is off now, and I think it's a good thing. Will be going to Claud's to run things, so to speak, for a large chunk of the wkend.

KP gave Tia and self a big gift for Xmas, BUBBAHOTEP, which I am quite chuffed about. I told her she had to read Lansdale, if she liked Bubbahotep this much. He is quite the writer of myriad genres. There was also a bar of dark choc each for Tia (A Bat Bar with 75% cocoa nibs) and for me, a Sea Turtle -- thank you, Terry Pratchett -- with blueberries. Get your nutrition where and when you can, I always say. Fruit bits wrapped in a sugar fest sounds yummy to me.
Popcorn and all this in a large white ceramic bowl from C&B.
That minx! She is always full of surprises.

If I were human, I would have had tears in my eyes.

Miss Jeanne gave right fun gifts (The Happy Bunny with "Let's Make Lists of People We Hate" for me, The Happy Bunny with "Trespassers Butchered" for Tia) -- mmm, she knows me too well!!

And, kicking it all off was Trimarchi with those cosy burgundy slipper sox, soft and comfortable, an early Visit from St. Nick.

Sunday, a party in the afternoon. Sunday MORNING and evening, writing no fewer than 1000 words. And re-editing no fewer than TWO anthology stories. And hoping the writers are not ready to string me up. Have only a few bios so far. I will light another fire as soon as I re-upload everyone's story.

Asking Jonathan to consider the graphics design for the cover, etc., of the book. We'll see. X your fingers if they are available.

More Later.
CW

December 2004

16 December 2004

Okay, I lost everything attempting to post my first bit of blog. Too bad.

Don't have much longer to write, timewise. Must get up Earlyish to get into work, leave at 1pm go to Claud's, spend the nite and then drag the old carcass out of bed at an unholy hour and travel up past Charlotte NC to a private bash called "The Blue Ball". Don't ask.

But I'll try to get fotos. Then we can all leer and laugh. Maybe...

Post holidays, post anthology, am returning to my own and only writing. Managed to get "Nice Tie" pubbed this fall at hardluckstories.com. Al Guthrie, guest ed for that issue, was a joy to work with and Dave Zeltserman, the editorgod of the site, is one of the better deals of the century. Made finalist slots on a couple of FMAM contests. Nice!

But short stories, et al, aside I intend to return to my first love, the Kapera/Mela series, the tetralogy that has its own odd little fan club out there.

Working w/ two writers groups online, I have simply made more progress this year as a writer, the pubbed stories, poems, etc. included but not at the top of the list, per se. I have garnered more support and sound advice, questions than I've ever had with any facespace group. Am going back to what I enjoy and do best -- the series, magic realism, SF/F/H.

More later.
CW