Friday, March 29, 2013

The Slush Pile Survival Guide

"Twelve Tips for Making A Good First Impression" by Katherine Karr, Editorial Minion When you send a submission to STUPEFYING STORIES, the very first thing that happens is that it's received by a kindly, somewhat gray-haired, grandmotherly type woman -- in other words, me. Some mornings Bruce beats me to the inbox, but most morning's it's my job to: receive the email download the attachment run it through our anti-virus and anti-malware filters verify...

Tuesday, March 26, 2013

2013: The Year in Review, So Far

Good grief, is it the end of March already? I was doing some unnecessary grumbling the other day, along the lines of why am I so tired and where has all the time gone, when my wife simply said, "Look at your planner." So I did. Oh yeah, that's right. I've been on The Kick since the second week of February. The Kick, if you're not familiar with it, is a distance-runner's term for the last leg, the last lap, that last chance to change the outcome...

Friday, March 8, 2013

In lieu of a column today...

Here's a golden oldie from the archives of The Friday Challenge. The challenge was: It's a few years in the future. You're a freelance writer working for some publication whose nature you're free to define, and you're writing a review of the controversial new children's book: Heather Has Two Mommies, Three Daddies, A Pig's Spleen and a Baboon's Heart. What do you want to tell your readers about this book? Herewith, one of the more unforgettable...