From Hour to Hour

Thought I'd write a journal entry before seeing Dune tonight-- since any entry I write directly afterward will be about Dune, probably.

I got email yesterday from Tim Cooper at Speculon, an ezine that recently upped its pay rate to 5 cents/word (which of course made it rise noticeably in my esteem, heh). It's had two issues, I think... Anyway, I sent him a story, "Straight Trade," and he says he's quite fond of it, and is considering it as the lead (read: longest) story in an upcoming issue. He'll let me know at the end of December. So think good thoughts. As devoted readers know, my last "strong maybe" turned out to be a rejection, so I try not to get excited.

This is good either way, though. I really wasn't sure if my work would be right for Tim's editorial vision, as I understand it-- he likes sf broadly, but especially likes "golden age" style stories, gadget stuff, cyberpunk, and industrial fantasy. "Straight Trade" is not any of those things (in a way, it's a "little magic shop" story, though a very atypical one), and knowing that Tim likes it gives me a better idea of his tastes. If I don’t get him this time, I'll have a good chance in the future.

That's about it for writing news... I revised some this weekend, of course, but that's boring to write about here. On Friday we watched the Lynch version of Dune, so that we can make annoying comparisons between it and the new mini-series. One hopes this new production will have fewer random additions to the story than the Lynch version did (I like much of Lynch's work, but it's hard to forgive him "weirding modules" and "My name is a killing word").

Today I saw Unbreakable at a matinee, and enjoyed it greatly. Sure, it's a little slow, and the characters could be more emotionally engaging, but all the same, it's very good, and rather more complex than I've seen most reviewers give it credit for. The idiosyncratic camera angles were annoying at first, but I either got used to them, or the director eased up; I'd have to watch it again with a more analytical eye to say for sure. I predicted the requisite twist, but not from a million miles away. And if I hadn't been expecting a twist, who knows?

I read Connie Willis's Miracle and Other Christmas Stories today. Mmm. I'd only read one of the stories in this collection before. A couple of them were sort of slight, pleasant enough but nothing special, but "Epiphany" and "Cat's Paw," "Newsletter" and "Adaptation," and of course "Miracle," were all fabulous. These stories are perfect examples of why I love short fiction, and of how good it can be. I'll be reading a couple of those to Meg when she comes to visit.

Sorry if this is dull. Relentlessly day-to-day, hmm? But I've enjoyed the past few days, being with friends, reading good stories, eating good food (Mmm: gouda cheese), revising my work, enjoying the weather. No alarms and no surprises, which can sometimes be good.

Now: Go get ready to watch the first installment of the Dune mini-series!