Any Kaleidotrope contributors/readers attending the World Fantasy Convention next year?

Attending any other conventions in 2008 or '09?

So the current issue of Lady Churchill's is hot of the press, and it looks really neat. My copy arrived just today -- well, actually, it may have arrived earlier this week, but I almost never get down to the old PO box except on the weekends -- and I'm eager to dive into it. What's more, I'm pleased to see that Aunt Gwenda answered my question (which was actually just a riff on "Jon"'s question before it) in her advice column. If you want to see what I asked, and what other pearls of wisdom she has to share, you'll have to pick up a copy yourself.

James Van Pelt has some really interesting thoughts on what it means to be a professional writer:

The one part of a writer's career that she can't control is the very part that opens the door into the "professional" ranks, which is selling the work. The writer writes the best she can, finds the most appropriate markets, then sends the work out. What happens after that is beyond her control. But she can control everything else. Being professional is about a lot more than making money.

"I'm not the kind of man who tends to socialize
I seem to lean on old familiar ways..." - Paul Simon

I've been toying with the idea of attending next year's World Fantasy Convention in Calgary (just as I toyed with the idea of attending last year's in Austin and this year's in Saratoga). A lot of what I've read online makes it sound like great fun. Of course, it also makes it sound a lot more like a reunion, something better suited to past attendees and World Fantasy Award nominees. It's not as if there's a sign on the door that reads, "Newbies not welcome," but still, I've been thinking it might be better to start with something different, and smaller -- like maybe Readercon in July, for instance.

(I'm also slowly trying to put together a trip to Los Angeles with friends for next fall, so that could eat into my already limited vacation time and disposable income.)

And then I read something like this, and I think: he's never attended before, and he had fun... So I don't know.

How many months does it take to get a passport?

Well now...



Clearly, the smartest people out there read Kaleidotrope!

Quiz via Electric Velocipede

Between now and November 30, Apex Digest is holding a subscription drive, with the goal of increasing subscribers and, therefore, increasing the amount they can pay contributors. More power to them. Apex publishes some really interesting dark science fiction and horror a few times a year, and it's great to see them trying to spread more of the love around to the authors.

Kaleidotrope offers only a token payment at the moment, so I can definitely understand the desire to break into being a professional, or even semi-professional, market. If I could afford to pay my contributors more, believe me, I would. (It's questionable whether I can actually afford that token payment in the long run.)

So check it out. Anyone who buys or renews a subcription between now and the end of the month will be entered into a drawing to win Apex for life and a new mug.

I used to be part of a collaborative writing blog. I'm thinking about possibly reviving it. This would be completely independent of Kaleidotrope, but I'd be curious if anyone reading this would be interested.

I was in Maryland this past weekend, visiting my sister, while meanwhile, back in New York, the World Fantasy Awards were being held. I'm happy to learn that M. Rickert's Map of Dreams and Jeffrey Ford's "Botch Town" both won, for best collection and novella respectively. I finished reading both this weekend, as it happens. Ford's novella is reminiscent in some ways of the best of Bradbury -- I'm thinking Dandelion Wine or Something Wicked This Way Comes here -- while Rickert's stories definitely have the feel of dreams to them. Reading the novella from which her collection takes its name, I was a little reminded of Kevin Brockmeier's excellent novel, The Truth About Celia, and I think it would make an excellent companion piece to that.

Congratulations to all the winners and nominees!

Sam Tomaino of SF Revu offers a quick overview of Kaleidotrope #3, as well as some nice words:

The October 2007 issue of Kaleidotrope has stories by old pros Bruce Holland Rogers and Step[h]en Graham Jones as well as talented newcomers like Daniel Ausema and Sarah Frost Mellor.

The October 2007 issue of Kaleidotrope is another nice one with a fine mix of stories and poems. I liked all the stories in the issue....

Kaleidotrope is a small press magazine that deserves your support.

Be sure to check out the rest of SF Revu while you're there!