Off to the Eternal City

I'm off to Rome soon. So please don't think I'm ignoring you. Think of me in the Eternal City. 

I really want to visit the catacombs. I hope it doesn't traumatise the children.  

Book Club Snacks: Advice Needed

Edit: Go here to see what I served to my guests. 

I'm hosting my book club tomorrow night. We read, 'Before I Go To Sleep.' I'm looking for suggestions for book club snacks. So far, I've got: vegetable crisps.

I don't mind a little cooking. Any advice gratefully received. Do you book club? If so, what do you like to eat while doing so?

Fledgling Novelist: Advise Me.

I love the short form, short stories, tweets, poems, I could write them all day.  And, yet, this week I'm attempting another novel. Why? I hear you ask. You've found something you love, just keep on doing it. Yes, but:

1. It's tough to make a living with short stories. Sad fact. Some way, far into the future, I'd like to make a living wage with this writing lark. I think that novels are the way to go.
2. And it's a mountain. I want to do it for the challenge. Perhaps  I am a fine novelist, I just need to push through the barrier.

So, what I'm looking for is advice. What are the best sites for fledgling novelists? Have you gone through the transition from short to long? Do I just need to stop whining and go for it?

My story, Marma Shells,  of aliens, Africa and fractals appears in the current issue of On the Premises.

The current contest is open and the premise is:

 MYTHS AND LEGENDS

"In some way, some kind of myth or legend needs to be important to the story. The judges won’t care whether the myth or legend is true. “Family legends,” like the time Cousin So-and-So did something memorable, are fine as long as the story is fiction. (In other words, as long as you’re making it up!)"

Prize money is $40-$180. Here are the contest rules (it's free to enter). I recommend this contest very highly. The editors were wonderful to work with. Here's some extra help for those of you considerting it, an interview wtih Tarl Rodger Kudrick at Six Question For . . . .

Also: reporting the sale of a poem to the Future Lovecraft anthology. I adore the Cthulho mythos.

Two, No, Three Acceptances to Report

Blimey, what a week. I'm in the Full Fathom Forty, the BFS 40th Anniversary Anthology, with my science fiction/lesbian/zombie/romance reprint, 'In the Age of Resurrection.' This is an anthology for past and current members of the British Fantasy Society. I am so looking forward to seeing the table of contents for that.

My space western 'Chit Win' has been picked up by Daily Science Fiction. The alien from that was inspired by my daughter's Littlest Pet Shop hamster (that's a tiny toy for you without kids).

And my first story as Kelda Crich has been published by Spinetinglers. In a related note, I visited Crich in Derbyshire yesterday. What a lovely village.