My eyes are filled with gods

Good riddance, 2010.  I’ll be happy to sweep your dust from the floors tomorrow morning. May 2011 be kinder to us all than 2010; may it bring happiness, health, laughter and love.

Also … Pocky.  Mmm.

To my fellow scribblers  out there, I was amused to see Neil Himself‘s commentary re: his current WIP:

And also, please wish me luck with this short story I’m writing. I’m up to page 19 and nothing’s happened yet. Right now, they’re eating porridge. In my head, by this point in the story everyone was going to be terrified, and strange oogly things would be happening to all the villagers. Porridge!

There were also well-wishes for the new year, etc., etc., but that was the bit I found most comforting. Somehow it’s good to know that even accomplished authors like Mr. Gaiman run into a porridge trap now and then.

So yes, then. Here’s wishing my friends and other wanderers a lovely, magical new year.

From Warren Ellis:

So REALMS OF FANTASY died in ‘09 from lack of newsstand sales, and was bought by one of Warren Lapine’s new companies. Lapine, who ran a cheapo mini-empire of sf/f magazines that fell apart amid claims of financial impropriety, claims to have put more than USD $50K into the relaunch of the bi-monthly. And it died again a month or two back. And now it’s been bought again, by an operation called Damnation Press whose rep doesn’t survive even the most cursory of googlings. Tobias Buckell has collected a lot of them. If, for whatever confused reason, you’d like to submit your fiction to a magazine with the healthful glow of a 1970s Soviet premier, I would suggest you read Mr Buckell’s collation before making your mind up.

I was a huge RoF fan in its first incarnation. Less of a fan once I restarted my subscription with the second owner. I guess we’ll see what comes of this version.

Today I also discovered Faerie Magazine, via Heidi at SurLaLune. I’m tempted to subscribe just for her articles on fairy tales and folklore … and also because I do miss the heyday of RoF. It was always full of good stories, essays and art. /sigh

I’ve been following the SurLaLune blog for a while, now, and I have to say, Heidi usually offers some great tips and insight on new and upcoming books and media. (I also lust after their entire back catalog, and have for many years, now. Ah, to be rich…)

New Scientist is running a 350-word flash fiction contest. The deadline for submissions is November 19, 2010, and Neil Gaiman is judging the entries.

For further details, here’s the full article:

Flash fiction competition 2010: Forgotten futures – 20 October 2010 – New Scientist

Per Cat Rambo:

Who: GigaNotoSaurus webzine.

When: Beginning April 2010

Looking For: “Longish (longer than a short story, and shorter than a novel) Science Fiction or Fantasy (or any combination thereof) from five thousand to twenty-five thousand words … [in] a variety of settings, styles, viewpoints, and backgrounds. This includes but is not limited to cultural backgrounds, sexual orientations, and genders.”

Note: No simultaneous or multiple submissions; story acceptance pays $100; one story published per month. See the submission guidelines for more information.

It’s all worth it for the last panel. (Click to embiggen.)

(Bitches!)