SOME HOLIDAY SUGGESTIONS:
So it's getting close to Christmas, and you may still be looking for that perfect holiday gift! Well, look no further. There are three anthologies available which feature the fiction of the someday-award-winning author Andrew Zimmerman Jones. Possible to be of collectable values in some circles, some day, these anthologies feature the original published work of an upcoming author.
Seriously, though, the anthologies are relatively cheap and entertaining. You can order autographed copies directly from me, although I cannot guarantee at the moment that I have them in stock and can get them out in time for the holidays.
International House of Bubbas -
A plague has destroyed society, leaving only the rednecks and people mutated into horrible yuppie zombies. This third volume in the Bubbas anthology series turns the Bubbas into globetrotters as the ever expansive mythos spreads beyond the borders of the good ole' U.S. of A. AZJ chimes in with a tale of east meets west with the appropriate title "Empire of Silk, Empire of Flannel."
Available from Yard Dog Press .
Also, a quick reminder that my debut anthology, The Four Bubbas of the Apocalypse: Flatulence, Halitosis, Incest, and ... Ned, is still available for purchase, either through Yard Dog Press or Amazon.com (see link at right). My story in this one is a tale of the evil that resides within us all, entitled "Mr. Ned and Dr. Ted."
Chimeraworld #2 -
This anthology of surreal fiction features "Abraham Lincoln's Children," the story that I read to a collection of poets and sci-fi/fantasy authors at the Banff Centre for the Arts Writing with Style workshop, to a surprisingly receptive ovation. For some reason, this dark-sf tale of insect obsession touched a cord with the assembled Canadian poets. It's a niche market, but it's one that I'm happy to aim toward, since I'm fond of both Canadians and poets.
Available in print-on-demand and ebook formats from Lulu.com
Making people think ... one idea at a time.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
Friday, August 12, 2005
UPDATE ON LIFE:
Things are going fairly well, all things considered. I have the following sales pending publication:
"Abraham Lincoln's Children" - Chimera World #2 (anthology)
"Empire of Silk, Empire of Flannel" - International House of Bubbas (anthology)
"Sibling Enmity" - Cyber-Age Adventures (magazine)
"Even Odds" - Revelations (anthology)
"Fantastic Revisions: An Introduction to Fantastic Adventure History" - Internet Review of Science Fiction (e-zine, non-fiction)
In addition, my story "Salvage" qualified as a Finalist in the L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future contest, the most prestigious amateur-level contest for genre fiction. (Yes, I still easily qualify for amateur-level by pretty much any measure.) There is still a possibility that it will be published in the annual anthology, if the winning stories run short and they need filler, basically.
I will be attending GenCon Indianapolis from August 18-21 (though on Thursday & Friday I will be there only in the evenings).
In September, I will be attending the Banff Centre for the Arts' Writing with Style workshop, with Hugo & Nebula award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer. There I will be workshopping a short story, and also resuming work on my stalled novel Soulless. I also hope to get a couple of stories finished over this same time period for anthologies that have submission periods ending in October.
Things are obviously busy. Such is life. I will attempt to post again next week with some more news.
Things are going fairly well, all things considered. I have the following sales pending publication:
"Abraham Lincoln's Children" - Chimera World #2 (anthology)
"Empire of Silk, Empire of Flannel" - International House of Bubbas (anthology)
"Sibling Enmity" - Cyber-Age Adventures (magazine)
"Even Odds" - Revelations (anthology)
"Fantastic Revisions: An Introduction to Fantastic Adventure History" - Internet Review of Science Fiction (e-zine, non-fiction)
In addition, my story "Salvage" qualified as a Finalist in the L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future contest, the most prestigious amateur-level contest for genre fiction. (Yes, I still easily qualify for amateur-level by pretty much any measure.) There is still a possibility that it will be published in the annual anthology, if the winning stories run short and they need filler, basically.
I will be attending GenCon Indianapolis from August 18-21 (though on Thursday & Friday I will be there only in the evenings).
In September, I will be attending the Banff Centre for the Arts' Writing with Style workshop, with Hugo & Nebula award-winning author Robert J. Sawyer. There I will be workshopping a short story, and also resuming work on my stalled novel Soulless. I also hope to get a couple of stories finished over this same time period for anthologies that have submission periods ending in October.
Things are obviously busy. Such is life. I will attempt to post again next week with some more news.
Wednesday, March 23, 2005
MORE AZJ ZOMBIES:
In a reprise of my first sale ("Mr. Ned and Dr. Ted" in The Four Bubbas of the Apocalypse anthology), I've had a story accepted to Yard Dog Press's third "Bubbas of the Apocalypse" anthology, International House of Bubbas. The story is entitled "Empire of Silk, Empire of Flannel." The next steps are to sign the contract and do some suggested revisions. It's so nice to work with a publishing house that actually provides clear contracts and an editor who actually provides editorial direction. The deadline for all of this is mid-May, but I like to get such things taken care of well ahead of time. The turnaround on the FBotA was relatively quick, so hopefully these will also show up soon.
Ironically, considering that the anthology is about zombies, I just got an interesting link today. Below are my results from the intriguing Zombie Survival Test, thanks to the help of the lovely and talented horror author Angeline Hawkes-Craig, who posted it on the Horror Writers Association bulletin board. (This is posted code from my test results -- that guy in the picture isn't me. I have no idea who he is. )
Official Survivor
Congratulations! You scored 81%!
Whether through ferocity or quickness, you made it out. You made the right choice most of the time, but you probably screwed up somewhere. Nobody's perfect, at least you're alive.
In a reprise of my first sale ("Mr. Ned and Dr. Ted" in The Four Bubbas of the Apocalypse anthology), I've had a story accepted to Yard Dog Press's third "Bubbas of the Apocalypse" anthology, International House of Bubbas. The story is entitled "Empire of Silk, Empire of Flannel." The next steps are to sign the contract and do some suggested revisions. It's so nice to work with a publishing house that actually provides clear contracts and an editor who actually provides editorial direction. The deadline for all of this is mid-May, but I like to get such things taken care of well ahead of time. The turnaround on the FBotA was relatively quick, so hopefully these will also show up soon.
Ironically, considering that the anthology is about zombies, I just got an interesting link today. Below are my results from the intriguing Zombie Survival Test, thanks to the help of the lovely and talented horror author Angeline Hawkes-Craig, who posted it on the Horror Writers Association bulletin board. (This is posted code from my test results -- that guy in the picture isn't me. I have no idea who he is. )
Official Survivor
Congratulations! You scored 81%!
Whether through ferocity or quickness, you made it out. You made the right choice most of the time, but you probably screwed up somewhere. Nobody's perfect, at least you're alive.
The test tracked 1 variable How you compared to other people your age and gender:
(AZJ Note: This seems like 2 variables to me, but I didn't write the damn thing. )
You scored higher than 86% on survivalpoints
| Link: The Zombie Scenario Survivor Test written by ci8db4uok on Ok Cupid |
Sunday, February 06, 2005
THE RETURN OF QUANTUM LEAP:
While this is probably not news to anyone who cares but me, I've just discovered that the science fiction time travel television show, Quantum Leap, will be coming to the Sci-Fi Channel. According to a posting at Dark Horizons, it will return in the form of a 2-hour telefilm. In it, Admiral Al Calavicci (Dean Stockwell) attempts to re-establish contact with Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), who lost contact with the Quantum Leap program in the series finale of the original series. They re-establish contact briefly, but then lose touch. Sam's daughter, Sammy Jo, then leaps after him, presumably to become lost in time herself and set right what once went wrong. If the film is successful, the plan is to then have a full series following the leaping of Sammy Jo.
Apparently, Scott Bakula was going to have a role in the 2-hour movie, but the plan is for the series to focus on Sammy Jo. (Sammy Jo, incidentally, was established in the original series. In a multi-part storyline, Sam established a strong connection with a woman throughout her life and fathered a child with her, though she didn't realize it was him, of course. Al reveals, at the end, that Sammy Jo works for Project Quantum Leap.)
With the recent announcement that Star Trek: Enterprise is being cancelled at the end of this season, the question becomes whether or not Bakula will perhaps become a more dominant part of the upcoming series than previously planned. The Quantum Leap Revival Initiative website indicates that, as of January 23, the movie was still in pre-production. If that's the case, perhaps there's a chance for changes to the plot of the movie, or the subsequent series, to include Bakula in a more prominent role. Only time, it seems, will tell.
While this is probably not news to anyone who cares but me, I've just discovered that the science fiction time travel television show, Quantum Leap, will be coming to the Sci-Fi Channel. According to a posting at Dark Horizons, it will return in the form of a 2-hour telefilm. In it, Admiral Al Calavicci (Dean Stockwell) attempts to re-establish contact with Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula), who lost contact with the Quantum Leap program in the series finale of the original series. They re-establish contact briefly, but then lose touch. Sam's daughter, Sammy Jo, then leaps after him, presumably to become lost in time herself and set right what once went wrong. If the film is successful, the plan is to then have a full series following the leaping of Sammy Jo.
Apparently, Scott Bakula was going to have a role in the 2-hour movie, but the plan is for the series to focus on Sammy Jo. (Sammy Jo, incidentally, was established in the original series. In a multi-part storyline, Sam established a strong connection with a woman throughout her life and fathered a child with her, though she didn't realize it was him, of course. Al reveals, at the end, that Sammy Jo works for Project Quantum Leap.)
With the recent announcement that Star Trek: Enterprise is being cancelled at the end of this season, the question becomes whether or not Bakula will perhaps become a more dominant part of the upcoming series than previously planned. The Quantum Leap Revival Initiative website indicates that, as of January 23, the movie was still in pre-production. If that's the case, perhaps there's a chance for changes to the plot of the movie, or the subsequent series, to include Bakula in a more prominent role. Only time, it seems, will tell.
Monday, January 31, 2005
AN EXPERIMENT BEGINS:
Well, as anyone who frequents this website can tell, I've begun implementing some blog advertisements. This is partly a step of self-motivation -- I intend to make this website more appealing to write for by making it into a profit-making venture.
The current string of ads are available through Google Adsense, a website which I discovered while reading an article in Discover magazine. The idea to exploit the phenomenon of ads spread slowly through me, and I decided to give it a try.
This metamorphosis was helped along by reading Thomas W. Malone's fascinating book, The Future of Work, which I have reviewed at both Amazon.com and Epinions.com. The book discusses the trend in today's business culture toward a decentralized system, wherein the employee sets more of the rules. I've always felt like this market-like system of the internet was one of its more appealing aspects. If you need a service, you can find someone willing to offer it.
My skills have always tended toward ideas, toward the intellectual analysis and classification of the world. In short, I sit around and think... and occasionally people tell me that the way that I think it worthwhile. So, I'm trying to make some profit from it, just as someone with the skill of throwing a baseball will attempt to make profit from it -- either from the Big Leagues or just from coaching at a local high school.
I will be intrigued to watch how the ads change over time, as I begin talking about more and more different topics. For example, what will this posting -- about decentralized business and advertisements -- do to the ads placed on this site, as they analyze the content of the posting and determine appropriate ads to place there?
Monday, January 24, 2005
MY FIRST CONVENTION PANEL:
The good news is that it's over. I finally participated on the panel of a science fiction convention. ConFusion 31 in Troy, MI. The panel I was on was the Books: Why Bother? panel. I had offered to participate on a panel back in early December, but made it clear that I'd had only small press publications. I was under the impression that the panel would discuss various aspects of the small press industry.
Basically, the panel diverged laterally into a discussion of print versus e-books. The panel was fun, and it was a pleasure to meet my co-panelists, only one of whom I had met previously (and I doubt he remembered me). I felt that I held my own, although it was clear to me that I had less to contribute than others on the panel. As I said by way of introducing myself to the crowd, I was very much the novice of the group... and I felt it. Still, I was able to offer my own insights and comments to the discussion, as a techno-geek who yet resists the e-book revolution.
Mind you, I don't inherently have a problem with e-books in principle. In fact, in principle, I love them. I can carry around an entire library in my pocket with e-books! I should fall in love with something like that.
But, for whatever reason, it just doesn't do much for me. I've read some novels in e-book format, most notably Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. (For those who don't know, this is a legend in the e-book community. Cory somehow convinced Tor Books to let him co-release his first novel online as a free e-book. From what I've heard, it was a great success. He's since released many of his short stories and his second novel in a similar fashion and, apparently, is doing well with it. You can find out more about Cory's work at his website, Craphound.com)
The one thing that I wish had been explored more, and it was briefly touched on, was the ability of electronic media to expand on the conventional notion of a "book" and make it somehow more profound. One of the best exploiters of the internet to expand on the book, in my opinion, is Robert J. Sawyer's site. On it, he includes related information from his vast cache of internet information to expand on the ideas from his novels. Thus, the pages for his upcoming novel on uploaded consciousness cross-links to the transcript of debate he had over the possibility of whether or not uploaded consciousness could actually happen. Similarly, he occasionally has links to book reviews, interviews, or essays that are related to the work being discussed. I would like to see him go further, and link to more resources outside of his website... ultimately, this is what I would like to do with the Philosopher's Stone site. I'd like to turn it into a clearinghouse of links for ideas and theories that I'm interested in, preferably all cross-related through my own writings, both fiction and non-fiction.
Jordan came to the convention with me. It was her first, and though there were moments that she enjoyed tremendously, I think that she was overall frightened by the geek quotient. It is always distressing, although I like to joke that part of the reason I go there is so that I can feel cool. The truth is, of course, that I like to be among my own people... though I do think I have a bit more social savvy than many in fandom, though I think that's a relatively low bar to aim for.
My writing is going poorly. The weather in Indiana has caused a lot of commotion. I'm just on the verge of getting the house cleaned up following the several days of snow-induced depression over the last couple of weeks. There are still felled treelimbs from the freezing rain of 1/5/05 that I will probably have to spend this weekend clearing out, with the help of a neighbor's chainsaw.
Still, I was able to start today on a new project, a high fantasy story that I will hopefully complete in time to submit to an upcoming anthology of assassin-themed stories. Also, I am compiling a list of books for research on a new series of alternate history stories that take place during the Crusades.
Well, that's all I can think of for the moment. I do have some plans, as always, for upcoming modifications to the website. One of these is to start three new blogs: one for Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror book reviews, one for Science commentary & announcements, and one for Political/World events commentary & announcements. This one will remain for random chatter, of course. Whether or not this plan actually gets implemented remains to be seen, but I think it would motivate me to find more to talk about if I had several blogs with well-defined purposes like that.
Probably, such an attempt at revision would be accompanied by a wholehearted attempt to fundamentally redesign the website.
Does such ambition exist? We shall see!
The good news is that it's over. I finally participated on the panel of a science fiction convention. ConFusion 31 in Troy, MI. The panel I was on was the Books: Why Bother? panel. I had offered to participate on a panel back in early December, but made it clear that I'd had only small press publications. I was under the impression that the panel would discuss various aspects of the small press industry.
Basically, the panel diverged laterally into a discussion of print versus e-books. The panel was fun, and it was a pleasure to meet my co-panelists, only one of whom I had met previously (and I doubt he remembered me). I felt that I held my own, although it was clear to me that I had less to contribute than others on the panel. As I said by way of introducing myself to the crowd, I was very much the novice of the group... and I felt it. Still, I was able to offer my own insights and comments to the discussion, as a techno-geek who yet resists the e-book revolution.
Mind you, I don't inherently have a problem with e-books in principle. In fact, in principle, I love them. I can carry around an entire library in my pocket with e-books! I should fall in love with something like that.
But, for whatever reason, it just doesn't do much for me. I've read some novels in e-book format, most notably Cory Doctorow's Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom. (For those who don't know, this is a legend in the e-book community. Cory somehow convinced Tor Books to let him co-release his first novel online as a free e-book. From what I've heard, it was a great success. He's since released many of his short stories and his second novel in a similar fashion and, apparently, is doing well with it. You can find out more about Cory's work at his website, Craphound.com)
The one thing that I wish had been explored more, and it was briefly touched on, was the ability of electronic media to expand on the conventional notion of a "book" and make it somehow more profound. One of the best exploiters of the internet to expand on the book, in my opinion, is Robert J. Sawyer's site. On it, he includes related information from his vast cache of internet information to expand on the ideas from his novels. Thus, the pages for his upcoming novel on uploaded consciousness cross-links to the transcript of debate he had over the possibility of whether or not uploaded consciousness could actually happen. Similarly, he occasionally has links to book reviews, interviews, or essays that are related to the work being discussed. I would like to see him go further, and link to more resources outside of his website... ultimately, this is what I would like to do with the Philosopher's Stone site. I'd like to turn it into a clearinghouse of links for ideas and theories that I'm interested in, preferably all cross-related through my own writings, both fiction and non-fiction.
Jordan came to the convention with me. It was her first, and though there were moments that she enjoyed tremendously, I think that she was overall frightened by the geek quotient. It is always distressing, although I like to joke that part of the reason I go there is so that I can feel cool. The truth is, of course, that I like to be among my own people... though I do think I have a bit more social savvy than many in fandom, though I think that's a relatively low bar to aim for.
My writing is going poorly. The weather in Indiana has caused a lot of commotion. I'm just on the verge of getting the house cleaned up following the several days of snow-induced depression over the last couple of weeks. There are still felled treelimbs from the freezing rain of 1/5/05 that I will probably have to spend this weekend clearing out, with the help of a neighbor's chainsaw.
Still, I was able to start today on a new project, a high fantasy story that I will hopefully complete in time to submit to an upcoming anthology of assassin-themed stories. Also, I am compiling a list of books for research on a new series of alternate history stories that take place during the Crusades.
Well, that's all I can think of for the moment. I do have some plans, as always, for upcoming modifications to the website. One of these is to start three new blogs: one for Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror book reviews, one for Science commentary & announcements, and one for Political/World events commentary & announcements. This one will remain for random chatter, of course. Whether or not this plan actually gets implemented remains to be seen, but I think it would motivate me to find more to talk about if I had several blogs with well-defined purposes like that.
Probably, such an attempt at revision would be accompanied by a wholehearted attempt to fundamentally redesign the website.
Does such ambition exist? We shall see!
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