CURRENT EVENTS AT SAM'S DOT PUBLISHING

July 2008

 

Table of Contents [in order of appearance]:

 

1.  Welcome, Traveler!

2.  Ark On Hold; Aardvarks Missing

3.  Poem:  Docent for the Dead, by Terrie Leigh Relf

4.  The 12th Sam's Dot Drabble Contest -- onward!

5.  Reminder #1

6.  Along the Way #1

7.  Poem:  Uninvited Guest, by Amy R. Handler

8.  Beyond Centauri's 6th anniversary

9.  Poem:  Interplanetary Data Dump to an Overactive Imagination, by Deborah P. Kolodji

10.  Along the Way #2

11.  The problem with space travel . . .

12.  Poem:  Mystics and Kings, by Darrell Lindsey

13.  The Handless Maiden, and other mutilations of the soul and spirit

14.  Updated Publishing Schedule -- as it stands now

 

 

Welcome, Traveler:

 

     Once again what you're reading here is the official Sam's Dot Publishing newsletter, published monthly, promulgated ex cathedra, and titled Sam's Dot Current Events.  This is the July 2008 issue. 

     If you've visited Current Events previously, you already know what goes on in this place, so just scroll right on down to the first entry. 

     If you're new here, then welcome, Traveler!  Here is where you find out what's going on with us, what we're doing, what we're going to do.  Not to put too fine a point on it, but we publish stuff at Sam's Dot.  We do science fiction, fantasy, and horror.  We do slipstream and interstitial as well--material that doesn't quite fit into any of the three categories, but rather falls in the cracks between.  You might go so far as to say that much of the material we publish is slipstream/interstitial--in a word, speculative. 

     You might go so far as to say that writers and artists out there have voices and visions, and we provide the best of them that we can find with megaphones and bullhorns.

     We present worlds, ideas, possibilities, characters, themes, conflicts, all in an atmosphere of science fiction, fantasy, or horror.  We do it to entertain.  We do it to evoke.  We do it to incite.  Such is the function, if not the purpose, of literature.

     Welcome to our worlds.  Hard hat optional.

 

 

Ark On Hold; Aardvarks Missing

Midwest Flood Update

 

CEDAR RAPIDS, IA [SDP] -- Although the central headquarters of Sam's Dot Publishing and the home of the Managing Editor were not directly affected by what has become known as the Flood of '08, the publishing process did suffer some indirect effects that included the disruption of work and schedules.  For this reason, the release of some publications may be delayed slightly, including the July 2008 Beyond Centauri, Drabbler #11 [which finally arrived and has now been mailed out], and two or three of the collections/books/novels.  The reading of submissions has also been slowed.  Your patience and understanding is appreciated . . .  and during this next month we should return to normal operations.

 

 

Docent for the Dead

by Terrie Leigh Relf

 

Midnight

has now arrived;

please follow me--stay close!

Look, but please don't touch, the living

beings.

 

Frightful,

aren't they, in dream-encrusted sleep?

Their screams most hideous--

Shhhhhh--don't wake them

up--yet!

 

**************

 

Terrie Relf is a writer, poem, ambassadeusse, teacher, and incinerator of fine cuisine.  Among other things, she edits Hungur Magazine, runs the Sam's Dot Drabble Contest, and is the author of the how-to book of speculative poetry The Poet's Workshop--and Beyond.  She is also the co-author [with Henry Lewis Sanders] of the sleek and sexy vampire novel, Blood Journey.  You can order either or both volumes by clicking on the appropriate link below.

 

 

 

The 12th Sam's Dot Drabble Contest Remains Open to Submissions

 

Here's the link:  http://www.samsdotpublishing.com/drabbler/main.htm   The theme this time is taken from current sociological developments right here on Earth.  It's "ETs on 'FaceSpace'."  You may think of this as a combination of MySpace and FaceBook, if you wish. 

 

On a related note, at ConQuesT 39 in Kansas City on the weekend of 23-25 May, we sold 25 copies of various Drabblers.  That means people are reading your work, brief though it might be.  Be sure to put your best foot/tentacle/related appendage forward.

 

Also, inasmuch as I myself have, to wit:  entered the contest with my very first drabble ever, certainly you can do so as well.  Your story is expected [taps appendage impatiently].

 

 

Reminder #1

 

Marcie Lynn Tentchoff's excellent poetry collection, Sometimes While Dreaming, is currently available through The Genre Mall, and you seriously owe it to yourself to buy a copy.  Just click on the cover icon below:

 

 

 

Along the Way #1:

 

They actually make Cthulhu stuffed animals now.  You can sometimes find them in dealer rooms at conventions, tentacles and all.

 

 

Uninvited Guest

by Amy R. Handler

 

 

Do you hear amidst the grass

The insidious, slithering thing?

 

It arrives at night without a word

Do you see it enter the house?

 

I don't recall exactly when

It moves into my heart

 

But it is long ago I think

I wish that you could tell.

 

Sometime we live in silent peace,

Me and the dubious one

 

But when I pretend I'm by myself

It tugs and will not cease.

 

To this day I haven't a clue

If it's love or fear I harbor.

 

And I wonder if it leaves today

How I'll feel tomorrow.

 

****************

 

Amy R Handler is a Boston-based poet, speculative fiction writer, photographer and filmmaker. Born in Boston and raised in a small country town in south – western MA, she received a BA in English Literature and an MS in Sociology from Boston University. She later earned a photography degree at the New England School of Photography and an MFA in Visual Arts from the Art Institute of Boston at Lesley University.

 

Handler’s writing and films concern ordinary people living their mundane lives. However, her work tends to be speculative, examining such things as time, fate, and coincidence. She also makes us notice that we all have the capacity for good and evil, often presenting at the same moment.

 

Her poetry appears in Agenda Poetry Journal in England, Star*Line and Aoife’s Kiss.

 

 

Beyond Centauri Celebrates 6th Anniversary

 

Wow, has it been that long?

 

The July 2008 Beyond Centauri, the sixth anniversary issue, is now available from The Genre Mall.  It's a bit bigger than the regular issue, featuring over 70 pages of adventures and mind-prods, thrills and laughs, haunts and promises.  Contributing authors include Gabrielle Deede, David Castlewitz, Peter Frohn, Jennifer Sparlin, Elizabeth Kuelbs, K. S. Hardy, Meghan Burris, Lawrence R. Dagstine, Kate Runnels, Daniel C. Smith, and many many more.  Enough said!  Come get your copy today.

 

 

 

Interplanetary Data Dump to an Overactive Imagination

by Deborah P. Kolodji

 

 

Old plates

of submerged ice

from an apparent sea --

he dreams of islands, rum-laced drinks,

grass skirts...

Martian women to warm long nights

from a faraway Earth,

then looks at more

data.

 

***************

 

Deborah P. Kolodji is the current president of the Science Fiction Poetry Association, and the editor of Dwarf Stars, a magazine of short speculative poetry.  A scifaiku expert, her work has appeared in Scifaikuest and several other publications.  Her collection Symphony of the Universe is available from The Genre Mall.

 

 

 

Along the Way #2:

 

Would a rest room at a rest stop inside a wormhole be known as a portal potty?

 

Okay, that was bad.  Sorry I said it.

 

. . . snerk!

 

 

The Problem with Space Travel

 

I've been reading a book called Genesis, by Poul Anderson, who along with Frederik Pohl is one of the remaining Golden Age masters of the science fiction genre.  In Genesis, Anderson points out very clearly some of the physical and scientific difficulties of interstellar sublight travel.  The radiation alone, he notes, would kill living things. 

 

Anderson proposes instead that a human consciousness can be uploaded into a machine and that this combination can survive not only the radiation but the time requirements for interstellar travel.  Might work, if it could be done--and at some point I have no doubt that it will.  But would I still be I?

 

The same problem of consciousness versus identity was probed by Robert Sawyer in his novel, Mindscan.  In that novel, it was necessary to demonstrate in a court of law that the uploaded consciousness was in fact that of the protagonist, who resided in the artificial body designed for him, and not a copy of that consciousness.  In the resolution, Sawyer's court denied this identity, although given the way the novel actually ended, I'm not so sure that denial mattered, as the consciousness nevertheless continued to exist in its contrived body -- and apparently had quite a good time.

 

In Mindscan, Sawyer also touched upon the ability to dream.  The uploaded consciousness possessed no such capability [and in fact required no sleep, only periodic downtime].  One wonders, then, whether dreams confirm the existence of our own individuality and identity.  In other words, if you can dream, then you're you.

 

All of which leads to the fundamental question:  if the only way humans can travel to the stars is to abandon their flesh in favor of plastic and metal, is interstellar travel worth that cost?  If, frex, you could live indefinitely, even forever, but as a copy of your consciousness--would you then chose to do so?

 

If only there were another way . . .

 

 

 

Mystics And Kings

by Darrell Lindsey

 

 

Where winds of thorns have ripped, the mystics kneel

And chant their healing words; a sweet incense

Starts rising, chaos broken, hope revealed;

Until coarse kings make blood to flow again.

They knife their planets, horde the gold of dreams

And wine, while madmen bury widow's bones.

Their voices scare the masses, poke old scars,

Await days when all words are theirs alone.

Such power craves no love or warmth of touch,

And wants no pillow resting greedy eyes.

It steals its wings, but wings aren't made for such;

For all their might they cannot ever fly.

Those mystics must return soon, thwart more schemes,

And watch as crowds escape the traps of kings.

 

**************

 

Darrell Lindsey is a freelance writer from Nacogdoches, the oldest town in Texas.  Recent credits  include a prize in the 2007 Genkissu Spirits Up! World Wide Hekinan Haiku Contest, and having a scifaiku selected for publication in the 2007 Dwarf Stars Award anthology.

 

 

The Handless Maiden

 

SANDY, UTAH [SDP] -- JoSelle Vanderhooft's collection of interstitial tales twice told, The Handless Maiden, is now available from Sam's Dot Publishing. 

 

Oh . . . you want a glimpse?  A peek?  A sneak preview?  Very well . . .

 

Father, take my hands.

The creek has dried up like a scar,

the ancient mill wheel hesitates, then turns

somnambulant as the high Summer clouds

cord through the restless heavens.

Our house is thin and broken by December

and everything is dust.

 

Folktales. Fairy stories. Myths and legends. These are the stuff of human life, as changeable from one generation to the next as the humans who tell and re-tell them. Each retelling, each re-imagining breathes new life and new strength into a story, and new life into those who hear it.

 

These 28 poems by Bram Stoker Award-nominated poet JoSelle Vanderhooft explore, change and dissect several of the stories that have enthralled and inspired humans for centuries. Within these pages, a hungry Little Red Riding Hood stalks a callow young wolf. The frog prince meditates on the eternal battle of the sexes. Helen of Troy is unveiled as a museum exhibit. A heroic prince sacrifices himself to a dragon to appease his people, and a young girl sacrifices her hands to protect her beloved father from the Devil. Melancholy, triumphant, harrowing and sometimes darkly sexy, these twice-told tales honor the stories of the past by molding them into the stories of the future.

 

To order your copy of The Handless Maiden and other Tales Twice Told, simply click on the cover icon below.

 

 

 

Updated Publishing Schedule

[NB:  This is not a complete list . . . this schedule will be updated each month]

 

August 2008:

 

Legends of the Fallen Sky, short stories and poetry by Malcolm Deeley, with illustrations by Marge B. Simon

 

Virgin of the Apocalypse, a collection of poetry by Corrine De Winter, illustrated by Marge B. Simon

 

The Saint and the Demon, a dark fantasy novel by Ron Sparks & Teri Santitoro

 

September 2008:

 

Storm Warnings, a poetry collection by Marge B. Simon

 

October 2008:

 

Jane Doe Discovered, a poetry trip by Scott Virtes, published in book format, with illustrations by David L. Transue

 

January 2009:

 

Death Metal, an urban horror novella by Armand Rosamilia

 

February 2009:

 

As-yet untitled short story collection by Joel Arnold

 

Unscheduled as yet:

 

Touched by the Gods, a poetry collection by Sandra Lindow

 

Living Purple in a Gray World, by L. A. Story