Expressions Newsletter . . .
the highly acclaimed monthly log of goings-on in the genre world, assembled for the past dozen or so years by Cathy Buburuz, sadly comes to an end as of the line of stars below. Take a deep breath. Clarification follows.
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the gypsy ladybug
passing time on this shore
moved on toward her heart's desire
. . . to thine own self be true
It is with both sadness and empathy that I announce the return of Cathy Buburuz to that which she loves best: her writing, and her art. For a dozen years and more, she provided ProMart Publishing, under Jim Baker, and Sam's Dot Publishing, with up-to-the-minute market information; introduced many writers both new and known; brought new art and artists online; entertained us. She did this by scouring the 'Net for information, by connecting with people all over the world, assembling bits of this and that, snips and snails and puppy-dog tails. Each month, it seemed lately, Expressions was longer than the month before. Even the Senate version.
Atop Expressions, Cathy also edited three volumes of Potter's Field, an anthology of tales from unmarked graveyards that we publish about once every 18 months; two volumes of Side Show, an anthology of tales from the Big Top and the bizarre; five editions of Champagne Shivers, the last of which is listed a bit further below; and managed to cobble together some time for her writing and her art.
In end-of-the-decade e-mails recently, I mentioned to her that I was not being who I was supposed to be. I am, after all, a writer first and foremost, and yet in 2009 I only wrote three stories, one of which is still waiting a response, and yea! though I did complete a novel, it was all in all not enough. I vowed that 2010 would be different. I would write more. Unfortunately, I cannot close down the editing and publishing in order to do that. Therefore, I shall have to flog myself harder to get the writing done. As I told her.
Cathy, however, was in a better position. She pondered what I had said for myself, meditated over it, analyzed and assessed, and in the fullness of time concluded that the time had come [as she said to the cabbage king] to return to who she is first. This meant abandoning those activities not directly associated with her writing and art.
Whatever shall she do with all that free time?
Here, then, is the full text of Cathy's farewell address:
A great deal of thought was given to my decision to resign as editor for Sam’s Dot Publishing (SDP). Working as an editor is in many ways challenging and rewarding but as with any creative endeavour, there comes a time when the allure of change is just too compelling to ignore. Before and during my tenure with SDP, I worked as an editor for the Canadian Federal Government and over the years I also edited novels and chapbooks for new and upcoming writers. Not only have my priorities changed, I welcome change. I’ll always dedicate time to art and writing, but there are so many other things I want to explore. I look forward to spending more quality time with my family, and my husband and I plan to spend more time travelling to our favourite destinations.
It’s been a pleasure working with all the staff at SDP, and with the many writers and artists who contributed to Champagne Shivers, Expressions, the Potter’s Field anthologies, and the Side Show: Tales of the Big Top and the Bizarre anthologies, yet I see my departure as a positive move which will quite likely open the door to others who might enjoy the work I’ve done over the years.
Our paths will likely cross again many times in the coming years as many of us can be found on facebook and other forums, and many of us write or illustrate for genre magazines and anthologies, and there will surely be new ones to contribute to in the future. In closing, I wish all staff, all writers and artists, success in all their creative projects for 2010 and beyond.
~ Cathy Buburuz
Naturally, all of us at Sam's Dot wish her well as she takes this fork in the road. Two roads may diverge, as Frost wrote, but they do not necessarily have to drift farther apart down the line; and so it shall be for Cathy and SDP. We'll see each other from time to time . . . and so will you.
Still, the long and winding road [sorry, Mr Lentney], does loop ever onward. So: welcome to:
At the Dot
At The Dot is to be a monthly newsletter. Although much of its material will pertain primarily to Sam's Dot Publishing, we will include other announcements, openings, availabilities, and so forth. If you have something that you want to let people know, such as a new book coming out, a sf/f art website, reprints of Robert E. Howard's earlier work with illustrations by Vallejo, . . . whatever. If it's pertinent, we'll mention it. But first, you have to tell us. You can do this by sending me an e-mail at tyr3403 at yahoo dot com [you'll have to recombine that e-mail address in order to use it]. Please put At The Dot in the subject line, or I might miss it.
At The Dot will also feature some poetry, prose, and art. Except this issue and the next one. That's because none of you lot knew that this was going to happen, and were unable to send some poetry, prose, and/or art. In fact, I'm kind of winging this, myself. I'll set up a special e-mail address for you to send submissions to, and announce it in the March issue, along with guidelines. Watch for it. Them. Whatever.
At The Dot would like to put out a review now and then. Perhaps an essay on sf/f literature or poetry. Maybe an interview or two. Stuff like that. Again, watch the March issue for announcements. Like I said, I'm winging this one.
A Jim Baker Moment
Back around late 2001 Jim Baker, founder of ProMart Publishing, got a wild hare up his . . . um, decided to try to publish an anthology a month. Apparently, so the legend goes, someone had told him it couldn't be done, which was of course one of the best ways to get Jim to do anything. In due course he funded . . . hmm, maybe that should be "wild hair" . . . anyway, he got Cathy Buburuz to do Side Show, got Erin Donahoe to do The Modern Art Cave, and got me to develop one which eventually became In the Outposts of Beyond and was based on the idea of Casablanca and Rick's Cafe Americain in outer space. He also got one going called Sex and the Single Alien, and I do not recall who actually worked on that one, but it did get published first. I think Jim may have funded Erin's, some of Cathy's. I do know that Jim passed away before any of these other anthologies could come to fruition.
Still, we kept them going, Cathy, Erin, and I, and in the fullness of time they were all published. Still on the drawing board were a couple other anthologies. By Drone to Alpha Centauri, for one, which centered around Jim's dream of humanity going to the stars. There was one called Rifts, which I know several of us provided some material for. I think I still have the notes someplace. And there was a third which featured telepathic trees or some such thing, which I think the Relfster was active in.
Generally, however, there was some doubt as to whether ProMart could put out an anthology a month. I know I was dubious. Jim, of course, ever the optimist, had already ingested his pollyannapeptides for the year, and pushed onward, until . . .
Until.
Certainly, when I took over in mid-September 2002, I had no intention of publishing an anthology a month. Prided myself on having a bit more sense, I did, uh-huh. Why, the whole idea is preposterous! I mean, if I were to do something like that, I mean, just supposing, it would probably look something like this:
January: Beyond Centauri [mag for younger readers]; Champagne Shivers
February: Scifaikuest; Sounds of the Night
March: Aoife's Kiss; The Martian Wave
April: Beyond Centauri; Shelter of Daylight; Illumen [sf/f/h poetry mag]
May: Scifaikuest; Cover of Darkness; Hungur Magazine
June: Aoife's Kiss
July: Beyond Centauri
August: Scifaikuest; Sounds of the Night
September: Aoife's Kiss
October: Beyond Centauri; Shelter of Daylight; Illumen
November: Scifaikuest; Cover of Darkness; Hungur Magazine
December: Aoife's Kiss
Yeah, probably something along those lines. It would . . . oh. Right.
Chalk another one up for Jim Baker.
Additional note: if anyone out there remembers ProMart things a bit differently or more accurately, please let me know, and I'll put that in here as well. See, we've been around for a long, long time. Jim started this gig in what? 1986? It's now just two years until Armageddon? According to my abacus that's . . . 2 beads in the top row, 4 beads in the second row [my abacus is metric]. That's a generation. It would be nice, seeing as we've been around so long, if we developed an archives on site. The ProMart/Sam's Dot timeline has got to be one of the longest in small independent publishing.
But What Do Editors Want?
Sooner or later, everyone who attempts to write for publication and, hopefully, a bit of dosh, gets rejected enough times to howl at the publishing universe in general that very question. And it can be so frustrating sometimes. You get this letter. It says "Sorry." Maybe just "No." Maybe, if the editor has a few more seconds to waste, he or she will add, "Oh, but I do like your style."
I have no idea what that means. Like my style? Like my style? I'm not good enough to be published, but I'm good enough to have a style???
See, editors are busy people. They don't have time to write voluminous critiques of your masterpiece. Nor should they, really. If you are really, truly, honestly, seriously, actually determined to be a writer, there are truckloads of how-to books out there that you can peruse and pick up pointers, hints, suggestions. Some you can get from Writer's Magazine Book Club. Some you can get at Barnes & Noble. Each edition of Writer's Market usually contains some helpful essays. Ben Bova, who knows a tad about writing, has several helpful volumes on shelves. Chiarella's Writing Dialogue should be mandatory in every high school writing class [except they don't teach writing in high school and college writing classes these days, apparently].
The books are out there.
I also highly recommend that if you want to write science fiction, read lots of it first; write fantasy, read lots of it first; write horror, read lots of it first. See how people who actually got published and paid approached their themes, plots, character development, layers, scene breaks, continuity, . . . you know, the stuff they don't teach, apparently, in high school and college writing classes.
Recently in Expressions and again in Tyree's Tuppence, I wrote brief, friendly essays about what I want/look for as an editor. Both these are archived, at least to some extent, especially the Tuppence, where every single one of them since time immemorial is listed. If you are struggling to get published, you might consider finding out a bit more about me and what I expect. Also, I don't [and wouldn't] speak for any of the Sam's Dot editors, but I can tell you this: we are compatible. Which means we like more or less the same things, submissions-wise.
Moreover, all our editors are published [and paid] writers. Here are our names: Tyree Campbell. J Alan Erwine. Terrie Leigh Relf. L. A. Story. Karen L. Newman. Marcie Lynn Tentchoff. s.c. virtes. Edward Cox. Teri Santitoro. And yes, Cathy Buburuz. Look us up. We're out there. Check out some of our work . . . because that is the standard we want you to shoot for. That's the level of writing we're at. Join us.
I received a comment recently from someone whose work I had declined. He was a bit puzzled as to why I turned him down [I didn't; I turned down his work], when after all, he had been published in this zine and that zine and that publication and this anthology. So therefore he had to be pretty good, right? Huh? Huh?
Sadly, I had to point out that every single one of the publications that had accepted his work was a non-paying market. Oh, I think one or two might have paid a contib. But basically, non-paying.
[Also sadly, his work was of the sort that looked like the first draft of a story, the words slopped onto the monitor screen, the result deemed "good enough." No. Not hardly].
See, it's not enough to write well enough to be published online, without pay. What you want is to write well enough to get a tightwad like me to fork over a few dollars for your work. That's what you want. And then you want to grow from there, so that you can write well enough to get the tightwads at Doubleday to fork over some moolah for your work.
So, you want to get published? Take some of this to heart.
And in At The Dot, most every month, I'll try to find something helpful to say. Remember, we're a publisher. We want you to succeed. But writing is work. Understand that.
Drabble Winners
Yes, we will continue to announce Drabble Contest winners in At The Dot. In fact, here are the latest ones, the results of Drabble Contest #16:
First Place: "Seyfert, His Professional Career on MoxAT-TAxoM Assured, Hires an Architect to Design His First House" by Julie Mark Cohen
Second Place: "Abstract Art" by Ken Goldman
Honorable Mentions:
"Edificial Inoculation" by C. L. Perria
"Location, Location, Location" by John Bartoli
Julie Mark Cohen, btw, writes as if she's about half a bubble off the plumb, and is always a fun read. John Bartoli . . . don't know him, but I wonder if he's related to Jenifer Bartoli, a French pop singer who's hotter than the Mustang Ranch on Nickel Night.
Drabbler #16 should be released around mid-March. We'll have an update on that At The Dot on 1 March. There will also commence a new drabble contest on 1 March, so watch for it.
James Awards
We are reconceptualizing the James Awards. Previously, each editor tendered his or her nominations from the publications he or she edited. An independent judge then evaluated the nominations and chose the winners, one in each of four categories. Winners then were awarded trophies.
It is possible that we will continue this process; it is also possible that we will alter it, or reconstitute it altogether. We will let you know on 1 March in this newsletter, where we will make the appropriate announcements.
New Releases from Sam's Dot
Sounds of the Night, February 2010:
If you haven't checked out Sounds of the Night before, you owe it to yourself to get a copy of the Feb 2010 issue. As you're aware, Sounds of the Night is a biannual magazine of sensuous science fiction and fantasy. No, no graphic stuff . . . although "Larvae," by Tyree Campbell, certainly pushes the boundaries of what the magazine will allow. Also featured this issue are stories by Ken Goldman, L.A. Story, and a kinky little tale titled "Like the Devil," by L. Crow Frost, that might be used to hot-wire the libido. Laura Givens of Tales of the Talisman provides a nice piece as interior art. Um . . . make that a nice piece of interior art. Keith W. Sikora is the featured poet. Tony-Paul de Vissage's "Blood Will Freeze" has overtones of vampires and 2012. All in all, this may be the best issue yet. Come check it out. Just click on the icon below and order a copy.
Scifaikuest, February 2010:
Every once in a while someone somewhere will say some little thing, or you will read something, and it will make you stop and think, pause and reflect. It could be in a tv sitcom, or a tv advertisement, or a frame in a comic strip, perhaps a line in a song. Some teensy little phrase that gets your mind to working. The kind of thing that, after passing a moment of meditation, you nod to yourself and say, "Hmm." It may not be potent enough to change your life, but at least it got you to consider something. So? Been there before?
Of course you have. We all have.
Wanna go there again?
See, that's what minimalist poetry like scifaiku does: think of a scifaku as a low speed bump on the way to some other thought. Each ku, each form, is simply a way of getting you to imagine, ponder, muse, meditate, just for a moment in time. Not all nuances are great, you know, and significant concepts and ideas often come from the smallest of notions.
Will reading Scifaikuest change your life? Um . . . no, probably not. You'll have to do that. But it might help you along the way from here to there.
WC Roberts is the Featured Poet. There's an article on metaphor in scifaiku by Joshua Gage. And lots of little things for you to ruminate on. So click here, go there, and get a copy of the Feb 2010 issue of Scifaikuest.
The Sea At Mughain by Jennifer Sparlin
The Sea at Mughain is a Celtic fantasy novella, published in trade paperback format. Here's an excerpt for teasing purposes:
“My lord king,” said one, “I am Eunan son of Eunan. We captured this girl on a raid, and as she is no further use to us, we thought that your household might benefit – for a reasonable price – ”
The girl was staring at the floor, as though she was past caring what happened to her.
The king sighed. “What’s your name, girl?” The girl looked up at him, but did not speak. Her eyes were a bright, forget-me-not blue. The king frowned at Eunan. “Is she deaf?”
“No – no, my lord,” said Eunan. “She just doesn’t talk.”
“She screams, though,” said the other man.
Thus begins a Celtic tale featuring intrigue, romance, and magic people of the sea, all intertwined in a conflict between families, between parents and children, and between friends. There can be but one way to resolve it. To find out what it is, just click on the icon below and order away.
Champagne Shivers 2010
The last Champagne Shivers is undergoing the printing process even as we speak, and we should have copies around Valentine's Day, just in time to give your loved ones a chill. This issue features Pete Mesling, theresa Arkenberg, Mark Anthony Crittenden, Keith W. Sikora, Brian Rosenberger, and many more. Here's the link. You know what to do.
The Martian Wave
As you may recall, we changed The Martian Wave from an online zine to an annual print magazine last year. The first print issue has been gathered, and the projected release date is 1 March 2010. The Martian Wave is now a trade paperback digest, and as always contains science fiction stories of exploration and settlement in outer space. Don't miss out on this collection of adventures. Watch for it in the 1 March At The Dot.
For now, that's it. The writing finger moves, and having moved, writes on. As do we all. Have a nice Groundhog Day, folks. Mind those shadows.
Tyree Campbell
Managing Editor
Sam's Dot Publishing