Tyree's Tuppence

by Tyree Campbell

I'm growing a bit paranoid about December, the Tuppence for which has in the past two years followed certain September events. I held my breath, three months ago...but nothing of significance happened. Would that it remains so.

...well, Sam's Dot Publishing did complete its first year, continuing the aspirations of James B. Baker, founder of ProMart Publishing. That was significant. Those of you who frequent the market listing sites--Ralan and SpecFicWorld, among others--know well that many publications pass on each year, some after only one issue, and that even some publications of long duration [e.g., Spellbound] have stopped their presses. Completing a full year in the publishing universe is cause for celebration.

At the same time, we wonder what the future brings--we, who are in some ways prognosticators of the future, seers thereinto, and visionaries. Conditions of our environment, of our world, even of our universe, urge us at times to compose jeremiads proclaiming imminent or immanent doom. We're frightened of the unknown--and yet it is precisely into the unknown that we would boldly if timorously go. Because we see not only what is terrifyingly imminent, but also what is possible. And we would speak to both.

Well! as William Buckley and Jack Benny would say.

The future has pretty much always sucked. Even the prophet Jeremiah composed jeremiads. Maybe ninety seven percent of all the people who have ever lived on Earth either thought the future bode ill, or were too concerned about gathering the next meal in [and perhaps storing a little grain away from the eyes of the king's men]...or, in contemporary times, worried about having one's own cell phone in order to be "in" with those whom the peer group regarded as "in." The Middle Ages had the Black Plague and a Little Ice Age. We have influenza and global warming. Most every century has warfare and poverty. So what's different?

For one thing, the Black Plague was something that happened, and, given the sanitary and medicinal circumstances of the times, could not have been avoided. Nor could the Little Ice Age. Influenza has been with us for millennia, in one form or another. So have poverty and warfare.

But global warming? Anthrax? Nerve gas? Those are not naturally occurring disasters. Those we are doing to ourselves. We do them for the greater glory of our country or our deity or our wallets. That's the difference. Most of our catastrophes that do not involve movements of the crust or disturbances in the atmosphere can be avoided or at least minimized. Yet we promote the sale of vehicles whose fuel intake demands exploration for and acquisition of diminishing energy resources. For the sake of political correctness we import agricultural products from countries whose agricultural standards are abysmal or non-existent. And some 95% of our society's leaders who run for re-election get re-elected. To quote Yul Brynner from The King and I: Et cetera et cetera et cetera.

The more things change...

And one does what one can. So what can you do?

Me, I'm resolved to write more stories and maybe some more poetry this year [as editors everywhere cringe...:-D]. Speaking only for myself, I am disappointed with my output this year. There's no excuse for it. I could have tripled my writing with just a little more attention to time management. So that's my resolution: more writing, better time management.

And we are going to do at least three anthologies next year. One of them will be a trade paperback, themed on extreme global warming...longer stories, probably 5,000 to 12,000 words...so start writing. I'll post guidelines probably around April.

The second one will be a magazine anthology, rather like Aoife's Kiss or Champagne Horror in appearance and size, and edited by Cathy Buburuz. The theme will be Potter's Field...if you don't know what it is, go look it up. We'll be looking for spooky and scary, not gory. And guidelines will be posted just after Valentine's Day.

The third will also be a magazine anthology, strictly fantasy stories and poems. It will be published later in the year, and guidelines may not go up until June. I haven't decided on the theme yet...but I like characters who fall into another world, rather like Alice in Wonderland. But I'd prefer the stories to have a severe twist...to entertain the totally unexpected. Again, we're looking at longer stuff...5,000 to maybe 10,000 words, or more. The new worlds should be created in detail. So get to work.

I've not been one for New Year's Resolutions. There are things I would like to accomplish, but they have nothing to do with the change of the year. But I am strongly advising myself to be myself more next year. Be who I am supposed to be.

That's not a bad resolution...

And maybe, just maybe, if I am me and you are you, the future will take care of itself.

Tyree Campbell

Managine Editor

Sam's Dot Publishing

Past Tuppence:
September 2003
June 2003
March 2003
December 2002
October 2002
August 2002
June 2002
April 2002
February 2002
December 2001
October 2001
August 2001

Read more from Tyree Campbell in any of the following:

Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 3

Sex and the Single Alien
An anthology

Nyx
A novel by Tyree Campbell

Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 2