Bewildering Stories: Third Quarterly Review

My poem, Chess, is one of the editors' choices for the Third Quarterly Review at Bewildering Stories.

Also, congratulations to Oonah V. Joslin for her short story Pure Research, also up there!

See link to the right of the page.

Exciting news!

My story Mrs Aldershott and Pease Pottage will be in the October issue of First Edition.
I'll put up a link with the others on the right hand side of the page when it's out. It is available in actual real paper format from WH Smith's and Borders.






And an exciting shipping update... it's here!! I haven't done any writing over the last couple of days because I've been unpacking 61 boxes of Stuff. I have books on bookshelves, teacups in the cupboard and immense amounts of chocolate on what has now become the Chocolate Shelf.
My lovely pristine study is not quite so stark any more and is knee deep in clutter, as every good study should be.

A Room of One's Own

It seems that each week we are here in our new life in Americaland we move a step closer to being Properly Settled In. Nested, maybe.


The first week it was the connection of the internet.
Getting my own car was certainly a biggie; options for public transport out in the suburbs are severely limited to non-existent. We are now a two-car family, which feels very strange and not a little guilt-inducing.

Last week the acquisition of my own desk and chair caused great jubilation (biscuits were consumed with gay abandon). A friend mentioned he had them mouldering away in his garage and would be grateful if I could take them off his hands. No further encouragement was needed and they were quickly installed in the little bedroom, henceforth known as Jen's Study. Yes, I had a room of my own, and Virginia Woolf posted her congratulations up on my Facebook page.

It is further from the kettle than the kitchen table where I used to write, but it doesn't cause back pain after a day of typing, which has to be an improvement. My friend will have to get an acknowledgement when I finally publish a novel.

You may notice the study is a little bare. It has all the important details: laptop, tea, etc., but our shipping is yet to arrive so the pictures and books will be moving in at a later date. The ship has now docked but the boxes have to clear Customs, a terrifying prospect. If my four mega-boxes of Yorkshire Tea or supply of Cadbury's doesn't get through I'll be marching down there with a sharp stick, I tell thee.

Day Without Cats? Pah, I say.

Only a day late to protest but...
Apparently, September 9th was declared 'Day Without Cats' by the Interweb.

Pah!

Here is my kitteh lying in wait on the bird bath for some tasty treats.

And the Winner is...

Thank you to everyone who entered my mini-competition. A quick reminder of the theme:

What is the plural of synopsis?
Or, what is the collective noun for synopsis?

Not surprisingly, you all knew what the plural of synopsis is: synopses. So a point to everyone, and not a silly answer in sight!

More worryingly, the mere mention of the word sent everyone running for the gin bottle.

1st prize for the collective noun goes to Sarah Hillary's 'A SOD IT! of synopses', with extra points awarded for capital letters.
Sarah, I'm afraid I don't have a trophy cup as promised but I do have an espresso cup, which I hope you will find more useful, if less glorious.

Happy Birthday!

It is the first birthday of Tania Hershman's The White Road and Other Stories today.
Nik's Blog has a birthday interview with her and there's a chance to win a free signed copy!