Arrrrgh. I just spent hours revising an essay I planned to submit to the Internet Review of Science Fiction, only to read this after I tried to send it: "We are sorry: IROSF is now closed to submissions. After the February 2010 issue, IROSF will be suspending operations indefinitely."

Curses. That was a fantastic e-zine. And a well-paying one, for that matter.

In better news, I cried all the way through the movie "Up" tonight. This is good simply because I was told if you don't cry within the first five minutes, you have no heart. Well, regardless if that's true or not, it was a tearjerker. No wonder it took us five days to rent the movie. The 100+ copies at the rental store were completely sold out each time we went there.

First off, today I found out that The Internet Review of Science Fiction accepted the article I wrote about the movie Tokyo! If you are interested in foreign, independent films, I recommend watching it. In my article I approach the film from a sociological perspective, analyzing the story within the context of modern Japan. You can find it up on the site in October or November. I'll make sure to update when it's available.

Secondly, I wanted to link the short review ivoryandhorn posted about my St. Patrick article. She also wrote something up a while ago about my Mists of Avalon article. I just wanted to let everyone know that concrit is always welcome. I'm not easily offended, and I value opposing viewpoints.

Thirdly, a moment of Sheer Fangirl. MICHEAL JACKSON WROTE A NOVEL?! About a rock star who is struggling with fame? I. Just. Died. And. Went. To. Heaven.

Heaven.

I'm not exaggerating when I say Michael Jackson was one of my earliest writerly influences, with his collection of poems and essays. I'm just sayin' if anyone is looking for a great Christmas present for me ... the first edition Dancing the Dream. It's out of print and I cry (not really but really) when I see someone selling it on ebay. Because I can't afford it. ETA: Okay, it looks like Doubleday in the UK actually wants to make money, so they re-released the book there. Whew, so I don't actually have to fork over hundreds of dollars to get a used copy! I still don't understand why Doubleday USA isn't re-releasing it. It's not as if there's no market for it. @_@

But if New York is honestly planning to release a supposed MJ novel? I will be like this for months on end *_*

I'm super happy to announce that my St. Patrick article for Strange Horizons is now galleyed with an expected publication date of July 27. The revisions for this were minimal (my favorite kind :) I'll of course include a link to the article once it's up on the website.

More news. I wasn't sure if I should write about this yet, but what the hell. I was named a finalist for The Loft Literary Center's Mentor Series, one of twenty people total. Even if I'm not part of the lucky twelve who eventually go on to develop mentorships with amazing authors, I feel flattered to be chosen for final consideration. I was skeptical that my work would be taken seriously, since I really don't write literary fiction. I just don't have a knack for it. But I guess Edo period Japan prevailed.

I haz a new default icon.

So I'm trying my hand at honest-to-goodness literary fiction. It's a genre I'm not entirely confident about writing, but I feel I have to at least attempt to win the Minnesota Monthly Tamarack Award. Chance of winning if I submit nothing: 0%. Chance of winning if I submit a piece I feel strongly about: no idea. If anyone wants to be my beta reader for a short piece (under 4000 words) about life as a Minnesota suburban teenager, hit me up.

*cry of relief*

Thanks to everyone who answered my last entry. Though I tried your suggestions, they didn't seem to work for me. But after tinkering with MS Word I found something that did.

So anyone interested in changing a document with paragraphs separated by a double-return (no tabs) into a document that is indented with tabs (no spaces between paragraphs) this is what worked for me. Granted, there is probably an easier way to do it, but I have no idea what that might be. If I deviate even a little bit from my formula, it doesn't work.

( Cut for length )

I've been clicking "save" on my MS Word documents every time I put down a new paragraph. And now it's paid off. Paranoia's prepared me for a full-scale power outage. Vindication is mine!

I'm really surprised and disappointed to hear that Paradox: The Magazine of Historical and Speculative Fiction will be closing this May. I'm not quite sure what will happen to the articles I had planned to submit to Paradox. I don't know of any other magazine that focuses on historical fiction and non-fiction for a general audience. Paradox will be missed. Let's hope that they eventually change to an online-based magazine like Strange Horizons.