Freezing Away In Muncie

 I have not left the apartment today. The roads and weather deterred me from church. I got the email to the point where I am burnt out in reading anymore. I finished an original chapter for "Chasing Ashes". I cooked - that warmed the apartment. And I read.

About the only thing that I read not behind a wall of some sort is the one I think is the most worthwhile passing along: Power Chords, Thought Experiments, Transrealism and Monomyths by Rudy Rucker. It has been a very long time since I read Rucker. I ran across him as being part of the cyberpunk movement in science fiction. I think he has published less than William Gibson or Bruce Sterling or Neal Stephenson (it would probably take a few Rucker novels to match the page count of a Stephenson novel). He never quite held my attention like Gibson or Stephenson. I don't really know what happened to Sterling. Rucker is fun to read. Where Gibson is noir, Rucker is a surf movie. What he has to say about writing should be read by anyone writing or wanting to be a writer. He made Joseph Campbell sensible to me in a couple of paragraphs. (I tried Campbell in prison, but my mind balked at his hero's quest - showing here the limits of my intelligence.)

Rejections came into today. 

For "Coming Home":

Dear Samuel Hasler,

Thank you for submitting your work to Midway. Unfortunately, we cannot use your piece right now. Best wishes placing your story in the future.

Gratefully,

The editors

Midway Journal

"The Dead and The Dying" 

Thank you for sending us your manuscript, The Dead and The Dying. We appreciate the opportunity to read it; the time and work you put into this collection is evident. Unfortunately, it is not the right fit for us at this time.


Sincerely,

Emily Ladd

Managing Editor 

Willow Springs Books 

I got 405 words typed tonight.

This came in just before I called it a night, for "Coming Home":

 Thank you for your submission to Chestnut Review. Although we must decline your submission this time, we appreciated the chance to consider it. Please do not interpret this as a judgment of your art as a whole. Individual tastes matter a great deal in decisions like these, and though we have to decline this round, we encourage you to keep writing and creating. The world needs it, and you.

Thanks again. Best of luck with all your work.

Sincerely,

The Editors

Chestnut Review

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