Sunday, May 19, 2013

Another Review & Random Updates

Just spotted another review for my latest collection, THE END OF ALL SEASONS. This one is over on SFRevu, and I think it's a pretty good one. It's hard to pick a pull quote here, so I'll just leave it up to you to click and read, if you so desire.

The Brenda Novak Annual Online Auction to benefit Type 1 Diabetes is still going, with twelve (12) days left! I'm offering a complete manuscript evaluation, plus a follow-up phone call, to the winning bidder. The last time I did this, which was for DO THE WRITE THING FOR NASHVILLE, the winning bid was $2100 - and frankly, this auction is way cooler because Nashville was going to rebuild no matter what, but without fundraising the Diabetes Research Institute (DRI) is dead in the water. My son has Type 1 Diabetes and he wants his cure as soon as possible. Right now, the bid for my item is only at $145! Come on, folks, get over there and bid for an important cause.

I wasn't able to attend the Nebula Awards weekend, though it seems that everyone had a great time. I want to congratulate all the winners, and the nominees, and especially want to give a shout out to Gene Wolfe who was given his long overdue Grand Master. Wish I could've been there to see it all happen and more importantly, to catch up with old friends.

I'm wrapping up the last Bolan novel over the next week, as well as finishing work on student theses, and then a brief lull for the second half of June, while I prep for the summer residency at Western State Colorado University. Once again, I have the first year students and I've completely reconfigured my summer course plans to add even more exciting levels of writerly torture. I'm also about two weeks into the new Vampires in Literature & Film course I developed for Excelsior College and it seems to be going pretty well so far.

In other news, we had a very busy weekend here, as Sherri did her practicals for her new EMT license, and I got to take my ex-wife Monica to the urgent care for a bunch of stitches after our son Malachi hit a line drive baseball directly into her ear. See? There are times when hanging out with your ex-spouse can offer moments of high comedy.

Next week, I will be guest blogging over at Write in the Thick of Things, so spread the word and consider stopping by there as I talk about the process of picking and choosing and why it matters so much to writers.

Hope you and yours are all well and that spring has sprung - it's arrived here, but in fits and starts, so if I report snow tomorrow, don't be surprised.

Write on!
Russell