Halfwittering

[hirez]

Cover letters are hard.

'Dear suffering slush-bunny, here's some recycled tree that you didn't ask for. I think it's pretty good, but then the Mandy Rice-Davis rule applies. Today though, you'll have had your fill of that kink in the genre and you'll be hankering after something with spaceships and shouting, or robots and zeppelins. Which in your case you have not got. Yours, Arbuthnot Cringing-Expectantly. KOLD.'

I may have had a wander along the real ale pumps last night. That Dursley Steam Bitter went down very well.

Comments

[eljaydaly.livejournal.com]

So, you sent something out? Or you decided against it?

I usually go with the Rod Serling type of letter: "Submitted for your approval.... blah blah.... Laconically yours, Unwashed." Not.. you know. With actual 'blah'.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Yes. Well, the diner-thing is in an envelope with 'Interzone' on the front.

Mind, I'm not convinced it's quite their thing, and I'm at a bit more of a loss to know who's thing it might be.

[eljaydaly.livejournal.com]

Congratulations! I'll keep my fingers crossed for the A-1. I have a feeling Interzone hasn't seen an intradimensional diner story in a while! And look... they have a slot just waiting for one.

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

Even if it's not their thing it damn well should be.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

The New Whimsy?

Mind, I really like the concept of Municipal Realism. Prof. Branestawm rewritten by people who want nothing to do with a Grim Meathook Future, but instead rather care for one where Dan Dare's rocket gantries are run by the National Trust.

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

I could go for that.

I mean, the Grim Meathook thing is really only gothic mithering wearing an 'I'm realistic, me' hat. If it's actual grownup futurism, it may be excusable, but if it doesn't come with convincing supporting calculations it isn't.

We need a future in which scones are still acceptable, not just genengineered soy-beetle nutrimodules.

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Absolutely.

...

I'm trying to come up with some late model post-cyberish fiction tropes to rail against and compare to food pills and personal helicopters, but thankfully I don't know any.

That's probably for the best. Save the manifesto for after being published.

[jarkman.livejournal.com]

Indeed.

So, are we in a kind of Jerome-punk space here ?

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Um.

On one hand, the temptation to add 'punk' (or indeed 'core') to a name for an object or movement so as to make it sound a bit more 'street' or 'real' is about as tiresome as [Bill Bailey] lazy writers saying something is like something else 'on acid'. So it's just sitting there watching the carpet for hours at a time, is it? [/Bill Bailey].

Perhaps someone who grew up in a town could enlighten the class as to why broken glass and breathing in petrol fumes is more 'real' than ash trees and shotgun cartridges.

So actually, we're pretty much in JH-R land right about now.

Hm. I think there's a piece to camera brewing in that.

[quercus.livejournal.com]

lazy writers saying something is like something else 'on acid'.

Wow, that's like really Web Zen

[quercus.livejournal.com]

That's a point: How about some non-rubbish Steampunk, written by someone who's exposure to the Edwardian stripey-blazer aesthetic is a little closer than shopping for Whotat in a Mid-Western Mall.

What used to moor at Clevedon Pier? Where did the Severn Zeppelin line run to?

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Suddenly, the phrase 'Scruttock's Old Dirigible' has a new and strange meaning. Cider smuggling on moonless nights and foggy days, following the track of Congresbury Yeo by the echo from the irregular pulses of the no-longer-stationary engine...

Oh, bugger.

[perlmonger.livejournal.com]

Well?

Have you finished writing it yet?

Eh?

I'm still waiting for the nuclear powered steam trains to trundle under the bridge that carries the Land Yeo over the line opposite Gatscombe. And where's my jetpack?

[reddragdiva]

I think you just wrote the preface to your first short story collection.

[jendama.livejournal.com]

But was it on actual recycled paper?

Good luck!

[spride.livejournal.com]

J. Henry-Reed?

(file under Mad Not To, etc).

[hirez.livejournal.com]

Well spotted. It's funny how the war poets stick with a chap.

[drumiller.livejournal.com]

Oh good, someone else dreads them as much as I do.

Let me know how yours fares. May the diner find new trans-dimensional pocket in print.

Does this mean the sub will resurface?