New digs!

Hey, faithful readers -- just a note to let you know I've got my own domain now, and will be updating things there now. Check out http://www.bethwodzinski.com/

Thanks,

Beth

Shimmer, Issue 10 update

We released Issue 10 last week. 

Reaching ten issues is a huge milestone -- it takes a lot of persistence and effort to get this far, and we made it. We've had our share of rough patches, but to me, releasing this issue feels like the final step in our return. It says: we're back. 

This is also my favorite issue yet. Over the next few weeks, I'm going to be talking about the stories in this issue in a little more detail over at the Shimmer blog and share with people why I love these particular stories -- and I'd love to hear from readers in the comments. Everyone's going to have a different opinion about these stories, that's how fiction works -- I'm looking forward to discussing them with our readers. 

We've made the electronic version free this time; download a copy today and see what we've been up to. 

Finally, here's the trailer, courtesy of Mary Robinette Kowal: 

Further thoughts on STFU and Do It

Last week, Jason Sizemore kindly let me write guest post for Apex Online. I wrote about relaunching Shimmer, about some of the angst and despair that lead up to our hiatus and what it took to get things rolling again. The key lesson, I said, was to just shut the fuck up and do it. Set aside all the insecurities and limitations and fears and just do it. Please go read the post, if you haven't already. 

The post was pretty well-received, and a number of other people posted links to it. One person said she was taping it up over her monitor. That's fantastic, right? And I'm really truly delighted if what I said helped anyone get through their own resistance to doing something awesome. 

But a funny thing happened. All of a sudden, I felt this enormous pressure to live up to what I'd said. If I didn't STFU and Do It right now, the whole internet would think I was a great big hypocrite. Besides, I was right: action is the key to making things happen. 

So what did I do this weekend to further Shimmer's comeback? Well, nothing. I deep-cleaned my kitchen for a few hours and then played a computer game about shooting bunnies for a few more hours, and went to bed. There might have been a drink or two involved, too. 

(My favorite moment in Celebrity Apprentice: 

Donald Trump, to Gene Simmons: You're the most contrary man I've ever met. 

Gene Simmons: I disagree.) 

So I guess what I'm saying is, if you can't STFU and act right now, I get it. You may be too contrary, or too stuck, or too whatever. I sure as hell am. Nevertheless, the simple, brutal truth is: if you want something, you have to act, and all the avoidance tactics in the world aren't going to get you there. 

My real obstacle -- anyone's real obstacle, I'm convinced -- is my own limited thinking about what's possible. I need to let go of this constant conversation in my head about why some things are impossible; I need to STFU about that and get moving. 

One example: in the early 90s I was in a pretty disastrous relationship, and so entangled in it that I couldn't even see other possiblities. I knew things weren't right, but I couldn't even imagine a different life. That came to a sudden and mildly violent end. I got off easy (as domestic violence goes, it was negligible; please redirect your sympathies to people who have it much worse than me), but it was enough to change everything. All of a sudden I desperately needed to leave -- and all of a sudden, I could see the thousands of other possiblities I'd always had but been blind to, and all of a sudden, I felt free to take advantage of them. 

All that really changed was my sense of what was possible. 

You'd think I would have learned that lesson then, but no. I keep getting entangled in my own limited view of what's possible, and I'm apparently only willing to expand my view when it simply becomes more painful to stay stuck than to change. The solutions are always so obvious (stuck on marketing? Recruit Josh Vogt  to help out. Stuck on the web site? Have it redesigned, and then get James Eric Stone to help out.), but so impossible to see when you're stuck. 

So, yeah. STFU and do it. Absolutely; I believe that 100%. You have to stop being stuck and act; there is no other way to make things happen. 

I just don't always know how to do it. 

Updatery

Wow, it's been a busy few weeks! 

First we went to Chattanooga for the lovely Mary Robinette Kowal's birthday/writing retreat, where we participated in Iron Chef and a steampunk photo shoot; then it was off to Radcon, in scenic Pasco, Washington. In the midst of all that, I also got Shimmer #10 off to the printers, made some progress on our site redesign, picked some new slush readers, and got a cold. 

Today, in between naps, I've been working on getting my feet back on the ground. I'm looking forward to just hunkering down and getting stuff done now. 

Shimmer: Help Wanted

Shimmer will be relaunching soon (just a few weeks!) with a new site design, some new staff, and a fantastic new issue. We need two more staffers to help get things off the ground: a slush reader, and a web assistant.

The slush reader will read an average of 1-2 submissions per day, and either reject them, or forward them for further consideration. I'm looking for someone who can be fast, friendly, and whose approach to stories is somewhat similar to mine. Update: we have a ton of volunteers to sort through now. Thanks to everyone who expressed interest! 

Web assistant: Our site is based on WordPress. Our redesign will be done shortly, and we'll need help moving our current content into the new layout, and maintaining it going forward. No programming or other heavy lifting required--just some skill with WordPress pages and posts. Update: Fast as the internet, we've found a web assistant. Thanks to everyone who expressed interest!

We're an all-volunteer staff, but fun to work with, and I'll buy drinks if we're ever at a con together. If you're interested (or want more information), e-mail beth AT shimmerzine DOT com.

End of a Crappy Week

For some reason, the plumber who charged us nearly $2000 to fix a problem we didn't have isn't returning our calls. Hmmm, wonder why.

So it seems the source of our problem was a significant leak in the sprinkler system, not in the main. But even with the sprinkler turned off at the main, there's a more modest leak somewhere... so either the plumber missed a second problem, or screwed something up with the main. We shall see.

Just to make the week even more perfect, the new kitten somehow managed to sprain her fool elbow, and needs to spend a week doped up and confined to let it heal.

There have been a handful of other things go sadly wrong this week, too. It's been pretty sucky. And I think it's time for a mojito.

Well, I'm headed out of here tomorrow on a trip for work (Tampa in July, YAY!), leaving poor Sean behind to deal with all this. Lucky boy!

When I get back, I'll be busy releasing the next issue of Shimmer. Stay tuned.

Yay! Adventures in Plumbing Continue

Yesterday, I started hearing the sound that first alerted us to our orignal plumbing sound. It's the sound of the water meter spinning and spinning as all our water gushes away in a ginormous subterranean leak. But I thought, no, it can't be, we just had the water main replaced, at great cost, and just spent the 4th of July weekend restoring the flower bed they dug up. And it was barely audible...

But today I could still hear it, so we checked. Yup. Water out of control again.

After a lot of grumpiness, and consulting with Sean's father, we were able to determine that the leak is in our sprinkler system somewhere. So at least we were able to turn that off, and keep the water going to the house.

Still very curious to see if this was the problem all along and last week's adventure was for nothing...

Martini time.

Hot and Tired

We spent many many long hot hours yesterday working on the flower bed the plumbers dug up to fix our water main. Skipper came over to help, because she is a saint. First we laid in a bunch of stone borders and paths--both to shape the space and to give us access to all of it without squashing stuff. Then Skipper and Sean worked on replanting the stuff we were trying to save, plus a few new additions, while I worked on some other stuff. It's almost done--just need to plunk down a little bit more stone, replant the last few plants, get some bark, fix the sprinklers, buy a bunch more plants--ok, I guess we're not really done at all. But we did a crapload of work yesterday.

Today we're very tired, so went to see Wall-E. It really was nice sitting in the air conditioning and eating popcorn. I don't think I'm really in the target audience for this movie, so I'm not going to say much else. But I'm damn sure that when we get our robot butler, it's not allowed to watch musicals, because apparently a little visual stimulation is all it takes to make robots whore off across the universe hoping to get laid.

Insects Are Just Like You And Me Except Some of Them Have Wings

Shimmer contributor Kuzhali Manickavel's debut collection, Insects Are Just Like You And Me Except Some of Them Have Wings, is now available! I'm really excited about this, because Kuzhali's a terrific writer. Her story Sour Hands was in our debut issue, and Flying and Falling appears in the Art issue. Flying and Falling is also in this collection.

The book is currently available through Amazon and Target. Temporarily out of stock, but I'm not going to let that get in the way of ordering one. Can't wait to read it!

I give up!

Here's how the past few days have gone:

Thursday, the sprinkler guy came to fix our ancient broken sprinkler system. He had to run new wires from the control panel out to the valve boxes. Fun! And the sprinklers still sucked because our water pressure's strangely low lately.

Friday, we discovered a ginormous black widow by the basement door (uh, the *broken* basement door, damn it; gotta fix that soon). It is the size of a Volvo. It is the size of Kentucky. I am pretty tolerant of bugs and such, but this monster was just wrong. It does not belong in my HOUSE.

Saturday, the nice exterminator came by and took care of it. Saturday night, as we were settling in to bed, an assassin bug bit my stomach. Argh! I know they're beneficial and chow down on lots of other bugs, but it does not belong in my BED. So that night we thought, hmm, perhaps our plan to go to Africa for a while is not going to work out so well. I hear there are bugs there.

Today, we learned that that ominous rumbling sound we'd been hearing for a few days is actually a ginormous leak in our water main. Oh, so that's why our water pressure has been low... Our water is currently shut off, and the plumber set up a temporary line to our neighbor's water. Still need to get some more opinions, but it looks like we're going to need to dig up the front yard and replace the main. Hmm, Africa is also not known for its fabulous plumbing.

So what we're going to do is just sell everything and move to Iceland. That is looking like a more and more reasonable option every day.

Skateboard update

Today Sean and I went to the big parking lot by the University stadium to get in some more skateboard practice. The parking lot behind our house is pretty uneven, lots of cracks and so on, but this one's in really good shape. I'm starting to get the hang of this.

Sean sort of trots along beside me so I can grab him if I get too wobbly. I am sure that increases the dorkiness factor by about 200% but whatever works. I need training wheels for now. But I've graduated from hanging on to him tightly to just having him within grabbing distance. It's progress.

Still fun.

It's harder than it looks!

Lately, I've been taking the train to work. It's actually a decent option: it's a fairly short walk, and I get to read.

But I don't like walking. It just seems so slow.... and every time I'm out walking somewhere, I see Kids These Days zipping by on their skateboards, and man, that looks like so much more fun than walking.

So Sean got me a skateboard, and I'm working on getting the hang of it. I have pretty decent balance and coordination (and good health insurance) so why not?

Because it's way harder than it looks, that's why not! Kids These Days make it look so easy! I make it look so dorky! And hard.

But it's fun; and it beats walking.

It's official...

The kitten's name seems to be Princess, which makes us official crazy cat people. God. I swear it was IRONIC when we started calling her that.

New kitteh!

So the other day, Sean tells me the feral cat at his school had kittens. "One has an orange face," he says. "We can call her Pumpkinface." So I knew we were getting a kitten.

In accordance with the Law of Kittens, she's adorable. She's settling in well, and has gone from being terrified (and hungry!) to being a fierce and curious little anklebiter.

I call her Pumpkinbutt.

She hasn't met the other critters yet; it'll be another week at least before we try that. The cats are pretty curious about what's going on in the spare bedroom.

Sorrowbird

Sean's story Sorrowbird is up at Fantasy. Go read! It's pretty terrific.

Another acceptance!

We've accepted "The Bride Price," by Richard S. Crawford. Richard was in our very first issue--I'm delighted to see him return for our 10th.

I've been ridiculously busy for the past few weeks. But now I'm as close to caught up as I've ever been, which feels great. But somehow my to-do list never gets smaller...

Recent Shimmery Acquisitions

We've recently acquired three new stories:

Counting Down to the End of the Universe, by Sara Genge
Firefly Igloo, by Caroline Yoachim
Blue Joe, by Stephanie Burgis

Three very different stories, but each perfect for us!

Lazy day!

As part of our week-long anniversary celebration, Sean and I declared Saturday to be Lazy Day. It was really lovely to just take some guilt-free time off. Sean made bagels (not exactly lazy, but yum!) and we had bacon sandwiches. I filled out the day with a nap and a movie. Mmmm.

Today, not so lazy, but it sure is easier to get stuff done when you come at it refreshed. I spent some time organizing files and such, wrote another 1500 words or so on The Chimpanzees of Mars, and still have enough brains to take on the flash challenge at Liberty Hall after dinner.

It's been a very good weekend.

Reviews of the Art Issue

For your weekend reading pleasure, a smattering of reviews of Shimmer's Art Issue:

Sam Tomino at SFRevu gives all the stories a Very Good.

Last Short Story calls "Penny Wise," by Kurt Kirchmeier, "well-written and engaging."

And in the latest IROSF, Lois Tilton gives "Monologue with Bird and Burin" by Daniel Rabuzzi, and "Flying and Falling" by Kuzhali Manicavel her coveted "recommended." Yay!

Rearranging the house . . . again.

We spent last Sunday rearranging the house. Sean and I have been sharing an office, but finally it was time for us each to get our own space. So we spent all day last Sunday rearranging things, and thought we had it worked out.

But no. It was not right.

So we spent all day Saturday trying again. This time we got smart and asked Skipper to come over and help after the first four or five hours... This is a pretty big house for two people, but there are enough architectural oddities to make it challenging.

But we did it. We found the right place for everything, and it's all flowing and clean and organized and comfortable. It was a crapload of work, but well worth it.

Today we've been busy doing almost nothing, which is lovely.