it’s definitely begun. stories have started to trickle in, all sparkly and new, and ready to read. a pile is forming in the study. reading to do. sadly, the stupid email address isn’t working, so if you find it all coming unstuck email me at jstrahan at iinet dot net dot au with your submission. it’ll be cool, and i’ll take care of it. apologies for any inconvenience.

it’s definitely a lowercase kind of morning, though there have been nice things. read gavin’s story, and it’s very cool. gavin is such a nice guy, and is partnered up with an equally nice person who’s also a terrific writer, that it’s easy to overlook that he’s a great writer himself. checkiddout.

what else? the young adult sf book continues to morph, twist, change and evolve as the submissions come in. i started the book with a particular vision, but it began to change as i read each subsequent story. there are still a bunch of stories (hi writers!) due in, so it’ll change more. just typing that made me happy.

this has been an interesting year. i’ve been tired a lot, run down running after kids and so on, but i’ve become a lot clearer about what i’m doing and why, which is good. i think by the time i’ve fulfilled all of the contracts i have and set up the next round (fingers crossed) i may actually have my own thoughts on it under control.

the main thing i’ve been working on is keeping an open mind about what i’m doing. it’s easy to be overwhelmed, rundown and worn out reading. at times every new book through the front door feels like a threat, every story seems like a chore, and you feel like you know where it’s going, before you even start. but that’s going away, slowly. reading jeff ford’s girl in the glass helped, so does reading macleod’s the summer isles. how can you read ‘some zombie contingency plans’ and not smile? even analog is starting to look good. rich says it’s having a golden year, and that’s worth listening to.

if i were to summarise, i’d say that these are good times that haven’t quite felt like good times, but i’m getting there. and what’s coming up? well, i really want to get trish sullivan’s new book from orbit, and gwyneth jones’ new one. i hear death cab for cutie’s transatlanticism is good. i am going to get that ipod, go to melbourne, and wisconsin. it’s all working out. maybe i should read some hard sf. that’d be good. bye now.