Hello again, and welcome to another new issue of Aphelion!

First off, if you do the Facebook thing, feel free to join us on the Aphelion page there. The link is Aphelion Webzine. As an aside, the Editorial Mafia and I have found Facebook to be useful while we transition between e-mailing lists. Given our different locations and schedules, it's come in handy as a way to discuss production details of new issues. Sometimes there are several of us using Facebook at the same time, so it's almost like the old chat room days.

I a bit tired, so forgive me if I ramble on a bit. I've been working a lot of overtime at the factory during these holiday months as my co-workers on the other teams are using up the last of their vacation time before the end of the year. I've been averaging a single day off each week since Thanksgiving. It is all a bit of a crush to get their jobs covered, but nothing that can be avoided. I tend to use up my vacations before the end of August each year. They save some of theirs for the holidays. Not a big deal, actually. Be a boring old world is everyone was doing the same thing all the time, wouldn't it?

In Aphelion news, Sergio Palumbo sent me another Mare Inebrium story a couple of days ago, so that'll wind up in the next issue. I had hoped to find the time to give it a good reading and ready it for inclusion in this issue, but alas it was not to be. But rest assured I'll have it ready for the next issue. From the fast read-through I gave it when it hit my inbox, it's another cracking good yard from Sergio. I think you'll all enjoy it!

My own Mare Inebrium stories are proceeding slowly. I'm having to steal time to write in between other projects, so I'm not giving them the attention they really deserve. Hopefully, that will change after the holidays. I'l like to get six more finished and then begin on the revisions my editor has requested. Thankfully, her revisions seem to require just a few extra lines scattered here and there to better explain some of the in-jokes and literary references. Shouldn't take too long to do at all, really.

On the home front, Casa Vila is beginning to show its age a bit. The plumbing is acting up, just a little. The floors are creaking a bit more, the windows are needing new storm windows installed, and the air conditioners have died during this past Summer. I have to rebuild the well house before the coldest part of the Winter hits, too. But I have finally managed to afford the repairs to the lawn mower, so at least the yard has had its much needed end-of-year trimming. I'm working on drawings and blueprints for the well house, compiling lists of needed materials, and creating a lot of scrap paper as I continually revise the design. The old one looks like a doghouse, but the new one will look like a TARDIS! Won't that be fun!

It won't be a genuine reproduction of the iconic Doctor Who vehicle, of course. I'll have to fake the windows and the double doors in order to insure the interior doesn't get cold enough for the well's plumbing to freeze in mid-Winter. But I hope that from a short distance, it'll pass. I'll also have to make sure that it can be opened up and removed in case I have to replace the well pump or have the pipes worked on again.

My music pages are getting quite a few visitors, and the song previews are getting lots of plays, but there haven't been very many sales of either the CDs or downloads. But still, people seem to like them. That's something to be proud of, I'm sure.

Well, there should be loads of new stories and poetry for you to enjoy in this issue. I really should quit rambling on and let you get to them. Enjoy!

Dan

BOILERPLATE:

Here are some links to pages I have up promoting the music. Rob Wynne is working on one that will better fit into Aphelion's page format, so that our readers will have a far prettier promo page to read. There are links on that page to the Create Space Preview songs, the Create Space page for each album, the Amazon.com listings, and the link to the digital downloads page.

Dan's Music Page This is my promo page here at Aphelion. All the links below, and more information about the albums, are located here.

The Never Bank On A Learning Curve CD on the Create Space website. My first album, with a wide range of styles and genres, covering the past three years of my working with the MAGIX Music Maker programs.

The Second Helping CD on the Create Space website. My second album, with just as wide a range of different musical styles, showing just how much I've learned in the past three years.

Dan's Studio-D Page on the Bandcamp website. Digital downloads of the albums, or each individual song if you prefer it that way. Just click on the album cover thumbnails and you'll see a list of each song on the album. Next to the song titles are links to read the liner notes, or to download the individual song. You can listen to each song for free. There is also a link to download each entire album at one go. I cannot say enough about Bandcamp! This is an amazing website. I have Rob, and many other friends, to thank for finally talking me into checking it out.

And here's a link to my Sound Cloud page:

Dan's Sound Cloud Page where all my music has been stored for your free listening pleasure. These are not as high a quality recordings as the ones on the CDs or on Bandcamp. But SoundCloud does have the virtue of having everything collected together in one place.

Check those links out, buy a CD or download if you like what you hear. And once again, thank you for your time,

Dan