Aphelion

Or when someone points it out, that's the worst.

<br>No, actually the worst is if you are writing something for hard-copy distribution (an important memo or report) and you make 100 copies, collate, bind and distribute the copies -- and THEN spot the really embarassing typo that is either obscene, or completely reverses the intended meaning, or both.<br><br>(A close second is producing that polished hard copy of a story for a print publication that you really really REALLY want to get into, putting it into the MAIL -- and then finding the error(s).)<br><br>Robert M.

And speaking of waiting--been waiting for my name to appear on Index of Aphelion Authors. I think it was inadvertantly left off. I mean, I hope it was inadvertant...

Donald

<br>Donald, don't feel slighted. The Archives are waaaay behind. I think at most half of my stuff is listed (only 3 or 4 Al Majius stories out of what? 9 or 10 by now?). I don't know what method Rob uses to update them (when he has time to try) -- if, as I suspect, he has to do it manually, it could take him a lot of time and effort.<br><br>I once volunteered to help if I could, but was turned down ...<br><br>Robert M.<br>

What do you do in your spare time, Dan? :-)

Seriously, it's a wonder that you're keeping up as well as you are!

Donald

<br><br>I thought we had established that Aphelion staff are not allowed to have 'spare time', 'lives', or other petty distractions (sleep, food, booze, sex). They exist solely to serve us -- well, me, but if they can squeeze you in after fulfilling my every whim, I guess they can devote a second or two to your needs.<br><br>Also, Dan is a vampire/faerie hybrid, potentially immortal if he eats properly (only biting really high-cholesterol people on occasion, as a treat), avoids too much direct sunlight, etc. No one has been able to figure out exactly what Rob Wynne, Iain Muir, Cary Semar, McCamy Taylor, or Jeff Williams may be. The last person to try to find out disappeared under suspicious circumstances. (How did the poor fellow's jockey shorts get on that microwave relay tower? Better not to ask.)<br><br>Robert M.<br>

I sent a story into Aphelion, hoping to make the big Nov/Dec issue (isn't this the double issue?), but I didn't receive a response, so I'm assuming I was too late. Oh well.

<br><br>Actually, I think it's the Dec/Jan issue that's the twofer. That gives the staff a couple of extra weeks to recover from New Year's Eve.<br><br>Robert M.

Ahh, good, I still have a chance at making the Dec/Jan issue.  

<br><br>Well, based on merit, almost certainly. The question is, was the goat you chose for your sacrificial offering of good stock, clean and without flaw? Cary is getting really picky about these things since he started getting so many submissions every month. Woe unto him or her who offereth up a lame or otherwise unworthy goat, and let's not even mention what happened to that fellow who tried to sacrifice a sheep instead ...<br><br>Robert M.

Gregory had a little lamb
Whose fleece was white as snow.
...

Dan

<br><br>I'm confused (as usual). Wasn't it davjonz who was offering the prize goat to the Aphelion Editorial Pantheon? Or was Greg also competing for a slot, and patronizing them there moneychangers in the temple vestibule to take out a soul renovation loan?<br><br>Robert M.<br><br>P.S. Has Cary forgotten about the story (Shadows) I submitted too late for the October issue? I knew I should have had that goat detailed before I put it on the sacrificial altar!

Part of the December/January issue is now available (serials/novellas, including a new Nightwatch by Dan Hollifield; short stories; 'Best of 2004' short stories; one 'Best of 2004' serial (more to come). The cover, poetry, and more 'Best of 2004' stuff should be up sometime tomorrow(?).<br><br>Gentlemen, ladies, other, start yer engines.<br><br>Robert M.

The waiting is over, once again. The new issue has gone live.
I'm going to hide behind this firewall until the fury ebbs a bit.
Dan

<br><br>'The fury'? Why would there be fury? Have you been secretly inserting spelling and grammar errors in other people's work AGAIN, just to see if anybody notices? You have to cut back on that gen-you-wine absinthe with the opium chaser -- it makes you ... do things that you always regret later.<br><br>Robert M.

...Kate - who is *never* just a "tad" peeved....

<br><br>

Is this a double-entendre? :D

<br><br>Say what? My take on it would be that Kate is a calm, sweet, kindly person ... except when she's NOT. That is, if she's P.O.'d at all, she's P.O.'d to a degree that causes grizzly bears to retreat to the deepest parts of their dens.<br><br>Kate, am I right about your meaning? Kate -- put down that chainsaw!<br><br>Robert M.

You're right - and I've never needed a chainsaw since the time in the Army a nice old sergeant thought the girly needed some self defense lessons and took me out back. He showed me how to kill 4 different ways using just my fingernails.

I liked that guy....

Kate - well manicured to this day

<br><br>That's even more impressive than Sean Connery's bit in The Presidio, where he tells a tough guy that to make the fight fair, he's only going to use his thumb -- and only the right thumb, because his left thumb is just TOO dangerous ...<br><br>(He wins the fight, of course, using about four or five carefully-aimed jabs to nerve centers.)<br><br>Robert M.<br><br>