It’s been rather quiet in this corner of the internet the last few months.  That’s not because I wanted it that way.  Real Life has kept me busy.

But hopefully (crosses fingers, knocks on wood, throws salt over shoulder) that’s going to change.  The first summer session of classes is over, we’re back from vacation, and things should slow down a little bit.  I’m not teaching second summer, so even though I’m still supervising the labs, I should have a bit more free time.  I won’t be attending Armadillocon unless something changes; I can’t justify the expense.  Not with World Fantasy later this year.

I’ll be doing more blogging, although I’m not going to be accepting many review requests.  I’ve got too many books I’ve dropped the ball on that I need to read and review.  Most reviews will be things I’ve read because I’ve wanted to.  There will be some of those within the next few days. Continue reading →

Posts have been few and far between lately.  I’m teaching a class during the first summer session that will end next Saturday.  Things should pick up somewhat after that.  We’ve got a family vacation planned later in the summer, but I think I can work around that.  The class I’m teaching isn’t divided into traditional lecture and lab sections.  Rather, it’s an inquiry-based format, meaning its hands-on and interactive.  Or to put it another way, I have to teach it all rather than letting a TA cover the traditional labs.  Rewarding, because I get to know the students better than I do with a large lecture hall; frustrating and tiring because it’s so time consuming.

What little time I’ve had to write has been devoted to trying to get back on a regular schedule for fiction writing.  I’m hoping to have some things ready to publish by the end of the summer.

I’ve got a few titles in the queue for review that I”m doing because I’ve been asked to.  After that, I’ll probably not do too many for a while, although there will be a few exceptions, mainly for friends.  For the most part, any reviews I post going forward will be because I would have read it anyway.

Which begs a question.  I’ve been reading a lot more short fiction these days, when I have time to read, that is.  I’ve got half a dozen active anthologies going, but I’m not reading any of them straight through.  By the time I’m done with one, months could have passed.  Details of the first stories have faded. So the question is:

Should I post about individual stories or not?  This is a serious question; any thoughts you have would be appreciated.

Most of my reading this past semester that’s been for fun (as opposed to by request) has been older stuff.  There’s very little new fantasy or science fiction that appeals to me, especially at novel length, that’s coming out of the big publishing houses.  Small publishers and indie press titles being excepted, of course.  So look for a lot more pulp related posts and reviews of older titles that  have been out for a while, “a while” being defined as a few years to decades.  I’ve been REH deficient lately.  It’s like a vitamin deficiency, only worse.

That’s what I’ve been up to.  What about ya’ll?