Here We Go Again...More Fire

Yep, just when I thought I was going to have a peaceful weekend, more fires in the surrounding hills.

http://www.venturacountystar.com/news/2007/nov/24/wildfire-burning-homes-malibu/

I'll keep you updated as the day goes on........

UPDATE>>>>>
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-fire25nov25,0,1465891.story?coll=la-home-center

The end run

ipI'm up over 35,000 words of gibberish in the hollowing NaNoWriMo month contest. Alas, there is still the weekend and I'm thinking maybe I'll just add in some of the grant wording that I'm currently writing that is due on December 3. Nah, that would be cheating, but it would get me over the 50,000 word minimum easily. The current grant is 22 pages long and is in the editing mode at this point.

We'll check in around Sunday night and let you know how it went. In the meantime, the shopping madness has hit and I'm gonna run out and buy up all those deals on blank CD-Rs and DVD-Rs that are being advertised.

Coming up next month, more books to review.

Return of PLOTS WITH GUNS

Yes, you heard that right. According to Anthony Neil Smith's MySpace blog, PLOTS will return in 2008 as a quarterly. Hell, let the man tell you himself...directly from his blog...

PLOTS WITH GUNS: "Ain’t No Grave Gonna Hold This Body Down" Current mood: crazy
Here's how this is going to work: PLOTS WITH GUNS will go back online in the new year, as soon as I get enough good stories to fill an issue. I'll be doing quarterly issues. The pay will be...well, it'll be me buying you your drink of choice the next time I happen to see you. The standards will be higher than ever, and I'll be pickier than ever. Looking for hard-boiled, noir and transgressive crime fiction. Every story has to have a gun in it somehow, some way (doesn't have to play a big role. Just needs to be there). No pastiche. It's got to feel right to find a home in PWG.
Why zombify this thing? Well, when the Crimedogs packed it in back in 2004, it was because we were juggling our own writing with our day jobs, and PWG was taking up a lot of time. Hard to balance. So we took time off, put together a print anthology with Dennis McMillan, moved all over the country, and wrote some books. I also learned a lot more about how to reinstate PWG back into my life and not have it be a giant headache. Plus, I got inspired, and I am just really hungry for new noir short stories that take literary risks. Want to find them and share them with the world on a really sharp looking website.
The archives of the first run are still available on the Way Back Machine here. We're damned proud of this catalog. Some amazing stories from heavy hitters, new voices, and plenty of surprises. An Anthony Award nominee, and a few who made it into Best Of anthologies. We hope to find an equally strong showing amongst the noir-istas out there this time around (if you don't mind sharing it for the price of a cocktail). Since we also wanted the thing to always have a striking look to it, we're also on the prowl for great photos or artwork from artists looking for a little exposure.
In 2008, we're starting over with Issue 1. Send me your best (email only). You know how to get in touch. And I promise you this won't be a Ross Perot thing (he's running, he's not, he's running again, he's not). This time, I'm sticking around for the long haul.
Submissions are now open.