Captain's Blog
Ahoy, Critterfolk!
New entry Dec 13
Critter Notices
Network speeding up
I'm switching the connection over to a new, shiny 10X faster network because of all the load. There might be bits of downtime as your boxes learn new addresses and things. Should be brief. Let me know of any prolonged outages you see.
Preditors & Editors Changeover
With the very sad passing of Dave Kuzminski, who ran P&E, I've taken over the P&E duties. Lots of what I hope are improvements; check it out at pred-ed.com.
Critters Server is Dying has been Replaced
See important details here in my blog. Let me know if you find anything that isn't working right. (Manuscripts are now available for this week, FYI.)
Book Recommendation
THE SIGIL TRILOGY:
The universe is dying from within...
"Great stuff... Really enjoyed it." — SFWA Grandmaster Michael Moorcock
Announcing ReAnimus Press
If you need help making ebooks from manuscripts or print copies—or finding great stuff to read—look no further! An ebook publisher started by your very own Critter Captain. (And with a 12% Affiliate program.) [More]
~~~
FEATURED BOOK
~~~
News
ReAnimus Acquires Advent!
ReAnimus Press is pleased to announce the acquisition of the legendary Advent Publishers! Advent is now a subsidiary of ReAnimus Press, and we will continue to publish Advent's titles under the Advent name. Advent was founded in 1956 by Earl Kemp and others, and has published the likes of James Blish, Hal Clement, Robert Heinlein, Damon Knight, E.E. "Doc" Smith, and many others. Advent's high quality titles have won and been finalists for several Hugo Awards, such as The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction and Fantasy and Heinlein's Children. Watch this space for ebook and print editions of all of Advent's current titles!
Free Web Sites
Free web sites for authors (and others) are available at www.nyx.net.
New Book from a Critter Member
**NOW IN
PRINT EDITION
TOO!** Awesome new book,
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR SPECULATIVE FICTION OPENINGS,
from a Critter member whose unearthed a shard of The Secret
to becoming a pro writer. Really good piece of work.
"...if you're at all concerned about story openings, you'd be nuts not to read what Qualkinbush has to say." —Wil McCarthy, author of BLOOM and THE COLLAPSIUMHow to Write SF
The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells by Ben Bova, best-selling author and six-time Hugo Award winner for Best Editor. (This is one of the books your ol' Critter Captain learned from himself, and I highly recommend it.)
(Also via Amazon)
|
The Critters Queue
Submission files themselves are here.
Queue of manuscripts out or to be sent (dates are estimated,
depending on number of mss. sent out, which depends on number of
members; probabalistically, the end of the queue is usually about
a month away):
Title Author
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Week of 25-Feb-2015 (Crits due 4-Mar-2015):
F Calypso P.E. Zimmerman -#24581
SF Entanglement Neal Williams -#24582
F Covenant of the Sword, Chapter 1, opening Carol Wuenschell -#24583
F The Wind and the Way Home Eugenia Triantafyllou -#24584
F The Water Cure Alexander Leger-Small -#24585
SF The Rescue Mission _2nd draft_ Anna Salonen -#24586
SF Customer Service Justin C. Key -#24587
SF The Hob's Friend Lance Burri -#24588
SF The Last Stand Christoph Weber -#24589
H Pauly Jeffrey Abrams -#24590
F Rubbish and Raspberries - a retelling Aleksandra Pantic -#24591
SF Desire [@] David John Baker -#24592
F Pride and Joy Eric Landreneau -#24593
F Waste Places Chapter 1-2 Judith Pratt -#24594
SF The Baby Snatchers, Chapter 1 Vidal Cid -#24595
SF Fine Print D.J. Diehl -#24596
SF Paolo, Friend Paolo Kurt Hunt -#24597
SF Subdued, Chapter 1 [@] Mindy Peterman -#24598
Week of 4-Mar-2015 (Crits due 11-Mar-2015):
H Merenville Monkeys M.B.Vujacic
F Of Wandering and Loss Ryan Anderson
H The Balloon game, Chapter 3 Andrew Richardson
SF Inconspicuous Absence Brad Preslar
F Gathering of the Gifts, ch 3 part 2 Robert Shmigelsky
SF Tendrils Beneath the Skin Derrick Boden
SF The Ant Commandments Learned Foote
SF Smoke and Mirrors Guy Riessen
F 9/10ths Joel E. Roosa
SF Spear Ch 19 Kristopher Horton
F The Ivory Mask _final revision_ Margaret Moller
SF Messages from Home Bill Worcester
F Bob's No-Kill Monster Shelter Ian Creasey
H Stranded Carl Alves
F Dialogues of the Ethereal Birdmen Joshua Orr
SF Aka Ife Ibitayo
F Wounded Dreams, Prologue and Chapter 1 Theresa von Kuegelgen
SF Alone Again Traci Loudin
F The Retrievers, Chapter 5 Mark A Dawson
F No Complaints Ed Kratz
Week of 11-Mar-2015 (Crits due 18-Mar-2015):
F The Vampire Iain Kim Smeltzer
SF Foreign:147 Days, Act 1, Modern Savages, chapter 1-2 Alitha E. Martinez
SF Traveller's Blues - A mystery in space Andrew J Chamberlain
SF An Island Too Lovely, Chapters 1-2 Deborah Kaminski
H Another Night in Paradise Dale W. Glaser
SF Melon Chapter one Tom Grayhorse
H Wolf Moon Del Bailey
SF Converter Russell Nichols
SF Catapulting to the Pool of Heaven Eric Schwitzgebel
F The Lilies of Dawn Vanessa Fogg
SF Tephra Chapter 1 - The Breach Sean Green
SF Project Panacea, Chapters 1-2 Johan H N Floderus
F The Bluehaven Manifesto, Prologues 1-4 Trevor J Wallace
SF A Mighty Fortress is Our God Dirck de Lint
SF Worthless Gold Ronald Hurst
SF Changing Times Mike Mullen
SF Chasidy Pascoe and the Ontario Flyer Alternate Openings Bill Stiteler
SF Where Is Asteroid 2021GB Pt.1 Connor W. Anderson
SF Those Possessed Gary Goodson
F The Girl and the Poltergeist Suzanna Linton
F Red Queen, Chapters 1-2 Jo Jaquinta
SF Someone Might Win Marty Bonus
SF The Last Master of the Mantis Shrimp Coleman Gailloreto
H After Yule Rayne Hall
F The Wizard King Christopher J. Piatti
SF Time On The Side C. John Griffin
H Count Your Limbs Miah Goodreau
SF Feeding the Silence Richard Zwicker
SF Paradise Axis Michael Andre-Driussi
F Viraetes Island Part # Miah Goodreau
F The Vampire Storm - Primal Skies #4 Kim Smeltzer
SF The Battle Outside the Dome Keir Puplett
H Breakfast with Mr Honeydew Nicholas Stella
F Dead Times, Chapter 1 Martha Burns
SF The Fitting Bryan Perkins
H 179 Degrees Bob Barwell
F God's Gumshoe Draft 2 Chapters 10-12 Russell Adams
SF Jimmy's Magic Set Iain Ishbel
SF Lemonade for the Dead revised Robert Harpold
SF Attachment Tania Robinson
SF Pixel Heart Will Milner
F Free Radicals , Chapters 1 - 4 Amanda Acton
H Bad Brunch in the Big Easy Matthew Weber
SF Lieutenant Chan Christian Roberts
SF The Road to Babel Yaroslav Barsukov
SF I Heard a Voice Cry Sleep No More John Barefield
SF Polar Choices DJ Cockburn
SF Dragon Tears Robin L. Martinez
SF Out of Sync Chris Kenworthy
F The Alchemist's Box Ch 1-4 Alex Avrio
======================================================================
(Note, if the last week above looks abnormally large, it probably
needs me to add a new week, a task I do manually when I get around
to it. Future critique dates are approximate and subject to change.)
Symbols:
[@] - Pro [SFWA/HWA] author
[*] - Extra week(s) for holidays/aburt-out-of-town.
[mpc] - Most Product Critter Award winner
[!] - Special non-Wednesday dates because Critter Captain will be out of town
[ERROR!] - This means there is a problem and your manuscript will NOT be
sent out - Contact the Critter Captain ASAP if you see this by your name.
Waiting to enter Queue (Will enter at end of queue on "[date]"):
YA Enchanter RFDR E. B. Pike [?]
M The Shot Zimbalist L. Odhams [?]
M The Shot Zimbalist L. Odhams [?]
L The Six Samurai Chapters 1-3 John Endris [?]
F Our Father, Chapter 1 Brandon Byes [?]
SF Terra Prime: Fall of a Federation [?]
SF Rats in Space [?]
F Dollhouse of the He, Chart [?]
L Violin Playing Robot Chrissie Wranja [?]
H Nine Rings of Silver, One of Bronze Rayne Hall [18-Mar-2015]
H My Soul, For Mommy's Justin C. Key [4-Mar-2015]
H Virgins Of The Sea Justin C. Key [?]
F The Beginning of the End Traci Loudin [11-Mar-2015]
F Viraetes Island Part 2 Miah Goodreau [18-Mar-2015]
SF Subdued, Chapter 2 Mindy Peterman [4-Mar-2015]
SF Messin' With Slavers C. John Griffin [18-Mar-2015]
F The Retrievers Chapter 6 Mark A Dawson [11-Mar-2015]
F The Vampire's Daughter Kim Smeltzer [18-Mar-2015]
SF Blood on the Horizon Derrick Boden [11-Mar-2015]
F Viraetes Island Part 4 Miah Goodreau [?]
F The Goose, the Goddess, and the Lost Golden Coin Lance Burri [4-Mar-2015]
F Maryam That Was Alexander Leger-Small [4-Mar-2015]
H Old 237 Dirck de Lint [18-Mar-2015]
SF Stormtroopers Christoph Weber [4-Mar-2015]
F War of the Wizards Christopher J. Piatti [18-Mar-2015]
-+-
Held until participation ratio improves (then out that week):
F Among the Orangutans Joseph E. Lerner [07-Jan-2015]
F Innocenza, Chapter 1 Joshua Ward [07-Jan-2015]
F Answer Hugo Xiong [14-Jan-2015]
F Night of Vlad Amal singh [21-Jan-2015]
H The Phantom Queen Stephen Lewis [21-Jan-2015]
F Once Upon a Midnight Moon: Feral Kaitlin R. Niblock [28-Jan-2015]
SF The Time Stone Jeffrey J. Estrella [11-Feb-2015]
H The Thing Robert Graph [11-Feb-2015]
SF Jay's Investigation _Part One_ Joe Camera [11-Feb-2015]
SF Lisa Rains, The Progeny, Chapters 0-5 Terry D. Pleasant [11-Feb-2015]
H Paradise Cemetery David A. Forrester [18-Feb-2015]
H The Smile in the Window", Prologue Graham Payton [18-Feb-2015]
SF Circus at Twilight Daniel C. Haracz [25-Feb-2015]
SF To Dream a White Dove peter sides [25-Feb-2015]
F Past the Horizon Jacob Rennick [25-Feb-2015]
F The Eternal, Chapter 1 Faisal Shamas [25-Feb-2015]
:::
>> Note 1: Held manuscripts are removed after four weeks on hold and
>> must be resubmitted.
>> Note 2: It is the *author's* responsibility to notify Aburt when
>> they have brought up their critique count and want their ms. sent out.
[Click here to see the queue including archival data from 1995.]