It looks like Aqua Erotica is happening. I'm not going to be absolutely definite until they've sent me a final contract and I've signed it, but they assure me that it is happening, and that Crown Books will be publishing it. So soon I'll be putting together a call for submissions, and propagating it, and then I just wait for the stories to come in. Much fun. I wonder if I should take snail mail subs this time; I didn't for Maiden Voyage, and I don't know how much that cut down on my submissions. Hmm...I'll have to think about that.
I'm also currently propagating the Herotica 7 call. I did mention this, right? That I'm consulting editor on this anthology? Well, we've started sending out the call, and hopefully Marcy is getting gobs of manuscripts. After she does the first pass, I'll take a look at them; the final decision will be in her hands, but I'm looking forward to reading them.
Part of my job is propagating it to multicultural forums; I've hit various places so far (some multicultural, some not), but if any of you have suggestions to add to the following, please let me know:
- Internet Writers' Workshop
- EROS Workshop
- Fem-SF Discussion List
- SF_Focus
- SAWNET (South Asian Women's Network)
- Afrofuturism
- Writers' Union of Canada
- SF Canada
- Erotic Readers' Association
In other news, conversation at Clean Sheets is just hopping. Firstly there's the long-overdue fund drive; we just need to get the finances in place and then we put in our order and start shipping 'em out. I'm really looking forward to having a Clean Sheets t-shirt and mug! It might even make us some money.
Then there's the October staff issue; that's also a blast. We've got all sorts of goofy staff photos for the gallery, some fun articles, and a fair bit of other...well..stuff. It'll be our anniversary in less than a month. Can you believe that? It is amazing to me that this magazine has become so concrete. My original thoughts about it were so wispy; 'gosh, it'd be nice to have an erotica magazine around that I'd actually like to read'...:-)
And the newest development is that we're going to have a Fiction contest! Woohoo! With at least $1000 in prizes -- hopefully that'll draw some attention to our little magazine, and bring us some good stories. If it goes well, we'll probably add Poetry next year. Fiction is currently slated for early next year, though it's tentative. It's so cool that we're actually planning for something months in advance (the first year has been very much a last-minute sort of deal :-).
And teaching is, of course, wonderful. Part of that is because Raul Sanchez, my supervisor, is a god. The man has actually done four weeks of detailed lesson plans for us; I cannot explain how much that simplifies my job -- at this stage, I'm still really unsure about how best to design a lesson; it's marvelous having his work to fall back on. The students are generally polite and reasonably attentive. They don't love this class yet, but perhaps they will. :-) I love it, anyway.
Composition theory is fascinating. There are too many fascinating subjects, in fact; I can't possibly learn enough about enough of them. There are times when I'm really annoyed at myself for goofing off as much as I did in college. Then I remember how much fun the goofing off was, and I forgive myself, mostly. :-)
And so far, I'm enjoying the literary theory class. I'm not going to be quite as enthusiastic about it as I am about the others (though I could easily develop a minor crush on my teacher), but that's only because it still scares me. Literary theory is dense! I don't have the vocabulary! (Of course, we're learning it as we go along, but some members of the class have done this before, and they're scary.) I think it'll be okay, but I'm going to be cautious for now.
That's most of my life these days; lots of reading; some time on the phone. Mostly, it's not bad. If I weren't so mopey, I think it'd be really good. (I know that sounded like it didn't make much sense, or was a tautology, but hopefully you know what I mean).