Sunday Links & the Week in #storyeachnight: May 20th, 2012 Edition

May is absolutely flying by. I've been incredibly busy with any number of things this month. Our oldest is graduating high school in a couple of weeks but between now and then is the classic film convention which my father has been a major force behind for 43 years now. It's called Cinevent and every year well over 600 people come to watch movies, talk about movies, buy and sell movie memorabilia and so on. It's older than I am and I literally grew up with it.

This year the preparations for the convention have been extra "interesting" for me since my father was injured in late February and while he was convalescing I was tasked with doing a lot of the communications work which he would normally have been doing for the show. It's been a learning experience, that's for sure. I'm glad that I've done it to help him, the rest of the convention committee, and the attendees. It's also reminded me why I have little interest in being a convention organizer on a regular basis! And, for those of us who attend conventions -- science fiction, film, comics, what-have-you, it's been a reminder that the staff put in a heck of a lot of time and effort and voluntarily deal with no small amount of frustration to help put together a great experience for their attendees. (And, yes, sometimes a "great" experience isn't what ends up happening. But most cons I've been to in the past have been good or better.)

Speaking of conventions, I'm still trying to decide which one I'm going to make it to as part of my goals for the year. I'll be at Pulpfest almost for certain, but I barely count that since it's something I've been going to for years anyway. Context and Bouchercon both have a certain appeal to me, but I'll have to see as things get closer to the date for both of those.

A quick programming note: There won't be a Dissecting the Short Story post for May. Since I said I'd give the new format with reader votes, etc. at least two goes, I'll do one again soon, most likely in June.

Now with all that out of the way, on to first my weekly #storyeachnight rundown and the list of links I've found interesting for the week:

Sunday Links: January 15, 2012 Edition

Somehow I have managed to keep forgetting to share a bit of good news. I've had a poem accepted for publication in an issue later this year of Bete Noire. I was very pleased to get this acceptance as this was a little piece that's gotten good reception in the past but just not found a home. Now, it has!

A new market has opened today for people interested in writing science fiction and fantasy. It's Goldfish Grimm's Spicy Fiction Sushi; it's a token-paying market but a pretty decent "token" at $10 for flash and $25 for longer stories.

I've been struggling a bit with the writing this week. I think it's partly been that a couple of the pieces I'm working on right now are ones that I feel are going to need some rather major revisions after their first drafts and I just haven't really been able to get into a "groove" with them. I know that can happen from time to time, but it would sure be nice to sit down one day soon and crank out a couple thousand easy-feeling words...

I hope that the writing week has been treating everyone well, and that the coming week is even better!

Now, for some links!