Jim's quiet musings . . .

Chris from Blacktelescope.co.uk, aka Zebulon Mysterioso, aka Prof. Bernard Quatermass has finally surfaced again....This time to tell me sumthin I already know (but most everyone else doesn't) that I am nuts. Or, "A Complete Nutter," as the Scottish would have it. Nutter...hum, I like that. Matter of fact, I like european slang much better than our own.

"Bloody hell you do!"

"Ai's rite mate! An ef ya don like it, yeh can go feck yourself!"

Oh God. Now Peter's gonna read this and tell me I've mixed in a Lancashire accent, some Dutch and perhaps a sprinkle of Aussie or sumthin. Oh well. I still like the terms they use and I love that accent.

Well, if Chris thinks this stuff is nutter, he'll have a field day with the recent story I submitted to Banshee Studios for possible publication in their Lughnasahd issue short story contest coming this August. I submitted a short story written eons ago called, "Poor Mr. Ports." It's a story about my neighbor who commited suicide. It's a little, "OUT THERE," but I figured I'd give that one a try before resorting to my big guns. I'm currently looking for a market for big guns. If Banshee doesn't print the thing, I'll cut and paste it somewhere out in cyberville for all to join in on the, "Jeeem's a complete NUTTER," bandwagon.

Grit magazine finally sent back my story, "Gertrude the Duck," after keeping it well over two years. I would NOT recommend them for submission. I placed telephone calls to their Topeka, Kansas editorial department on at least six occasions and even followed through with photos, only to be led on time and time again. These were not "toll free" calls either! I was told, "Your story is on the editors desk" "We have a backlog" and other stalls, until finally I received the story back with an apology for keeping it so long. Hell, a rejection would have been better. Ah well, live and learn.

So, time to turn in for the night and let the keyboard cool down....a workday tomorrow. Welcome back Chris!

-Jeeem-