I got a contract from Analog in the mail today for my story “Rejiggering the Thingamajig.” It’s my sixth sale to Analog, and it means I now have two stories in the pipeline to get published there.
“Rejiggering the Thingamajig” is my attempt to answer one of life’s most common and enduring questions: What would happen if a Buddhist Tyrannosaurus Rex, an insane talking gun, and a nanoswarm janitor went on a quest to restore the galactic teleport network?
My birthday was a couple of days ago. I had carrot cake, which I decorated myself (which is why the lettering is a little sloppy):
And here I am, revealing the answer* in flaming characters, shortly before blowing them out:
Incidentally, my tee-shirt has a picture of a galaxy, with the words “You are here” pointing to a spot far out in the uncharted backwaters of the unfashionable end of the western spiral arm.
*For those unfamiliar with the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, the answer to the great question of life, the universe and everything is 42.
It’s “When I Grow Up” month for my local Cub Scouts, so they’re having guests come talk about things they do for a living. I was invited to speak tonight about being an author.
The boys were quite impressed by my Writers of the Future trophy, and though I had to admit I wasn’t a really famous author, they thought it was cool I had stories published in Hebrew and Russian magazines.
I also showed off my stack of rejection letters and explained how important it was to keep trying even when you got rejected. “Like Dr. Seuss,” one of the boys said. “He got rejected 28 times.”
After talking about being an author, I took them through a ten-minute brainstorming session on how to build a story. They were very enthusiastic (and a little bloodthirsty!) in their ideas.
Then, while they did normal Cub Scout stuff, I spent 25 minutes writing the story we had outlined, and printed it out on my portable printer so they could each have a copy. (Frankly, this was the shortest deadline I’ve ever had to write to.)
Presented here for your enjoyment is the story:
