Notices
Expanding Critters - Feedback Wanted
I've long planned to offer workshopping in more genres, both writing and in other creative areas. But there are lots of options how to do that... so I'd appreciate your thoughts. Please share your thoughts here, so I can keep them in one place. Thanks!
Notice about Notices...
New notices layout much preferred, but I've got a CSS glitch to fix before I roll it out. :)
New perk for Critter members — Free ads for your books (or other stuff)
Many Critterfolk have asked if they could advertise their books/stories/etc. on Critters. I know how important it is to get the word out — and how hard that is — so I decided heck, let's try it as an experiment and see how it goes. Details are here...
The State of The Future?
What are your thoughts about the future (as in, "The Future")? Is the future healthy or are people burned out on it? Share your thoughts at http://newnewforum.com/viewtopic.php?f=26&t=553
Vote for Your Favorites!
It has polls for your all-time favorite books / short stories / poems / poets / authors, each in genres of mainstream / SF&F / horror / mystery / romance / erotica / thriller / childrens / young adult / nonfiction. (Ok, there's no "nonfiction poetry" category but... :) )
Please give it a try, vote for your favorites, and please spread the word. The more people vote the better the scoring gets. Hope you find it useful!
Wishes for the Future
What do you want the future to hold? World peace? Self-driving cars? Share your dreams of the future, big or small, on the Wishes for the Future forum. What would you love to see? (It's part of my NewNewForum.com site. Meant to be fun, and it's anonymous, so don't be shy!) We're 73% of the way there, thanks!
Woo-hoo!
My unscientific estimate is that members of Critters are around 10X more likely to make sales than non-critters (but cause and effect? who knows?). Regardless, this page is to celebrate our successes!
Critter Robert Qualkinbush has analyzed the reports below and created a summary page of how many sales Critters have had. Fascinating, and astounding! Good going to you all.
If you have something to report, tell me immediately!
Then see the NewNewForum.com to read about and announce new projects (in writing, tech, or any other field). Free ads on the Critters site are also provided as a benefit of membership.
Congratulations to...
| Ken Liu, whose (Critter'd) short story, "The Literomancer" is now out in the current issue of F&SF. [Sep 2010] |
| Lynne Murray, who sold her (Critter'd) novel, "The Falstaff Vampire Files" to Pearlsong Press. {My (crittered) novel, The Falstaff Vampire Files, will be published in July 2011 by Pearlsong Press. Thanks, critters! } [Sep 2010] |
| Alex J. Kane, who sold his short story, "Night of the Widow" to Fearology 2: Beware All Animals Great and Small. [Sep 2010] |
| Andrew Richarsdon, who sold his (Critter'd) novel, "The Doe and the Dragon" to Rogue Phoenix Press. [Aug 2010] |
| Stephen Gaskell, who sold his short story, "Paper Cradle" to Clarkesworld. {Story is scheduled to come out in the September edition. Thanks to all. } [Aug 2010] |
| Ken Liu, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Simulacrum" to Lightspeed. {Thanks to everyone who critiqued the story. } [Aug 2010] |
| Rena Hawkins, who reports "I'm a new reviewer at Tangent Online ([URL]).". {My first review, of the September 2010 issue of Analog, is now up on the Tangent website. I always knew the skills I've learned at Critters would come in handy! } [Aug 2010] |
| Rachel Wohler (Writing as R.L. Naquin), who sold her short story, "Fool's Gold" to Daikaijuzine Magazine. [Aug 2010] |
| Patrick Tomlinson, who sold his short story, "Dig Up the Vote" to Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. [Aug 2010] |
| Carole Ann Moleti, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Hot Chocolate Kiss" is now out in the current issue of Eternal Press. {This is out now. "The Journey" will be released in December. } [Aug 2010] |
| Carole Ann Moleti, who sold her (Critter'd) novel, "The Journey" to Eternal Press. {Special thanks to Rayne Hall, Chelsea P, and Andrew Richardson who read the whole manuscript as a RFDR last summer. } [Aug 2010] |
| Michael Andre-Driussi, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Daughter of Plant and Woman" to Twisted Fairy Tales, Volume 2. [Aug 2010] |
| Michael Andre-Driussi, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Walking, Weeping Prototypes" to This Mutant Life. [Aug 2010] |
| Michael Andre-Driussi, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Daughter of Plant and Woman" to Twisted Fairy Tales, Volume 2. [Aug 2010] |
| Richard S Levine, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Light Echo" is now out in the current issue of Samsdotpublishing's Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 9. [Aug 2010] |
| Ken Liu, who sold his short story, "The Countable" to Asimov's. {This is my first sale to Asimov's, and I'm really excited. Though this story wasn't critter'd, I'm sure it benefited from all the feedback I've gotten here over the years. } [Aug 2010] |
| Tracy Canfield, who sold her short story, "Zookrollers Winkelden Ook" to Strange Horizons. [Aug 2010] |
| Tracy Canfield, whose short story, "The Seal of Sulaymaan" is now out in the current issue of Fantasy Magazine. [Aug 2010] |
| Michael Vella, who sold his short story, "Flipping the Switch" to Daily Science Fiction. [Aug 2010] |
| Barbara Davies, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Irascible" is now out in the current issue of Sorcerous Signals. [Aug 2010] |
| David L Erickson, who sold his (Critter'd) novel, "Mankind's Worst Fear" to Amazon Kindle. {Perhaps it isn't polite to talk dollars, but isn't that what most of our efforts here are all about? Just wanted to let everyone know that you can make a nice monthly income from ebook sales. My Crittered novel, Mankind's Worst Fear, has been available as an Amazon Kindle ebook for almost a year now. It took several months, but I'm receiving monthly checks in the hundreds. If I can do it, so can you! Let me clue you in though, reviews can cut both ways. Be prepared! } [Aug 2010] |
| Rick Farnsworth, who sold his (Critter'd) novel, "Succumbing to Gravity" to Reliquary Press. {Thanks to critters and the members that helped me to hone skills and polish works, my Novel "Succumbing to Gravity" is now out with Reliquary Press (www dot reliquarypress dot com). Thanks to all. } [Jul 2010] |
| Carrie Cuinn, who sold her short story, "Mitch's Girl" to Rigor Amortis. {Rigor Amortis is an anthology of zombie stories, forthcoming from Absolute XPress. } [Jul 2010] |
| Jeff Chapman, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The Master and the Miller's Daughter" to Residential Aliens. [Jul 2010] |
| Richard Zwicker, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Selective Memory" to The Rejected Quarterly. [Jul 2010] |
| Christopher Kastensmidt, whose poem, "Propelled" is now out in the current issue of Mindflights. [Jul 2010] |
| Christopher Kastensmidt, who sold his short story, "Dragon Dreams on Cardboard Wings and Tiny Scraps of Yellow" to Daily Science Fiction. [Jul 2010] |
| Ricardo Bare, whose (Critter'd) short story, "The Rat Burner" is now out in the current issue of Shock Totem. {Thanks everybody for the great feedback. Always appreciated. } [Jul 2010] |
| Vincent Jorgensen, whose (Critter'd) short story, "A Case of the Mondays" is now out in the current issue of Golden Visions Magazine. {Thanks to all Critters who critiqued this back in ought six. } [Jul 2010] |
| Ken Liu, whose short story, "The Phoenix" is now out in the current issue of On the Premises. [Jul 2010] |
| Heather Harris, who reports "I have publishing information from a couple of people in New York and I might get published soon". {I'm really excited about this opportunity. } [Jul 2010] |
| Michael Vella, who reports "The collaborative story "The Longest Distance Between Two Places" written with Tom Waters has received an Honorable Mention in the Q2 2010 Writers of the Future Awards". [Jun 2010] |
| Andy Mashaw, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Grey Skies"" is now out in the current issue of Strange Weird and Wonderful Magazine. {This was sold a few months ago but is featured in the summer edition--out July 1st. "Grey Skies" went through critters around October. This was my first attempt at short fiction...and first sale. Thanks very much to all 7 critters who read it-and helpd tweak the ending- (and get it sold). Check it out at Strange Weird and Wonderful's site. } [Jun 2010] |
| Sarah Frost, who sold her (Critter'd) short story, "Falls the Firebrand" to Analog. {This piece was Crittered under the title "Thirsty Work." } [Jun 2010] |
| Maegan Bergstrom, who sold her short story, "Seeds" to A Fly in Amber. {It will be appearing in the next issue of the zine. } [Jun 2010] |
| Stephen Gaskell, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Lacuna Blues" to Music for Another World Anthology. {This went through Critters back in 2006 under the name "Frank Sinatra is Singing Between the Stars". Thanks to all who gave me their thoughts back then. Hope some of you are still around! } [Jun 2010] |
| Jaleta Clegg, who sold her short story, "Omega Museum" to Last Man Anthology. [Jun 2010] |
| Stephen V. Ramey, who sold his short story, "A Conversation With Mother" to Flash Me Magazine. [Jun 2010] |
| Stephen V. Ramey, who sold his short story, "A Conversation With Mother" to Flash Me Magazine. {In their May issue, available online. } [Jun 2010] |
| Stephen V. Ramey, whose short story, "The Last Liverbeast" is now out in the current issue of A Fly in Amber. {In their May issue, available online. } [Jun 2010] |
| Stephen V. Ramey, whose short story, "Cycles" is now out in the current issue of Everyday Fiction. [Jun 2010] |
| Frank Oreto, whose (Critter'd) short story, "The Hand You're Dealt" is now out in the current issue of Pseudopod.org. {So the story is out and you can listen to it for free. You can even leave feedback on the pseudopod forum if you don't mind registering. Thanks again for all the help. Frank Oreto } [Jun 2010] |
| Eileen Rhoadarmer, who sold her short story, "Night Terrors" to Doomology: The Dawning of Disasters. [Jun 2010] |
| Sheila Crosby, whose short story, "The Circle Line" is now out in the current issue of Untied Shioelaces of the Mind. {This story wasn't crittered because it's not speculative fiction. In fact, I was surprised to see they've labelled it as "Literary". } [May 2010] |
| Kim Neville, who sold her (Critter'd) short story, "Meriel's Brownie" to Leading Edge Magazine. [May 2010] |
| Jeff Chapman, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Esme's Amulet" to Golden Visions Magazine. [May 2010] |
| Fred Obermeyer, who sold his short story, "Hands On Approach" to Doomology: The Dawning of Disasters anthology. [May 2010] |
| Dwayne Minton, whose (Critter'd) short story, "The Fine Art of Surfacing" is now out in the current issue of OGs Speculative Fiction (Issue 24). {This one got crittered a while ago. My thanks to all of those who commented. } [May 2010] |
| Stephen Gaskell, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The Terrarium" to Scape. {"The Terrarium" went through Critters back in early 2006 under the lacklustre title, "Fears". After several rewrites, and constant scanning of Duotrope for suitable markets, it has finally found a home with Scape, an e-zine for YA speculative fiction that launches next year. Thanks to all who gave me feedback! } [May 2010] |
| KJ Hannah Greenberg, whose novel, "Oblivious to the Obvious: Wishfully Mindful Parenting" is now out from French Creek Press. {Order from Amazon today! (excerpts available at KJHannahGreenberg.net) } [May 2010] |
| Kelly Metz, who sold her (Critter'd) short story, "Uninvited" to Silver Moon, Bloody Bullets: An Anthology of Werewolf Tails. {This piece was crittered under the title "Call Me Late For Dinner." } [May 2010] |
| Michael Andre-Driussi, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Mad Dogs of Mercury" is now out in the current issue of M-Brane SF #16 (May). {(Many issues of "M-Brane SF," including this one, are available over at Lulu.com.) The story started out as "R3D MERCURY," then changed name for the rewrite. A total of 29 crits, IIRC, for which I offer thanks. } [May 2010] |
| Michael Andre-Driussi, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Mentally Gifted Mutants" is now out in the current issue of This Mutant Life #2 (May 2010). {("This Mutant Life" is a new Australian magazine dedicated to superhero-related fiction.) Thank you for the 53 crits! } [May 2010] |
| Frank Dutkiewicz, who reports "My reviews are now on Diabolical Plots! Visit the latest writers magazine. Diabolical Plots interviews the biggest names in Speculative fiction and announces the latest publications to hit the market. Come check out my newest detail reviews of Bull Spec # 1 and the Writers of the Future anthology!". [May 2010] |
| Frank Dutkiewicz, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Playgel Riser" to Strange, Weird, and Wonderful. [May 2010] |
| Abra Staffin-Wiebe, whose (Critter'd) short story, "These Things Take Time" is now out in the current issue of Emerald Tales. {Cloning meets marriage counseling! Read for free in Vol. 2 Num. 2 at www.scribblersandinkspillers.com/emeraldtales.html (scroll to the bottom) Thanks all for the critiques! } [May 2010] |
| Abra Staffin-Wiebe, who sold her (Critter'd) short story, "The Radiator Burped" to Northern Lights: A MinnSpec Anthology. [May 2010] |
| Jack Calverley, who reports "My reading of the short story "Risqueman" by Mike Wood has been podcast on StarShipSofa (5th May edition)". [May 2010] |
| Richard S Levine, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Remorse above Enceladus" to Raygun Revival. {Thanks to everyone who contributed Critters feedback for this story. I'll let you know when it appears online. } [May 2010] |
| Richard S Levine, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Remorse above Enceladus" to Raygun Revival. {Thanks to everyone who contributed Critters feedback for this story. I'll let you know when it appears online. } [May 2010] |
| Jerry Gordon, whose (Critter'd) short story, "City of Refuge" is now out in the current issue of Apex Magazine. {"City of Refuge" is available online for free in both text and audio formats. If you have the chance, check it out and let me know what you think in the comments section over at Apex. Special thanks to Critters Mike Stone and Justin Pilon for their help with this one! } [May 2010] |
| JA Howe, who reports "I'm going to be guest speaking at a digital writer's convention in May". {anyone interested, here's the info: coyotecon.com. (only http for the link). People will be discussing all sorts of fiction from steampunk to poetry, historical fic to horror. There'll also be a writing challenge going on all month. Come check it out! } [Apr 2010] |
| Adam Heine, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Pawn's Gambit" is now out in the current issue of Beneath Ceaseless Skies. {Critter'd as "The Knocker." Thank you to everyone who provided feedback! } [Apr 2010] |
| Constance Miller, whose short story, "A Horse Named Ben" is now out in the current issue of Horses That Save Lives - True Stories of Physical, Emotional and Spritual Rescue. {My story about Ben is in a book edited by Cheryl Dudley } [Apr 2010] |
| Leah Cypess, whose (Critter'd) novel, "Mistwood" is now out from Greenwillow/HarperCollins. {This YA fantasy, which many of you read parts of when it was called Shifter, recently got a starred review from Kirkus (woohoo x 2!) and is out in the world as of April 27. It would never have made it out the slush pile without Critters -- thanks! } [Apr 2010] |
| Tracy Canfield, whose short story, "Heist" is now out in the current issue of Analog. [Apr 2010] |
| Ken Liu, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The Man Who Ended History" to Panverse Three. {Thanks to everyone who gave me comments on this novella. I'm glad that it found such a great home at Panverse Publishing. } [Apr 2010] |
| Joseph S. Spence, Sr., who reports "Mercy Support for Haiti - Book Published!". {Hello My Fellow Critters, This is a poetry anthology video I helped with to support the earthquake victims and children in Haiti with medical supplies: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DLmCEPJYLc Please review the video and, if desire, purchase a poetry anthology to help our "Project of Mercy" for Haiti. We will be most thankful if you could please inform your friends and relations also. May God’s grace continue to smile upon you, your family, and your loved one from henceforth to everlasting. Blessings, Joseph "Epulaeryu Master" Spence, Sr. www.TheAwakenedOnePoetics.com “Enlightened, peel away the layers, behold pure gold!” } [Apr 2010] |
| Joseph S. Spence, Sr., who reports "Mercy Support for Haiti - Book Published!". {Hello My Fellow Critters, This is a poetry anthology video I helped with to support the earthquake victims and children in Haiti with medical supplies: www.youtube.com/watch?v=2DLmCEPJYLc Please review the video and, if desire, purchase a poetry anthology to help our "Project of Mercy" for Haiti. We will be most thankful if you could please inform your friends and relations also. May God’s grace continue to smile upon you, your family, and your loved one from henceforth to everlasting. Blessings, Joseph "Epulaeryu Master" Spence, Sr. “Enlightened, peel away the layers, behold pure gold!” } [Apr 2010] |
| Joseph S. Spence, Sr., who sold his (Critter'd) poem, "Celebrating in Poetry The 20th Century" to www.apfpublisher.com. [Apr 2010] |
| Joseph S. Spence, Sr., who sold his (Critter'd) poem, "Celebrating in Poetry The 20th Century" to www.apfpublisher.com. [Apr 2010] |
| Barbara Davies, who sold her (Critter'd) short story, "Irascible" to Sorcerous Signals. [Apr 2010] |
| Manda Benson, who sold her (Critter'd) short story, "The Plains of Fire" to Aurora Wolf. [Apr 2010] |
| Barbara Davies, whose short story, "Shaitan's Daughter" is now out in the current issue of Lacuna. {This is a historical pirate story, so I didn't put it in the Critters workshop, though I would have liked to. :) } [Apr 2010] |
| Rhonda Porrett, who sold her (Critter'd) short story, "Feeders" to Allegory. {This story will be on-line May, 2010. } [Apr 2010] |
| Sheila Crosby, who sold her short story, "The Circle Line" to Untied Shoelaces of the Mind. {This piece wasn't crittered because it's not spec fic, and it's very short indeed, but I'm sure the things I've learned from other critters have helped a lot. } [Apr 2010] |
| Michael Andre-Driussi, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Mentally Gifted Mutants" to This Mutant Life. {Slated to appear in the May issue. Thank you to the critters who critted it! } [Apr 2010] |
| Daniel Arenson, who reports "My crittered novel has been re-released for Kindle". {My crittered fantasy novel "Firefly Island", which was published in hardcover in 2007, has finally been released digitally. It's now available for Kindles! I ran "Firefly Island" multiple times through the queue, and received lots of GREAT help from my fellow Critters. Thanks everyone! (If you're curious, you can learn about the book at my website, www.DanielArenson.com.) } [Apr 2010] |
| Richard S Levine, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Time Enough for Sarah" is now out in the current issue of Golden Visions Magazine (PDF). {"Time Enough for Sarah" was titled "Time Shuttle" when Critters' reviewed it. The feedback definitely helped to improve the story! } [Apr 2010] |
| Lawrence Vernon, who sold his short story, "A Thirsty Mother" to Shadowfire Press. [Apr 2010] |
| Lawrence Vernon, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "A Night At Morgan Lake" to Shroud Magazine. [Apr 2010] |
| Mike Shevdon, who reports "My 2009 novel, SIXTY ONE NAILS, has been long-listed for the British Fantasy Society's annual best novel award. If you are a member of the BFS or joined FantasyCon 2009/10 you can vote for your favourites at www.britishfantasysociety.org". [Mar 2010] |
| Chet Gottfried, whose (Critter'd) short story, "A Friendly Gesture" is now out in the current issue of Belong. {This was one of my earlier stories at Critters, and the story took a while before making it to Belong (my first time being published in an Australian anthology, which has a truly striking cover). Thank you for your help! } [Mar 2010] |
| Chet Gottfried, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Barbara Bloodbath" is now out in the current issue of Space and Time. {It's in the present issue of Space and Time (spring 110), and a special thank-you to all those Critters who not only commented on the first version at Critters but on the second as well. } [Mar 2010] |
| Ken Liu, who sold his short story, "The Literomancer" to Fantasy & Science Fiction (F&SF). {Even though this piece didn't go through critters, it did benefit from critiques from several writers I got to know through critters. Thank you all so much. } [Mar 2010] |
| Ethan Nahte', who sold his short story, "Bubbas, Barbarians & Yumbies, Oh My!" to Yard Dog Press. {The fifth anthology book of the "Bubbas of the Apocalypse" series entitled "A Bubba in Time Saves None" is due out the first weekend in June, 2010 and will debut at SoonerCon on that weekend. Although I've been a professional journalist for 19 years, this is my first professional fiction sale. } [Mar 2010] |
| Maegan Bergstrom, who reports "My crittered novel Bernadette the Strange is a quarterfinalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Competition.". {Sorry, I accidentally sent a very vague woohoo a couple minutes ago because I hit enter while trying to edit. } [Mar 2010] |
| Maegan Bergstrom, who reports "I'm a quarterfinalist in the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award Competition.". [Mar 2010] |
| Anatoly Belilovsky, who reports "drabblecast.org will run my drabble (100-word story)". {which does not count as a sale and was too short to be crittered, but it did make my day! Thanks to all the critters for helping me write better, all y'all know who all y'all are. } [Mar 2010] |
| Rick Farnsworth, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The Sacrifices of Automated Tabulation" to Steampunk Tales. {This one started life as the Magnotronic Tabulator. Thanks all for the help with it! } [Mar 2010] |
| Rick Farnsworth, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The sacrifices of Automated Tabulation" to Steampunk Tales. {This one was critiqued as the magnotronic tabulator. Thanks all for having a look. } [Mar 2010] |
| Michael Andre-Driussi, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Mentally Gifted Mutants" to This Mutant Life. {Slated to appear in the May issue. Thank you to the critters who critted it! } [Mar 2010] |
| Michael Andre-Driussi, whose (Critter'd) short story, "I, Mombot" is now out in the current issue of M-Brane SF #14 (March). {Thank you to all the critters who worked on shaping it. } [Mar 2010] |
| Adam Lowe, who reports "being made a finalist at the 22nd Lambda Literary Awards for my debut novel, Troglodyte Rose". [Mar 2010] |
| Frank Oreto, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The Hand You're Dealt"" to pseudopod.org. {This was the very first story I sent in to be crittered. Big thanks to everyone who helped me whip it into marketable shape. } [Mar 2010] |
| Ian Creasey, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The Prize Beyond Gold" to Asimov's. {This was critiqued under the title "Sliding Down the Asymptote" } [Mar 2010] |
| Stephen B. Pearl, who sold his (Critter'd) novel, "Slaves of Love" to Club Lighthouse Publishing. {Special thanks to Rob Holden my Dr for this one. } [Mar 2010] |
| Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, whose short story, "Gifts of the Morrigan" is now out in the current issue of Morrigan Books in their anthology The Phantom Queen Awakes. [Mar 2010] |
| Richard S Levine, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The Time of your Life" to Time in a Bottle Anthology. {This is a reprint (originally in Raygun Revival online), but it will be nice to have this story in print. } [Mar 2010] |
[Click here to see the full list of Woohoos going back to 1996.]