Loose ends

I would say that last night’s episode of LOST was about wrapping up some loose ends. It’s the sort of necessary episode that doesn’t exactly thrill you with excitement, but takes care of some issues that demand attention. Juliet’s actions on the beach, primarily. I know a lot of long-time watchers of the series are grumbling, but it’s still my must-see program. If I had to reduce my viewing to one show per week, this would be it.

I’m reading One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson. I’m only about seven chapters in, but I’m impressed by how much characterization she’s managed to pack in to date. It’s one of those confluence stories—one event, fairly unremarkable, witnessed or experienced by a handful of characters, each of whom is affected by it in a different way. Each of whom has something troubling them. The only other book by her I’ve read is Case Histories, but I loved it. The focal character from that book, Jackson Brodie, is back again. Unlike most crime novels, the detective isn’t necessarily the catalyst of the story in Atkinson’s books. The crime chases him as much as he chases it.

2007 is starting to look like a good year for published short fiction. The recent spate of business (proofs, contracts, payment) reminded me of exactly how much I have coming out so far. Here’s my tally:

• Before the Fall, Into the Dreamlands, Simian Publishing, March
• Sturm und Drang, A Dark and Deadly Valley, Silverthought Press, March
• Leap Second, Doctor Who, Destination: Prague, Big Finish Productions Ltd., March (supposedly—I think it will be later than that)
• Sufficiently Advanced, Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest, issue 9
• Therapy, Dark Wisdom, sometime this year
• Rule Number One, The Blue Religion, Little Brown, later this year
• Harming Obsession, Post Mortem, late this year or early 2008

I’m trying to get a story together for the next MWA anthology—deadline in mid-March—but nothing’s working for me yet. I thought I had the story situation and general idea all figured out, but it’s just sitting there in my Word document like a lump of lead. I’m hoping to fire it into action this weekend. I doubt lightning will strike twice—the MWA antho is hard to crack—but if I don’t submit anything, I’m guaranteed not to get in. Like the guy who prayed to win the lottery. God’s response, “Work with me here. At least buy a ticket.”