by Paulette Jaxton

Okay, it’s been a really really long time since I posted anything here. A lot has happened in the last nine months; I started a podcast (Form Letter Rejection Theatre) which ran for four episodes and then kind of faded from view; I wrote one other short story, but not much else; and I’ve gotten a lot further on The Empress Sword.
 
I know, you’re asking yourself, “Is that all? What have you been doing with yourself, Paulette?” Well if I was a full-time writer I wouldn’t have any excuses, but writing is really just a hobby at this point and my day job takes precedent. As you are all aware it’s been a tough year for the economy and at my job that has meant personnel reductions and more work for those of us left. For a while the podcast took up all my free time and eventually even that little bit of time went away.

More podcast fictions have appeared that I thought you should know about.

 
Phillipa Ballantine is podcasting her award nominated novel Chasing the Bard. This lavish tale of William Shakespeare and the world of the Fey is being told in wonderful style by Pip and her band of guest voices. Even if you don’t like Shakespeare you’ll enjoy this tale of faeries, imps, magical gods and goddesses and the one special human who might just save them all. You don’t want to miss this one. Really, I mean it, go!
 
I’ve mentioned Chris Lester’s Metamor City before, but now he is podcasting a novel length work titled “Making the Cut”. With lots of guest voices and wonderful production values, Chris has put together a tour de force that will keep you entranced even as its plot twists surprise and delight you.

I have something in the works myself, but it’s not quite time to tell you about it. Look for an announcement really soon.

RavenCon was held this past weekend in Richmond, Virginia and was attended by some of the mid-Atlantic’s best authors and podcasters. Being a smaller convention than ones held in the Baltimore/Washington area, RavenCon let’s you focus more on meeting people. I met a lot of people I’ve only known through Twitter for a long time now and a whole bunch of new and interesting people.
 
I attended quite a few panels on podcasting and I’ve decided to try putting together a podcast of my own featuring some of my short fiction. I’ll see how that goes and maybe expand it to include other people’s stories, interviews and whatever else I can think of to fill up a show or two. Look for more details on my website PauletteJaxton.com

Over the weekend I had the pleasure of attending a get together of some of the mid-Atlantic region’s most talented writers and podcasters. We had lunch at the Dogfish Head Alehouse in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The guest of honor was Mur Lafferty whose list of accomplishments as a podcasting author are nothing short of legendary.
 
Also in attendance were Tee Morris whose novel Morevi is in it’s second run as a podcast novel; Marc Bailey of Grailwolf’s Geek Life and his very talented wife, singer Heather Welliver; Brand Gamblin, the voice of soul eating doom on the hilarious video podcast Calls For Cthulhu; Paul Fisher of the A.D.D. Cast and the Balticon Podcast; among many other wonderfully talented people.
 
Later I was given the opportunity to appear on an episode of the A.D.D. Cast which turned out to be a lot of fun even if I was almost too nervous to speak.
 
I’ve posted some pictures of the luncheon over on Flickr.

Farpoint 2008 is a science fiction convention held each year in Baltimore. I haven’t been to this one in a while, but decided to attend this year because I knew there would be quite a few authors and podcasters there. This really is a convention for fans and the tone is quite a bit different from the other cons I go to. Still there were plenty of panels to attend and people to meet. I had a wonderful time and even managed to get in some writing while I was there.

Several notable podcast fictions premiered recently and I thought I’d mention my favorites.
 
First up, Christiana Ellis just launched Space Casey. This rollicking tongue-in-cheek space opera promises to deliver up ten episodes of great fun. Christiana is the force of nature behind last year’s award nominated Nina Kimberly the Merciless and many other imaginative podcasts.
 
Mur Lafferty’s Playing for Keeps is a superhero novel with a twist. Not all of the people with powers are so super, but can they become heroes when it counts? Mur’s previous podiodrama Heaven is on hiatus, but her other great podcasts are going strong.
 
If you’re looking for a thought provoking crime drama with touches of fantasy and horror, look no further than Chris Lester’s excellent Metamor City. This gritty look at a city filled with magic, demons, vampires and the cops who keep them all in line is one of the most innovative and thought provoking things to hit my iPod in a long time.
 
Tee Morris has launched Morevi: Remastered. A reworked and enhanced version of the very first podcast novel ever. This swashbuckling tale mixes pirates with feudal Japanese culture to create a unique and exciting fantasy world. Tee’s last podiobook, Billibub Baddings and the Case of the Singing Sword raised the bar for quality podcast fiction, so you know he’s going to try and outdo himself with this one.

I attended the AnimeUSA convention this weekend. This is held every autumn somewhere in Northern Virginia and this year it was in Crystal City, which meant I could take the Metro. I haven’t ridden Washington’s subway in a long time, so it was fun to see all the things that have changed and all the things which have not. The thing I missed the most was the distinctive “bing-bong” that used to herald the closing of the doors. It was always a part of the whole Metro experience for me.
 
At the convention I met up with writer/podcaster Tee Morris and we had lunch. Well… he had lunch while we talked, I’d already eaten. It was fun and informative as we discussed conventions, writing software, podcasting, and other good stuff. Tee is a very upbeat guy and his enthusiasm is infectious. Inspired by our conversation I’ve already taken steps towards getting back into my writing routine. Thanks, Tee!

I managed to finish the new short story. What was once called Paradox is now titled Regarding the Barry Fitzpatrick’s Navigator. I’ll probably submit this to a workshop before sending it off to any magazines, see what other writer’s have to say before I waste an editor’s time with it. In the mean time I have yet another science fiction short on the table. This one’s inspired by a recent trip to the coal mining country of West Virginia and will be based on some of my mother’s childhood recollections. No title yet, but I’ll be sure to post something about it soon.

Over the last few days I’ve blasted through a new short story. I’m not certain I really like it all that much, but at least it’s complete except for some final editing. It’s SciFi this time and right now the title is Paradox. I named it that thinking of time dilation paradox, but then I looked it up and discovered it’s called time dilation effect. I’ll either change the title later or leave it a mystery.

Last Friday I took a large step towards my goal of one day becoming a professional writer. I opened my mailbox and found a familiar envelope, one I’d addressed to myself several weeks ago. I took it well, after ripping the shirt from my breast and flagellating myself for several hours with an old typewriter ribbon I settled down into a nice quiet sulk. Actually I spent the next half hour printing out a new copy of Divine Fire, a new SASE and a mailing label with another editor’s address on it. I dropped it off at the post office on my way to the dollar store where I bought a cheap plastic frame. My form letter rejection from a major magazine now proudly adorns the wall of my office. I may not be a pro yet, but I now have something every pro in the business has: my first rejection letter.