Some casual thoughts

First of all, I want to apologize to the readers of this blog if you were expecting my postings to be centered entirely on horror fiction and movies. When I started this second blog, that was certainly my intention. As I went along, however, I began to realize that there were other genres I enjoyed reading and types of movies I loved to watch. If I posted nothing but things that had to do with horror, my posts would be fewer and longer in between each other. Also, I wanted this little site to be fun for me and not a chore. Sometimes I opt to spend my free time posting here when I should be focusing on my own fiction writing. If I find myself dreading to put up a post, I won't make that choice, but will instead concentrate on my short stories, novels, and screenplays. I want to keep the posts coming, and I hope you will bear with me on this and that you find or discover some pleasure in the various types of postings I put up here.

This coming week, I'm going to post the very first short story I sold back in 1985 to Cavalier magazine--No Hitchhiking. The story was then published in Cavalier's March 1986 issue and I received a check for $250.00. I almost didn't cash the check. I actually thought about having it framed, but poverty won out. I also remember thinking at the time that $250.00 was the same amount Cavalier had paid Stephen King for his short stories back in the early seventies. I thought with time and inflation, the payment should have risen to at least three hundred. Now, I would jump at the opportunity to sell a story for $250.00. There are fewer magazines today that pay this kind of money for horror or suspense fiction. In fact, a number of the magazines and e-zines pay nothing for a story, or maybe, if you're lucky, a penny a word. Instead of getting better, the value of one's fiction (unless you alreay have an established name in the writing field)has decreased in value. I know there are a lot of reasons for that. Many of the publishers of the new e-zines in the horror field don't make any money off of their blood, sweat, and energy, doing this out of a labor of love for the genre. Still, it's difficult to make a living from your writing if you have to give it away. That's one of the reasons I'm choosing to post some of my fiction for free on this blog. I would rather do it myself and keep the copyrights so that they're not tied up for a year or two. Anyway, I'm in the process of polishing up No Hitchhiking. Remember this story was first published twenty-five years ago, and a lot has come and gone in the way of fiction over the years. Still, I like the story. I recall that Cavalier had Artiface do a really great drawing for it in their magazine. I was impressed by it. Cavalier, however, changed the title of the story, which I didn't like because it shifted the reader's attention to another aspect of the story that I wanted to be a surprise. Of course, after twenty-five years and tons of fiction, I doubt if most readers would be surprised by anything they read today. I hope to have the story up by Wednesday of this week.

I'm now about fifty-four pages into F. Paul Wilson's By the Sword: A Repairman Jack novel. Glarken from The Keep is in this one as Jack is given more information about the final conflict and has to go after a Japanese katana that has magical powers before the bad guys get it. So far, I'm really enjoying the novel. And, speaking of the Japanese...

Last, even though this has nothing to do with books, stories, or movies, I want to say that the Japanese men who are going into the nuclear power plant in Japan and risking certain death because of the radiation, are true heroes in every sense of the word. The exposure to the radiation they're enduring will kill each and everyone of them over the next few years. These men are basically giving their lives to help save their families and fellow countrymen. What I find fault with is the Japanese government who has refused help from the United States, putting their people through an ordeal of suffering that is mind-bloggingly in its scope to say the least. I can understand the government not wanting to be in debt (geri) to our country, but they are inadvertently killing their people through this neglect. The fifty or more workers trying to stop the leaks of radiation from the plant should be recognized for their bravery and courage and self-sacrifice, but then the government would have to admit to how dangerous the situation really is, and we already know what governments are like when it comes to telling the truth. It's like having to pull a tooth.