Today, I’m enjoying the after affects of percocets. Yesterday I had two wisdom teeth removed, and surprisingly, the surgery itself was painless and completely mellow. I still had visions of huge drill bits being aimed for my mouth while syringes tipped with massive needles aimed for my gums. Reality was much more mellow and agreeable. There were no drills involved, and the layering of anesthetics was done in such a way that by the time there was a need for needles, I couldn’t feel them anyway.
Granted, less than an hour after leaving the dentist it all wore off and I was in aching pain, but at the time, at the time it was all good.
Today, “trapped” at home (ie, avoiding making long term commitments behind the wheel of a car while my pain killers do their thing), I have two things to say thank you for. First, we discovered this morning that UPS had left a delivery near our door on Saturday, before the rain. Luckily it survived untouched, and so a thank you goes out to Tor and Graeme’s ‘I hate Mondays’ contest, as this morning I unwrapped my copy of Halo: Evolutions: Essential Tales of the Halo Universe. Normally not a big fan of fiction based off of movies and games, I was intrigued by this one since it features a story by Tobias Buckell, “Dirt.” I’m looking forward to digging into this collection, so a thank you to Graeme and Tor for letting me do it on the cheap 🙂
Speaking of short stories (I’m not sure why this post is rambling so much, but in my head there’s a logic to it), my story Dark Lord Rising didn’t make it into Clarkesworld. Not surprising (12 issues a year, with only 2 stories per issue, 1 of which is by an established author), and I’m not disappointed in the least, but it was worth trying. That and their submission process is the best out there. Today I wrote up a cover letter, packaged it an envelope, and sent it off to Fantasy & Science Fiction. It’ll be 8 weeks before I hear back, plenty of time to pick another market to try it in if they don’t accept it (plus, it’ll come back just in time for my birthday!). I’m nervous about sending a story out there, but oddly prepared for rejection with my chin up. What struck me today, though, is that since that first burst the first few days of the new year, I haven’t accomplished much in the way of writing, something I’d like to amend sooner rather than later.
That very thought was still in my head – maybe I need to write some more short stories while Rust rattles around in my head – when the mail came, and out fell the March copy of Asimov’s. Why is that significant? Because as far as I know, I don’t have a subscription, although the label at the bottom says my subscription is good through Feb of 2011. So to some caring, unknown person out there – thank you! Not sure if this was intended as a fun read or a kick in the pants, but I think you’ve done both 🙂