If you live in the United States and are old enough and haven't done so yet, make sure to vote tomorrow. Even if you're voting for the guy whose party is doing everything it can to suppress a particular kind of voter (yeah, I went there), vote. It's, like, important.
Final Reminder
I will be at Elizabethtown College tomorrow at noon discussing Hint Fiction and other such fiction-related stuff. This will be my final public appearance for the year, so if you're in the area, be sure not to miss it. Well, wait, that's not true. I may also have an appearance at my local Barnes & Noble next month. But that'll only be to use their bathroom. They've got, like, the nicest bathroom ever.
The Tale Of Two Manuscripts
My wife and I moved this month, and in the process we've been going through some old stuff, and I came across the two manuscripts seen above. They are for two different novels written many years ago, and in need of a lot of work. In fact, I don't even know if either of these two will ever see the light of day. I will say, though, that despite the fact they look the same length, they're really not. The font for one of them is Times New Roman, the font for the other Courier New. Which means there is probably a 60,000-80,000 word count difference between the two. The one novel? Over 200,000 words!
6th Annual Micro Award Open For Submissions
From Alan Presley, Micro Award Administrator:
It's that time of year again! That's right, the 6th Annual Micro Award is open for submissions through Dec 31st. The rules remain largely unchanged except that we will only be accepting electronic submissions this year. For the second straight year we have a record number of judges, which will likely lead to another record number of finalists (we honored 16 stories last year).
Check out the official rules here.
Tom Piccirilli Needs Your Help
Later today Tom Piccirilli -- one of the best crime writers working today -- will undergo surgery to remove a tennis ball sized tumor from his brain. As you can imagine, this surgery is very serious, and it won't be cheap. It's one of those sobering realities for writers, the fact not many have health insurance. Sure, some do through their spouses, or from writers' organizations, or they buy their own, but it's no secret the healthcare system in this country is broken, and if health insurance companies have their way, it's only going to get worse.
Anyway, please send up some prayers or positive thoughts to Tom today. And if you'd like to support him even more, consider buying one of his ebooks through Crossroads Press, who has announced that for at least the rest of the year, 100% of the sales from Tom’s digital books that they’ve published will go to him. Tom's a great writer and you can't go wrong with any of his books, though I do recommend A Lower Deep, which has always been one of my all-time favorites of Tom's work.
Or, even better, you can donate directly to Tom's medical fund via Indiegogo, which has helped to raise over $4,000 in just one day.
I already donated.
You should too.