Fortean Weather

Now through May 15th I'm accepting submissions for a special Weather theme issue of the Fortean Bureau scheduled for July 2004. I'm looking for weird stories, as always, with a weather influence. I want well-written, weird, Fortean stories. I am a very hard sell for flash--the smaller the harder.

The usual submission guidelines apply, please see our website (http://www.forteanbureau.com) for details. When you submit, please indicate in your cover letter that you're subbing for the July issue or you'll go through with the usual slush. And if you're still confused by what might be considered "Fortean" take a look at our current and past issues.

We'll also continue to accept stories for our other issues during this time.


P.S. Squeak. Squeak. Whrrr! Whrr!

(no subject)

while 240 pages in an hour and a half is a good clip, I'm not sure what part of my brain decided that I needed to read the whole book the same day I got it. Other than the part that loves it because it is good and funny. I did also drop it in the bath, for the first bath-dropping of a book in oh, probably a year or more. Luckily, I've still got more than half of it to go, since I love it so much. It amuses me so much because it's the first publishing book I've ever read that actually seems likely to be realistic (well, other than the budgets, but that's still pretty impressive.) I may have to lend it to jennywrenn, even though it's a romance and doesn't have druids in it (I give Jenny all my romances with druids in them. I would give her zombie romances too, but they're not yet mainstream.) because British romances don't count as romances, they're more like bildungs roman with a love story there too.

( minor meltdown )

Yeah. I should clearly be in bed. But first, a silly story from college, about the girlfriend of the boy I longed for, so as to distract from the meltdown.

Senior spring, we have an all-day drinking party thing called pig roast. It's like, noon to four, followed by the seniors streaking the quad (usually in front of at least one wedding party. I think we had three watching, including the elderly secretary of the president from when my mom had been there. One group had a video camera), followed by dinner, followed by party party party all night. (whee! I just remembered he's the only of my taken boys that I've seen naked. God bless pig roast, and the deities responsible for us getting to campus just as everyone started their run. ;-) )

So I go to various parties with my crowd (I'm the designated walker, as they're drinking red wine and coke from mugs the size of my head, and need people to make sure they stop at lights and don't fall over too often), and I end up at Andy's place last. And I talk with him for a bit, and some others, indoors and out, and leave the indoors when they bring out the pot (I'm a prude, I know, I can't help it.). And I'm considering heading back to my dorm, but instead, I end up sitting on a car hood talking with Andy's girlfriend for an hour or so. She's clearly been drinking all evening, but she's coherent and it was a really nice conversation. And then her roommates and their SOs show up, ready to leave, and I'm like, well, I'll go too, I'm not staying here, so I get ready to walk back to the dorm. And she freaks out at the idea of me walking back to the dorm alone.

Never mind I hadn't had anything to drink in, oh, 8 hours, and that was maybe 2 drinks, though they were my first ever. And I was walking from about the burger king to harmon. Which for the non-K people out there was, oh, less than two blocks for sure, maybe not even much more than one, almost exclusively on campus, which means bright bright lights and all. She's drunk and *so* worried that she makes her whole group of like, 6 people, walk up with me. and we get to anderson, which is the building behind my dorm, with steps up the side to the back entrance, which is right by my door. I think they come up the steps even there and cross over to the back there, I go up the side steps alone, and she's still so worried. "Are you sure you'll be okay? Do you need us to go with you?" by the time I'm out of their sight, I'm all of 5 feet from my door, and 6 feet from my bedroom window. It's still one of my favorite memories.