Ephemeris Racicotis

I've been working on a book about certain Victorian/Edwardian fiction as successors to the medieval dream vision genre, under contract with McFarland publishers, due Much Too Soon. In particular, I'll be discussing:

• Dickens, A Christmas Carol
• Carroll, Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass and What Alice Found There
• Wells, The Time Machine
• Morris, News from Nowhere
• Wilde, "The Young King"
• Barrie, Peter Pan
• Lewis, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe and Out of the Silent Planet
• Hawthorne, "Young Goodman Brown"
• Irving, "Rip Van Winkle"
• Baum, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900 novel and 1939 film)
• Lovecraft, still deciding what Lovecraft to use.

If time permits, I may include Twain, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court as well.

Have been organizing my thoughts in a wordpress blog, here: Racicot, Dreaming

Here is a tiny lilac puppy I made for a cousin who needs cheering up

Having told them TWICE that I intended to buy my contacts elsewhere, I received a call from them today telling me that my contacts were in. Morons.

Yelp Reviews

I assume these glowing reviews were written by the staff and friends and family of Dr. Saragas. I have had two appointments so far with them, a regular eye exam and a followup.

* I have not yet been taken on time.
* The receptionist came just this side of calling me a liar and a fraud when I asked her to charge the co-pay to my FSA, and she delayed my appointment even further by insisting on talking not just to my insurance company but also to some other person, to whom she lamented repeatedly "but how do I BILL it?".
* When I had a problem with my contacts and asked for a follow-up appointment, she tried to brush me off, then offered me an appointment in mid-April (it was early March at the time), and only after I offered to find a new doctor did she finally set me up with an acceptable appointment. And even THAT was over a week later.
* The doctor is nice, and I am sure he is good at what he does, but he seemed impatient to get me in and out. When I said I wanted to get contacts, he and the receptionist both sighed audibly and said that was a separate appointment. When I pointed out that I had told them before BOOKING the appointment that I wanted contacts, they grudgingly agreed to do the contacts-related stuff.
* Twice the receptionist has said she would order contacts for me, and call me when they arrived. She never called either time.

On the whole, I am very unsatisfied with the service.

Check out this LiveJournal thread for more negative reviews

We've published another story set in the harbor town of Silence. This one is called Lazarus Had It Easy, and it is the first piece we have published that was not written by one of the Pink Narcissus editors. It contains Puritan separatists - what could be better?

Meanwhile, some of you write stories, and some of you WANT to write stories. Please write stories and send them to us. So far, our editorial culture leans toward sending LAVISH suggestions for revision if we think a story is worth the effort but not yet ready for publication. Most people seem to appreciate the feedback.

Please check out our submission guidelines.

Since today is Friday, we've published another Chronicles of Silence story on the Pink Narcissus Press website. This one features the scarlet-haired gentleman drinking gin in "Mystery's Meat." The story is called "Jedediah Sharp, Witch Hunter Ordinaire", and it's by my incredibly talented friend Rose Mambert. I hope you like it!

To help potential contributors get a sense of what kind of stories we like, each editor at the Pink Narcissus Press is writing a short story set in a shared town called Silence. These stories will be published on the website, I guess about one a week. There will be at least three, and maybe up to five stories total, and there's also a MAP, which I think is super fun. We're also hoping this might attract readers, because we love readers.

Anyhow, my story is the first one up there. Check it out!

Hey so, it occurs to me that with a technical writing background and a PhD that focuses on medieval literature, I might be able to work for a game company helping to design content for tabletop RPGs. Anyone have thoughts how to go about breaking into such a career?

1. I am still not a famous rock singer. I have plenty of free time, though. Hook me up.
2. Meanwhile, I am helping a couple of friends found a publishing house focusing on genre fiction. Check out the Pink Narcissus Press. We're currently looking for fiction submissions for an anthology on the loose theme "elf love". I encourage extreme/unexpected interpretations of that theme. We're also looking for artists. Please check out the website for details on either opportunity.
3. Finally, it's just a couple more weeks until the big MS charity bike ride. Please consider making a donation. Thanks!!!

This year will be my 12th year riding in the Cape Cod Getaway, a 150 mile charity bike ride to end Multiple Sclerosis. The two-day ride starts at the Marina in Quincy, MA and goes to Provincetown.

I want to take this opportunity to say thanks to those of you who have donated in the past. I really appreciate your help! I know times are pretty tight right now, so I imagine that many of you won't be able to donate as much, or at all, but if you can do so, I hope you will make a pledge.

Thanks in advance if you make a donation!!! And if you find you can't do it this year, please accept my thanks for your past support.

Here is a link to the donation page if you would like to make a pledge.

If you want to donate but aren't comfortable using the web for that, I can also take checks, made out to "NMSS" or to "National MS Society."

Thanks!!!