I'm Da' Man!!

Of course, it figures: just when I have some good new to impart, Blogger decides to screw with me. I am writing this offline because the system just won’t let me log on at the moment. Ah well, such is life.

So, the weekend was going reasonably well: we ordered our kitchen cabinets and counters on Saturday for a reasonable price (even got 12 months no pay/no finance!) and I was browsing the web for info on appliances, etc. when the wife went out to get the mail and came rushing in with a large manila envelope that has my name on it. Our first thought was: it’s from an agent!! But I looked at the return address and saw it wasn’t from anyone I’d sent to, so I opened it up, having no clue what it was and my jaw damn near hit the floor when I saw it was a check (albeit a small one) and a magazine with my name on the cover!!

Aoife’s Kiss is a quarterly magazine that I had submitted a short story to, called “Kyli’s Tune” about eight months back. The editor (brilliant man, named Tyree Campell!) liked it and asked me to make one or two minor edits (which I happily did) and re-submit it. I sent the changes along, but I never heard back from him. I sent a follow up e-mail about three months ago, but still no word so I just shrugged and figured he’d decided to pass on it. Can’t tell you how thrilled I was when I popped open that envelope and saw my name. This makes for my second actual short story sale, which is a great ego boost for me, what with all those queries out there hovering over my head. I haven’t really focused very much on selling my short stories (I’m a novelist at heart) and it’s nice to know some folks think I can actually write well enough to be paid for it. Do two sales make me a pro? Nah, probably not but it’s still a lot of fun to see that name “J.A. Coppinger” in print!!!!! (BTW: have to say that I love the initials thing: it’s so . . . writerly!) You can order a single issue of the magazine here if you’re interested.

My son grabbed the magazine as soon as he saw it. He wanted to be the first to read it. I’m pretty sure this is the first time he’s ever read any of my stuff. He knows that I write but he’s never read any of it. I was a little nervous but he really liked it. (could have just been politeness, but I don’t think so . . .) He suggests expanding the story into a novel; he thought the world setting was very cool. The wife also read & liked but only in a so-so way: she’s not a big fan of F&SF. The boy is a fantasy freak though, so it was cool that he liked it. He was also pretty impressed that my name was actually on the cover (as was I!) I think he liked that his dad was more than just the silly, fat, old dork he usually thinks I am!

I had the chance to finish “Eldest” by Chris Paolini this weekend. It was a fun read but it was not quite the feature my son had told me it was. The book is very derivative. In a lot of cases I could pick out character/situations that were lifted wholesale from famous novels, and in other cases the writing was just a bit immature, with some glaring errors in experience and viewpoint. That’s to be expected; the author’s only 21 and I’d guess most of his experiences have come from books. Chris Paolini is a fine writer though: he takes the reader on a fun journey and does a good job with his prose. The pacing is good, though the characters are a little wooden. Their depth will come with personal experience, I have no doubt. In a few more years he will be wonderful; all that he has to worry about is people always thinking of him as: “That kid author” and not giving his work a fair chance. I hope that doesn’t happen. Chris has all the tools he needs; they just need a touch more sharpening. All-in-all “Eldest” was worth the purchase price and works well for what it is: a YA novel of high adventure.

Later!