Stories, tapes and rejects.

I wrote most of chapter 14 of Fumets. It is not coming easy. This and the next chapter are fighting back. I need an extra chapter to separate them and I am not sure how to do it.

I got back a reject from OSG IGMS 62 days. They are getting way behind in slush.

Baen on the other hand has a two day or even less turn around, so I re-wrote the rejected story, adding a spare character to the action mix to make it more interesting, and I shipped it off to Baen. It's hard SF with military action so there if they reject it, this story goes into the trunk. There ain't no other markets for it.

I finished three books on tape by Richard Marcinko. I wish I could cuss like that man. The plots were so heavily abridged that I had no idea what was going on in any of the books, but I still like them. I am about half way through writing a SEALS in space story inspired by the Rogue Warrior books, but without the profanity. I know better than to even try to emulate such an artist.

I am currently listening to Arthur C. Clark's 2061 on tape. It is so abridged that I can't follow the plot. I did not read any of the previous books, so I am mostly lost. I always get these Clark tapes, heavily abridged, and always third of fourth in a series. I didn't like the Rama book, or the Childhood's End sequel, and I don't like this. I liked Clark when I read him back in the 1960s. I wish I could find an audio version of Tales of the White Hart.

The interesting thing about the 2001 series of books is that the name of character Heywood Floyd, is the same name as a character in of one of the H. Rider Haggard novels, although I can't remember which one. Heywood Floyd was also used as a dime novel hero emulated in the long dead TV show The Gold Monkey.