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HERE IT IS -- THE ENTIRE WHORTLEBERRY COLLECTION, ON ONE SHELF!
All Whortleberry writers, Take a bow! Every one of you WhP authors has had a part in creating this, our Whortleberry Press bookshelf. Yes, I finally rounded up a copy of each of our 40-some books in print. This is what they look like. The dragon was the cover model for one of our Valentines book, and he stayed around.
To those who asked about titles, here they are, from left; A Caged Child Still sings; Anotherealm's Greatest Hits; Cats Around the Christmas Tree, Cats Rule the World...?, Catty New Year, Cheer Up - Universe, Christmas Angels, Christmas in Outer Space, Christmas Peace On (All) the Earth(s), Colonel Anne Mackintosh - Scotland's 'Beautiful Rebel,' Conversations with a Cat, Dear Valentine, Free Range Fairy Tales, Halloween Dances with the Dead, Halloween Hell-o-ween, Heaven's Realm, How To Be a Ouija Board Wizard, It Was A Dark and Stormy Halloween, Knoxville Borough; A History, Manimals!, Officer Kit, Officer Kit - Your Safety Friend, Santa's Givings - and Misgivings, Strange Christmas, Strange Lucky Mysteries 5, Strange Lucky Valentines, Strange Mysteries, Strange Mysteries 2, Strange Mysteries 3, Strange Mysteries 5, Strange Summer Mysteries - A Day at the Beach, Strange Valentines, Tara's Story - conversations With a Cat, The 12 Works of the Shmo, The Schrodinger Dialogs, The Twelve Cats of Christmas, Warriors of Light, Whortleberry Summer and You Can Write Fiction.
Let us know what you think on the Forum page, okay?
-- Jean
Here's front cover of Bradbury Tribute book, due out this summer.
Lee Kuruganti has outdone herself with this wonderful cover. Deadline for stories is May 1.
February 9, 2012
Enough holiday happiness was found in the Strange Christmas antho to last all year. These outstanding stories/writers are examples:
AWARDS 2012
FOR
STRANGE CHRISTMAS
CONGRATULATIONS TO
LARRY LEFKOWITZ
FOR THE BEST HORROR STORY OF
STRANGE CHRISTMAS
CONGRATULATIONS TO
KITTY SARKOZY
FOR THE BEST FANTASY OF
STRANGE CHRISTMAS
CONGRATULATIONS TO
TED ZAHRFELD
FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY OF
STRANGE CHRISTMAS
CONGRATULATIONS TO
ARTHUR CAREY
FOR THE BEST STORY OF
STRANGE CHRISTMAS
And now, just one more award. A well-deserved Bravo and Cheers for Arthur Sanchez -- for his heroic efforts as Associate Editor of Strange Summer Mysteries. Step up, Arthur, and take your bow.
Again, your thoughts? Post them on the Forum, please! Its hot link is at the left of the opening screen HERE.
To return to main page click here.
February 2, 2013
No tricks, just treats in the Strange Halloween antho, from these outstanding writers;
AWARDS 2012
FOR
STRANGE HALLOWEEN
CONGRATULATIONS TO
ANNA TABORSKA
FOR THE BEST HORROR STORY OF
STRANGE HALLOWEEN
CONGRATULATIONS TO
TERRY OPARKA
FOR THE BEST FANTASY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
M. FRANK DARBE
FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
GEORGE SCHAADE
FOR THE BEST STORY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
Again, your thoughts? Post them on the Forum, please! Its hot link is at the left of the opening screen HERE.
January 26, 2013
And still they come! More awards -- these are for 2012's Strange Summer Mysteries.
AWARDS 2012
FOR
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
MARIAN POWELL
FOR THE BEST HORROR STORY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
WARREN BULL
FOR THE BEST FANTASY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
CHET GOTTFRIED
FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
STEVEN FORD
FOR THE BEST STORY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
Again, your thoughts? Post them on the Forum, please! Its hot link is at the left of the opening screen HERE.
January 19, 2013
What's a good encore for 2012 awards? How about _more_ awards? Here they are, for 2012's Strange Mysteries 4.
AWARDS 2012
FOR
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
CONGRATULATIONS TO
DAVID HUGHES
FOR THE BEST HORROR STORY OF
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
CONGRATULATIONS TO
JAMES HARTLEY
FOR THE BEST FANTASY OF
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
CONGRATULATIONS TO
ARTHUR CAREY
FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY OF
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
CONGRATULATIONS TO
WARREN BULL
FOR THE BEST STORY OF
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
Again, your thoughts? Post them on the Forum, please! Its hot link is at the left of the opening screen HERE.
Here they are, the first of the 2012 writing awards described here last week. Congratulations to all!
AWARDS 2012
FOR
STRANGE VALENTINES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
DAVID PERLMUTTER
FOR THE BEST HORROR STORY OF
STRANGE VALENTINES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
LYN MCCONCHIE
FOR THE BEST FANTASY OF
STRANGE VALENTINES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
MARILYN K. MARTIN
FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY OF
STRANGE VALENTINES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
RACHEL AYERS
FOR THE BEST STORY OF
STRANGE VALENTINES
NOTE: Let us know if you agree/disagree with our Anonymous Committee's choices -- post your thoughts on our Forum. (Hot link on main page at left.)
Return to main page HERE.
January 3, 2013
WHORTLEBERRY PRESS AWARDS FOR 2012 WRITING
How to recognize some of the wonderful writing that Whortleberry Press has had the pleasure of presenting to our readers?
That's a tough question, but we've come up with an answer this year. We've asked three friends who are very interested in literature to get together, read our 2012 books, and come up with some recognition. They agreed to do this, on the condition of anonymity. Here's what we can tell you about our Awards Committee:
-- Committee Member #1 teaches literature in a state university.
-- Committee Member #2 teaches English in a public high school.
-- Committee Member #3 is a Creative Director at an advertising agency.
Thanks to these kind friends, we are ready to offer awards in the form of graphics suitable for display on web sites, home pages, etc. They will be awarded in the following categories;
In each of our five anthologies:
-- Best science fiction story;
-- Best fantasy story;
-- Best horror story;
-- Best story overall
We'll start presenting these awards next week.
P.S. I don't agree with every one of these awards.
Another P.S. -- Here's what these award graphics will look like:
--Jean
January 1, 2013
This past year took with it three wonderful writers.
One, of course, is Ray Bradbury. We are planning a tribute book for this summer -- be thinking about your story. The idea is NOT to try to write in Bradbury's style, of course, but to reflect something of what his writing meant or said to you.
It's not an easy task, I agree. But with Ahmed Khan at the helm, we'll give it a try. (See Writers' Guidelines for details.)
We also lost Walt Staples, one of our wonderful Whortleberry Press writers. He gave us two delightful stories, "Old Married Couple" in Strange Valentines 2012, and "The Christmas Fool" in Christmas, Peace On (All The) Earth(s) 2010. Walt was active in the Catholic Writers' Guild, and I understand they are planning an anthology of his works. We'll keep you posted as we learn more.
Jim Sunderland also left this life in 2012. Jim is the author of Conversations With A Cat, which to me may be the most endearing cat book I have ever read. It's about Tara, an orphaned Siamese kitten, who is found and adopted by an engineer who lives in Namibia...a guy who looks and sounds very much like Jim and his beloved cat(s). He provided their pictures provided their pictures for the book covers covers. We published his book in 2006. In his memory, I'm going to reformat and republish a new edition of his charming book later this year -- stand by for details.
-- Jean
Dec. 22, 2012
Strange Lucky Valentines covers from our wonderful artist, Lee Kuruganti
Dec. 6, 2012
A Review of Strange Christmas which appeard on Lyn McConchie's blog, under "Reviews;"
STRANGE CHRISTMAS anthology, Edited Jean Goldstrom,
6 December 2012
guest review by Steve Johnson.
Another very solid anthology from Whortleberry Press in the USA. As usual since Lyn has a story in this I'm reviewing and can say what I like without anyone blaming her. In this case there isn't much blame likely. There was only one story that I really didn't like, and several that weren’t badly written but didn’t have that much of an impact. However a lot of the stories I really enjoyed. Arthur Carey's, The More Things Change, I found poignant, amusing, and fun. I loved Lyn's story, Arafel. But then I too am a cat lover and enjoy a good ghost tale so this one hit both my buttons. Elf in the Attic by Ray Rebbman and Dead People's Stuff by Dianne Arrelle, both had all the right ingredients too. I liked Best Gift and it’s nice to see a Christmas other than on earth. And finally A Legend of Christmas Past was a very well-written and gentle ghost story with a perfect ending.
Six out of 19 stories were tales that I really enjoyed. That's a pretty good average for an anthology. So let’s look at some of the others. I found A Seabolt Family Christmas a little plotless. A New Tattoo For Christmas relied on a punny ending, apart from which it too didn’t have much of a plot. The Stellar Snowstorm, Death of Santa Claus, and A Christmas Tail were all pleasant enough but not outstanding. Proof didn't impress me a lot, although it was readable, ditto Trees, and all of the other stories unmentioned for that description, save The Christmas Collection. Yes, I know people still do awful things at Christmas, the same as they do at other times. This story was well-written, but frankly I don't need to be reminded that there are serial killers out there, not in a collection of Christmas stories. Okay, maybe that's unreasonable but I can only write as I find and for me, this particular story almost put me off continuing to read the anthology. However when you consider the numbers this is a good anthology. I really liked six stories, found twelve pleasant and readable, and only disliked one. And that one is the victim of personal preference, other readers may love it – my wife did. Lyn tells me that she has work in the next anthology from this publisher and I look forward to borrowing it.
Nov. 2, 2012
Here's the back cover for Strange Christmas. Pretty snazzy, right? And if you see any mistakes (mine, of course, not our wonderful artist Lee Kuruganti), do let me know.
October 20, 2012
Lucky Whortleberry Press! We are lucky enough to have obtained some wonderful volunteer Associate Editors for 2013. Yes, that "13" is an omen of luck -- good or bad? -- so our titles and Associate Editors for the coming year are:
James Hartley Jr. -- Lucky Valentine
Arthur Sanchez -- Strange Lucky Mysteries 5
Ahmed A. Khan -- Tribute to Ray Bradbury
Sandi Reed-Chan -- Lucky Halloween
David Perlmutter -- Lucky Christmas
And as if that weren't fortunate enough, we are lucky enough to have outstanding volunteer Associate Editors for 2014, warming up in the batter's box. They are:
Al Bixby
Roger Tunnell
Tim Tobin
Alan Ira Gordon
I think 2013 is going to be a lucky year for Whortleberry Press -- and also 2014!
--Jean
October 6, 2012
Here's an advanced peek at the contents of Strange Christmas:
A Seabolt Family Christmas -- Wayne Scheer
The Christmas Raffle -- Alan Ira Gordon
Elf in the Attic -- Ray Rebmann
Noir Noel -- Kitty A. Sarkozy
Christmas Ties -- Allan Izen
Proof -- Tammy A. Branom
Dead People's Stuff -- Diane Arrelle (Dina A. Leacock)
The Christmas Collection -- Teresa Leigh Judd
The Christmas Tail -- R. A. Andrade
The Death of Santa Claus -- Danielle Davis
The Legend of Christmas Past -- Tim Tobin
The Stellar Snowstorm -- Richard Dyer
Trees -- James Hartley
A Slight Matter of Contract -- Larry Lefkowitz
Arafel -- Lyn McConchie
Best Gift -- Dana Bell
The More Things Change -- Art Carey
A New Tattoo for Christmas -- Marian Powell
Christmas Day 3014 The Front -- Ted Zahrfeld
Some new friends, some old friends -- looking good, right?
-- Jean
August 26, 2012
Here's the update on costs of 'Strange Halloween.' It's going to be $18.95
per copy. Yeah, bummer, I agree. But I can't go on subsidizing the cost of
paper copies. The last Whortleberry Press check I wrote...bounced. Ugh! So
I must be straight with you and tell you that the _real_ cost is: $18.95,
and that is what the forthcoming book is going to cost.
Sale of this title will determine our future. If enough people buy the
paperback for the title to break even -- meaning if it brings in enough $$$
to pay the writers and pay our printer -- we can go on publishing books on
paper.
If it doesn't break even...we are going to have to go to ebooks/pdf _only_
for our next book, which will be 'Strange Christmas.'
Yes, I hear your thoughts about doing both, and I agree. I will indeed
bring out an ebook of Strange Halloween; but it seems the going price for
ebooks is .99 cents. That is not going to pay the writers and the printer.
And it takes time to format an ebook. So the ebook will not be coming out
right away.
Wish I had better $$$ news for you.
-------------------------------
But, on the brighter side of things -- I'm making a new page for this
website, to highlight all of those recognitions you have received. It might
be a good review, an interesting interview, a prize or award -- anything
you want to tell your friends here about.
I know a number of you have received worthy recognitions, but I just didn't
know how to spotlight them. One way, however, is to make a special page on
which you can report your news.. Now -- what shall we call it?
"Recognitions" seems a bit...mundane. I'm sure you can think of brighter
and better ideas. Please post your thoughts on the Forum page. Thanks!
BTW, what brought this on was, I received two wonderful pre-publication
reviews for my "News Stories" antho. Of course I wanted to tell all you
friends about it...but how? Then I realized, so many of you have also
received worthy recognitions -- I"ve seen them on your websites -- perhaps
you have the same feelings. So, please help think of a good name for this
section of our WhP website, and plan to send me some info on your
recogntion(s). Thanks in advance!
-- Jean
August 23, 2012
Strange Halloween's back cover; authors, please check and make sure I have your name correctly spelled. Thanks.
Strange Halloween cover from our wonderful artist, Lee Kuruganti
Strange Halloween Guide
A Second Proposed Cover from our artist
The Story Behind the Cover
Here's the story behind the cover. Our artist is as generous as she is talented. She gave us two covers -- the one beside this article, and the one above. I like the one above, as it is based on a story in the book, "Clothes Call," by George Schaade. The story is set at a Halloween party, and all the costumed people have become their costumed character. I was a bit puzzled about who was who, until Lee graciously created the visual explanatory art with "labels." She also sent the following explanation:
"The sitting characters are Vampire on the left, (He has blood on his shirt,) Pirate and Zombie with a little radioactive green and brown rotting flesh. On his arm is a crow pal. On the floor before the sitting guys is a dragon lying near the Vampire (Let sleeping dragons lie!) and a black panther. I was going to go with a more tradtional black cat as a Halloween symbol, but a black panther is way more cool-- Don't wanna cross his path! -- and he is the resident bar cat. Behind the sitting guys are the Hippie Girl in tie-dye, Sexy Waitress, and Pumpkin Jack, a symbol of Halloween and apparently a party crasher. Pee Wee Herman is not in the picture -- he went to the restroom. Captain Kirk, Spock and Harry Potter have their pictures on the wall (Squint and you can make them out. They are going to arrive fashionably late.) The pile is actually a plate of brains, a zombie delicacy, here with a side of vintage blood and grog."
I think Lee has outdone herself with these great covers. I'm going to go with the top one, but wanted you to see and enjoy the second one as well. Let me know your thoughts, on the Forum. See you there!
--Jean
August 1, 2012
Here's the problem. Production costs have gone way up. We can no longer give you 23 stories for $15.95 as we did with Strange Mysteries 4, or even16 stories for $15.95 as we did with Strange Summer Mysteries; A Day at the Beach.
We must do one of three things; (1) charge more, (2) print less or (3) go to a non-paper format, as in a pdf on CD-ROM. Please let me know your preference below -- thanks for your help.
-- Jean
web polls
June 23, 2012
Aabout last week's vote to decide between Cover A and Cover B, you chose cover A. And a good choice it was! (Cover B was a good choice, too, and only came in second by a couple of votes.)
Now, take a look at Lee Kuruganti's graceful back cover. Especially if you're an author with a work in our Strange Summer Mysteries; A Day at the Beach. Please make sure I've spelled your name correctly. If not, please let me know.
Now, here's important news about Strange Mysteries 5, slated for publication in 2013. Associate Editor Arthur Sanchez will be editing it. He did such a super job on Strange Summer Mysteries; A Day at the Beach, I know SM5 will be in good hands.
Arthur has already created a special email address where writers may send their submissions for SM5. It is, not surprisingly, WhopMystery@yahoo.com. The same dear old "secret words" will still be in effect. If you don't know what they are, you can easily find out by reading our "Writer's Guidelines." That's at the left of the opening screen at http://WhortleberryPress.com.
Don't miss our Forum today. (Click on the hot link at the left of our opening screen.) Several interesting posts -- let us know what _you_ think!
-- Jean
Strange Summer Mysteries -- A
Strange Summer Mysteries Back Cover
April 14, 2012
I promised you a treat, and it's waiting for you.
Let me explain; Many long years ago, when I was editing http://Anotherealm.com, I received a wonderful story from a writer unknown to me, Joseph Wise. Since that time, I have often wished I had a copy of Joseph Wise's totally charming story, "Detrie Furniture." Imagine this -- in a dusty corner of a computer I don't often use, I have found just such a copy! So, the treat awaiting you is "Detrie Furniture" HERE. Enjoy -- and please vote at the end of the story so I will know if you liked this story as much as I did.
And please, if you know who Joseph Wise is, or how to contact him, do let me know. I would love to hear from him again.
Meantime, many thanks to all of you who took part in last week's critique of stories in Strange Mysteries 4. I've received several notes from writers saying how much they enjoyed reading your comments on their stories. I enjoyed reading them too, and found them very helpful. So again, thanks.
-- Jean
April 7, 2012
You asked for it, here it is!
Last week we talked about the possibilities of feedback for our authors, maybe in a place where people could post anonymously so as not to offend or hurt the people whose stories they are posting about. I made the place above earlier this week, and I'm delighted to see people have been using it all week. There haven't been any wiseguy posts, but I'll keep watching just to make sure none show up. Please do our authors a favor and post what you thought about any of the Strange Mysteries 4 stories. Thanks!
-- Jean
March 31, 2012
To everyone who took part in last week's poll, thanks! I am convinced now that people who buy our anthos actually read them. Now, on to the next point: How can we get the people who read our authors' work to give the authors some feedback? Feedback is important. We all need it. I have tried and tried to get people to comment on our writers' work -- unsuccessfully, so far. So I'm asking your opinion -- how can we do this? What kind of environment would it take for you to post that you liked a certain story because -- etc etc. Or a certain point in a certain story troubled you because -- etc. Would posting these observations anonymously help? I can fix a Forum so people can post anonymously (and I will quickly delete any wise guy remarks which take advantage of the anonymous posting.) Or what else would you think could encourage that very important element of feedback for our authors? Please post your thoughts on our Forum. Thanks in advance.
-- Jean
March 24, 2012
Please respond to this little poll. Thanks in advance! (Just ignore the query in blue at the top of the poll. I can't seem to get rid of it.)
-- Jean
March 17, 2012
Hello and happy St. Patty's Day!
Here's a bit of news, prompted by Tim's question on our Forum. He pointed out that no theme had been stated for this year's coming anthos in our Writers' Guidelines. That was because I was trying to figure out what would be good themes -- then I realized,your ideas are at least as good as mine, if not better. So, there won't be any themes this year. _You_ decide what theme you want for your story. Well, that's as long as your story is a Halloween one, in sf/f/h, for the Halloween antho; a Christmas story for the Christmas antho, also in sf/f/h, and the same for Strange Mysteries and Strange Valentines.
Have fun!
Also, hope you are working on or thinking about our coming summer antho, which has the theme of "Beach Reading." Arthur Sanchez is riding herd on this project: You can send your stories to him at whopsummer@yahoo.com, and the pw there is !summerfun11. I will be cheering Arthur and everyone on from the sidelines. Go, Whortleberry Summer!
One more thing, a request. Take a look at our opening screen, at http://WhortleberryPress.com. You will see I have moved the information bar to a position below the newest antho. I'm not sure that position is any better than putting it above the antho, at the top of the page. So please help on this one -- which do you think is better? Should the information bar be above the first antho, or below it as you now see. Which do you think would make it easier for new visitors to find their way around? I've posted a question about this on our Forum. That might be a good place to discuss this.
Thanks for your thoughts.
-- Jean
December 3, 2011
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
A Day At The Beach
Deadline May 15, 2012
Reading period May 15 - June 15
Format June 15 - June 30
Publication date July 1, 2012
This one is a little different from our other collections in that it will be entirely edited by our Asst. Editor: Arthur Sanchez. (Jean will be taking a well-deserved vacation.) Submissions for Strange Summer Mysteries: A Day At The Beach will not be accepted at our regular email address but instead should be sent to: WHOPSummer@Yahoo.com. Same rules apply as to reading the Stylebook. So, read the Stylebook.
The theme for this collection is: "A Day At The Beach." Does that mean that your story has to be about a "a day at the beach?" No. It can be about how life isn't like a day at the beach. Or, it can involve the events that follow a very important day at the beach. All we ask is that it be Speculative Fiction, involve a mystery, and somehow relate to a day at the beach. So feel free to write about the beach on an alien world that runs along a ammonia sea, or a wizard's duel fought in the surf, or the insatiable hunger of sand fleas gone mad. Have fun with it.
Also, since we will be reading ALL of the stories submitted by the deadline, there will be competition for getting into the collection. Arthur will be happy to offer suggestions that could help get your story into the running. If you would welcome feedback on your story, please say so. Otherwise, Arthur will reject stories with the standard: "not right for our collection" tag line.
Email any questions you have to WHOPSummer@Yahoo.com and keep you eyes on the Forum as Arthur will be posting announcements and opinions designed to give you a better idea of what he's looking to include in the anthology.
December 1, 2011
Writers with stories in Strange Valentines 2012
Alyson B. Cresswell
Barry R Hunter
Carl Palmer
David Perlmutter
Elizabeth Creith
Glen Batchelor
J. J. Steinfeld
James Hartley
Janett L. Grady
Jeffery Scott Sims
Ken Staley
Lyn Mcconchie
Marilyn K. Martin
Mark Mills
Peter Lingard
Rachel Ayers
Sherry Chancellor
T.L. Bodine
Walt Staples
Writers, if there is any error in your name, please let me know now.
--Jean
November 27, 2011
One of our writers, Marilyn Martin, mentioned to me a very interesting site where people can get their YA books promoted -- for free, even! Here is her info, which she graciously allowed me to reprint to inform you:
As a new writer, I was in the same boat of trying to find free and honest reviewers that weren't "sock puppets", or friends and family. I did a Google search of "free reviewers of YA Science Fiction", and sent out a lot of e-mails - most of which went unanswered.
TeensReadToo.com is a review site for teen books, and they responded. One of their reviewers agreed to read and review my books, and I sent the reviewer a copy of my books. Six months later she posted her reviews on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (on-line). It was all free, except for my small expense of mailing the reviewer my books. Months later, I was awarded their Gold Star For Excellence awards. (I'm not sure how that worked, but I guessed maybe another reviewer and/or the lady that runs the site did a confirmation-review, and then awarded the Gold Stars.)
The reviewer - whom I thanked - said she'd passed on my books to her sister who was a teacher, and her students read the books. This is important too, since with school libraries being closed in budget crunches, many teachers are starting their own lending-libraries in their classrooms. I'm not benefiting from all these readers monetarily, but perhaps I'll have a small-and-growing audience ready when I publish the rest of the books in the series.
So Good Luck in dealing with the site. The ladies are very nice, just be prepared to wait up to 6 months (or more) for a reply.
Marilyn K. Martin
Thanks, Marilyn -- this is definitely interesting!
-- Jean
November 13, 2011
Looks like our forthcoming antho is going to be STRANGE VALENTINES -- it polled twice as many votes as the runner-up. Thanks to all who participated.
-- Jean
To return to main page click HERE.
AWARDS 2012
FORSTRANGE CHRISTMAS |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
And now, just one more award. A well-deserved Bravo and Cheers for Arthur Sanchez -- for his heroic efforts as Associate Editor of Strange Summer Mysteries. Step up, Arthur, and take your bow.
Again, your thoughts? Post them on the Forum, please! Its hot link is at the left of the opening screen HERE.
To return to main page click here.
February 2, 2013
No tricks, just treats in the Strange Halloween antho, from these outstanding writers;
AWARDS 2012
FOR
STRANGE HALLOWEEN
CONGRATULATIONS TO
ANNA TABORSKA
FOR THE BEST HORROR STORY OF
STRANGE HALLOWEEN
CONGRATULATIONS TO
TERRY OPARKA
FOR THE BEST FANTASY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
M. FRANK DARBE
FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
GEORGE SCHAADE
FOR THE BEST STORY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
Again, your thoughts? Post them on the Forum, please! Its hot link is at the left of the opening screen HERE.
January 26, 2013
And still they come! More awards -- these are for 2012's Strange Summer Mysteries.
AWARDS 2012
FOR
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
MARIAN POWELL
FOR THE BEST HORROR STORY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
WARREN BULL
FOR THE BEST FANTASY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
CHET GOTTFRIED
FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
STEVEN FORD
FOR THE BEST STORY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
Again, your thoughts? Post them on the Forum, please! Its hot link is at the left of the opening screen HERE.
January 19, 2013
What's a good encore for 2012 awards? How about _more_ awards? Here they are, for 2012's Strange Mysteries 4.
AWARDS 2012
FOR
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
CONGRATULATIONS TO
DAVID HUGHES
FOR THE BEST HORROR STORY OF
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
CONGRATULATIONS TO
JAMES HARTLEY
FOR THE BEST FANTASY OF
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
CONGRATULATIONS TO
ARTHUR CAREY
FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY OF
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
CONGRATULATIONS TO
WARREN BULL
FOR THE BEST STORY OF
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
Again, your thoughts? Post them on the Forum, please! Its hot link is at the left of the opening screen HERE.
Here they are, the first of the 2012 writing awards described here last week. Congratulations to all!
AWARDS 2012
FOR
STRANGE VALENTINES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
DAVID PERLMUTTER
FOR THE BEST HORROR STORY OF
STRANGE VALENTINES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
LYN MCCONCHIE
FOR THE BEST FANTASY OF
STRANGE VALENTINES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
MARILYN K. MARTIN
FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY OF
STRANGE VALENTINES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
RACHEL AYERS
FOR THE BEST STORY OF
STRANGE VALENTINES
NOTE: Let us know if you agree/disagree with our Anonymous Committee's choices -- post your thoughts on our Forum. (Hot link on main page at left.)
Return to main page HERE.
January 3, 2013
WHORTLEBERRY PRESS AWARDS FOR 2012 WRITING
How to recognize some of the wonderful writing that Whortleberry Press has had the pleasure of presenting to our readers?
That's a tough question, but we've come up with an answer this year. We've asked three friends who are very interested in literature to get together, read our 2012 books, and come up with some recognition. They agreed to do this, on the condition of anonymity. Here's what we can tell you about our Awards Committee:
-- Committee Member #1 teaches literature in a state university.
-- Committee Member #2 teaches English in a public high school.
-- Committee Member #3 is a Creative Director at an advertising agency.
Thanks to these kind friends, we are ready to offer awards in the form of graphics suitable for display on web sites, home pages, etc. They will be awarded in the following categories;
In each of our five anthologies:
-- Best science fiction story;
-- Best fantasy story;
-- Best horror story;
-- Best story overall
We'll start presenting these awards next week.
P.S. I don't agree with every one of these awards.
Another P.S. -- Here's what these award graphics will look like:
--Jean
January 1, 2013
This past year took with it three wonderful writers.
One, of course, is Ray Bradbury. We are planning a tribute book for this summer -- be thinking about your story. The idea is NOT to try to write in Bradbury's style, of course, but to reflect something of what his writing meant or said to you.
It's not an easy task, I agree. But with Ahmed Khan at the helm, we'll give it a try. (See Writers' Guidelines for details.)
We also lost Walt Staples, one of our wonderful Whortleberry Press writers. He gave us two delightful stories, "Old Married Couple" in Strange Valentines 2012, and "The Christmas Fool" in Christmas, Peace On (All The) Earth(s) 2010. Walt was active in the Catholic Writers' Guild, and I understand they are planning an anthology of his works. We'll keep you posted as we learn more.
Jim Sunderland also left this life in 2012. Jim is the author of Conversations With A Cat, which to me may be the most endearing cat book I have ever read. It's about Tara, an orphaned Siamese kitten, who is found and adopted by an engineer who lives in Namibia...a guy who looks and sounds very much like Jim and his beloved cat(s). He provided their pictures provided their pictures for the book covers covers. We published his book in 2006. In his memory, I'm going to reformat and republish a new edition of his charming book later this year -- stand by for details.
-- Jean
Dec. 22, 2012
Strange Lucky Valentines covers from our wonderful artist, Lee Kuruganti
Dec. 6, 2012
A Review of Strange Christmas which appeard on Lyn McConchie's blog, under "Reviews;"
STRANGE CHRISTMAS anthology, Edited Jean Goldstrom,
6 December 2012
guest review by Steve Johnson.
Another very solid anthology from Whortleberry Press in the USA. As usual since Lyn has a story in this I'm reviewing and can say what I like without anyone blaming her. In this case there isn't much blame likely. There was only one story that I really didn't like, and several that weren’t badly written but didn’t have that much of an impact. However a lot of the stories I really enjoyed. Arthur Carey's, The More Things Change, I found poignant, amusing, and fun. I loved Lyn's story, Arafel. But then I too am a cat lover and enjoy a good ghost tale so this one hit both my buttons. Elf in the Attic by Ray Rebbman and Dead People's Stuff by Dianne Arrelle, both had all the right ingredients too. I liked Best Gift and it’s nice to see a Christmas other than on earth. And finally A Legend of Christmas Past was a very well-written and gentle ghost story with a perfect ending.
Six out of 19 stories were tales that I really enjoyed. That's a pretty good average for an anthology. So let’s look at some of the others. I found A Seabolt Family Christmas a little plotless. A New Tattoo For Christmas relied on a punny ending, apart from which it too didn’t have much of a plot. The Stellar Snowstorm, Death of Santa Claus, and A Christmas Tail were all pleasant enough but not outstanding. Proof didn't impress me a lot, although it was readable, ditto Trees, and all of the other stories unmentioned for that description, save The Christmas Collection. Yes, I know people still do awful things at Christmas, the same as they do at other times. This story was well-written, but frankly I don't need to be reminded that there are serial killers out there, not in a collection of Christmas stories. Okay, maybe that's unreasonable but I can only write as I find and for me, this particular story almost put me off continuing to read the anthology. However when you consider the numbers this is a good anthology. I really liked six stories, found twelve pleasant and readable, and only disliked one. And that one is the victim of personal preference, other readers may love it – my wife did. Lyn tells me that she has work in the next anthology from this publisher and I look forward to borrowing it.
Nov. 2, 2012
Here's the back cover for Strange Christmas. Pretty snazzy, right? And if you see any mistakes (mine, of course, not our wonderful artist Lee Kuruganti), do let me know.
October 20, 2012
Lucky Whortleberry Press! We are lucky enough to have obtained some wonderful volunteer Associate Editors for 2013. Yes, that "13" is an omen of luck -- good or bad? -- so our titles and Associate Editors for the coming year are:
James Hartley Jr. -- Lucky Valentine
Arthur Sanchez -- Strange Lucky Mysteries 5
Ahmed A. Khan -- Tribute to Ray Bradbury
Sandi Reed-Chan -- Lucky Halloween
David Perlmutter -- Lucky Christmas
And as if that weren't fortunate enough, we are lucky enough to have outstanding volunteer Associate Editors for 2014, warming up in the batter's box. They are:
Al Bixby
Roger Tunnell
Tim Tobin
Alan Ira Gordon
I think 2013 is going to be a lucky year for Whortleberry Press -- and also 2014!
--Jean
October 6, 2012
Here's an advanced peek at the contents of Strange Christmas:
A Seabolt Family Christmas -- Wayne Scheer
The Christmas Raffle -- Alan Ira Gordon
Elf in the Attic -- Ray Rebmann
Noir Noel -- Kitty A. Sarkozy
Christmas Ties -- Allan Izen
Proof -- Tammy A. Branom
Dead People's Stuff -- Diane Arrelle (Dina A. Leacock)
The Christmas Collection -- Teresa Leigh Judd
The Christmas Tail -- R. A. Andrade
The Death of Santa Claus -- Danielle Davis
The Legend of Christmas Past -- Tim Tobin
The Stellar Snowstorm -- Richard Dyer
Trees -- James Hartley
A Slight Matter of Contract -- Larry Lefkowitz
Arafel -- Lyn McConchie
Best Gift -- Dana Bell
The More Things Change -- Art Carey
A New Tattoo for Christmas -- Marian Powell
Christmas Day 3014 The Front -- Ted Zahrfeld
Some new friends, some old friends -- looking good, right?
-- Jean
August 26, 2012
Here's the update on costs of 'Strange Halloween.' It's going to be $18.95
per copy. Yeah, bummer, I agree. But I can't go on subsidizing the cost of
paper copies. The last Whortleberry Press check I wrote...bounced. Ugh! So
I must be straight with you and tell you that the _real_ cost is: $18.95,
and that is what the forthcoming book is going to cost.
Sale of this title will determine our future. If enough people buy the
paperback for the title to break even -- meaning if it brings in enough $$$
to pay the writers and pay our printer -- we can go on publishing books on
paper.
If it doesn't break even...we are going to have to go to ebooks/pdf _only_
for our next book, which will be 'Strange Christmas.'
Yes, I hear your thoughts about doing both, and I agree. I will indeed
bring out an ebook of Strange Halloween; but it seems the going price for
ebooks is .99 cents. That is not going to pay the writers and the printer.
And it takes time to format an ebook. So the ebook will not be coming out
right away.
Wish I had better $$$ news for you.
-------------------------------
But, on the brighter side of things -- I'm making a new page for this
website, to highlight all of those recognitions you have received. It might
be a good review, an interesting interview, a prize or award -- anything
you want to tell your friends here about.
I know a number of you have received worthy recognitions, but I just didn't
know how to spotlight them. One way, however, is to make a special page on
which you can report your news.. Now -- what shall we call it?
"Recognitions" seems a bit...mundane. I'm sure you can think of brighter
and better ideas. Please post your thoughts on the Forum page. Thanks!
BTW, what brought this on was, I received two wonderful pre-publication
reviews for my "News Stories" antho. Of course I wanted to tell all you
friends about it...but how? Then I realized, so many of you have also
received worthy recognitions -- I"ve seen them on your websites -- perhaps
you have the same feelings. So, please help think of a good name for this
section of our WhP website, and plan to send me some info on your
recogntion(s). Thanks in advance!
-- Jean
August 23, 2012
Strange Halloween's back cover; authors, please check and make sure I have your name correctly spelled. Thanks.
Strange Halloween cover from our wonderful artist, Lee Kuruganti
Strange Halloween Guide
A Second Proposed Cover from our artist
The Story Behind the Cover
Here's the story behind the cover. Our artist is as generous as she is talented. She gave us two covers -- the one beside this article, and the one above. I like the one above, as it is based on a story in the book, "Clothes Call," by George Schaade. The story is set at a Halloween party, and all the costumed people have become their costumed character. I was a bit puzzled about who was who, until Lee graciously created the visual explanatory art with "labels." She also sent the following explanation:
"The sitting characters are Vampire on the left, (He has blood on his shirt,) Pirate and Zombie with a little radioactive green and brown rotting flesh. On his arm is a crow pal. On the floor before the sitting guys is a dragon lying near the Vampire (Let sleeping dragons lie!) and a black panther. I was going to go with a more tradtional black cat as a Halloween symbol, but a black panther is way more cool-- Don't wanna cross his path! -- and he is the resident bar cat. Behind the sitting guys are the Hippie Girl in tie-dye, Sexy Waitress, and Pumpkin Jack, a symbol of Halloween and apparently a party crasher. Pee Wee Herman is not in the picture -- he went to the restroom. Captain Kirk, Spock and Harry Potter have their pictures on the wall (Squint and you can make them out. They are going to arrive fashionably late.) The pile is actually a plate of brains, a zombie delicacy, here with a side of vintage blood and grog."
I think Lee has outdone herself with these great covers. I'm going to go with the top one, but wanted you to see and enjoy the second one as well. Let me know your thoughts, on the Forum. See you there!
--Jean
August 1, 2012
Here's the problem. Production costs have gone way up. We can no longer give you 23 stories for $15.95 as we did with Strange Mysteries 4, or even16 stories for $15.95 as we did with Strange Summer Mysteries; A Day at the Beach.
We must do one of three things; (1) charge more, (2) print less or (3) go to a non-paper format, as in a pdf on CD-ROM. Please let me know your preference below -- thanks for your help.
-- Jean
web polls
June 23, 2012
Aabout last week's vote to decide between Cover A and Cover B, you chose cover A. And a good choice it was! (Cover B was a good choice, too, and only came in second by a couple of votes.)
Now, take a look at Lee Kuruganti's graceful back cover. Especially if you're an author with a work in our Strange Summer Mysteries; A Day at the Beach. Please make sure I've spelled your name correctly. If not, please let me know.
Now, here's important news about Strange Mysteries 5, slated for publication in 2013. Associate Editor Arthur Sanchez will be editing it. He did such a super job on Strange Summer Mysteries; A Day at the Beach, I know SM5 will be in good hands.
Arthur has already created a special email address where writers may send their submissions for SM5. It is, not surprisingly, WhopMystery@yahoo.com. The same dear old "secret words" will still be in effect. If you don't know what they are, you can easily find out by reading our "Writer's Guidelines." That's at the left of the opening screen at http://WhortleberryPress.com.
Don't miss our Forum today. (Click on the hot link at the left of our opening screen.) Several interesting posts -- let us know what _you_ think!
-- Jean
Strange Summer Mysteries -- A
Strange Summer Mysteries Back Cover
April 14, 2012
I promised you a treat, and it's waiting for you.
Let me explain; Many long years ago, when I was editing http://Anotherealm.com, I received a wonderful story from a writer unknown to me, Joseph Wise. Since that time, I have often wished I had a copy of Joseph Wise's totally charming story, "Detrie Furniture." Imagine this -- in a dusty corner of a computer I don't often use, I have found just such a copy! So, the treat awaiting you is "Detrie Furniture" HERE. Enjoy -- and please vote at the end of the story so I will know if you liked this story as much as I did.
And please, if you know who Joseph Wise is, or how to contact him, do let me know. I would love to hear from him again.
Meantime, many thanks to all of you who took part in last week's critique of stories in Strange Mysteries 4. I've received several notes from writers saying how much they enjoyed reading your comments on their stories. I enjoyed reading them too, and found them very helpful. So again, thanks.
-- Jean
April 7, 2012
You asked for it, here it is!
Last week we talked about the possibilities of feedback for our authors, maybe in a place where people could post anonymously so as not to offend or hurt the people whose stories they are posting about. I made the place above earlier this week, and I'm delighted to see people have been using it all week. There haven't been any wiseguy posts, but I'll keep watching just to make sure none show up. Please do our authors a favor and post what you thought about any of the Strange Mysteries 4 stories. Thanks!
-- Jean
March 31, 2012
To everyone who took part in last week's poll, thanks! I am convinced now that people who buy our anthos actually read them. Now, on to the next point: How can we get the people who read our authors' work to give the authors some feedback? Feedback is important. We all need it. I have tried and tried to get people to comment on our writers' work -- unsuccessfully, so far. So I'm asking your opinion -- how can we do this? What kind of environment would it take for you to post that you liked a certain story because -- etc etc. Or a certain point in a certain story troubled you because -- etc. Would posting these observations anonymously help? I can fix a Forum so people can post anonymously (and I will quickly delete any wise guy remarks which take advantage of the anonymous posting.) Or what else would you think could encourage that very important element of feedback for our authors? Please post your thoughts on our Forum. Thanks in advance.
-- Jean
March 24, 2012
Please respond to this little poll. Thanks in advance! (Just ignore the query in blue at the top of the poll. I can't seem to get rid of it.)
-- Jean
March 17, 2012
Hello and happy St. Patty's Day!
Here's a bit of news, prompted by Tim's question on our Forum. He pointed out that no theme had been stated for this year's coming anthos in our Writers' Guidelines. That was because I was trying to figure out what would be good themes -- then I realized,your ideas are at least as good as mine, if not better. So, there won't be any themes this year. _You_ decide what theme you want for your story. Well, that's as long as your story is a Halloween one, in sf/f/h, for the Halloween antho; a Christmas story for the Christmas antho, also in sf/f/h, and the same for Strange Mysteries and Strange Valentines.
Have fun!
Also, hope you are working on or thinking about our coming summer antho, which has the theme of "Beach Reading." Arthur Sanchez is riding herd on this project: You can send your stories to him at whopsummer@yahoo.com, and the pw there is !summerfun11. I will be cheering Arthur and everyone on from the sidelines. Go, Whortleberry Summer!
One more thing, a request. Take a look at our opening screen, at http://WhortleberryPress.com. You will see I have moved the information bar to a position below the newest antho. I'm not sure that position is any better than putting it above the antho, at the top of the page. So please help on this one -- which do you think is better? Should the information bar be above the first antho, or below it as you now see. Which do you think would make it easier for new visitors to find their way around? I've posted a question about this on our Forum. That might be a good place to discuss this.
Thanks for your thoughts.
-- Jean
December 3, 2011
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
A Day At The Beach
Deadline May 15, 2012
Reading period May 15 - June 15
Format June 15 - June 30
Publication date July 1, 2012
This one is a little different from our other collections in that it will be entirely edited by our Asst. Editor: Arthur Sanchez. (Jean will be taking a well-deserved vacation.) Submissions for Strange Summer Mysteries: A Day At The Beach will not be accepted at our regular email address but instead should be sent to: WHOPSummer@Yahoo.com. Same rules apply as to reading the Stylebook. So, read the Stylebook.
The theme for this collection is: "A Day At The Beach." Does that mean that your story has to be about a "a day at the beach?" No. It can be about how life isn't like a day at the beach. Or, it can involve the events that follow a very important day at the beach. All we ask is that it be Speculative Fiction, involve a mystery, and somehow relate to a day at the beach. So feel free to write about the beach on an alien world that runs along a ammonia sea, or a wizard's duel fought in the surf, or the insatiable hunger of sand fleas gone mad. Have fun with it.
Also, since we will be reading ALL of the stories submitted by the deadline, there will be competition for getting into the collection. Arthur will be happy to offer suggestions that could help get your story into the running. If you would welcome feedback on your story, please say so. Otherwise, Arthur will reject stories with the standard: "not right for our collection" tag line.
Email any questions you have to WHOPSummer@Yahoo.com and keep you eyes on the Forum as Arthur will be posting announcements and opinions designed to give you a better idea of what he's looking to include in the anthology.
December 1, 2011
Writers with stories in Strange Valentines 2012
Alyson B. Cresswell
Barry R Hunter
Carl Palmer
David Perlmutter
Elizabeth Creith
Glen Batchelor
J. J. Steinfeld
James Hartley
Janett L. Grady
Jeffery Scott Sims
Ken Staley
Lyn Mcconchie
Marilyn K. Martin
Mark Mills
Peter Lingard
Rachel Ayers
Sherry Chancellor
T.L. Bodine
Walt Staples
Writers, if there is any error in your name, please let me know now.
--Jean
November 27, 2011
One of our writers, Marilyn Martin, mentioned to me a very interesting site where people can get their YA books promoted -- for free, even! Here is her info, which she graciously allowed me to reprint to inform you:
As a new writer, I was in the same boat of trying to find free and honest reviewers that weren't "sock puppets", or friends and family. I did a Google search of "free reviewers of YA Science Fiction", and sent out a lot of e-mails - most of which went unanswered.
TeensReadToo.com is a review site for teen books, and they responded. One of their reviewers agreed to read and review my books, and I sent the reviewer a copy of my books. Six months later she posted her reviews on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (on-line). It was all free, except for my small expense of mailing the reviewer my books. Months later, I was awarded their Gold Star For Excellence awards. (I'm not sure how that worked, but I guessed maybe another reviewer and/or the lady that runs the site did a confirmation-review, and then awarded the Gold Stars.)
The reviewer - whom I thanked - said she'd passed on my books to her sister who was a teacher, and her students read the books. This is important too, since with school libraries being closed in budget crunches, many teachers are starting their own lending-libraries in their classrooms. I'm not benefiting from all these readers monetarily, but perhaps I'll have a small-and-growing audience ready when I publish the rest of the books in the series.
So Good Luck in dealing with the site. The ladies are very nice, just be prepared to wait up to 6 months (or more) for a reply.
Marilyn K. Martin
Thanks, Marilyn -- this is definitely interesting!
-- Jean
November 13, 2011
Looks like our forthcoming antho is going to be STRANGE VALENTINES -- it polled twice as many votes as the runner-up. Thanks to all who participated.
-- Jean
To return to main page click HERE.
AWARDS 2012
FORSTRANGE HALLOWEEN |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
Again, your thoughts? Post them on the Forum, please! Its hot link is at the left of the opening screen HERE.
January 26, 2013
And still they come! More awards -- these are for 2012's Strange Summer Mysteries.
AWARDS 2012
FOR
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
MARIAN POWELL
FOR THE BEST HORROR STORY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
WARREN BULL
FOR THE BEST FANTASY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
CHET GOTTFRIED
FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
STEVEN FORD
FOR THE BEST STORY OF
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
Again, your thoughts? Post them on the Forum, please! Its hot link is at the left of the opening screen HERE.
January 19, 2013
What's a good encore for 2012 awards? How about _more_ awards? Here they are, for 2012's Strange Mysteries 4.
AWARDS 2012
FOR
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
CONGRATULATIONS TO
DAVID HUGHES
FOR THE BEST HORROR STORY OF
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
CONGRATULATIONS TO
JAMES HARTLEY
FOR THE BEST FANTASY OF
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
CONGRATULATIONS TO
ARTHUR CAREY
FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY OF
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
CONGRATULATIONS TO
WARREN BULL
FOR THE BEST STORY OF
STRANGE MYSTERIES 4
Again, your thoughts? Post them on the Forum, please! Its hot link is at the left of the opening screen HERE.
Here they are, the first of the 2012 writing awards described here last week. Congratulations to all!
AWARDS 2012
FOR
STRANGE VALENTINES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
DAVID PERLMUTTER
FOR THE BEST HORROR STORY OF
STRANGE VALENTINES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
LYN MCCONCHIE
FOR THE BEST FANTASY OF
STRANGE VALENTINES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
MARILYN K. MARTIN
FOR THE BEST SCIENCE FICTION STORY OF
STRANGE VALENTINES
CONGRATULATIONS TO
RACHEL AYERS
FOR THE BEST STORY OF
STRANGE VALENTINES
NOTE: Let us know if you agree/disagree with our Anonymous Committee's choices -- post your thoughts on our Forum. (Hot link on main page at left.)
Return to main page HERE.
January 3, 2013
WHORTLEBERRY PRESS AWARDS FOR 2012 WRITING
How to recognize some of the wonderful writing that Whortleberry Press has had the pleasure of presenting to our readers?
That's a tough question, but we've come up with an answer this year. We've asked three friends who are very interested in literature to get together, read our 2012 books, and come up with some recognition. They agreed to do this, on the condition of anonymity. Here's what we can tell you about our Awards Committee:
-- Committee Member #1 teaches literature in a state university.
-- Committee Member #2 teaches English in a public high school.
-- Committee Member #3 is a Creative Director at an advertising agency.
Thanks to these kind friends, we are ready to offer awards in the form of graphics suitable for display on web sites, home pages, etc. They will be awarded in the following categories;
In each of our five anthologies:
-- Best science fiction story;
-- Best fantasy story;
-- Best horror story;
-- Best story overall
We'll start presenting these awards next week.
P.S. I don't agree with every one of these awards.
Another P.S. -- Here's what these award graphics will look like:
--Jean
January 1, 2013
This past year took with it three wonderful writers.
One, of course, is Ray Bradbury. We are planning a tribute book for this summer -- be thinking about your story. The idea is NOT to try to write in Bradbury's style, of course, but to reflect something of what his writing meant or said to you.
It's not an easy task, I agree. But with Ahmed Khan at the helm, we'll give it a try. (See Writers' Guidelines for details.)
We also lost Walt Staples, one of our wonderful Whortleberry Press writers. He gave us two delightful stories, "Old Married Couple" in Strange Valentines 2012, and "The Christmas Fool" in Christmas, Peace On (All The) Earth(s) 2010. Walt was active in the Catholic Writers' Guild, and I understand they are planning an anthology of his works. We'll keep you posted as we learn more.
Jim Sunderland also left this life in 2012. Jim is the author of Conversations With A Cat, which to me may be the most endearing cat book I have ever read. It's about Tara, an orphaned Siamese kitten, who is found and adopted by an engineer who lives in Namibia...a guy who looks and sounds very much like Jim and his beloved cat(s). He provided their pictures provided their pictures for the book covers covers. We published his book in 2006. In his memory, I'm going to reformat and republish a new edition of his charming book later this year -- stand by for details.
-- Jean
Dec. 22, 2012
Strange Lucky Valentines covers from our wonderful artist, Lee Kuruganti
Dec. 6, 2012
A Review of Strange Christmas which appeard on Lyn McConchie's blog, under "Reviews;"
STRANGE CHRISTMAS anthology, Edited Jean Goldstrom,
6 December 2012
guest review by Steve Johnson.
Another very solid anthology from Whortleberry Press in the USA. As usual since Lyn has a story in this I'm reviewing and can say what I like without anyone blaming her. In this case there isn't much blame likely. There was only one story that I really didn't like, and several that weren’t badly written but didn’t have that much of an impact. However a lot of the stories I really enjoyed. Arthur Carey's, The More Things Change, I found poignant, amusing, and fun. I loved Lyn's story, Arafel. But then I too am a cat lover and enjoy a good ghost tale so this one hit both my buttons. Elf in the Attic by Ray Rebbman and Dead People's Stuff by Dianne Arrelle, both had all the right ingredients too. I liked Best Gift and it’s nice to see a Christmas other than on earth. And finally A Legend of Christmas Past was a very well-written and gentle ghost story with a perfect ending.
Six out of 19 stories were tales that I really enjoyed. That's a pretty good average for an anthology. So let’s look at some of the others. I found A Seabolt Family Christmas a little plotless. A New Tattoo For Christmas relied on a punny ending, apart from which it too didn’t have much of a plot. The Stellar Snowstorm, Death of Santa Claus, and A Christmas Tail were all pleasant enough but not outstanding. Proof didn't impress me a lot, although it was readable, ditto Trees, and all of the other stories unmentioned for that description, save The Christmas Collection. Yes, I know people still do awful things at Christmas, the same as they do at other times. This story was well-written, but frankly I don't need to be reminded that there are serial killers out there, not in a collection of Christmas stories. Okay, maybe that's unreasonable but I can only write as I find and for me, this particular story almost put me off continuing to read the anthology. However when you consider the numbers this is a good anthology. I really liked six stories, found twelve pleasant and readable, and only disliked one. And that one is the victim of personal preference, other readers may love it – my wife did. Lyn tells me that she has work in the next anthology from this publisher and I look forward to borrowing it.
Nov. 2, 2012
Here's the back cover for Strange Christmas. Pretty snazzy, right? And if you see any mistakes (mine, of course, not our wonderful artist Lee Kuruganti), do let me know.
October 20, 2012
Lucky Whortleberry Press! We are lucky enough to have obtained some wonderful volunteer Associate Editors for 2013. Yes, that "13" is an omen of luck -- good or bad? -- so our titles and Associate Editors for the coming year are:
James Hartley Jr. -- Lucky Valentine
Arthur Sanchez -- Strange Lucky Mysteries 5
Ahmed A. Khan -- Tribute to Ray Bradbury
Sandi Reed-Chan -- Lucky Halloween
David Perlmutter -- Lucky Christmas
And as if that weren't fortunate enough, we are lucky enough to have outstanding volunteer Associate Editors for 2014, warming up in the batter's box. They are:
Al Bixby
Roger Tunnell
Tim Tobin
Alan Ira Gordon
I think 2013 is going to be a lucky year for Whortleberry Press -- and also 2014!
--Jean
October 6, 2012
Here's an advanced peek at the contents of Strange Christmas:
A Seabolt Family Christmas -- Wayne Scheer
The Christmas Raffle -- Alan Ira Gordon
Elf in the Attic -- Ray Rebmann
Noir Noel -- Kitty A. Sarkozy
Christmas Ties -- Allan Izen
Proof -- Tammy A. Branom
Dead People's Stuff -- Diane Arrelle (Dina A. Leacock)
The Christmas Collection -- Teresa Leigh Judd
The Christmas Tail -- R. A. Andrade
The Death of Santa Claus -- Danielle Davis
The Legend of Christmas Past -- Tim Tobin
The Stellar Snowstorm -- Richard Dyer
Trees -- James Hartley
A Slight Matter of Contract -- Larry Lefkowitz
Arafel -- Lyn McConchie
Best Gift -- Dana Bell
The More Things Change -- Art Carey
A New Tattoo for Christmas -- Marian Powell
Christmas Day 3014 The Front -- Ted Zahrfeld
Some new friends, some old friends -- looking good, right?
-- Jean
August 26, 2012
Here's the update on costs of 'Strange Halloween.' It's going to be $18.95
per copy. Yeah, bummer, I agree. But I can't go on subsidizing the cost of
paper copies. The last Whortleberry Press check I wrote...bounced. Ugh! So
I must be straight with you and tell you that the _real_ cost is: $18.95,
and that is what the forthcoming book is going to cost.
Sale of this title will determine our future. If enough people buy the
paperback for the title to break even -- meaning if it brings in enough $$$
to pay the writers and pay our printer -- we can go on publishing books on
paper.
If it doesn't break even...we are going to have to go to ebooks/pdf _only_
for our next book, which will be 'Strange Christmas.'
Yes, I hear your thoughts about doing both, and I agree. I will indeed
bring out an ebook of Strange Halloween; but it seems the going price for
ebooks is .99 cents. That is not going to pay the writers and the printer.
And it takes time to format an ebook. So the ebook will not be coming out
right away.
Wish I had better $$$ news for you.
-------------------------------
But, on the brighter side of things -- I'm making a new page for this
website, to highlight all of those recognitions you have received. It might
be a good review, an interesting interview, a prize or award -- anything
you want to tell your friends here about.
I know a number of you have received worthy recognitions, but I just didn't
know how to spotlight them. One way, however, is to make a special page on
which you can report your news.. Now -- what shall we call it?
"Recognitions" seems a bit...mundane. I'm sure you can think of brighter
and better ideas. Please post your thoughts on the Forum page. Thanks!
BTW, what brought this on was, I received two wonderful pre-publication
reviews for my "News Stories" antho. Of course I wanted to tell all you
friends about it...but how? Then I realized, so many of you have also
received worthy recognitions -- I"ve seen them on your websites -- perhaps
you have the same feelings. So, please help think of a good name for this
section of our WhP website, and plan to send me some info on your
recogntion(s). Thanks in advance!
-- Jean
August 23, 2012
Strange Halloween's back cover; authors, please check and make sure I have your name correctly spelled. Thanks.
Strange Halloween cover from our wonderful artist, Lee Kuruganti
Strange Halloween Guide
A Second Proposed Cover from our artist
The Story Behind the Cover
Here's the story behind the cover. Our artist is as generous as she is talented. She gave us two covers -- the one beside this article, and the one above. I like the one above, as it is based on a story in the book, "Clothes Call," by George Schaade. The story is set at a Halloween party, and all the costumed people have become their costumed character. I was a bit puzzled about who was who, until Lee graciously created the visual explanatory art with "labels." She also sent the following explanation:
"The sitting characters are Vampire on the left, (He has blood on his shirt,) Pirate and Zombie with a little radioactive green and brown rotting flesh. On his arm is a crow pal. On the floor before the sitting guys is a dragon lying near the Vampire (Let sleeping dragons lie!) and a black panther. I was going to go with a more tradtional black cat as a Halloween symbol, but a black panther is way more cool-- Don't wanna cross his path! -- and he is the resident bar cat. Behind the sitting guys are the Hippie Girl in tie-dye, Sexy Waitress, and Pumpkin Jack, a symbol of Halloween and apparently a party crasher. Pee Wee Herman is not in the picture -- he went to the restroom. Captain Kirk, Spock and Harry Potter have their pictures on the wall (Squint and you can make them out. They are going to arrive fashionably late.) The pile is actually a plate of brains, a zombie delicacy, here with a side of vintage blood and grog."
I think Lee has outdone herself with these great covers. I'm going to go with the top one, but wanted you to see and enjoy the second one as well. Let me know your thoughts, on the Forum. See you there!
--Jean
August 1, 2012
Here's the problem. Production costs have gone way up. We can no longer give you 23 stories for $15.95 as we did with Strange Mysteries 4, or even16 stories for $15.95 as we did with Strange Summer Mysteries; A Day at the Beach.
We must do one of three things; (1) charge more, (2) print less or (3) go to a non-paper format, as in a pdf on CD-ROM. Please let me know your preference below -- thanks for your help.
-- Jean
web polls
June 23, 2012
Aabout last week's vote to decide between Cover A and Cover B, you chose cover A. And a good choice it was! (Cover B was a good choice, too, and only came in second by a couple of votes.)
Now, take a look at Lee Kuruganti's graceful back cover. Especially if you're an author with a work in our Strange Summer Mysteries; A Day at the Beach. Please make sure I've spelled your name correctly. If not, please let me know.
Now, here's important news about Strange Mysteries 5, slated for publication in 2013. Associate Editor Arthur Sanchez will be editing it. He did such a super job on Strange Summer Mysteries; A Day at the Beach, I know SM5 will be in good hands.
Arthur has already created a special email address where writers may send their submissions for SM5. It is, not surprisingly, WhopMystery@yahoo.com. The same dear old "secret words" will still be in effect. If you don't know what they are, you can easily find out by reading our "Writer's Guidelines." That's at the left of the opening screen at http://WhortleberryPress.com.
Don't miss our Forum today. (Click on the hot link at the left of our opening screen.) Several interesting posts -- let us know what _you_ think!
-- Jean
Strange Summer Mysteries -- A
Strange Summer Mysteries Back Cover
April 14, 2012
I promised you a treat, and it's waiting for you.
Let me explain; Many long years ago, when I was editing http://Anotherealm.com, I received a wonderful story from a writer unknown to me, Joseph Wise. Since that time, I have often wished I had a copy of Joseph Wise's totally charming story, "Detrie Furniture." Imagine this -- in a dusty corner of a computer I don't often use, I have found just such a copy! So, the treat awaiting you is "Detrie Furniture" HERE. Enjoy -- and please vote at the end of the story so I will know if you liked this story as much as I did.
And please, if you know who Joseph Wise is, or how to contact him, do let me know. I would love to hear from him again.
Meantime, many thanks to all of you who took part in last week's critique of stories in Strange Mysteries 4. I've received several notes from writers saying how much they enjoyed reading your comments on their stories. I enjoyed reading them too, and found them very helpful. So again, thanks.
-- Jean
April 7, 2012
You asked for it, here it is!
Last week we talked about the possibilities of feedback for our authors, maybe in a place where people could post anonymously so as not to offend or hurt the people whose stories they are posting about. I made the place above earlier this week, and I'm delighted to see people have been using it all week. There haven't been any wiseguy posts, but I'll keep watching just to make sure none show up. Please do our authors a favor and post what you thought about any of the Strange Mysteries 4 stories. Thanks!
-- Jean
March 31, 2012
To everyone who took part in last week's poll, thanks! I am convinced now that people who buy our anthos actually read them. Now, on to the next point: How can we get the people who read our authors' work to give the authors some feedback? Feedback is important. We all need it. I have tried and tried to get people to comment on our writers' work -- unsuccessfully, so far. So I'm asking your opinion -- how can we do this? What kind of environment would it take for you to post that you liked a certain story because -- etc etc. Or a certain point in a certain story troubled you because -- etc. Would posting these observations anonymously help? I can fix a Forum so people can post anonymously (and I will quickly delete any wise guy remarks which take advantage of the anonymous posting.) Or what else would you think could encourage that very important element of feedback for our authors? Please post your thoughts on our Forum. Thanks in advance.
-- Jean
March 24, 2012
Please respond to this little poll. Thanks in advance! (Just ignore the query in blue at the top of the poll. I can't seem to get rid of it.)
-- Jean
March 17, 2012
Hello and happy St. Patty's Day!
Here's a bit of news, prompted by Tim's question on our Forum. He pointed out that no theme had been stated for this year's coming anthos in our Writers' Guidelines. That was because I was trying to figure out what would be good themes -- then I realized,your ideas are at least as good as mine, if not better. So, there won't be any themes this year. _You_ decide what theme you want for your story. Well, that's as long as your story is a Halloween one, in sf/f/h, for the Halloween antho; a Christmas story for the Christmas antho, also in sf/f/h, and the same for Strange Mysteries and Strange Valentines.
Have fun!
Also, hope you are working on or thinking about our coming summer antho, which has the theme of "Beach Reading." Arthur Sanchez is riding herd on this project: You can send your stories to him at whopsummer@yahoo.com, and the pw there is !summerfun11. I will be cheering Arthur and everyone on from the sidelines. Go, Whortleberry Summer!
One more thing, a request. Take a look at our opening screen, at http://WhortleberryPress.com. You will see I have moved the information bar to a position below the newest antho. I'm not sure that position is any better than putting it above the antho, at the top of the page. So please help on this one -- which do you think is better? Should the information bar be above the first antho, or below it as you now see. Which do you think would make it easier for new visitors to find their way around? I've posted a question about this on our Forum. That might be a good place to discuss this.
Thanks for your thoughts.
-- Jean
December 3, 2011
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
A Day At The Beach
Deadline May 15, 2012
Reading period May 15 - June 15
Format June 15 - June 30
Publication date July 1, 2012
This one is a little different from our other collections in that it will be entirely edited by our Asst. Editor: Arthur Sanchez. (Jean will be taking a well-deserved vacation.) Submissions for Strange Summer Mysteries: A Day At The Beach will not be accepted at our regular email address but instead should be sent to: WHOPSummer@Yahoo.com. Same rules apply as to reading the Stylebook. So, read the Stylebook.
The theme for this collection is: "A Day At The Beach." Does that mean that your story has to be about a "a day at the beach?" No. It can be about how life isn't like a day at the beach. Or, it can involve the events that follow a very important day at the beach. All we ask is that it be Speculative Fiction, involve a mystery, and somehow relate to a day at the beach. So feel free to write about the beach on an alien world that runs along a ammonia sea, or a wizard's duel fought in the surf, or the insatiable hunger of sand fleas gone mad. Have fun with it.
Also, since we will be reading ALL of the stories submitted by the deadline, there will be competition for getting into the collection. Arthur will be happy to offer suggestions that could help get your story into the running. If you would welcome feedback on your story, please say so. Otherwise, Arthur will reject stories with the standard: "not right for our collection" tag line.
Email any questions you have to WHOPSummer@Yahoo.com and keep you eyes on the Forum as Arthur will be posting announcements and opinions designed to give you a better idea of what he's looking to include in the anthology.
December 1, 2011
Writers with stories in Strange Valentines 2012
Alyson B. Cresswell
Barry R Hunter
Carl Palmer
David Perlmutter
Elizabeth Creith
Glen Batchelor
J. J. Steinfeld
James Hartley
Janett L. Grady
Jeffery Scott Sims
Ken Staley
Lyn Mcconchie
Marilyn K. Martin
Mark Mills
Peter Lingard
Rachel Ayers
Sherry Chancellor
T.L. Bodine
Walt Staples
Writers, if there is any error in your name, please let me know now.
--Jean
November 27, 2011
One of our writers, Marilyn Martin, mentioned to me a very interesting site where people can get their YA books promoted -- for free, even! Here is her info, which she graciously allowed me to reprint to inform you:
As a new writer, I was in the same boat of trying to find free and honest reviewers that weren't "sock puppets", or friends and family. I did a Google search of "free reviewers of YA Science Fiction", and sent out a lot of e-mails - most of which went unanswered.
TeensReadToo.com is a review site for teen books, and they responded. One of their reviewers agreed to read and review my books, and I sent the reviewer a copy of my books. Six months later she posted her reviews on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (on-line). It was all free, except for my small expense of mailing the reviewer my books. Months later, I was awarded their Gold Star For Excellence awards. (I'm not sure how that worked, but I guessed maybe another reviewer and/or the lady that runs the site did a confirmation-review, and then awarded the Gold Stars.)
The reviewer - whom I thanked - said she'd passed on my books to her sister who was a teacher, and her students read the books. This is important too, since with school libraries being closed in budget crunches, many teachers are starting their own lending-libraries in their classrooms. I'm not benefiting from all these readers monetarily, but perhaps I'll have a small-and-growing audience ready when I publish the rest of the books in the series.
So Good Luck in dealing with the site. The ladies are very nice, just be prepared to wait up to 6 months (or more) for a reply.
Marilyn K. Martin
Thanks, Marilyn -- this is definitely interesting!
-- Jean
November 13, 2011
Looks like our forthcoming antho is going to be STRANGE VALENTINES -- it polled twice as many votes as the runner-up. Thanks to all who participated.
-- Jean
To return to main page click HERE.
AWARDS 2012
FORSTRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
Again, your thoughts? Post them on the Forum, please! Its hot link is at the left of the opening screen HERE.
January 19, 2013
What's a good encore for 2012 awards? How about _more_ awards? Here they are, for 2012's Strange Mysteries 4.
AWARDS 2012
FORSTRANGE MYSTERIES 4 |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
Again, your thoughts? Post them on the Forum, please! Its hot link is at the left of the opening screen HERE.
Here they are, the first of the 2012 writing awards described here last week. Congratulations to all!
AWARDS 2012
FORSTRANGE VALENTINES |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
NOTE: Let us know if you agree/disagree with our Anonymous Committee's choices -- post your thoughts on our Forum. (Hot link on main page at left.)
Return to main page HERE.
January 3, 2013
WHORTLEBERRY PRESS AWARDS FOR 2012 WRITING
How to recognize some of the wonderful writing that Whortleberry Press has had the pleasure of presenting to our readers?
That's a tough question, but we've come up with an answer this year. We've asked three friends who are very interested in literature to get together, read our 2012 books, and come up with some recognition. They agreed to do this, on the condition of anonymity. Here's what we can tell you about our Awards Committee:
-- Committee Member #1 teaches literature in a state university.
-- Committee Member #2 teaches English in a public high school.
-- Committee Member #3 is a Creative Director at an advertising agency.
Thanks to these kind friends, we are ready to offer awards in the form of graphics suitable for display on web sites, home pages, etc. They will be awarded in the following categories; In each of our five anthologies:
-- Best science fiction story;
-- Best fantasy story;
-- Best horror story;
-- Best story overall
We'll start presenting these awards next week.
P.S. I don't agree with every one of these awards.
Another P.S. -- Here's what these award graphics will look like:
--Jean
January 1, 2013
This past year took with it three wonderful writers.
One, of course, is Ray Bradbury. We are planning a tribute book for this summer -- be thinking about your story. The idea is NOT to try to write in Bradbury's style, of course, but to reflect something of what his writing meant or said to you.
It's not an easy task, I agree. But with Ahmed Khan at the helm, we'll give it a try. (See Writers' Guidelines for details.)
We also lost Walt Staples, one of our wonderful Whortleberry Press writers. He gave us two delightful stories, "Old Married Couple" in Strange Valentines 2012, and "The Christmas Fool" in Christmas, Peace On (All The) Earth(s) 2010. Walt was active in the Catholic Writers' Guild, and I understand they are planning an anthology of his works. We'll keep you posted as we learn more.
Jim Sunderland also left this life in 2012. Jim is the author of Conversations With A Cat, which to me may be the most endearing cat book I have ever read. It's about Tara, an orphaned Siamese kitten, who is found and adopted by an engineer who lives in Namibia...a guy who looks and sounds very much like Jim and his beloved cat(s). He provided their pictures provided their pictures for the book covers covers. We published his book in 2006. In his memory, I'm going to reformat and republish a new edition of his charming book later this year -- stand by for details.
-- Jean
Dec. 22, 2012
Strange Lucky Valentines covers from our wonderful artist, Lee Kuruganti
Dec. 6, 2012
A Review of Strange Christmas which appeard on Lyn McConchie's blog, under "Reviews;"
STRANGE CHRISTMAS anthology, Edited Jean Goldstrom,
6 December 2012
guest review by Steve Johnson.
Another very solid anthology from Whortleberry Press in the USA. As usual since Lyn has a story in this I'm reviewing and can say what I like without anyone blaming her. In this case there isn't much blame likely. There was only one story that I really didn't like, and several that weren’t badly written but didn’t have that much of an impact. However a lot of the stories I really enjoyed. Arthur Carey's, The More Things Change, I found poignant, amusing, and fun. I loved Lyn's story, Arafel. But then I too am a cat lover and enjoy a good ghost tale so this one hit both my buttons. Elf in the Attic by Ray Rebbman and Dead People's Stuff by Dianne Arrelle, both had all the right ingredients too. I liked Best Gift and it’s nice to see a Christmas other than on earth. And finally A Legend of Christmas Past was a very well-written and gentle ghost story with a perfect ending.
Six out of 19 stories were tales that I really enjoyed. That's a pretty good average for an anthology. So let’s look at some of the others. I found A Seabolt Family Christmas a little plotless. A New Tattoo For Christmas relied on a punny ending, apart from which it too didn’t have much of a plot. The Stellar Snowstorm, Death of Santa Claus, and A Christmas Tail were all pleasant enough but not outstanding. Proof didn't impress me a lot, although it was readable, ditto Trees, and all of the other stories unmentioned for that description, save The Christmas Collection. Yes, I know people still do awful things at Christmas, the same as they do at other times. This story was well-written, but frankly I don't need to be reminded that there are serial killers out there, not in a collection of Christmas stories. Okay, maybe that's unreasonable but I can only write as I find and for me, this particular story almost put me off continuing to read the anthology. However when you consider the numbers this is a good anthology. I really liked six stories, found twelve pleasant and readable, and only disliked one. And that one is the victim of personal preference, other readers may love it – my wife did. Lyn tells me that she has work in the next anthology from this publisher and I look forward to borrowing it.
Nov. 2, 2012
Here's the back cover for Strange Christmas. Pretty snazzy, right? And if you see any mistakes (mine, of course, not our wonderful artist Lee Kuruganti), do let me know.
October 20, 2012
Lucky Whortleberry Press! We are lucky enough to have obtained some wonderful volunteer Associate Editors for 2013. Yes, that "13" is an omen of luck -- good or bad? -- so our titles and Associate Editors for the coming year are:
James Hartley Jr. -- Lucky Valentine
Arthur Sanchez -- Strange Lucky Mysteries 5
Ahmed A. Khan -- Tribute to Ray Bradbury
Sandi Reed-Chan -- Lucky Halloween
David Perlmutter -- Lucky Christmas
And as if that weren't fortunate enough, we are lucky enough to have outstanding volunteer Associate Editors for 2014, warming up in the batter's box. They are:
Al Bixby
Roger Tunnell
Tim Tobin
Alan Ira Gordon
I think 2013 is going to be a lucky year for Whortleberry Press -- and also 2014!
--Jean
October 6, 2012
Here's an advanced peek at the contents of Strange Christmas:
A Seabolt Family Christmas -- Wayne Scheer
The Christmas Raffle -- Alan Ira Gordon
Elf in the Attic -- Ray Rebmann
Noir Noel -- Kitty A. Sarkozy
Christmas Ties -- Allan Izen
Proof -- Tammy A. Branom
Dead People's Stuff -- Diane Arrelle (Dina A. Leacock)
The Christmas Collection -- Teresa Leigh Judd
The Christmas Tail -- R. A. Andrade
The Death of Santa Claus -- Danielle Davis
The Legend of Christmas Past -- Tim Tobin
The Stellar Snowstorm -- Richard Dyer
Trees -- James Hartley
A Slight Matter of Contract -- Larry Lefkowitz
Arafel -- Lyn McConchie
Best Gift -- Dana Bell
The More Things Change -- Art Carey
A New Tattoo for Christmas -- Marian Powell
Christmas Day 3014 The Front -- Ted Zahrfeld
Some new friends, some old friends -- looking good, right?
-- Jean
August 26, 2012
Here's the update on costs of 'Strange Halloween.' It's going to be $18.95 per copy. Yeah, bummer, I agree. But I can't go on subsidizing the cost of paper copies. The last Whortleberry Press check I wrote...bounced. Ugh! So I must be straight with you and tell you that the _real_ cost is: $18.95, and that is what the forthcoming book is going to cost. Sale of this title will determine our future. If enough people buy the paperback for the title to break even -- meaning if it brings in enough $$$ to pay the writers and pay our printer -- we can go on publishing books on paper.
If it doesn't break even...we are going to have to go to ebooks/pdf _only_ for our next book, which will be 'Strange Christmas.'
Yes, I hear your thoughts about doing both, and I agree. I will indeed bring out an ebook of Strange Halloween; but it seems the going price for ebooks is .99 cents. That is not going to pay the writers and the printer. And it takes time to format an ebook. So the ebook will not be coming out right away.
Wish I had better $$$ news for you.
------------------------------- But, on the brighter side of things -- I'm making a new page for this website, to highlight all of those recognitions you have received. It might be a good review, an interesting interview, a prize or award -- anything you want to tell your friends here about.
I know a number of you have received worthy recognitions, but I just didn't know how to spotlight them. One way, however, is to make a special page on which you can report your news.. Now -- what shall we call it?
"Recognitions" seems a bit...mundane. I'm sure you can think of brighter and better ideas. Please post your thoughts on the Forum page. Thanks!
BTW, what brought this on was, I received two wonderful pre-publication reviews for my "News Stories" antho. Of course I wanted to tell all you friends about it...but how? Then I realized, so many of you have also received worthy recognitions -- I"ve seen them on your websites -- perhaps you have the same feelings. So, please help think of a good name for this section of our WhP website, and plan to send me some info on your recogntion(s). Thanks in advance!
-- Jean
August 23, 2012
Strange Halloween's back cover; authors, please check and make sure I have your name correctly spelled. Thanks.
|
Strange Halloween cover from our wonderful artist, Lee Kuruganti
|
Strange Halloween Guide
|
A Second Proposed Cover from our artist
|
The Story Behind the CoverHere's the story behind the cover. Our artist is as generous as she is talented. She gave us two covers -- the one beside this article, and the one above. I like the one above, as it is based on a story in the book, "Clothes Call," by George Schaade. The story is set at a Halloween party, and all the costumed people have become their costumed character. I was a bit puzzled about who was who, until Lee graciously created the visual explanatory art with "labels." She also sent the following explanation: "The sitting characters are Vampire on the left, (He has blood on his shirt,) Pirate and Zombie with a little radioactive green and brown rotting flesh. On his arm is a crow pal. On the floor before the sitting guys is a dragon lying near the Vampire (Let sleeping dragons lie!) and a black panther. I was going to go with a more tradtional black cat as a Halloween symbol, but a black panther is way more cool-- Don't wanna cross his path! -- and he is the resident bar cat. Behind the sitting guys are the Hippie Girl in tie-dye, Sexy Waitress, and Pumpkin Jack, a symbol of Halloween and apparently a party crasher. Pee Wee Herman is not in the picture -- he went to the restroom. Captain Kirk, Spock and Harry Potter have their pictures on the wall (Squint and you can make them out. They are going to arrive fashionably late.) The pile is actually a plate of brains, a zombie delicacy, here with a side of vintage blood and grog." I think Lee has outdone herself with these great covers. I'm going to go with the top one, but wanted you to see and enjoy the second one as well. Let me know your thoughts, on the Forum. See you there!
--Jean
|
August 1, 2012
Here's the problem. Production costs have gone way up. We can no longer give you 23 stories for $15.95 as we did with Strange Mysteries 4, or even16 stories for $15.95 as we did with Strange Summer Mysteries; A Day at the Beach.
We must do one of three things; (1) charge more, (2) print less or (3) go to a non-paper format, as in a pdf on CD-ROM. Please let me know your preference below -- thanks for your help.
-- Jean
web polls
June 23, 2012
June 23, 2012
Aabout last week's vote to decide between Cover A and Cover B, you chose cover A. And a good choice it was! (Cover B was a good choice, too, and only came in second by a couple of votes.)
Now, take a look at Lee Kuruganti's graceful back cover. Especially if you're an author with a work in our Strange Summer Mysteries; A Day at the Beach. Please make sure I've spelled your name correctly. If not, please let me know.
Now, here's important news about Strange Mysteries 5, slated for publication in 2013. Associate Editor Arthur Sanchez will be editing it. He did such a super job on Strange Summer Mysteries; A Day at the Beach, I know SM5 will be in good hands.
Arthur has already created a special email address where writers may send their submissions for SM5. It is, not surprisingly, WhopMystery@yahoo.com. The same dear old "secret words" will still be in effect. If you don't know what they are, you can easily find out by reading our "Writer's Guidelines." That's at the left of the opening screen at http://WhortleberryPress.com.
Don't miss our Forum today. (Click on the hot link at the left of our opening screen.) Several interesting posts -- let us know what _you_ think!
-- Jean
Strange Summer Mysteries -- A
|
Strange Summer Mysteries Back Cover
|
April 14, 2012
I promised you a treat, and it's waiting for you.
Let me explain; Many long years ago, when I was editing http://Anotherealm.com, I received a wonderful story from a writer unknown to me, Joseph Wise. Since that time, I have often wished I had a copy of Joseph Wise's totally charming story, "Detrie Furniture." Imagine this -- in a dusty corner of a computer I don't often use, I have found just such a copy! So, the treat awaiting you is "Detrie Furniture" HERE. Enjoy -- and please vote at the end of the story so I will know if you liked this story as much as I did.
And please, if you know who Joseph Wise is, or how to contact him, do let me know. I would love to hear from him again.
Meantime, many thanks to all of you who took part in last week's critique of stories in Strange Mysteries 4. I've received several notes from writers saying how much they enjoyed reading your comments on their stories. I enjoyed reading them too, and found them very helpful. So again, thanks.
-- Jean
April 7, 2012
You asked for it, here it is!
Last week we talked about the possibilities of feedback for our authors, maybe in a place where people could post anonymously so as not to offend or hurt the people whose stories they are posting about. I made the place above earlier this week, and I'm delighted to see people have been using it all week. There haven't been any wiseguy posts, but I'll keep watching just to make sure none show up. Please do our authors a favor and post what you thought about any of the Strange Mysteries 4 stories. Thanks!
-- Jean
March 31, 2012
To everyone who took part in last week's poll, thanks! I am convinced now that people who buy our anthos actually read them. Now, on to the next point: How can we get the people who read our authors' work to give the authors some feedback? Feedback is important. We all need it. I have tried and tried to get people to comment on our writers' work -- unsuccessfully, so far. So I'm asking your opinion -- how can we do this? What kind of environment would it take for you to post that you liked a certain story because -- etc etc. Or a certain point in a certain story troubled you because -- etc. Would posting these observations anonymously help? I can fix a Forum so people can post anonymously (and I will quickly delete any wise guy remarks which take advantage of the anonymous posting.) Or what else would you think could encourage that very important element of feedback for our authors? Please post your thoughts on our Forum. Thanks in advance.
-- Jean
March 24, 2012
Please respond to this little poll. Thanks in advance! (Just ignore the query in blue at the top of the poll. I can't seem to get rid of it.)
-- Jean
March 17, 2012
Hello and happy St. Patty's Day!
Here's a bit of news, prompted by Tim's question on our Forum. He pointed out that no theme had been stated for this year's coming anthos in our Writers' Guidelines. That was because I was trying to figure out what would be good themes -- then I realized,your ideas are at least as good as mine, if not better. So, there won't be any themes this year. _You_ decide what theme you want for your story. Well, that's as long as your story is a Halloween one, in sf/f/h, for the Halloween antho; a Christmas story for the Christmas antho, also in sf/f/h, and the same for Strange Mysteries and Strange Valentines.
Have fun!
Also, hope you are working on or thinking about our coming summer antho, which has the theme of "Beach Reading." Arthur Sanchez is riding herd on this project: You can send your stories to him at whopsummer@yahoo.com, and the pw there is !summerfun11. I will be cheering Arthur and everyone on from the sidelines. Go, Whortleberry Summer!
One more thing, a request. Take a look at our opening screen, at http://WhortleberryPress.com. You will see I have moved the information bar to a position below the newest antho. I'm not sure that position is any better than putting it above the antho, at the top of the page. So please help on this one -- which do you think is better? Should the information bar be above the first antho, or below it as you now see. Which do you think would make it easier for new visitors to find their way around? I've posted a question about this on our Forum. That might be a good place to discuss this.
Thanks for your thoughts.
-- Jean
December 3, 2011
STRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES
A Day At The Beach
Deadline May 15, 2012
Reading period May 15 - June 15
Format June 15 - June 30
Publication date July 1, 2012
This one is a little different from our other collections in that it will be entirely edited by our Asst. Editor: Arthur Sanchez. (Jean will be taking a well-deserved vacation.) Submissions for Strange Summer Mysteries: A Day At The Beach will not be accepted at our regular email address but instead should be sent to: WHOPSummer@Yahoo.com. Same rules apply as to reading the Stylebook. So, read the Stylebook.
The theme for this collection is: "A Day At The Beach." Does that mean that your story has to be about a "a day at the beach?" No. It can be about how life isn't like a day at the beach. Or, it can involve the events that follow a very important day at the beach. All we ask is that it be Speculative Fiction, involve a mystery, and somehow relate to a day at the beach. So feel free to write about the beach on an alien world that runs along a ammonia sea, or a wizard's duel fought in the surf, or the insatiable hunger of sand fleas gone mad. Have fun with it.
Also, since we will be reading ALL of the stories submitted by the deadline, there will be competition for getting into the collection. Arthur will be happy to offer suggestions that could help get your story into the running. If you would welcome feedback on your story, please say so. Otherwise, Arthur will reject stories with the standard: "not right for our collection" tag line.
Email any questions you have to WHOPSummer@Yahoo.com and keep you eyes on the Forum as Arthur will be posting announcements and opinions designed to give you a better idea of what he's looking to include in the anthology.
December 1, 2011
Writers with stories in Strange Valentines 2012
Alyson B. Cresswell
Barry R Hunter
Carl Palmer
David Perlmutter
Elizabeth Creith
Glen Batchelor
J. J. Steinfeld
James Hartley
Janett L. Grady
Jeffery Scott Sims
Ken Staley
Lyn Mcconchie
Marilyn K. Martin
Mark Mills
Peter Lingard
Rachel Ayers
Sherry Chancellor
T.L. Bodine
Walt Staples
Writers, if there is any error in your name, please let me know now.
--Jean
November 27, 2011
One of our writers, Marilyn Martin, mentioned to me a very interesting site where people can get their YA books promoted -- for free, even! Here is her info, which she graciously allowed me to reprint to inform you:
As a new writer, I was in the same boat of trying to find free and honest reviewers that weren't "sock puppets", or friends and family. I did a Google search of "free reviewers of YA Science Fiction", and sent out a lot of e-mails - most of which went unanswered.
TeensReadToo.com is a review site for teen books, and they responded. One of their reviewers agreed to read and review my books, and I sent the reviewer a copy of my books. Six months later she posted her reviews on Amazon and Barnes and Noble (on-line). It was all free, except for my small expense of mailing the reviewer my books. Months later, I was awarded their Gold Star For Excellence awards. (I'm not sure how that worked, but I guessed maybe another reviewer and/or the lady that runs the site did a confirmation-review, and then awarded the Gold Stars.)
The reviewer - whom I thanked - said she'd passed on my books to her sister who was a teacher, and her students read the books. This is important too, since with school libraries being closed in budget crunches, many teachers are starting their own lending-libraries in their classrooms. I'm not benefiting from all these readers monetarily, but perhaps I'll have a small-and-growing audience ready when I publish the rest of the books in the series.
So Good Luck in dealing with the site. The ladies are very nice, just be prepared to wait up to 6 months (or more) for a reply.
Marilyn K. Martin
Thanks, Marilyn -- this is definitely interesting!
-- Jean
November 13, 2011
Looks like our forthcoming antho is going to be STRANGE VALENTINES -- it polled twice as many votes as the runner-up. Thanks to all who participated.
-- Jean
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