
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
AWARDS 2012
FORSTRANGE CHRISTMAS |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |

No tricks, just treats in the Strange Halloween antho, from these outstanding writers;
AWARDS 2012
FORSTRANGE HALLOWEEN |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
AWARDS 2012
FORSTRANGE SUMMER MYSTERIES |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
AWARDS 2012
FORSTRANGE MYSTERIES 4 |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
AWARDS 2012
FORSTRANGE VALENTINES |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
CONGRATULATIONS TO |
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:

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.
A Review of Strange Christmas which appeard on Lyn McConchie's blog, under "Reviews;"
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.
Arthur Sanchez -- Strange Lucky Mysteries 5
Ahmed A. Khan -- Tribute to Ray Bradbury
Sandi Reed-Chan -- Lucky Halloween
David Perlmutter -- Lucky Christmas
Roger Tunnell
Tim Tobin
Alan Ira Gordon
--Jean
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!
Strange Halloween's back cover; authors, please check and make sure I have your name correctly spelled. Thanks.
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Strange Halloween cover from our wonderful artist, Lee Kuruganti
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Strange Halloween Guide
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A Second Proposed Cover from our artist
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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
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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.
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!
Strange Summer Mysteries -- A
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Strange Summer Mysteries Back Cover
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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.
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.
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.
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.
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.