The good morning, good night thread

[Geoff_N]

Del, I had the same problem on Duotrope trying to find even just token paying markets for some stories. Had a pile of rejections with absolutely no reasons and no response from my requests for a clue. Those from Black Static, Theakers Quarterly and Clarkesworld. Last year I had short stories published in 5 anthologies - a better year than I realized. But, as with Rev's news, the antho market is suffering too. I can understand that. No one has bought a paper copy of our Escape Velocity anthology since November and even the ebook version has only a trickle of sales. A lot of hard work for almost no income for editors and publishers.

It's not all bad news. Mike Resnick likes my ARIA SF novel coming out this year and even Dan Simmons wished me luck with it even though he's no time to read it.

[Rev. Austin]

Rev -- that's awful news. I know how much time you put into those anthos. Why were the authors pulling out after all this time? Doesn't make sense

There was a lot of cold feet at the length of time it was taking to get done, at the change in payment terms, all stuff like that. I had to reassure a couple of writers, but that was actually nice because they valued my opinion and didn't think I was blowing hot air up their wazoos. In response to the bad news, I'm getting some very nice emails from the affected writers, so I'm glad people would still submit to something I'm doing  a few people (involved and otherwise) have asked what, if anything, I'm going to do with the books now. I'm still thinking about this, but to be honest I'm not sure I have the energy to do anything 

[Geoff_N]

I found a small press looking for fantasy shorts for two anthos. Token payment.
http://www.mystichawker.com/sub.html

They are looking for cowboys, werewolves and eagles. Best to read their requirements.

[delboy]

I actually have a cowboy werewolf story somewhere that hasn't been subbed for many a year...

[Geoff_N]

wife is annoyed by a pinging noise coming through from next door. My rubbish hearing won't let me notice it so that's an advantage of being partially deaf  However, I'm wondering if I ought to go next door and ask the elderly woman there if her smoke / carbon monoxide / low temp warning /other devices are running low on battery. Problem is she has dementia and would prob shout at me. She is hard of hearing too. I could phone her daughter but she lives over 300 miles away and you know that noise, which I can't hear, could be ours after all. Or it could be a new tinnitus for my wife. Issues, issues.

[LashSlash]

look for the obvious -- its obviously aliens invaded ... i hope they have come in peace

[Ed]

Oof -- my first foray on Ebay and I fall foul of a con artist. Hopefully customer services will see through the charade, and all will be well, but I could really do without the grief right now.

The work situation is looking a bit iffy. There are a few irons in the fire for later in the year. Could be a bit crap around March and April, though.

On the upside, I wouldn't mind a couple weeks off to read and write a bit. Preferably around the time when it's sunny and warm. Wouldn't mind a bit of that right now

[Pharosian]

Had a bit of unwelcome excitement tonight. We've had some contractors working on repairing cracks in the foundation (having finally got sick of water coming in the basement every time the ground gets saturated with rain or snowmelt). They had to dig up the back yard next to the house to get to the cracks. They also put in better drainage.

Today shortly after they left for the day, I was sitting in the dining room when I heard a hefty thunk followed by a hissing noise. I know the gas meter is right outside near where I was sitting, so I ran outside to take a look. Didn't see anything, but the hiss was continuous. Ran back in and grabbed my cell phone, then headed out again--across the street. Tried calling the contractor, thinking he hadn't had time to get very far, but got voice mail.

So I called 911 and explained the situation and told them I could smell gas. About 3 minutes later, a fire truck rolled up along with an ambulance. The guys took their time suiting up and getting me to tell them what was going on before wandering over for a closer look. Then they called the gas company and blocked the street and started going door-to-door alerting the neighbors.

I'd run out of the house without a jacket, and it was overcast, 40 degrees F, and drizzling. They let me sit in the ambulance while we waited an hour for the gas company to send someone out. Once the crew arrived, they got the leak stopped at the compression coupling that had failed, then went into the house to see if there was gas inside. There was. The handheld meter one of the guys had indicated that the amount of gas inside was just at or slightly above the LEL -- Lower Explosive Limit. After leaving the front and back doors and a few windows open for a while, circulating the air with the aid of a large electric fan, enough gas cleared that they said it was safe for me to stay in the house, and they all went away again. A crew from the gas company will be back in the morning to do some more work on it.

Whew! When it first happened, I had visions of my house going up in a Hollywood style explosion. Now it's a matter of trying to sleep while there's still a faint whiff of that noxious odor in the air.   

[delboy]

Sounds like it was a good job you were on the ball, Pharo!

Ed, I've used eBay with no problems for years - with lots of trust on both sides of the transaction many times. But I too fell foul of a conman over Christmas and am now in the system trying to recover upwards of £650 for an item that didn't exist. The rogue seller insisted that I pay via a direct transfer into his bank acct but I insisted I would pay via Paypal. Lucky I did, although I'm still having to chivvy Paypal along to try and sort the case out.

Derek

[Ed]

Wow -- bad news all round 

Gas leaks are scary. Sounds like a thoroughly traumatic time for you, Pharo. I bet it was awful trying to get to sleep with that smell lingering in the air. Damn near impossible, I'd imagine. Methane is a little less scary than propane, because it's lighter than air, so it disperses fairly easily. Propane sinks to the lowest part of the building and settles there until you manage to get rid of it. Much wider explosive range, too. Funny -- I heard of a case where a propane leak had filled up this guy's basement. The fire brigade arrived and baled it out with buckets. Each of them took their turn at dipping their bucket into the gas, filling it, then taking it outside and emptying an ostensibly empty bucket full of gas over the lawn. Anybody watching must have thought they'd all gone loopy

Del -- sorry to hear that. Mine's for about the same sort of money. My purchase was sent minus a few crucial parts. The trouble is I initially arranged for the courier, and then had to pay again to get the thing sent back. Then, of course, they refused delivery of the thing. Now they are accusing me of stealing the missing parts of the machine, being aggressive and offensive, bombarding them with nasty phonecalls, etc. I just hope Ebay customer protection works as intended.

I'm just glad I'm not desperate for the money, otherwise this would be doubly stressful. As it stands it's just thoroughly depressing. Hopefully the truth will out, though.

[ozmosis7]

Sorry you had to go through all that, Pharo. Sounds scary. I had a gas run in myself in the past and it was no fun. Glad to hear you made it through well.

I'm anti-Ebay right now. Well, I won't sell anything through them. I have a 100% seller feedback and yet I am receiving emails saying they are going to start holding my earnings because my seller shipping feedback is below average. This has to do with the star ratings. I have all 5 out of 5's, except for one guy who gave me a lower rating, bringing my total shipping rating to 4.5/5. How that is below average I have no idea, because it is near perfect. This guy claimed he never received his package, and it turns out he has a very long history of never receiving packages, my guess is to get things for free, as Ebay protects the buyer above all else. The fact they wouldn't hear me out about this guys checkered past and are now looking to hold money for a month or longer, while I only have one complaint, amazes me. So I've left them behind, and it isn't easy because I am having trouble figuring out how to sell my old iPod otherwise. 

[Pharosian]

By the time I went to bed last night, the smell was nearly gone. It still took me a little longer than usual to get to sleep, and I woke up at 5:20 for some reason... with a nasty headache. Not sure the two are connected, though.

I haven't had much to do with eBay for several years now, but for a while there I made a number of successful purchases and never had a complaint. As a buyer, I'm glad they'd go to bat for me, but it does seem unreasonable of them not to listen to both sides. (I recently heard a complaint about Google and their AdSense department being similarly unwilling to listen to reason.)

About a year ago I ordered some handmade soap from a small outfit I'd purchased from before, but this time, the shipment never arrived. I'd used PayPal for the payment, and their arbitration process worked well for me. When the buyer files a complaint, hey allow a certain number of days for the seller to explain his/her side of the issue, and the seller initially responded with an apology and a promise to deliver, but then didn't within the time allowed by PayPal, so my money was refunded. Oddly enough, shortly after that I received my shipment, along with a nice item I hadn't ordered... I guess the merchant wanted to avoid the risk of negative word-of-mouth advertising. It worked!

[ozmosis7]

Oh, I agree. I am glad they protect the buyer. I was just surprised they didn't offer any protection for the seller against someone who is clearly taking advantage of the system. The guy demanded I give him a refund or he would leave negative feedback. Once I gave the refund I was no longer able to leave feedback, but he was. I contacted them several times, even over the phone and they basically said "if you don't like it leave." I told them I was shocked, and ever since I receive an email a week warning me my funds from sales will be held several months should I decide to sell again.   

It has been frustrating, and I have no idea where to go to sell my stuff now. I mean, Craig's list seems a bit weird in that you may be selling to a potential killer LOL. And I am unsure of how solid Amazon's system is, but this is what I may try next. 

[ozmosis7]

Oh, and I do believe gas can cause headaches, so you may want to continue looking into it. If for no other reason, just to be safe.

[delboy]

Just seen my PLR statement for the year just gone. Looks like over a eleven hundred people borrowed my books this year, which mightn't be a massive amount compared to most, but it's still nice. Ought to write some more...

Derek