I CAN SMILE, AND MURDER AS I SMILE

If you're an LJ user, and you're wondering why my leebattersby address looks like leebattersby, the answer's simple: I've grown tired of the LJ community and the running battles I am drawn into for expressing my opinions, and I've deleted my account.

Register for the Battersblog feed if you can't be bothered coming here directly to read my news.

WORDAGE!

The great news, for me at least, is that the time I've released to myself by doing so has resulted in a burst of writing energy, and as writing was the reason I got into this gig in the first place (and the only part of the whole shooting match that gives me unconditional pleasure), I'm feeling like I've made no better decision in ages.

To whit, the last two days have seen another 390 words on In From the Snow, and 1161 on Mister Snopes. The latter is particularly pleasing, as I'd been stuck at a problem point for some time, and I've blown past it and almost up to completion. One section more, and the beast, she is killed.

It's come thudding back to me: what have the likes Terry Dowling, Ted Chiang, Howard Waldrop et al been doing while I've been getting caught up in silly little side games? Could the answer be: writing?

FOREIGN CLIMES

I've been thinking a lot about my career lately: what it means to me, where I want it to go, what I need to put behind me, what I need to concentrate on....

One thing that stands out is how few markets I've attained overseas: I've got a lot of Australian magazines in my bibliography, but give the list a quick scan and it quickly becomes apparent that I haven't made a concerted enough effort to establish myself in the wider scheme of things.

So from now on, at least for a while, I'm going to be taking a long, hard look at alternatives to my current sending procedures. I love my Australian magazines, I subscribe to a number of them and I'll never stop sending them my stuff. But-

I've prepared a list of 50 or so markets, tiered in sets of attraction. The likes of F&SF, Asimov's, and Brutarian speak for themselves. But I'm interested in what you're reading: any favourite magazines? Where, and why? Let me know, and I'll have a look at them for my own self-centred purposes :)

Song of the moment: John, I'm Only Dancing David Bowie
Reading: Haunted Chuck Palahniuk. Still waiting to find out what all the fuss is about.