Early Recognition in 1998 and Other News

Recognition—we’re pleased to note that Deep Outside SFFH* is gaining wide recognition—not bad for a Web-only magazine of offbeat as well as mainline speculative fiction that’s only about to publish its third issue. We recently signed a contract with the *Alta Vista Entertainment Zone* to exchange reciprocal links, and to make our content available to them to feature on their website along with some of the Web’s other most interesting content sources including Salon, Hint, Spike, Wild Wild Web, and Rolling Stone. Look for that link sometime soon at *Alta Vista Entertainment Zone*.

Our plans for 1999 include a monthly newsletter, which we will e-mail to you for free—if you’d like to receive it, enter your e-mail address in the box below and click "Sign Up for Newsletter" (we will only use your e-mail address for our own mailings and we will never reveal your address to anyone else). The newsletter will contain news about the state of fiction on the Web, site reviews, and update notices for the Clocktower Fiction family of Web sites.

Our new Critic At Large is A.L. Sirois. A talented and accomplished writer, musician, artist, and Web professional, Mr. Sirois brings his verve and insight to bear on the most interesting movies, books, TV shows, and websites. Read this month's Outside In: Review "From the Ridiculous to the Sublime" by A.L. Sirois (three different reviews in one).

Accepting submissions: The Haunted Village and Neon Blue Fiction will begin accepting submissions in the near future. That’s right, with the volume of excellent submissions we’re getting, we feel we should squeeze out another few bucks from our budget and offer a penny a word for publication in *The Haunted Village SFFH* or Neon Blue Fiction*.

The Budget, aha! Mention of money—sounds like the annual sermon in church. Seriously, folks, if you’re enjoying the fine fiction that we publish for free, we wish you would consider supporting our effort by buying your books and other paraphernalia through our web pages. We’re not getting rich, but we sure love to publish good fiction. If you buy through us, the small percentage we get will help pay for more good fiction for you to read for free. We are about to open a bookstore on Clocktower Fiction, and we already have both a bookstore and a magazine stand on SharpWriter.Com. Subscribe to your favorite magazines at absolutely the lowest rock bottom prices anywhere via SharpWriter.Com. Soon to come on SharpWriter.Com: an OfficeMax store where you can buy all your favorite writing supplies. Also, you can buy your favorite books, C.D.s, and Christmas gifts through SharpWriter.Com, which is an Amazon.com affiliate.

Hints of SFWA movement have been noted on the issue of recognizing Web publication so that writers can get membership credit in the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, source of the Nebula Awards and many other benefits to professional writers. At their recent board meeting, SFWA reportedly voiced a will to move in that direction -- but as yet no word on how they plan to implement this. Sounds like a major step in the right direction (applause!).

Clarion West’s Amy Axt Hanson announces that the Science Fiction Writing Workshop is now accepting applications for the 1999 Clarion West Writers’ Workshop in Seattle. This intensive six-week workshop prepares writers for professional careers in science fiction and fantasy. 17 students will be selected for the workshop, which will run from June 20 to July 30, 1999. Instructors will include Nancy Kress, Octavia Butler, James Blaylock, Howard Waldrop, Gordon Van Gelder, and Gwyneth Jones. Applications must be postmarked on or before April 1, 1999. A complete application includes:

• 10-30 pages of typed, double-spaced original manuscript, which usually consists of 1-2 short stories or a novel excerpt with outline (send 3 copies of each story);
• A cover letter discussing where you’ve been, what you’re doing, your writing history, and why you want to attend the workshop (send 3 copies);
• A non-refundable $25 application fee payable to Clarion West;
• Completed financial aid forms if applicable. (Limited financial aid is available. Forms should be requested in advance by writing to Clarion West. Only 1 copy need be sent.)
• Completed applications should be sent to Clarion West, 340 Fifth Avenue East, Suite 350, Seattle, WA 98112.
• Participants can expect to pay a tuition of $1,400, minus $100 if their applications are postmarked before March 1, 1999. Dorm housing and college credit are available at additional cost.

*(Outside:S&DF) Our original magazine title was to be *Outside: Speculative & Dark Fiction but we were quickly assailed by a thick sheaf of papers sent by a law firm with dozens of partner names, threatening us with exile to another planet (etc) if we used a title that might confuse readers of a certain backpacking magazine. Their legal case even now seems dubious, but we could not afford time and money in litigation when we wanted to have fun, so Brian and I met one afternoon in the parking lot of my employer (I was doing technical writing for a bioscience corporation in La Jolla at the moment) and Brian proposed the name Deep Outside. I insisted on adding SFFH to cover our fiction bases, and there we were. JTC 2022 Reno.

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