I put issue #4 of Redstone SF up last week. It was exhausting. School started the first week of August and I have simply been hanging on. But, I’ve done a better job teaching this year, largely because I’m not coaching. I am announcing the games on radio again, which I really enjoy.

I thought a lot today about why I started RSF – to become more familiar with and learn about the field, to create a quality site in, up until recently, a field where there were very few, AND to write and publish more, based on this greater understanding and exposure. The first two have gone incredibly well. Number 3 has been abysmal. Am I a writer? Barely. Can I be a successful writer? I think so. I’ve learned so much about stories, in part, sadly, from seeing so many pedestrian ones. But none of that matters if I don’t make time to write. Sounds like a broken record.

Car repairs. Home repairs. Pasture to mow. Classes to teach. Papers to grade. Games to announce. Magazine to obsess over. Slushpile to read. Decluttering to do. Meals to cook. Clothes to wash. Miles to walk. Either you make time to write despite all these things or you don’t. If I don’t, I may be a lot of things, but I won’t be a writer. We’ll see.

Redstone Science Fiction swallowed June. And it was fun. One issue could have been an accident, two suggests a pattern. I got everything done and got it online. Scored an interview with Fantasy Magazine editor Cat Rambo, which was picked up by io9, which gave us the traffic push we needed. The stories we published are quite good. I love the weirdness of Michelangelo’s Chisel and the clever metafiction of Elevator Episodes in Seven Genres. Quality essays and our science interview was with a leading surgeon. The first two have gone well.

I’ve probably spent too much time monitoring things and keeping up with the site and communicating about it, but it has been fun. We’ve picked up some excellent stories this summer. We will have the minimum we need for next spring by the end of summer.

I still haven’t written anything, but I know I have a better feel for how things should go. I discovered that my dead netbook only needed a power chord, so I’m hoping to parlay that into a mobile writing platform.

As for Real Life, I’ve finally gotten ahead of the grass in the pasture and have done some work on the roof. This whole house could be replaced piece by piece. That it’s paid for is its cardinal virtue.

I’ve been working out and just the other day reached a goal – benching 135 lbs. (bar and big plate on each end) two sets of 25 repetitions. I have not been good about going into town to do my elliptical and will start back Sunday. (I did spend a couple of hours on a ladder & the roof in 105 heat index yesterday, so I guess that can count).

It’s time to start making my plans for teaching my classes next year, so I expect I will begin going in to school Monday and get work done and then workout in the mornings. We’ll see.

The first issue of Redstone Science Fiction went online June 1st.

The site worked well and the posting of everything went as planned. The stories are good and we hoped the essays and interviews would reinforce the fiction. Instead, io9 and several other sites picked up the kick-ass interview with Lou Anders done by our friend David Alastair Hayden and traffic went through the roof. As that excitement began to calm down, the writing contest that we are sponsoring that draws on Sarah Einstein’s essay, The Future Imperfect, about the portrayal of disability in science fiction was also picked up by io9 and drew attention all over the internet, going beyond usual SF circles, including a BBC Blog and the Utne Reader. It’s been much bigger than we had hoped.

We also started taking submissions on the 1st and have worked through about 20% of them. We are trying an unusual plan of opening between the 1st & 15th of each month this summer. It will keep us in the market for stories, but keep us from being overwhelmed by submissions while we put the next issue together. If it works we may make it our thing. We’ve gotten some submissions from a few well-known writers and the general level of submissions seems better. I’ve also arranged to reprint one of my favorite stories from recent years.

Some where in there I was interviewed twice, which is fun.

I have been reading stories from Charlie Stross’ short story collection, Wireless
He has that skill of keeping you interested that can’t be quantified.

I have been submitting my completed stories, but I haven’t written anything new. I’ve spent every evening keeping up with developments with Redstone SF. I think I have a much better understanding of what a successful story should do, but I have to make time to make it happen. We’ll see.

We have been working constantly on Redstone Science Fiction. We’ve read over 100 stories and sent out nearly 90 rejections. (We’ve chosen a couple of stories we want). There are about a hundred more to go in the slushpile. I’ve been recruiting writers for our features & columns and setting up interviews. I’ve also given a couple of online interviews. Need to finish the pile and write my own column. I’m going to establish an editor’s blog on the site to go along with the facebook and twitter pages We have had a lot of traffic and looking forward to our first issue being online in 39 days.