Weekly Notes
Notes for 03-Feb-2010...
Hey, I finally got my facebook profile set up. Since you all are
like family I'm happy to friend anyone from Critters, past or present. :)
My profile is at: http://facebook.com/Andrew.L.Burt
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Thanks for the donations, folks! Thanks especially to
Chris Richardson
Antha Adkins
for their recent donations to help keep Critters going. This puts us
56.2% toward the fund drive goal. Much appreciated!
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Don't forget to check out the Wishes for the Future forum,
http://NewNewForum.com/wishes - Some very cool ideas on there.
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Woohoo! Congratulations to...
- Ian Creasey, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Erosion"
to Year's Best SF 15 edited by David G. Hartwell & Kathryn Cramer.
- Graham Fielding, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The
Movie" to Midnight Echo. {Thank you to all the critters who
helped me with this story. Yes, even those of you who hated it!}
- Alan Belanger, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Freezer
Burn" to Daikaijuzine. {Crittered as "PermInfant", my story
Freezer Burn can now be read online on the Daikaijuzine website.}
Please report your Woohoo!s via the www.critters.org/telldaworld.ht web page.
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This week's Most Productive Critter award, for 12 critiques (at time
of judging), averaging over 400 words each, goes to...
Duane Donald
To redeem an MPC, visit: www.critters.org/usempc.ht
Congratulations! To everyone else -- Crit early and often!
(For an explanation of the MPC award, see the www.critters.org/award.ht page.)
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This week we have... [available from http://www.critters.org/mss.ht ]...
Title Author
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Week of 3-Feb-2010 (Crits due 10-Feb-2010):
F Raingun, First Revision RFDR [mpc] Joseph J. Unfried -#17836
SF Skyfire Carl Alves -#17837
SF The Offer Fred Obermeyer -#17838
SF The Architect's Playground Carl Frederick -#17839
F Untitled, Chapters 1 and 2 Stephanie Pace -#17840
F The Life and Times of Otto Van Maark and His Luxurious Beard Nathaniel Lee -#17841
SF A Noble Lie P.E. Zimmerman -#17842
H Demons Dance Ed Kratz -#17843
SF Three Roads to Jerusalem anatoly belilovsky -#17844
SF Guardian Angel Michael Kizzia -#17845
SF Displaced Cheryl Beauchamp -#17846
F The Retriever-Chapter 16 A. K. Karam -#17847
F The Wonderful Instrument (RFDR,Outline,Background) Matthew Leo -#17848
H Book of Shadows, Chapters 14 and 15 A. R. Braun -#17849
F Model 14A-170 Tim Pompey -#17850
SF New Horizon Edwin Rydberg -#17851
H Man Tracker Kevin M White -#17852
SF The Feeling Michael i Roberts -#17853
SF What Debt is Due Chong Shang Shan -#17854
SF The Awakening Brendan J. Paredes -#17855
H Coming To Grips Lucas Evans -#17856
F Dig a Hole Brian Thomason -#17857
F Hidden Souls Rhonda Porrett -#17858
F Sick Thinking Alan Belanger -#17859
F Rise of the Dark, Prologue L. L. L. Finck -#17860
F The Colony at Xerotopos Drew Stevenson -#17861
SF The Divided Mind Matthew Queen -#17862
Standard notes:
HELP:
If you need help with anything, see http://www.critters.org/help -- there
are FAQs and a form to ask questions.
HELPING CRITTERS:
Critters is donation funded & volunteer run, so if you'd like to
help out with our current fund drive or otherwise, please visit
http://www.critters.org/donate.shtml -- Thanks!!
HOW TO SEND CRITIQUES:
Remember to send the critiques directly to me, critters@critique.org, so
I can forward them to the authors _and_ give you credit for your effort.
Please send only one critique per mail message (makes it easier to
archive). Please make sure the "#" symbol and manuscript number are in
the email Subject: line, like Subject: #1234. (Conversely, if you want
ol' Aburt to personally read the message, i.e., it's _not_ a critique,
don't put a "#" in the subject or I won't see it. Also -- put my current
anti-spam code word in there: see http://www.critters.org/antispam.ht .)
You may also send your critiques via http://www.critters.org/webcrit.ht .
DIPLOMACY:
Remember, authors and critiquers, we're all friends here. Be polite. Be
considerate. Be tactful. You can say you thought a story was drivel in a
courteous way. Try to point out the good and the bad; offer alternatives
if you can. Never, ever, attack the author -- only the story. Authors:
Remember that some reviewers may lack tact. Try to be understanding,
but if you get any that you feel are just plain mean-spirited, too short
to be of any use, or too "feel good," let me know and I'll withhold the
reviewer's "credit" for that story and/or cajole them into something
more insightful. See http://www.critters.org/diplomacy.ht for more...
CRITIQUE LENGTH:
If you want to send a short critique that you know is too short for
credit (200 words or less of your own meaningful content) please put
"NC#" in the Subject (NC=No Credit, like Subject: NC#1234) -and- say
something like "not for credit" inside your critique. (Remember also that
for MPC purposes, a critique must be 300 words or more.)
CHATTING:
Comments -other- than critiques (such as discussion of the critiques,
or Woohoo! announcements, or chit chat) should be posted to one of the
official Critters newsgroups, found on the news server news.sff.net.
(See the http://www.critters.org/newsgroups.ht web page for full info,
guidelines, etc.) Don't post stories or critiques (mail those to
critters@critique.org).
QUOTING:
Please pare the ms. down if critiquing in-line (don't quote the whole ms.!).
Other format rules are at http://www.critters.org/format.ht .
EVERYTHING'S ON THE WEB:
Past reviews are on the web page. The current week's manuscripts are
also there, as are prior mss. and even some rewrites. There's a Master
Page Index (site map) with tons of links to common items.
AUTHORS:
Authors for this week -- if you aren't getting email'd critiques from
me (as they come in) within a couple days -- ask me and we can verify
I'm sending them to the correct address. (Send me a phone# in case I
can't get email to you.) Check the format of your story ASAP to make sure
it's all there and readable.
EMAIL ISSUES:
If you want to change your email address or preferences (# mss. emailed,
SF/F/H type, or whether you get the huge critique batches at week's end),
point your browser to http://www.critters.org/admin.ht . Please don't
ask me to do this by hand, it's quite a chore! (E.g., if you're going
on vacation and want to suspend mail from me -- do this before/after
your trip.)
BACKUP SITE:
If you're unable to reach www.critters.org to get manuscripts, I've set up
an emergency backup site at http://computersecurityjournal.com/critters
where you can get the week's manuscripts (but not much of anything else :-).
Speaking of backups -- don't forget to back up your own manuscripts so
you don't lose them!
QUITTING:
If you want to quit or go inactive, drop by http://www.critters.org/admin.ht
for your choices.
DONATIONS:
Critters is funded by donations, so visit http://www.critters.org/donate.shtml
if you'd like to help out.