Reject slip

A letter of rejection has arrived on my doorstep all the way from a literary agency in London, England. I was half expecting it, but the Agency concerned spoke well of the quality of writing, but used the old chestnut that the subject matter was not in a genre they dealt in. I knew I was taking a long shot, but the result is not wholly displeasing.

Maybe I ought to try an Agency in the same time zone and see what happens. At the very least the postage will be a lot cheaper.

I'll revisit the 'Cerberus' and 'Sky full of stars' MSS over the long weekend and get myself a copy of a Writers handbook that lists reputable literary agencies in BC or the Western USA. See what happens there.

Current weather & current reading

More 'global warming' in the shape of snow and sleet today. Having seen the stupid people who insist that man has any appreciable effect on the worlds' climate, despite clear cut evidence to the contrary, (Polar Bears fine, No predicted cataclysmic climate effects evident, rather chilly don'cha think) are so blinded by their own scientifically illiterate dogma that they think anyone with an alternative opinion is mentally ill; I've given up commenting on other climate related blogs. Only a new ice age will convince the pro AGW crowd, but even if that were to come to pass I have the horrible sinking feeling that even when the last of them is being hunted by hungry Polar Bears across the Icy Tundra of just for the sake of a laugh, let's say Florida, they will still think that the climate is all the fault of those nasty SUV driving bunch of 'deniers'. Oh gawd.

By the by, Have picked upon this Ayn Rand meme that is going around and begun to read her work to see what all the fuss is about. Have completed 'We the Living' (Movie link here) and 'Anthem' and heard her speaking in old interviews about her philosophy of 'Objectivism'. I find her work surprisingly easy to read despite it's literary reputation, and extremely hostile to any authoritarian collectivist doctrine such as communism or socialism, yet I do not feel so far that the policy of enlightened self interest as espoused in her novels is any more attractive than Anarchy. This opinion may change.

Current book open on the bed stand is 'Romanitas' by Sophia McDougall. Like the story, but her style is a little opaque for my tastes. Still plugging away at it nonetheless.

All seasons in a day

This morning when I took Dog for his tri-yearly shearing, I was wearing sunglasses and the sky was a brilliant blue with nary a cloud in sight. When I drove to pick him up from the dog groomers at lunchtime, the sky was a solid light grey. Two hours later, it was raining, then the sky closed down and it snowed. It is now 3:30pm PST and the sun has just come out again.

Dog has been defurred, the house has been cleaned top to bottom, and Wife is currently sitting reading Ayn Rand's 'Anthem'. Not so much a novel, more a long polemic poem against the evils of collectivism. A Good read, and despite her 'literary' reputation, pre-eminently readable. Have yet to read 'Fountainhead' and 'Atlas Shrugged', but was impressed by the power of 'We the living'.

Me, I am struggling with the theme of mental infidelity against the backstory of burgeoning space colonisation. Time for tea and a break from the keyboard methinks.