After yesterday’s post on photography, I’ve decided to try an experiment–to post an image a day, and a short blog post on that image. We’ll see if it’s something I stick with.

I received an envelope in the mail today from one of my Viable Paradise friends, Kelly Lagor. Inside was a very sweet card, and the last issue of Locus Magazine. My name was inside it–my name, inside of Locus.

And who was on the cover? None other than Anne McCaffrey. There’s a certain eerie synchronicity in that.

I wrote a bit about Anne on the day of her death. What I didn’t mention then–couldn’t–was that I had heard that my book sold just a few days before. In some ways, this made the sale especially bittersweet–my greatest artistic influence, and I would never get to write her a letter telling her just how much she meant to me.

But it was also a reminder of why I’m doing all of this. Someday, my words might have a life that outlasts even mine. They might impact a young writer who will find success after I’ve died. It’s a legacy, but it’s more than that. It’s participating in the immortal conversation of literature.

Which is pretty darned great, isn’t it? I think so, at least.

Happy belated Hallowe’en, from your friend the Doctor (and his friend, the Doctor)!

If you’ve been wondering what I’ve been up to, the answer is: busy busy busy. Here’s what I wrote this month:

• At the Intergalactic Academy, I interviewed Karen Sandler, and wrote about the teens of Terra Nova.
• Also at the Intergalactic Academy, I reviewed Ready Player One by Ernest Cline, Circus Galacticus by  Deva Fagan, Crossed by Ally Condie, and The Always War by Margaret Peterson Haddix.
• At YA Highway, I wrote about my evolving attitudes toward workshop feedback.
• The Young Adult Review Network featured my short story, “Elsie and the Wild Boys.”
• And I wrote my first fanfic in a decade, “The Honeymoon of River Song.”

Yes, I’m a dork. Had you ever any doubt?