The nicest part about Spring Break is all the chores I manage to accomplish. Besides school-related chores (and you don’t want to hear about those!), I’ve finished writing and editing the next issue of VISIONS OF PARADISE, including the lettercol HALCYON DAYS. My plan to increase the publication schedule from quarterly to bi-monthly, in an attempt to keep each issue’s size manageable, has fallen by the wayside as I missed my first bi-monthly deadline.

So I will keep it as a quarterly, but I will make a determined effort to keep its length under 40 pages each issue. I think subdividing WONDROUS STORIES and THE PASSING SCENE into discrete parts is what allowed the size to grow above 50 pages each issue (not counting HALCYON DAYS which was another 10-15). So returning them to a single package (except for special occasions, such as my 100th issue in June) and forcing myself to cut things out when it gets too large, should help.

My student Andy Lin offered to set up a website for me, so I can have a web presence for VoP as well, but that would be another chore which I don’t really need, especially since I’m currently trying to cut back on my chores. The biggest victim of my overloaded schedule in recent years has been my fiction writing, and right now I have several stories I want to write, including two novels that are basically plotted and partly-written already. So thanks, Andy, but see me again in a few years! ☺

CURRENTLY READING: THE SWORD OF THE LICTOR, third novel in Gene Wolfe’s BOOK OF THE NEW SUN. This is an excellent series, enjoyable either as a literary quest novel, a well-developed look at a future society, or a character study. Take your choice, you can’t go wrong.

CURRENTLY LISTENING: YESYEARS, a four-cd boxed set of the best of Yes, one of my very favorite progressive rock groups, who have been good in nearly every phase of their careers, although admittedly not totally consistent in the past-1980 phase. But still highly-recommended.