A Curious Statistical Anomaly

This past month has been one thing after another. It seemed like I spent half the month in doctor’s offices or waiting for someone who was in for a procedure to drive them home.

I’m now taking an extra antihistamine and, for the last few days, it’s been making me feel like a zombie. When asked a question there’s a significant pause while I have to parse the sentence and retrieve the answer. May make you drowsy. May make you sleep through your day with your eyes open and minimal functioning. On the plus side the itching is nearly bearable but the headaches are back.

The upshot is that the two magazine (SFRevu.com and GumshoeReview.com) are going to be up online on time but missing the reviews assigned to me. Those reviews will be added in over the next few days as they’ll take me longer to draft, write, and edit. It helps if you’re awake — or so I’ve been told.

I missed Balticon this year also. I got email with my program schedule and I wasn’t on anything as far as I could tell so, since I was feel crappy I decided not stay home and sleep. Hopefully, next year May won’t jump on me with both feet.

Enough whining from me. But hopefully, I can get back to updating my blog regularly.

Both issues went up today and you can read them at the following links:
GumshoeReview.com for reviews of mystery, thriller and related materials, and
SFRevu.com for science fiction and fantasy reviews, news, etc.

Enjoy.

SFRevu June 2011 now Online

Senior Editor: Gayle Surrette
Editor Emeritus: Ernest Lilley
Associate Editor, US: Paul Haggerty
Associate Editor, UK: John Berlyne
Columnists: Drew Bittner / Sam Tomaino

Editorial License:
Editorial Matters – June 2011 by Gayle Surrette

Now Reading:
Fort Freak by George R.R. Martin

Columns:
US Books – SFRevu Staff
UK Books – John Berlyne
Graphic Novels/Manga – SFRevu Staff
Media Watch – SFRevu Staff
Zines & Short Fiction – Sam Tomaino
Blu-ray & DVD Reviews by Charles Mohapel
News – SFRevu Staff
Convention Calendar

UK Book Reviews:
Equations of Life (Metrozone) by Simon Morden

US Book Reviews:
The Affair of the Chalk Cliffs by James P. Blaylock
The Crippled God: Book Ten of The Malazan Book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson
For Heaven’s Eyes Only: A Secret Histories Novel by Simon R. Green
Fort Freak (Wild Cards) by George R.R. Martin
Hunt the Moon: A Cassie Palmer Novel by Karen Chance
Hybrids by Whitley Strieber
Leviathan Wakes (The Expanse) by James S.A. Corey
The Magic of Recluce (Saga of Recluce) by L. E. Modesitt
Misfits, Adventures in the Liaden Universe #15 by Sharon Lee & Steve Miller
The Plain Man by Steve Englehart
The Saturn Game by Poul Anderson
Steampunk’d edited by Jean Rabe and Martin H. Greenberg
Thistle Down by Irene Radford

Gumshoe Review‘s June issue now online
Contents:

Editorial License:
Just the Facts – June 2011 by Gayle Surrette

Columns:
US Books – Gumshoe Staff
Graphic Novels/Manga – Gumshoe Staff
Zines & Short Fiction – Gumshoe Staff
Review of Crimewave Eleven: Ghosts
News – Gumshoe Staff
Conventions – Gumshoe Staff

US Book Reviews:
As the Crow Flies by Maris Soule
Counterfeit Madam: A Gil Cunningham Mystery by Pat McIntosh
Felicity’s Gate: A Rounder Brothers Mystery by Julian Cole
The Hypnotist: A Novel by Lars Kepler
Jericho Cay: A Bay Tanner Mystery by Kathryn R. Wall
Purgatory Chasm: A Mystery by Steve Ulfelder
Stagestruck: A Peter Diamond Investigation by Peter Lovesey
Why Didn’t You Come for Me? by Diane Janes

We got back from Balticon then had May 31st to get everything finalized and up for the zines. We managed to get them both online and active but needing a few additions and fixes on June 1st. Not a problem since that’s the usual way. However, the stress of having to do so much in such a short time made me think the house was really hot.

Yesterday, June 1st, the temperature outside was, with the heat index, 110 degrees — inside it was 90 with the AC set to 75. Guess the day before it was hot inside the house afterall, since the outside temp was nearly as high. As if heat that made it difficult to focus and think straight wasn’t bad enough — we lost power for a few hours. But we called the heat/AC guys and they should come today sometime (evidently lots of people have AC problems when the temps go up).

So, while the outside temp is barely 70 right now it’s 78 inside. I’ve got the fans on and I’m waiting for the repair guys and really hoping it’s something they can fix. Meanwhile, I still have all the updates to do — and I’m trying to convince myself that below 80 is much much better than 90 and besides I’ve got power.

I think myself is trying to lie to me. So, if you’ve looked at SFRevu.com — check back there’s more to come. Gumshoe Review is now finalized (but if you know of news of interest to mystery readers or upcoming conventions let us know).

Turns out that our new[ish] air handling system seems to have sprung a leak. We’re told that the coil on this particular model has flaw in a small percentage of the coils. Unfortunately, there doesn’t seem to be anyway to determine which are the ones that will last for decades, and which will last for a year. This one appears to be the later. The unit is still under warranty, so we’ll get a new coil and a new supply of coolant, and hopefully this one will be one of the good ones. At least it should last through the summer. And if the last two days were any indication, it’s going to be another scorcher.

Gumshoe May 2011 now Online at www.gumshoereview.com

Senior Editor: Gayle Surrette
Editor Emeritus: Ernest Lilley

Editorial License:
Just the Facts – May 2011 by Gayle Surrette

Features:
Interview: Brian Freeman by Gayle Surrette & Joseph B. Hoyos / The Bone House by Brian Freeman
Interview: Parnell Hall by Gayle Surrette & Joseph B. Hoyos / The KenKen Killings by Parnell Hall

Columns:
US Books – Gumshoe Staff (all the books we’ve receive that will be published this month)
Graphic Novels/Manga – Gumshoe Staff
Media – Gumshoe Staff
Zines & Short Fiction – Gumshoe Staff
News – Gumshoe Staff (as we receive it)
Conventions – Gumshoe Staff (as we receive information)

US Book Reviews:
The Bone House by Brian Freeman
Cat Sitter Among the Pigeons: A Dixie Hemingway Mystery by Blaize Clement
Deadly Threads (Josie Prescott Antiques Mysteries) by Jane K. Cleland
Death Along the Spirit Road (Manny Tanno) by C.M. Wendelboe
Death on Tour by Janice Hamrick
Devil’s Plaything: A Mystery for Idle Minds by Matt Richtel
Devil’s Slew: A Detective Barrett Raines Mystery by Darryl Wimberley
Fallen Angels by Alice Duncan
Family Skeletons by Bobbie O’Keefe
The Five by Robert McCammon
Got No Friend Anyhow by Peggy Ehrhart
Hunter’s World by Fred Lichtenberg
The KenKen Killings: A Puzzle Lady Mystery (#12) by Parnell Hall
Night on Fire by Douglas Corleone
Stuff to Spy For by Don Bruns
These Dark Things: Captain Natalia Monte Series Set in Naples by Jan Weiss
The Truth Sleuth by Jacqueline Seewald
Where Danger Hides by Terry Odell

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Gumshoe is now taking advertising. To find out more about our advertising rates and policies, please check out our advertising page at http://www.gumshoereview.com/ads/

NOTE: I’m the editor and I’m rather proud of the zine so take a look. Each articles has a comment option if you wish to leave one.

Can you believe that after noting here that Earth Hour was coming up and getting all excited about it — well, I never got a chance to do anything about it. We had a planning meeting that day, and it was in DC. After the meeting, because we were there and it was supposed to snow, this years Capclave Chair and Hyperion and I met to discuss strategies for the Capclave website and Blog and online publicity.

Once that was done it was about an hour Metro back to the car and then we had to do the weekly shopping in Waldorf. By the time we headed home it was nearly 8:30 and by the time we got home it was nearly 9:30 p.m. We kept light to a minimum but in the past we’ve turned them all off and either read by candle light or oil lamp. So, we’ve been very careful the past few days to turn lights off when we leave a room and not use one if not necessary. Okay, we do that anyway but I’m being compulsive about it now.

Meanwhile, SFRevu and Gumshoe Review go live with the new issues on April 1st so I’ve been working steadily on getting things ready.

What’s making everything more difficult is the lack of energy. I’ve got problems with energy levels anyway and after fighting the flu for the past 3 1/2 to 4 weeks — I feel like walking across the room is the equivalent to running a quarter-mile. It’s weird when you stand up and suddenly all our energy drains out and all you want to do is curl up on the floor and sleep. I find myself looking down to see if I can see the energy leaking out of my heel. I’ve taken to wearing shoes and socks instead of going around in just my socks in case that will help hold in the energy. Haven’t seen anything leaking out of my heel — but really it feels like it should be visible.

But, the good news is that while I was sick, Spring sprung. One day last week — I think it was Wednesday — I looked out the window and the pear trees had flowers, the forsythia was blooming, the daffodils along the woodland path were in bloom, and the chives and some other herbs were showing signs of growth. Spring happened. I just sat with my coffee and contemplated how nice it was to just wake up and see such signs of spring all around me. It’s a great change from all the grey dreariness that came before with rain, overcast skies, and blah days.

It seems that it’s been quite a while since I did an update. Partly it’s because I’ve been busy. Partly because I’m been a bit under-the-weather. And, partly because everything I’m trying to do has a “but first…” clause.

But first you have to do this before you can do that but before you can do that thing you need to do this other thing. I swear I’m in the midst of some sort of infinite loop part of my life. Eventually, I’m sure I’ll make a break out of this loop — there’s got to be a stop condition somewhere.

Meanwhile, I started a scarf. I needed something I could do a little bit on when I’m waiting for CPU cycles to finish up. I’m trying to break myself of wasting time playing games. If I knit while waiting at least I’ll have something to show for all those 15, 20, 30 second time wasters.

We’re also gearing up to get the February issues of SFRevu and Gumshoe Review up and online for February 1st, 2011. Gumshoe Review will have a new original short fiction story by Douglas Campbell in February. Since it’s near the end of the month most of the reviews and content materials are coming in to be formatted and proofed. It should be a great February issue.