Captain's Blog
Ahoy, Critterfolk!
New entry Dec 20
Critter Notices
P&E Readers' Poll
Preditors & Editors / Critters annual best-of Readers' Poll is now open! Vote for your favorites!
How to Write SF
Hot off the presses from ReAnimus Press! The Craft of Writing Science Fiction that Sells by Ben Bova, best-selling author and six-time Hugo Award winner for Best Editor. (This is one of the books your ol' Critter Captain learned from himself, and I highly recommend it.)
Free Books
I've got five review copies of my newest ebook, A PRIVATE MUTINY and of the Vonnegut/Catch22-esque SIDE EFFECTS available for those who'd like one.
Book Recommendation
I wholeheartedly think you'll like this book ("Biff America" - humor) and want to recommend it to you.
Announcing ReAnimus Press
If you need help making ebooks from manuscripts or print copies—or finding great stuff to read—look no further! An ebook publisher started by your very own Critter Captain. (And with a 12% Affiliate program.) [More]
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FEATURED BOOK
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Woo-hoo!
My unscientific estimate is that members of Critters are around 10X more likely to make sales than non-critters (but cause and effect? who knows?). Regardless, this page is to celebrate our successes!
Critter Robert Qualkinbush has analyzed the reports below and created a summary page of how many sales Critters have had. Fascinating, and astounding! Good going to you all.
If you have something to report, tell me immediately!
Then see the NewNewForum.com to read about and announce new projects (in writing, tech, or any other field). Free ads on the Critters site are also provided as a benefit of membership.
Congratulations to...
| Chris Stamp, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Dandelion & Gossamer" to M-Brane SF. {Thank you to all those Critters those who helped with this. } [Jan 2012] |
| Patricia Kirby, whose (Critter'd) novel, "The Canvas Thief" is now out from Carina Press. {My second novel, The Canvas Thief, is now available from Carina Press. http://tiny.cc/81szs The Canvas Thief, a romantic urban fantasy about an artist who accidentally brings her comic book characters to life, went through the Critters queue as Accidental Magic. Thanks to all who read and critiqued! Additional information is available at my blog: http://www.patriciakirby.com/blog/ } [Jan 2012] |
| Steve Donnelly, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Oh Most Cursed Addition Engine" is now out in the current issue of Onspec Magazine #86 (Fall 2011). {The story was critiqued about 3 1/2 years ago, accumulated 6 rejections, then was accepted by Onspec Nov 2010. (Wow! Time does fly in the publishing world, doesn't it?). The story is published under "H.S. Donnelly". The magazine is available at www.onspec.ca for $4.99 Cdn for a digital copy. (If ordering from the U.S., the Canadian dollar is almost the same as the U.S. dollar and your friendly credit card company will handle the currency conversion for you.) } [Jan 2012] |
| Carl Alves, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Sweet Pain" to shortstory.me. [Jan 2012] |
| Dwayne Minton, whose short story, "Clownspace" is now out in the current issue of 10Flash Quarterly. [Jan 2012] |
| Dwayne Minton, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Still Life Through Water Droplets" is now out in the current issue of Daily Science Fiction. {This story was emailed on Jan 3 and appeared on the website Jan 10. This one didn't get crittered but benefited from what I've learned here. } [Jan 2012] |
| Dwayne Minton, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Still Life Through Water Droplets" is now out in the current issue of Daily Science Fiction. {This story was emailed on Jan 3 and appeared on the website Jan 10. This one didn't get crittered but benefited from what I've learned here. } [Jan 2012] |
| Stephen Gaskell, whose short story, "Strata" is now out in the current issue of Amazon. {Strata, co-written with Bradley P. Beaulieu, author of "The Winds of Khalakovo" from Night Shade Books, is a high-tech thriller set aboard a vast mining platform in the sun's chromosphere. Combining the gritty futurism of Bladerunner, the racing thrills of Tron, and the sensawunda of Robert Charles Wilson's work, Strata is ideal for SF fans who love big canvas, action-packed works. It is available at http://www.amazon.com/Strata-ebook/dp/B006P40OHO/ } [Jan 2012] |
| Bill Stiteler, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Legacy" to The Arcane Anthology. {The story was published under the pen name "S.M. Williams", and is a follow-on to another crittered short story. } [Dec 2011] |
| Dwayne Minton, who sold his short story, "The Sea Shall Have Them" to Liquid Imagination. [Dec 2011] |
| Dwayne Minton, whose short story, "Observations on a Clock" is now out in the current issue of Asimov's Science Fiction. [Dec 2011] |
| Charles D. Shell, who has won the lulu.com short story contest (2nd place) award for his short story, "Grass". { http://www.lulu.com/blog/2011/12/22/winners-of-the-lulu-short-story-contest-announced/ } [Dec 2011] |
| KJ Hannah Greenberg, whose book, "A Bank Robber's Bad Luck with His Ex-Girlfriend" is now out in the current issue of Unbound CONTENT. {Orders can be placed at; https://www.createspace.com/3729088 } [Dec 2011] |
| Richard S Levine, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "A Penny for your Thoughts" to Beyond Centauri. {Thanks to everyone who crittered this story a couple of years ago. It will be in Samsdotpublishing's April 2012 print issue. } [Dec 2011] |
| Karl Bunker, whose short story, "Flexible" is now out in the current issue of an anthology called "WTF?!" from Pink Narcissus Press. [Dec 2011] |
| David L Erickson, whose (Critter'd) book, "Under a Blue Sky Sun" is now out in the current issue of Amazon / Smashwords. [Dec 2011] |
| Ken Liu, who sold his short story, "A Brief History of the Trans-Pacific Tunnel" to F&SF. [Dec 2011] |
| Ken Liu, who sold his short story, "Mono No Aware" to THE FUTURE IS JAPANESE, from VIZ Media. [Dec 2011] |
| Michael Vella, who reports "The story "Valletta, City of Guilt" was a semi-finalist in the Writers of the Future contest, Q4 2011. Thanks to all those who critiqued it". [Dec 2011] |
| James Beamon, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The Homeless Man of Greater Zimbabwe" to The Colored Lens. {Thanks to all the folks that looked at this story, your feedback made this happen. } [Dec 2011] |
| Evan Dicken, who sold his short story, "The Tyrants of Mars" to Pulp Empire: Heroes of Mars Anthology. [Dec 2011] |
| Brian W. Matthews, whose (Critter'd) short story, ""And Then the Clock Struck Two"" is now out in the current issue of Dark River Press Stories. {Thanks to all who helped with "Clock." You can read the final version at www.darkriverpress.com/stories.html } [Dec 2011] |
| Anatoly Belilovsky, whose short story, "Gifts of the Magi" is now out in the current issue of Nature Futures. {Links to the story: HTML: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v480/n7375/full/480144a.html PDF: http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v480/n7375/pdf/480144a.pdf MP3 podcast: http://nature.edgeboss.net/download/nature/nature/podcast/extras/futures-2011-12-01.mp3 Sweet! } [Nov 2011] |
| Anatoly Belilovsky, who sold his short story, "Karlsson" to Kasma SF. [Nov 2011] |
| Michael Andre-Driussi, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Daughter of Plant and Woman" is now out in the current issue of Twisted Fairy Tales, Volume 2. {Anthology available at Amazon. Thanks again to the critters who helped on this one! } [Nov 2011] |
| Michael Andre-Driussi, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Breen Carnation" is now out in the current issue of OG's Speculative Fiction. {Issue 33, available for Kindle download at Amazon. } [Nov 2011] |
| Michael Andre-Driussi, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Hitler's Hollywood" to Big Pulp. [Nov 2011] |
| Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, whose short story, "Happy Birthday, Joshie" is now out in the current issue of New Dawn Fades. {I've very excited to have my story in this zombie anthology. It's the first time I know for sure that I've appeared with another Critter (Dan Hart's Please Revive). A sign that the workshop is working for me, even though this particular story didn't go through the queue. } [Nov 2011] |
| Donald Jacob Uitvlugt, whose short story, "Happy Birthday, Joshie" is now out in the current issue of New Dawn Fades. {I've very excited to have my story in this zombie anthology. It's the first time I know for sure that I've appeared with another Critter (Dan Hart's Please Revive). A sign that the workshop is working for me, even though this particular story didn't go through the queue. } [Nov 2011] |
| Chris Stamp, whose short story, "Shooting Stars" is now out in the current issue of Brain Harvest. [Nov 2011] |
| Carl Alves, whose (Critter'd) novel, "Two For Eternity" is now out from Weaving Dreams Publishing. [Nov 2011] |
| Carl Alves, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Richfield Court" to Locked Doors Anthology. [Nov 2011] |
| Dwayne Minton, who sold his short story, "Clownspace" to 10Flash Quarterly. [Nov 2011] |
| Dustin Walker, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "That One Shot" to Big Pulp magazine. {Thanks to everyone who offered feedback on this story. } [Nov 2011] |
| Ian Creasey, who reports "My short fiction collection "Maps of the Edge" is out now. This contains 17 stories published in Asimov's and elsewhere; the lead story, "Erosion", appeared in three Year's Best anthologies. Almost all of these stories originally went through Critters during 2001-2010. More details at my website www.iancreasey.com". [Nov 2011] |
| Ed Kratz, whose short story, "Radical Therapy" is now out in the current issue of Daily Science Fiction. [Nov 2011] |
| Richard Zwicker, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The Reopened Cask" to Strange Mysteries 4. [Oct 2011] |
| Brenda Kezar, whose short story, ""Inhuman Resources"" is now out in the current issue of Zombidays. {Zombidays is a collection of 18 holiday-themed zombie stories published by Twisted Library Press. } [Oct 2011] |
| Ed Kratz, whose short story, "Paying for It " is now out in the current issue of Big Pulp . [Oct 2011] |
| Anna Dickinson, who sold her (Critter'd) short story, "The Blue Hill" to On the Premises magazine. {Thank you so much to everyone who critiqued the story. It should be online on the 7th November. } [Oct 2011] |
| Sabeen Aameir, whose (Critter'd) novel, "The Black Orb" is now out from Uncial Press. [Oct 2011] |
| Simon Mead, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Ana and the Zombies (originally entitled 'Zombi')" to Bete Noire. [Oct 2011] |
| Lucas Nicolato, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Inside Darkness" is now out in the current issue of Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing. [Oct 2011] |
| Sean Green (writing as S. R. Algernon), who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Affirmations" to the Finding Home: Community in Apocalyptic Worlds anthology by Timid Pirate Publishing. {Thank you to everyone who helped me with this story. } [Oct 2011] |
| Evan Dicken, who sold his short story, "Destroyer of Worlds" to War of the Words Press' "Weird War" Anthology. [Oct 2011] |
| Dwayne Minton, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "The Last Horse" to Aoife's Kiss. {This one took a while to find the right market. Thanks to everyone who provided feedback on this one! } [Oct 2011] |
| Charles D. Shell, whose novel, "Fourfold" is now out from Kindle/Amazon. {It's on Amazon for the Kindle at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B005R3EPHY } [Oct 2011] |
| Ken Liu, whose short story, "The Countable" is now out in the current issue of Asimov's. [Oct 2011] |
| Jess Harris, who sold his short story, "The Silence" to Fiction365. [Oct 2011] |
| Ken Liu, whose (Critter'd) short story, "The Last Seed" is now out in the current issue of Daily Science Fiction. {It's now available on the web site (http://dailysciencefiction.com/story/ken-liu/the-last-seed). This one went through the queue as "Panspermia." Thanks to everyone who helped me with this. } [Oct 2011] |
| Chris Stamp, who sold his short story, "Shooting Stars" to Brain Harvest. [Oct 2011] |
| Ken Liu, who sold his short story, "Staying Behind" to Clarkesworld. {This is a prequel to "Altogether Elsewhere, Vast Herds of Reindeer," which went through critters as "The Long Trip." Thanks to everyone who critiqued that story and indirectly helped me on this one. } [Sep 2011] |
| Megan Hutchins, who sold her (Critter'd) short story, "Canvas"" to Daily Science Fiction. {"Canvas" goes out on DSF's e-mail subscription list on Oct. 5th, and will be available online a week thereafter. Thanks to the many, many people who commented on this story! } [Sep 2011] |
| Ken Liu, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Golden Years in the Paleozoic" is now out in the current issue of Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. {Thanks to everyone who critiqued this. } [Sep 2011] |
| Ken Liu, who sold his short story, "Real Artists" to MIT Technology Review. {The story is out in TRSF, a special publication of MIT's Technology Review. Though this didn't go through critters, I learned a lot from everyone and I'm sure that helped. } [Sep 2011] |
| Dwayne Minton, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Thief of Futures" is now out in the current issue of Lightspeed Magazine. {I announced this one earlier, but wanted to let everyone know that my story is now available for free reading online. Thanks to everyone who crittered this one. } [Sep 2011] |
| Dwayne Minton, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Thief of Futures" is now out in the current issue of Lightspeed Magazine. {I announced this one earlier, but wanted to let everyone know that my story is now available for free reading online. Thanks to everyone who crittered this one. } [Sep 2011] |
| Richard S Levine, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Liar" to The Lorelei Signal. {This was originally crittered as "My Life's a Lie". I changed the pov character and focused the story on the "Lie Bar". That made the difference! Thanks to everyone who critiqued this story. It will appear in "The Lorelei Signal" Jan 2012 issue. } [Sep 2011] |
| Anatoly Belilovsky, whose short story, "Literary Offenses [and accompanying essay/bio]" is now out in the current issue of Penumbra Ezine's Rising Talent feature. {http://penumbra.musapublishing.com left lower corner, or: http://penumbra.musapublishing.com/featured.php } [Sep 2011] |
| Ken Liu, who sold his short story, "Maxwell's Demon" to F&SF. [Sep 2011] |
| Peter Kovic, who reports "My Crittered story "Painter" is a semi-finalist in the 3rd quarter "Writers of the Future" contest". [Sep 2011] |
| Anatoly Belilovsky, who reports "My microflash story made Honorable Mention in the OTP Mini-cintest #15!". {http://www.onthepremises.com/minis/mini_15.html Reader Beware! } [Sep 2011] |
| Lawrence Vernon, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "A Serious Artist" to Wicked East Press. {Wicked East Press has accepted this story for publication in their anthology, "Beneath the Pretty Lies." I want to thank everyone who took the time and effort to critique this story. I couldn't have done it without your help. } [Sep 2011] |
| Chet Gottfried, whose short story, "Captain Payne and His Zombie Amazons" is now out in the current issue of Polluto. {Although not crittered per se, a Critter-friend (Russell Adams) critiqued the story for me, and so with Critter help, my bizarro "Captain Payne" became a better story and was published in award-winning Polluto (issue 8: In Space No One Can Hear You Dream). } [Sep 2011] |
| Adam LaRusic, whose (Critter'd) short story, "How Many Humans Does It Take to Change a Light Bulb?" is now out in the current issue of Cosmic Crime Stories. [Sep 2011] |
| Abra Staffin-Wiebe, who sold her (Critter'd) short story, "These Things Take Time" to Northern Lights II Anthology. [Sep 2011] |
| Dwayne Minton, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Thief of Futures" is now out in the current issue of Lightspeed Magazine. {My story is available now by purchasing the Sept. issue, but can be read free online on Sept 20th. Thanks to everyone who critted this one! } [Sep 2011] |
| Chris Stamp, whose short story, "Damnation" is now out in the current issue of Cast Of Wonders. {Damnation now live on Cast Of Wonders, http://www.castofwonders.org, an excellent new young adult sci-fi magazine with professionally produced readings and custom artwork for each story. If you like it, you might leave a few coppers in the honesty box to help them get firmly established. Also see my story currently on critters, Dandelion and Gossamer. } [Sep 2011] |
| Karl Bunker, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Overtaken" is now out in the current issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction (Sept/Oct). [Aug 2011] |
| Abra Staffin-Wiebe, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Good Help is Hard to Find" is now out in the current issue of Bosley Gravel's Cavalcade of Terror. {Read or listen to my podcast of my super-short horror story, "Good Help is Hard to Find," to learn the secrets of successful marriage: www.dreadfullittlepress.com/cavalcade/?p=812 (Warning: graphic violence) } [Aug 2011] |
| Tracy Canfield, who sold her short story, "The Chastisement Of Your Peace" to Strange Horizons. [Aug 2011] |
| Ken Liu, whose (Critter'd) short story, "The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary" is now out in the current issue of Panverse Three. {This is my longest published work so far and the one of which I'm the proudest. Thanks to everyone who critiqued it. } [Aug 2011] |
| Wendy Turner, who has won the Harriette Austin Writers Conference Fiction award for her novel, "Falcon, Crow, Raven, Goodwitch". {This is now titled: "Brother, Sister, Lover, Friend". Thanks so much to all of you who do crit my stuff! } [Aug 2011] |
| Wendy Turner, who has won the Harriette Austin Writers Conference Fiction award for her novel, "Falcon, Crow, Raven, Goodwitch". {Though this piece was not critter'd, much of my work has been, and I am a FAR BETTER WRITER for all your comments. Thank you, thank you, thank you! } [Aug 2011] |
| Anatoly Belilovsky, whose short story, "Night Witch" is now out in the current issue of Tales of Old Podcast. {The podcast is now live at: http://media.blubrry.com/talesofold/p/www.talesofold.org/Episodes/10_NightWitch.mp3 Enjoy! Comment! Tell friends! } [Aug 2011] |
| Lawrence Vernon, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Devil Tree" to Wicked East Press. {Wicked East Press has accepted this story for publication in their anthology, "Behind Locked Doors." I want to thank everyone who took the time and effort to critique this story. Your advice has been invaluable, and I couldn't have done it without your help. Thank you. } [Aug 2011] |
| Amy LaBonte, whose short story, "The Tribe" is now out in the current issue of www.fiction365.com. {My story appears on the front page of fiction365.com all day Thursday, August 18, 2011. Afterwards it can be found under my name, Amy LaBonte, listed under "Select Story by Author." } [Aug 2011] |
| Dwayne Minton, whose (Critter'd) short story, "Memories of Childhood" is now out in the current issue of Nil Desperandum. {This is a podcast of a story that came through Critters several years ago and was originally published in 2009. It's sold twice! Thanks to everyone who critted this one. You can hear it at ndstories.com. } [Aug 2011] |
| James Beamon, who sold his short story, "Saviors" to Daily Science Fiction. {This is my first pro sale and one of the first stories I've sold without a single rejection. Thanks to all the critters that helped me refine my skills. } [Aug 2011] |
| James Beamon, who sold his short story, "Of Badges and Brownies" to Strange, Weird, and Wonderful Magazine. {The story is in the same vein as Orc Legal (a crittered story) and will appear in the April 2012 issue. The lessons learned in getting Orc Legal critiqued help get this one published with little fuss, so I appreciate it fellow critters. } [Aug 2011] |
| Stephen Gaskell, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Fisher's Gambit" to Mutation Press: Rocket Science Anthology. [Aug 2011] |
| Denna Holm, who sold her (Critter'd) novel, "Soul of a Warrior" to Crescent Moon Press. {I couldn't have made it this far without all the great help. Story was crittered under the name "A Hunter's Journey" and I want to thank each and every person who gave of their time and the valuable advise. I'm just a little bit excited here!! } [Aug 2011] |
| C.J. Sand, who has won the 2nd place Absent Willow Review award for her (Critter'd) short story, "Trees". {http://absentwillowreview.com/archives/second-place-trees } [Aug 2011] |
| Richard S Levine, who reports "I was interviewed in the St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Business section (Aug. 8, 2011)". {Mostly the q&a interview is about my work in video games, but I'm glad they mentioned I write science fiction. It's in print, but you can also find it in the business news section by searching on Ivan Penn (Times staff writer) and Levine. } [Aug 2011] |
| Leah Cypess, who sold her (Critter'd) short story, "Nanny's Day" to Asimov's Science Fiction. [Aug 2011] |
| Ken Liu, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Music of the Spheres" to Mirror Shards: Exploring the Edges of Augmented Reality. {This story won the editor's Gold Award, and I'm really proud of it. It went though the queue a while ago as "Learning From the Crows." } [Jul 2011] |
| James Beamon, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, ".vic of Smut 2.0" to OG's Speculative Fiction Magazine. {Thanks for all the great feedback. For those who have been asking, it's finally going to be available! } [Jul 2011] |
| Abra Staffin-Wiebe, who sold her (Critter'd) short story, "Good Help is Hard to Find" to Bosley Gravel's Cavalcade of Terror. [Jul 2011] |
| Christopher Kastensmidt, who sold his short story, "Geniuses" to Daily Science Fiction. [Jul 2011] |
| Jess Harris, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Penance" to Short Story America. [Jul 2011] |
| Eleanor Wood, who sold her (Critter'd) short story, "Rule of Five" to Bete Noire Magazine. {Thanks so much to everyone who critiqued this story (under its previous title, 'Five'). Your comments and suggestions made a huge difference to the final piece, and really helped me fine-tune it to a specific market. } [Jul 2011] |
| Anatoly Belilovsky, whose short story, "The Whale Wore White" is now out in the current issue of 10Flash ([URL]). {http://10flash.wordpress.com/genres/10flash-fantasy-stories/the-whale-wore-white/ Read! Comment! Tell friends! } [Jul 2011] |
| Dwayne Minton, who sold his short story, "Still Life Through Water Droplets" to Daily Science Fiction. [Jun 2011] |
| Patricia Kirby, whose (Critter'd) novel, "The Music of Chaos" is now out from Decadent Publishing. {My quirky urban fantasy novel, The Music of Chaos, is now available in print. It can be purchased at DecadentPublishing.com or at Amazon or Barnes & Noble. It is also still available as an ebook (PDF, Kindle, Nook and other formats). For more information, drop by my website: http://www.patriciakirby.com/blog/ Thanks, Critters! } [Jun 2011] |
| John McKeel, who sold his (Critter'd) short story, "Failing St.George" to Tales of the Talisman. {The story will be in the October issue of TALES OF THE TALISMAN. I've been inactive for a while, but wanted to share this success with Critters. The help I received here was invaluable. Thank you to everyone who reviewed "Failing St. George." this is my first published piece of fiction. } [Jun 2011] |
| Stephen Gaskell, who sold his short story, "The Charnel Pit" to Triangulation: Last Contact Anthology. {Editor, Stephen V. Ramey, is posting teasers of every story in the collection, including one by Robert J. Sawyer, on his personal website. Also, Mr. Ramey posted extensive (non-spoiler!) notes on every story in the slush pile during the reading period. Highly recommended reading for Critters folk! } [Jun 2011] |
| Christopher Kastensmidt, who has won the Realms of Fantasy Readers' Choice award for his (Critter'd) short story, "The Fortuitous Meeting of Gerard van Oost and Oludara". {This has been a great year for this novelette. Thanks again to everyone who critiqued it, and the other stories in the series. } [Jun 2011] |
| Dennis R. Upkins, whose novel, "Hollowstone" is now out from Parker Publishing. {My debut novel, Hollowstone is out now and is available in paperback, Kindle and other e-book formats at Amazon.com and Parker-Publishing.com. You can find out more about Hollowstone here: http://dennisupkins.com/2011/06/19/hollowstone-the-official-release/ It's very surreal and immensely gratifying and I certainly wouldn't be at the level I'm at now if it wasn't for Critters. So many of you helped me develop as a writer. So a huge thanks to all of you on that score. } [Jun 2011] |
| Tracy Canfield, whose short story, "Humans Love You" is now out in the current issue of AE: The Canadian Science Fiction Review. {(Sold as "Greetings From Earth"; the editor suggested the new and much better title.) } [Jun 2011] |
[Click here to see the full list of Woohoos going back to 1996.]
