I meant to sit down for an hour and work on “If By Reason of Strength”. Instead, I sat down for nearly an hour an a half and wrote just over 1,000 words and I am very pleased with what I have so far. I hope to make some more progress this week. I’m not sure how long this story will turn out to be yet, but I’m guessing somewhere between 6,000 – 8,000 words. Substantially shorter than “Graveyard Shift”.

Last night, I re-read a story that I wrote back in March of this year, a short-short called “Blind Date”. It wrote it in a hotel in one sitting (it’s only abotu 1,800 words). I didn’t think too much of it at the time and never sent it out anywhere, but when I re-read it last night, I decided that it was very good, and that it was worth sending out. So I’ll wait and see what happens with “Graveyard Shift” at F&SF and if I get it back, then I’ll send them “Blind Date” next. (Incidentally, the title may be a little misleading, but the story is about first alient contact.)