Anxiously awaiting the June Analog

Though I don’t have any snail-mail stories out for submission out the moment, I have been anxiously checking the mailbox every day in the hope that the June issue of Analog will be there. Yes, it is late March, but the June issue hits news stands around April 4 and I tend to get my subscription copy somewhat earlier than that. For instance, I received the May issue more than a month ago, back on February 18.

The June issue, of course, has my story “Take One for the Road” which is my third pro science fiction story and my first in Analog. I’ve seen the galleys for it, but I am on pins and needles to see the actual issue that contains the story. I haven’t read the story since I proofread the galleys and I’m looking forward to sitting down with the issue and reading my story. And of course I’m nervously hoping that other people who read it enjoy it, too.

I was hoping that the issue would arrive before my birthday, as a kind of advanced birthday present. (It can’t arrive on my birthday since my birthday falls on a Sunday this year.) More than likely it will arrive after. Nevertheless, checking the mailbox is the first thing that I do upon arriving home, and I don’t make any attempt at being calmly casual. I dash over to it in a mad sprint, completely and utterly frustrated by the volumes of junk circulars that clutter the box making it difficult to spot the good stuff.

Just be prepared for a complete and total freak-out when it does arrive. I’m giving you fair warning.

Well, maybe today…?