Analog Sighting

[dr_phil_physics]

Look At What I Found

Thursday afternoon, about 3:30pm EST, Barnes & Noble in Holland MI. I could see they had copies of Analog -- the title stuck out of the second tier shelf -- but I didn't know what the May 2009 cover looked like. Apparently it looks a lot like these:


And look -- one of the copies happens to have opened to reveal "The Brother On The Shelf" by Philip Edward Kaldon.

As You Can See... It Starts On Page 77

But with the May 2009 Analog on bookstore shelves, you can buy your own. Just don't try the Barnes & Noble in Holland MI -- they're out right now.

My First Real Fan Letter

Lots of people have wished me well with this or that publication. And I've gotten a number of congratulations with the publication of the May 2009 Analog and my story. But today when I checked the email over at my website http://dr-phil-physics.com I discovered my first real fan mail:

Dear Dr. Kaldon,

I enjoyed your story in the latest Analog. Enough so that I bought Tangle Girls, where I enjoyed Under Suspicion rather more. I also quite liked Le Grand Bazar and will happily order ASIM 38/39 as they are available.

Wow. Someone read my story in Analog, found my website, ordered another anthology, Tangle Girls with my story "Under Suspicion". I've generated a sale!

And no, I'm not being sarcastic here. This is both amusing and exciting to me. Because it happens to writers -- and I'm getting established as a SF writer, plain and simple. But it gets better, because my fan also had a question about my 29th century universe which I happily answered.

Yeah, people are beginning to read Dr. Phil. Okay, now I'm chuffed.

Dr. Phil

Comments

[ckastens.livejournal.com]

And look -- one of the copies happens to have opened to reveal "The Brother On The Shelf" by Philip Edward Kaldon.

What an amazing coincidence! :)

BIG congrats on the publication and the fan! Two major milestones!

[albogdan.livejournal.com]

As Chris said, definitely many major milestones reached!

[j-cheney.livejournal.com]

Congrats!!

[wendyb-09.livejournal.com]

Oooooh! The brother unit has groupies!!

Congrats brother o' mine! Guess I'll have to swing by Borders this weekend and see what I can see...

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

The first was, of course, expected. The other came clear out of the blue. And I should have expected it'd happen some time, but it was a pleasant surprise.

Dr. Phil

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

At the time I was getting ready to apply to Clarion in fall of 2003, I sat down and made a list of Writing Milestones. First publication. First sale to a major. Etc. Quite a number have happened since then, more left to go. But I don't remember if getting fanmail was on the list. (grin) But it's clearly a milestone.

Dr. Phil

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

Thanks!

Dr. Phil

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

Groupie. Just one. (grin) So far. (double-grin)

Dr. Phil

[slithytove.livejournal.com]

What a great fan. Awesome!

[wendyb-09.livejournal.com]

or would the singular be groupi?

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

Amazingly cool.

Dr. Phil

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

A group of one? I think we need a Venn diagram.

Dr. Phil

[ken-schneyer.livejournal.com]

Very cool.

They actually sell Analog in the Land of Hope College? I was sure it was against some rule or other...

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

Hey, they let me teach Physics at Hope College. Seriously, Hope is a decent liberal arts & sciences college. As for Holland, they are as plagued by big box stores as the next community, and I'm sure B&N doesn't worry so much about local issues. (grin) Frankly, I was impressed they had four copies. Usually when I am looking for any of the four majors in SF/F, I'm lucky to see one or two copies on a shelf.

Dr. Phil

Hoorah!

[burnt-njal.livejournal.com]

Yes, the best part of publishing in a well-known magazine is the fact that you get to see how people response. Any reviews yet that you know of?

I've been lucky enough to get a few pieces of honest-to-goodness fan mail too and it sends me straight to cloud nine. No one's every sought out any other of my stories though, at least not that I know of.

Enjoy it!

Re: Hoorah!

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

Haven't run into official reviews yet, but I did run into one on the Analog blog -- you just haven't been keeping up (http://dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com/209312.html) with my LJ. (grin)

Still feeling mighty chuffed.

Dr. Phil

[steve-buchheit.livejournal.com]

Hurrah! And the villagers rejoice! Okay, so you can tell us, just how many people did you grab as they walked by and said, "Hey, look, that's my story right there"?

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

(1) There wasn't anybody in the store.

(2) I bought all the copies they had. (evil grin)

(3) I did tell the checkout guy he needed to re-order and showed him my story.

(4) Okay, so it was a small thing, but I'm still chuffed.

(5) Check out today's (http://dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com/211312.html) entry!

Dr. Phil

[therinth.livejournal.com]

That's awesome Dr Phil! :D

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

Thank you. (grin)

Dr. Phil

[dr-phil-physics.livejournal.com]

Dear 95.64.12.49 -- you don't get to poop spam on my personal triumph. Just stop it.

Dr. Phil