Making the Cut.

Below is an email from an editor regarding a submission whose status I'd been wondering about for a while. My reply comes after it. I don't feel the need to provide commentary on this one because if you get the field in which I toil, you will know that this is a positive email:

Christopher,

My apologies for taking so long to get back to you with a response to your submission ‘The Gipper Memorandum’ intended for consideration for our upcoming Dark Visions anthology.

I want to personally thank you for making our call for author submissions an overwhelming success. With your help, we received a literal avalanche of quality fiction. But with the large number of submissions, comes an extended review process; and I appreciate your continued patience throughout.

I’d like to share with you some insights into our process. Our Acquisitions Team is conducting a two-step approach wherein all submissions are carefully reviewed by each member of the team. A small number of these submissions will then move into Phase 2, or what we call Second Review. Acceptance to Second Review is based on how the piece is rated by our editors on several variables. We estimate that only 20% of all manuscripts move on for Second Review.

We’ve reviewed your manuscript, enjoyed the read and the level of creativity that is very apparent in your work. As a result, I’m happy to let you know that ‘The Gipper Memorandum’ has moved into Second Review due to the fact that it was a favorite of one or more members of the review team. Now, this doesn’t necessarily mean that ‘The Gipper Memorandum’ will ultimately be accepted for Dark Visions, but I can tell you it is far closer to that point since moving to Second Review.

It’s our goal to respect you, the author, and keep you abreast of all developments throughout our process. While this update may not have been exactly what you were looking for at this point, we hope that our efforts to keep you involved will be appreciated. We honestly believe that publishing quality fiction requires a team whose members work together with as much transparency as possible. And it’s our intention to create a publishing house where the author is a valued member of the team and one who is involved along the way, with the ultimate goal being to produce truly exceptional results.

The submission deadline for Dark Visions is 12/21/12. And, to be fair to all submitting authors, we’d like to hold off on any final decisions until after that date. In addition, it’s possible that Dark Visions could be a multi-volume release, the number of which is yet to be determined. For these reasons, I’m hoping that waiting on a final decision on your piece until shortly after the closing deadline will be alright with you. I don’t want to keep you waiting any longer than you already have, but hope you understand.

One thing I’d also ask (if it’s not too much of a problem), if you happened to have submitted this piece to another market and it is (or has been) accepted by that market prior to you hearing back from me, could you do me a favor and let me know? This would be greatly appreciated and will really help us out moving forward.

Also, if you do the Social Media thing, I encourage you to either Follow us on Twitter (http://www.twitter.com/greymatterpress) and/or Facebook (http://www.facebook.com/GreyMatterPress) to ensure you get general updates on all current and upcoming anthologies. We often post information for submitting authors that you might find helpful.

Speaking for everyone here at Grey Matter, I want to thank you very much for sharing your work with us. And if you have any questions or concerns as we near the end of this process, please feel free to reach out to me. I am more than willing to either answer your questions, or get you the help you need.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Sincerely,

Tony

 

 

Tony,

Thanks so much for the update. This is not a process that is foreign to me and I appreciate the fact that I made it into second review. This piece has not been submitted elsewhere.

Regards,

Christopher Nadeau

COMING SOON!

The latest Great Lakes Association of Horror Writers anthology! This one's theme is phobias and the like and features my short story "Jeremiah's Maladay," about a family stuck in perpetual combat with a self-aware disease.

 

Further info to come!

Brief Rant #1: Decide What the Hell You Are!

In the interests of curmudgeon-dom, I've decided to post weekly rants that are related to my chosen field. This one concerns people who can't seem to decide who or what they are. For example, I recently concluded that a would-be magazine publisher and editor was really more interested in posting his forever-long novel than in publishing the works of others. How did I reach this conclusion?

It happened by me growing tired of waiting for a response regarding a submission. Everybody misses the occasional email, but when you're continually posting "Hey check out this latest chapter of my novel" posts on Facebook, it's harder to accept that you are missing wall posts asking when the next magazine is coming out and whether or not you ever read someone's submission from six months ago!

This magazine published something of mine and I was very happy with not only the presentation of the story but the magazine itself. I read some negative things about the publisher, but that's par for the course. However, ignoring or disregaridng someone's inquiry after well beyond the supposed "reading period" is unprofessional and immature.

Why immature, you probably didn't ask?  Because it's being done in favor of incessant "looky what I wrote" postings. To be fair, all writers want their work to be recognized. But to be honest, I don't really care what you wrote if you don't care what I wrote. It's different if you're a fellow writer hawking your wares, but once you cross over into publisher territory, that makes you something different. You are symbolic of an opportunity.

So many people in this Internet Age can't figure out what they are because there are so many things available to them. But if you're going to call youself a publisher and promise a chance at publication, you better goddam well make sure you deliver, or your chapters will go unread by me and many others who now consider you a BS artist.

Rant over.

Another Unexpected Review.

Although Googling one's self can lead to hairy palms and blindless, for writers it often results in finding reviews of our work we had no idea were out there.

Conrad Zero reviews the Legends of the Monster Hunter anthology and singles out my story as something Lovecraft would be proud of!

Read it here.

On the Films of Steven Spielberg.

My views on Steven Spielberg and his films have changed over the years. When I was a kid, I thought he was the Second Coming, the filmmaker of the coolest movies this side of George Lucas. Then the Eighties ended and I started noticing the emperor had holes in his underwear.  With mainstream acceptance among his peers came a Spielberg more willing to take risks and make the types of films he’d been denied before.

Spielberg has now made a lot of movies of varying genres, nearly all of the ones not involving George Lucas filled with manipulative, cloying sentimentality. Below is the list of his movies I’ve seen and what I think of them. I’ll just put this out there now: If “Schindler’s List” is one of your sacred cows, you probably want to stop reading.

The List:

Duel- An impressive debut, this tale of road rage was well ahead of its time and felt too high-end to be made for TV. But it was. You can’t really screw up a good Richard Matheson story and Spielberg breathed life into this one with zeal.

Jaws- Overrated. Good on a technical level, but that’s Spielberg’s strength. As a movie, it’s a lurching, underacted snooze.

Close Encounters of the Third Kind- Oh, look at the pretty lights and cool aliens. Okay, wake me up when anything interesting happens…It’s over?

Raiders of the Lost Ark- Flawless. Lucas and Kasdan and Ford, oh my. These are the types of films at which Spielberg excels. There was no room for his schmaltzy sentimentality here.

E.T.- One of Spielberg’s corniest, schmaltziest films. I loved it when I was a kid, but after being dragged to see it by yet another family member for a seventh time, I began realizing just how bad it was. Nowhere has alien contact been mishandled with such childish annoyance. What’s really frustrating is how Spielberg gets good performances out of his actors while forcing them to emote into a Hallmark greeting card.

Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom- Still good but suffers from the inclusion of two annoying sidekicks and the director’s obvious hots for Kate Capshaw. Don’t believe me? Watch the DVD extras, and don’t forget he was married at the time.

Empire of the Sun- Although it views like a commercial for the resilience of young boys, it’s a relatively watchable film filled with wonderful imagery and a genuinely touching ending.

Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade- For some reason, Spielberg didn’t want to direct another Indy film until the father/son dynamic was revealed. Once more, Lucas’ involvement precludes any sentimentality and aside from a few less-inspired action sequences, it’s closer to the greatness of the original.

Hook- Pure torture, let’s move on.

Jurassic Park- I was no fan of Michael Crichton’s alarmist rhetoric in the form of cautionary Frankenstein unleashed melodrama, so it should come as no surprise that I hated this movie with the intensity of a thousand suns. Oddly, the core idea was good, but Spielberg’s distracted, uninvolved direction turned it into a snooze-fest of epic proportions. In fact, the most riveting scene in the film is the scene at the dinner table where the ethical implications of cloning are discussed, probably because Spielberg had no choice but to show up to work on a non-fx day!

Schindler’s List- The Holy Grail of Holocaust films and the reason why Spielberg was so distracted during the filming of Jurassic Park. This film does a huge disservice to the Holocaust and those watching it by painting a black and white portrait of comic book level super villainy. The director finally reveals that he doesn’t seem to know the difference between sentimentality and genuine emotion with this tear-jerker. The real irony is after this, he claimed he didn’t want to do another Indiana Jones film with “cartoonish Nazis,” as if this film wasn’t stocked with them.

The Lost World- Ironically, this Jurassic park sequel improves on the original by actually providing a story and dramatic tension that doesn’t involve people hiding under a desk from dinosaurs that probably never existed. The emotions are real and the stakes feel real, too. Not a great film but decent.

Amistad- Spielberg’s saving grave when making films about historical events is that he surrounds himself with good and great actors. Amistad is one such case and the only reason it’s a success.

Saving Private Ryan- Although it runs on a bit longer than it should and the last scene is unnecessary, this is what I consider to be one of Spielberg’s great films. The pacing is perfect, the battle recreations are disturbingly well-done, and the acting and imagery are second to none. After this film, I was convinced Spielberg was headed towards more great films.

A.I. Artificial Intelligence- Stanley Kubrick made two great films (A Clockwork Orange, 2001: A Space Odyssey) and a whole bunch of other ones. This was to be his film, too, but he died when he realized he was filming “Eyes Wide Shut” and people might actually see it. I don’t blame him, but Spielberg shot the movie in his friend’s honor. It’s actually pretty good. You also can’t usually go wrong with a Brian Aldiss story. Sensing a theme here? More on that later.

Minority Report- The second in what I see as Spielberg’s science fiction trilogy, this is a severely underrated film thanks in no small part to Tom Cruise’s performance and stunning visuals. You can go wrong with a Phillip K Dick story, but only if you’re a complete idiot.

Catch me if you Can- So far, my theory that Spielberg was back to making good movies was not disproven with this witty, well-acted true story movie.

The Terminal- Another good one. Spielberg and Tom Hanks make a groovy combo, baby.

War of the Worlds- Lookit him go! This one made me forget all about his lackluster earlier attempts at films about aliens. Took a classic and reinvented it brilliantly. Yes, there’s your typical Spielberg ending where all the kids are okay, but this ain’t Frank Darabont!

Munich- And the Spielberg express ground to a screeching halt. What made this man think he could shoot a Seventies-style William Friedkin-esque epic based on a true story? He actually does pretty well for the first hour, then the film unspools like a poorly wound cassette. Eric Bana isn’t a good actor on his best day (his sad attempts at scenery chewing in the Star Trek reboot pulled me out of the movie) but nowhere were his meager talents more on display than in this plodding mess. And what the hell was Daniel Craig in this movie for? A total waste of time and talent.

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull- I don’t care what anybody says, this movie showed us Spielberg can still deliver actual entertainment. Featuring some of his best camera work and visuals, this movie is also severely underrated. Oh, and Lucas was involved.

Lincoln- I know the over 50 set is embracing this movie like a long lost love, but I’m afraid it doesn’t live up to its hype. Despite the impressive cast and acting, the script is relatively dull and the direction is shallow. Spielberg is simply out of his depth when trying to capture historical drama. He can’t do it all.

 

So what can we conclude here? For one thing, Spielberg works best from the work of superior writers. An auteur he ain’t. Also, his strongest ability, emotion, does not serve him well when dealing with weightier topics. That doesn’t mean he’s shameless like Mel Gibson, but he’s damn close! All in all, Spielberg is a very good director whose reputation has been vastly exaggerated by his box office success.

I take issue with people who blindly think he’s this wonderful filmmaker because of the films in his filmography rather than the content of those films. Soon he will be making the film version of “Robopocalypse,” one of my favorite recent novels. I can only hope my theory holds and the superior writer’s material becomes a good film.

Quote of the Day.

"...even if you overlooked the production values from a 1986 porno and special effects like something your nephew cooked up on his Mac, the movie’s “Yay, money!” zingers are just a big bag of sad."<sup>[

Kyle Smith, New York Post, from his review of Atlas Shrugged II</sup>

Well, I thought it was funny.

 

• Tickets still available for Coldplay Live tomorrow night!

  

  The Maple Theater > Home

  themapletheater.com

  Jon on digital concerts: "First, you are sitting in the front row for $12. Second, the sound is perfect. Third, the bathroom is close.">>Read More

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    Christopher Nadeau "Cool!" said the year 2002.

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    The Maple Theater Now, now - Some would say Coldplay's music, much like their audience, has aged like a fine wine. If nothing else, this is a good opportunity to hear our brand new sound system in action.

    about a minute ago · Like
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    Christopher Nadeau LOL

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An Unexpected Review.

I ran across a message board discussing the Smart Rhino Publications' first anthology, "Zippered Flesh", which contained a short story by yours unruly. The moderator wrote the following:

"Oh, baby! Just finished Christopher Nadeau's "You With Me" and it's a doozy. I gotta pick up more of this guy's stuff.

Like I mentioned before, I hate to reveal much because these are short little nuggets of stories and every detail is best discovered by the reader, but I will say this; I got a little Human Centipede vibe with this one. Not that we meet a guy making people into some weird new breed of combined pieces of human, but rather a story that involves a crazy obsession. A mad scientist idea run amok.

I've said too much already..."
There is no greater praise than that.

Click here for the entire thread.