The Closing Of The Year
The year's final month is upon us. Within three weeks [as of this writing] autumn will fade into winter, which has already left some snow on the ground. Another year at Sam's Dot comes to a close.
Way back in the mists of time, James B. Baker, founder of ProMart Publishing, came to the conclusion that humanity had a destiny in the stars. Unable to travel there himself, he did the next best thing: he wrote about traveling to the stars. He encouraged others to do the same. Thus was born the first of his several online magazines. Jim was also aware that there are a lot of good, solid, read-worthy stories that might never see publication because the "big publishers" haven't the foggiest notion of how to sell their bottom-line numbers of them--25,000 copies, 50,000 copies, whatever it is. Jim realized that he didn't have to sell 25,000 copies of anything; he'd like to, of course, but he could make do with 10, 15, 73, 106 copies. And so, many new voices appeared in his publications. When Jim finally traveled to Alpha Centauri, his mission became our mission, Sam's Dot's mission: to find those good, solid, read-worthy stories and give them homes.
[Interestingly, in Jim's last year in this Solar System, he advocated publishing an anthology a month. I was one of those who told him it would be extremely difficult to do so. But I sat back the other day and took a look at what we've done over the past few years, and by golly, we do publish the equivalent of an anthology a month].
There's a group--maybe it's Led Zeppelin?--that has an album called "The Song Remains The Same." Well, Jim, your song remains the same, too.
It was Jim Baker who approved the concept of the Tuppence, way back in 2001. Since then, I've composed one every three months--they're archived on the site. I suppose some Tuppences have been excellent, and others have been drudges, and the rest fall somewhere in between. Some have even sounded like blogs or rants, and for that I apologize. What I had hoped to do--and have done on some occasions--was apply science fiction and, to some degree, fantasy to the problems we face here on Earth. Even with this Tuppence, it was tempting to comment upon the science fiction aspects--
of the probability that our soldiers will remain long in Afghanistan because of the vast deposits of rare-earth elements that have been discovered there--elements that are vital to communications and other technologies, and on which the Chinese government has fixed its eye;
of global climate change [yes, though skeptical, I accept that it is occurring; but I would like to be able to trust the data, and I certainly don't want Greenpeace and/or the Sierra Club determining the entire country's commercial development or political agenda];
of the probability that various corporations, very quietly, are buying up land about 20 to 50 miles inland of the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Coast, in anticipation of the rise in sea level, in order to assure themselves of control of new and valuable beachfront property;
of starvation in Darfur or Somalia, and overpopulation in general--overpopulation is the taboo topic, the one no one wants to address, yet is the primary cause of starvation, diminishing resources, and global climate change;
of the discovery of literally thousands of worlds out there that we cannot get to as yet.
Perhaps I will address many of these next year.
For now, let me just close the year with this--
. . . yes, the Maya calendar seems to predict the end of the world on 21 December 2012. Please do not max out your credit cards on 15 December or thereabouts. One of two things is certain: either the world will end on that date, or it will not. Either way, there is nothing you can do about it. So go about your daily lives, and write stories . . . and read stories, preferably ours!
. . . the adventures, concepts, characters, and ideas that we bring you via our publications would not be possible without the indefatigable efforts of J Alan Erwine, Terrie Leigh Relf, Teri Santitoro, Karen L. Newman, Edward Cox, Herika R. Raymer, Katie Hartlove, Mitch Bentley, Marcie Lynn Tentchoff, and Sylvan Bree Baker, and at various times L. A. Story, Scott Virtes, Gregory Miller, and Georgia Middleton. Nor would all this be possible without our contributors--those who send us the stories, poems, art, and articles that we select for publication.
. . . acknowledgements, too, to all of you who have supported our efforts, be it by submission of stories and poems and art and articles, and/or spreading the good word about us, and/or buying and reading our publications. Thanks for standing by us. We hope that you will continue to do so.
I believe that Sam's Dot, and its staff, and I, have done some good on this world. No matter what the future holds, that's something I will always carry with me.
The New Year is upon us. We've done some good. Let's do some more, and do better this year.
Happy Christmas, and--to borrow from Dickens--God bless us, every one.
Past Tuppence:
September 2011
June 2011
March 2011
December 2010
September 2010
June 2010
March 2010
December 2009
September 2009
June 2009
March 2009
December 2008
September 2008
June 2008
March 2008
December 2007
September 2007
June 2007
March 2007
December 2006
September 2006
June 2006
March 2006
December 2005
September 2005
June 2005
March 2005
December 2004
September 2004
June 2004
March 2004
December 2003
September 2003
June 2003
March 2003
December 2002
October 2002
August 2002
June 2002
April 2002
February 2002
December 2001
October 2001
August 2001
Read more from Tyree Campbell in any of the following:
Nyx: Mystere
by Tyree Campbell
The Dog at the Foot of the Bed
by Tyree Campbell
Wondrouse Web Worlds Vol. 6
Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 5
Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 4
Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 3
Sex and the Single Alien
An anthology
Nyx
A novel by Tyree Campbell
Wondrous Web Worlds Vol. 2