Ego board

[Ursa major]

In the UK, the term, daddy longlegs, usually refers to a cranefly, not a spider. ('m guessing that the term is used in the States for something akin to the harvestman.)

[J Riff]

We used to call them mosquito hawks. Harmless little buggers, aren't they?
The only bad spiddlers here are Wolf spiders. No web, they run about and bite.
In SoCal the Black Widders are still common and no fun at all.
Has anyone ever done a giant cranefly story? Then I'd be afraid, if it was the size of a spitfire.

[Precise Calibre]

Wolf spiders only bite if you bug them, which can be easy to do seeing as they blend with with almost anything nearby AND have bad eyesight to boot.

The northeast US we refer to both harvestmen and cellar spiders as daddy longlegs, though often because people can't tell the difference between an arachnid and an opilione.

[J Riff]

Opiliones are an order of arachnids commonly known as harvestmen. As of 2006, over 6,400 species of harvestmen have been discovered worldwide, although the real number is much more horrifying

I'm willing to bet that's enuff spidertalk for Mouse.

FLoWeRs! I have a book here called The Language of Flowers, BION, ..a scented treasury of verse and prose by Sheila Pickles in cardboard sleeve. Will trade for any spider anthologies or any mags with mice in them.

[Mouse]

Yes enough of the spiders!! Daddy long legs = crane flies.

And nope, don't pay for the blog. I use Blogger.

[J Riff]

My ego is bored. Actually it's bruised from discovering improper use of the word 'it's'
in a submitted story or two.

[J Riff]

Mouse, I think people, and me, would be innerested to see which mags etc. you are in... so's to keep an eye out for them. 20 stories in how many different mags?

[Anne Lyle]

Originally Posted by Ursa major

In the UK, the term, daddy longlegs, usually refers to a cranefly, not a spider. ('m guessing that the term is used in the States for something akin to the harvestman.)

Craneflies totally creep me out, far more than spiders. Whereas harvestmen are sort of cute. Mind you, I used to have to look at them veeeeery close up (with a binocular microscope) for a living - you can identify the species by the bonkers mohican-style spikes on their heads. So, not much scares me any more.

Except craneflies. Brrrrr!

[Mouse]

Originally Posted by J Riff

Mouse, I think people, and me, would be innerested to see which mags etc. you are in... so's to keep an eye out for them. 20 stories in how many different mags?

If you look on my blog, there's a publication credits page which lists all the places I'm in. (Apart from the most recent one - my zombie story - which I haven't added yet).

Out of them all, Oblique Quarterly are no longer running. Which is a pity because it was a really nice arty print magazine. It was really expensive though, which is probably why it's not going any more!

Also, might add some thoughts about various places in my blog here at some point. Just need to get round to doing it!

Originally Posted by Anne Lyle

Craneflies totally creep me out, far more than spiders. Whereas harvestmen are sort of cute. Mind you, I used to have to look at them veeeeery close up (with a binocular microscope) for a living - you can identify the species by the bonkers mohican-style spikes on their heads. So, not much scares me any more.

Except craneflies. Brrrrr!

They always fly for the face!

[Evelinn]

Originally Posted by J-WO

Whenever I feel down about rejections and writing, I just remember the words to a song from Futurama-

'When push comes to shove/ You gotta do what you love/ Even if it's not a good idea...'

Always makes me smile and get back on the horse again, for some reason.

Wow, that`s scary. I sing that song all the time! And it`s my motto too "You gotta do what ya love." I just had to comment ...freaky

[J-WO]

We're like siamese Futurama twins or something...

[Evelinn]

Haha, it was just that I was humming that song when I read it. Coincidence, but still funny.

[J Riff]

Thanks for that Lovecraftian link Mouse, I will send them something, having just had a vaguelly HPLish weird tale rejected by Weird Tales. I actually worked the words 'weird tales' into the story, against the grain a bit, so now I'm taking it out. That will teach those weirdos. I sent them some other scribbling so who knows.

[goldenapples]

Ego shaken by Strange Horizon's blog: "In January 2011, we received 746 valid submissions, an average of 24 submissions a day."

That's one story every hour excluding the spoiled ones, a record month. Oh joy.

[J-WO]

That's an interesting idea- trying to fit the name of a magazine into a story that you send to said magazine. For instance, how would one get 'strange horizons' into a sentence? Or 'electric velocipede'? Or, even, 'Asimov's'?

'Analog' would probably go unnoticed. Unless you sent it off to a UK magazine, of course.