Here’s something I haven’t said in a while: I had a short story accepted for publication. Actually, if you recall the other day I panicked a little because I hadn’t sent an Ulrik excerpt to Werewolf Magazine. Well, I remedied that, and they’ve accepted the piece for publication in the next issue, No. 7, which is due out in about four weeks. There’s no pay involved, so it’s not a “sale” to brag about, but AL and the folks at Blood Moon Rising are good people and do their magazines for the love.

The scene I sent is actually a pretty good representation of what the book is about. In this scene, Shara is looking for Joey after the boy turns into a wolf and runs away. She finds Thomas McGrath, instead; Thomas tells Shara what’s happened to Joey. I named the piece “A Meeting in the Woods.” It’s a little over 3,000 words long.

All my werewolf books will be reviewed in upcoming issues of Blood Moon Rising (the flagship magazine) and Werewolf Magazine.

While Kim and Alex went to Dallas to see Ozzfest, I took the younger three kids to see the new Harry Potter movie today. I really liked it, and I think Sara did, but Amanda and Jacob were bored. I have really got to read the HP books sometime soon.

This morning I went to the school to pick up some text books and start lesson plans. I got to see my class rosters. Oh boy. There are some names I recognize, all right. I got a few of my favorite students again at some point in the year, but not many. I was surprised to see some of my Foundations of English I students in my English II class, as I thought they had to repeat English I. Well, it’s going to be interesting. They’ll learn soon enough I wasn’t kidding them when I told them at the end of last semester and in summer school that I was going to be meaner. I saw some of those names and wondered for just a moment if I could … Well, never mind. Schools don’t allow that these days. haha

The school did hire one more English teacher, and that teacher got the creative writing and science fiction classes. I know several of my past students pre-enrolled in those classes thinking they’d have me for their teacher. I hope they won’t be too disappointed. I’m actually going to miss teaching the science fiction. After doing it twice, I felt like I finally had a grasp on it. Oh well. I haven’t met the new teacher yet.

How do you know when you’re getting old? Your memory goes. During summer school I gave a student my paperback copy of Thomas B. Allen’s Possessed, the true story that inspired The Exorcist. I then ordered myself a used hardcover from an Amazon Marketplace seller. I have a vague recollection of opening the package and setting the book aside, but I’ll be damned if I can find it now. I’ve looked everywhere I might have put it (and with all the books I have, that’s a lot of places), but I cannot find it anywhere. That makes me feel so freaking old and senile.