I tremble for my country

when I read news stories like the one here. In a nutshell, sales of guns jumped in the days after the mass shooting in Arizona. The most popular model? The same Glock the alleged shooter used. Here's a quote from the story, which ran on the Bloomberg site:

One-day sales of handguns in Arizona jumped 60 percent to 263 on Jan. 10 compared with 164 the corresponding Monday a year ago, the second-biggest increase of any state in the country, according to Federal Bureau of Investigation data.

Handgun sales rose 65 percent to 395 in Ohio; 16 percent to 672 in California; 38 percent to 348 in Illinois; and 33 percent to 206 in New York, the FBI data show. Sales increased nationally about 5 percent, to 7,906 guns.

Think about it. Those are just the LEGAL gun sales.

I am an Army brat. I grew up in a house with a gun in it. My uncles hunted for the table. (In fact, one uncle was such a dead shot that he was asked to excuse himself from a community turkey shoot.) I know that there are legitimate reasons for owning a gun, which is a tool as well as a weapon. I've shot guns at a local range because I write fiction in which people shoot guns and I don't want to make it up. I'm a pretty good shot, as it happens.

But I am also the daughter and niece of people who went to Virginia Tech, so when the mass shooting happened there, it hit home. And in that case, as with the Arizona shooter, there were warning signs that the individuals involved were dangerously unbalanced. And yet, they got guns.

I've heard all of the slogans--"If guns are outlawed, only outlaws will have guns" and "Guns don't kill people, people kill people." I am not impressed. It's a lot easier for people to kill people when they have guns. In California if you want to buy pepper spray there's a whole process that includes watching a video. Maybe it's time to make it a little tougher to get a gun.

This is Wrong on So Many Levels

So, like the rest of you, I get weekly letters from a nice solicitor in Nigeria who would like me to assist him in his financial endeavors here in the states. Does this ever actually work? I think, and then delete it. (And there's also a part of me that thinks, Wouldn't it be nice if this was legit? I could make a couple of million dollars!) But alas...

Now I'm getting spam emails from some penpal site. Today's was particularly amusing:

Hello My Dear,
Am Juliet,i saw your mail today in a site and www.penpals.p i became interested in you.I want to know if this your email is correct so that i will send my photos to you.From there we will know eachother very well for a sincere relationship.Hope to hearing from you soonest.

Yours
Juliet

I almost want to write "her" back to see what would happen. But then I think, Why am I not getting these emails from James Purefoy? Are they stuck in my spam filter? I'd be happy to send him my pictures for a "sincere relationship." And I could even answer in proper English. (Seriously, what's up with the bad grammar? We outsource to Indian-based techies all the time. You'd think this pen pal site would hire someone away from a call center.)

Parties interested in contacting Juliet, please email me. She provided her address.

NPR Three-Minute Fiction Contest is Back!

NPR asks, "How long does it take to tell a good story?" The sixth round of their "3-Minute Fiction" contest will open this weekend. The premise is simple--send them a story of 1000 words or fewer. Winners get read on the air, plus other goodies. Details here.

Artists listen up--Zero2illo has a deal for you!

I'm not an artist but my mother and sister were and some of my best friends are and I know how tough it is in the freelance art world. Zero2Illo is a site/blog that was started by a graphic artist to chart his own work/success and has grown into a supportive social network. Their current mission statement is: to enable and empower more creative entrepreneurs and illustrators to earn a living from their creative skills.

Right now (and through Wednesday, Zero2Illo is offering an amazing sale on tools for artists who want to expand their freelance careers. They're offering a bunch of books bundled for only $47. Check out the sale. And consider joining the community. We're all in this together, right?

Care for a Monday serving of dark fiction?

Head on over to Dark Valentine Magazine and your craving will be satisfied. There's a new story up called "Mother Mine" that is just chilling. April Grey is a new contributor to the magazine but I hope to see a lot more of her. Laura Neubert did the evocative illustration. She contributed several illustrations for our Fall Fiction Frenzy. Here's the link. And hey--be careful out there.

Oh Canada

Yes, it's another Canadian writing contest. This one is sponsored by above&beyond, Canada's Arctic Journal. Enter with 1000 words about life in Canada's Yukon, Northern Territories, Nunavut, or Nunavik. Words can be fiction or non-fiction. Check out the details on the Circumpolar Blog.

Bring on the Zombie Apocalypse--in French

This is a bad-ass zombie film from France, where they know how to do bad-ass.

You probably didn't get a chance to see this in the theater--I don't think it even played here--but it's now out on dvd. Here's the review from Bloody Disgusting. Here's the review from FEARnet. (They didn't like it as much as I did.)