Genii Weblog

A most extraordinary endorsement

Thu 10 Dec 2009, 05:08 PM



by Ben Langhinrichs
Inline JPEG imageAs many of my regular readers know, I occasionally take some time from writing software to write poetry and short stories.  In the past couple of months, I have been submitting some of these, and have gotten some acceptances, but not too many and none of them paying.  I just got a letter from one of the more competitive magazines, and it is a most extraordinary letter.

Dear Ben,

Thank you for submitting your poems to Strong Verse. We would like to publish all five poems that you sent.  Could you please send me your mailing address along with a brief bio if you’d like that included.

Our editor, Mr. Card, couldn't say enough good about your poetry -- he absolutely loves it and would love to see more.

Thanks.
 
Sincerely,
 
Kathleen Bellamy
Strong Verse

OK, so nice, yes, especially for a competitive paying market, but not extraordinary.  At least, not until you find out that "Mr. Card" is Orson Scott Card, author of Ender's Game, the only author to ever win the Nebula and Hugo Awards in back to back years.  And he "loves" my writing?  That is an extraordinary endorsement I will accept any day.

Click here to see --> Strong Verse - About Us












Copyright © 2009 Genii Software Ltd.

What has been said:


880.1. John Vaughan (12/10/2009 10:17 PM)

dude that is AWESOME!!!!!

congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


880.2. Duffbert (12/10/2009 10:22 PM)

That is MAJOR goodness, Ben. Glad to see you're being recognized in this area, as you are an extremely talented writer. Congrats!


880.3. Richard Schwartz (12/11/2009 12:32 AM)

Very cool, Ben. Very cool. Will we get to see the poems at some point in the future?


880.4. Ben Langhinrichs (12/11/2009 12:35 AM)

Thanks, guys. And yes, as soon as they go up on the Strong Verse site, I'll post links. (I can't post them myself as they purchase first online rights) But I should warn you, the publishing world does not move as quickly as the high tech world.


880.5. Nathan T. Freeman (12/11/2009 02:02 AM)

Holy crap! Congratulations! Card is truly one of the most insightful authors of our time. Have you ever read his short story "The Originist?" It's an absolute mind-bender.


880.6. Gregg Eldred (12/11/2009 03:45 AM)

This is incredible news, thanks for sharing. Congratulations!


880.7. Jerome Venus (12/11/2009 06:53 AM)

That's definitely something to celebrate. My compliments!


880.8. Johan Knngrd (2009-12-11 08:23)

Wow! Card is one of my favorite scifi writers! Congratulations on the nice words!!!


880.9. Johan Kanngard (2009-12-11 08:25)

BTW, your comment form can not handle "Swedish" characters like aring ( and ), auml ( and ) and ouml ( and ).


880.10. mark (12/11/2009 01:49 PM)

very nice! congratulations!


880.11. Phil Randolph (12/11/2009 01:53 PM)

How Cool is that? Major congrats Ben! Endorsement from Card is just...amazing!

Oh, and if my google calendar is not mistaken (hope it's not...) Happy birthday too!


880.12. Ben Langhinrichs (12/11/2009 01:56 PM)

Thanks, all! And yes, it is my 47th birthday. Thanks for remembering.


880.13. Keith Brooks (12/11/2009 03:06 PM)

That is really awesome and happy birthday!


880.14. bruce lill (12/13/2009 01:18 AM)

That was a nice birthday gift.

So now we will need to get you to autograph your presentations so we can ebay them later for retirement money.


880.15. Ben Langhinrichs (12/16/2009 11:13 AM)

@Bruce - You weren't already doing that? Too late, dude.