Fortunately, no.

Murphy Cat and Mickey Cat are SO PROUD of their joint murder, and, like, ok, yes, you two were Very Brave but I need to point out again that the killing death bites/clawing COULD HAVE BEEN MADE IN AN EASY TO CLEAN LOCATION.

I occasionally get the sense - possibly/probably/perhaps unfairly - that a number of folks really don't believe in bisexuality/pansexuality. A sense that pops up in a number of completely unrelated contexts, too.

No party here, either!

Ok, not to sound unreasonable or anything but can I just note that if we must kill lizards who darted into the house to get away from the rain/water, can we please - PLEASE - do the killing on the easily cleaned kitchen floor tile AND NOT ON THE BED???????

....I always feel a little weird about National Coming Out day, because for me, at least, coming out wasn't a single day sort of thing. It was a several year process. So...I'm not against the concept, exactly. I just feel a little weird whenever it rolls into my socials again.

So so so close! Gulp!

....blessed be they who give away stocks to politicians, for they shall inherit government influence?

Many deep, interconnected threads going on right now about the business of short fiction contracts from some very smart and generous folks. It's a great day to be an up-and-coming writer

Oh, absolutely.

So this is less "hey, you won't have reprint rights for three years" (although, yes, that's a problem), and more a "hey, if they want exclusivity for over a year, that may be a warning sign for other issues."

In another case involving a young, hopeful writer that I met at the Seattle Worldcon, a lit zine asked for a two year exclusivity period. Writer agreed. Six months after publication, writer still hadn't received the $20 payment.

I was once offered 8 cents per story (that is, the SFWA "pro" rates) from a genre zine that then demanded a three year exclusivity period. I asked if we could make this one year. They said no. I turned down the sale. That zine closed the next year, after publishing four or five issues.

Minor point here, but I recommend caution with any zine - literary or genre - that is requesting an exclusivity window for more than a year. Mostly because this usually suggests inexperience/lack of research on their part, which often doesn't bode well.

Helpful info:

With ongoing headlines like this, let me just say that I am shocked, shocked, shocked that a certain president who claimed he had ended all of this did not win the Nobel Peace Prize. Shocked, shocked, shocked. SHOCKED! (and because this is the internet, sarcasm tag!)