a word to the maybe-not-wise....

I have too much Stuff in my brain. Is crowded. Must write something down soon or may go splooey. Also? Laying out maps on the floor when you have cats? Just asking for trouble. *facepalms* and *tail-swats*

But that's not the reason for this post. The reason for this post is as follows.
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This week, a call for submissions in a SFWA-sponsored contest was posted on Craigslist and FLiXER, promising large cash prizes and publication. Writers take warning: this contest is a fake.

Here's the pitch:
The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, Inc. is currently accepting science fiction story submissions of no more than 3000 words. All genres of science fiction accepted. Winners will get published in a Random House book titled "Asimovs of the Future." The cash prizes for winners are as follows:

1st Place: $10,000
2nd Place: $5,000
3rd Place: $2,000
10 Honorary Mentions: $1000

All winners and honorary mentions will get published. A percentage of the royalties for the book will also be included as part of the prize. The exact percentage has yet to be determined. A check for $10 must accompany each entry, made out to "Science Fiction Writers of America." The mailing address is a "submissions center" in San Diego.

I can only imagine the number of hopeful writers who will be enticed by the SFWA name, not to mention the promise of enormous prizes plus a commercial publishing credit. Once again, however: this contest is a fake. I've confirmed this with SFWA's president, Michael Capobianco, but to anyone who's familiar with SFWA, the bogusness is obvious. SFWA does not conduct writing contests (and if it did, why would it advertise them on Craigslist, rather than on its own website?). It has no San Diego address. Its publisher is Penguin, not Random House.

Presumably, the contest is an entry fee scam--though for a scam, $10 seems a little unambitious. One also wonders how whoever is behind the scam plans to cash checks made out to SFWA.

SFWA is investigating. In the meantime, if you've entered this contest, please contact Writer Beware immediately.

http://accrispin.blogspot.com/2008/06/victoria-strauss-fake-contest-alert.html
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we now return you to your regularly-scheduled Monday.

Because I can't NOT link it...

In which Dreamhost wins points for Best. Damn. Ad. Ever. (This Week.)

What I Did Tonight (aka the wine wench returns!)

My favorite uppity wine store (it's wonderfully stocked but ALL high-end and NYC sleek) had a special riesling tasting tonight, billed as "The Legends of Germany," featuring either the wine-maker or American representative of the same. Damn straight I was there!

What? It was Research!

(amusingly enough, I'm starting to run into the same people at these tastings. "You're the writer! How's the book going?")

Anyway, for my own notes and in case anyone else is interested, my personal highlights, as follows:

2006 Schafer-Frohlich Grosses Gewachs Monzinger Halenberg -- lemon and slate, surprisingly fruity. $54 The other two pours they had weren't as balanced as they should have been (IMHO) for that price range. They were also pouring an unlisted Kabinett from 2007 that made me want to hug the bottle.

1993 Zilliken Saarburger Rausch Spatlesen -- Dorothee Zilliken said that if they were bottling this today it would be a Kabinett, not a Spatlesen. Nicely dry without losing any of the fruit. Probably my favorite of the night (the 2005 and 2006 Zilikens were very nice too, although the 2006 was too sweet for my taste) $28-34 (I enjoyed talking to Dorothee, who is a wonderful ambassador for the vineyard, and got her contact info for *cough* further follow-up).

2006 Monschoff Reisling Estate -- a really nice, clean, easy drinking without being insipid riesling -- a bargain at $16!

2006 Monchoff Erdner Pralat Auslese. I'm not much for dessert wines that aren't stickies, but this was a definite yum. Honey and lychee and all-around pretty. $49. Monchoff also makes a sparkling that I'm goig to have to keep my eye out for.

Interestingly enough, I didn't enjoy anything from Karthauserhof, although the '81 Spatlese was interesting in an "I can tell that craft went into this" way.

14 wines were being poured, which is nothing compared to what I used to taste at the old job during a training meeting, but by around #10 I needed to take a break and rest my taste buds. For some reason, they keep pouring me more than the usual tasting-measure... *has innocence*