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I believe in Karma. I believe if you bite someone on the backside, a black dog will chase you down the street and take a bite out of yours... And so, my week possibly sucked a little because I have been treating my poor soliders so very, very badly. Their trials are almost over though. I'm reading over the rewritten manuscript of Theatre and catching all those nasty typos, I hope. My original plan was to have everything finished and sent off to the publisher by November 1st, but thanks to a man who lives on this island...

...my internet connection has been pants this week and I spent most of my spare time trying to save my computer. I won the battle - phew - although the knight didn't come to my rescue. This damsel saved herself.

Things that did not suck about my week included reviews of both Fifty-Two Stitches (especially happy that two wonderfully talented ladies, Mercedes M Yardley & Natalie L Sin, received mentions) and Malpractice (with a shout out for my favourite story by a certain Mr Jeremy Kelly), and the fact that Halloween waits at the end of it. Oh and there is nothing better than receiving an invite to view the costume of an almost three year old from said small person, it shall be pirates and fairies tomorrow night.

So I'm playing the BlogPostThief today. Aaron Polson made a list of the ten stories he was most proud to have written and asked do we have favourites amongst our own stories or do we love them all the same. I definitely have favourites, and here's my ten:

Frog & The Mail Order Bride (out in submission land)
I think of this as my dark fairy tale and I love dear Frog so very much that I am surprised each time he is rejected (four times in all - plus he spent months languishing at a market that eventually died).

Bob's Spares & Repairs (published in 'Help' anthology '08, due for pub in Twisted Tongue in '09).
My futuristic western about an android setting out from his small town who comes across a serial-killing robot named Bob.

The Scratch of an Old Record (TBP in July 09 issue of Necrotic Tissue)
I love the idea behind this story (which I can't give away because you haven't read it yet) and I also love that it was picked as the best story in the issue making it my second pro-payment story.

The Graveyard of Dead Vehicles (WolfSongs anthology, 2008)
A surreal story that I like to think of as a 'thru the looking glass tale' from an MC who has lived her life on the surreal side of the glass.

Flying Dutchmen (TBP 2009 in Space & Time)
The first time I used my home town, Liverpool, as the backdrop along with the fabulous 'Liver Birds' building which I walk by on my way to work. Plus, I love the title.

Manipulating Paper Birds (out in submission land)
An evil clown story - what's not to love about that.

Cold Coffee Cups & Curious Things (Malpractice, 2009)
Written to the anthology guidelines brief and arriving successfully at the other side. Plus, it's a little bit surreal - I love stories that warp reality - and it resides amongst some fantastic stories in the anthology.

Chasing Alice out of Wonderland (out in submission land)
One of my longer shorts (at almost 5,000 words) in which I am proud of my future world building and of course it's full of zombies. Zombies good.

Trench Foot (TBP Fantasy Magazine 2009)
My first pro-payment sale - what's not to love about that. Plus it has a pirate and fairies.

Last place (not that the stories are in any particular order) is split between: 'In Silence We Stalk', and 'The Hollow Framework of the Cotton Man'.

In Silence We Stalk is a new story, currently out on submission, that I think is creepy... Of course a few rejections down the line, I might change my mind about that.

The Hollow Framework of the Cotton Man was my second story accepted by the fantastic Pete Crowther at 'Postscripts', and I think it's very, very creepy. Definitely shiversome.

Okay, now I feel like I need to bow down to the god of all things humble and admit that although I love the above stories, I don't expect the world too. I've also only included stories from last year and this year as there are very few stories prior to that that I am proud of. I am also quite surprised that I've only included one flash story in the above list. Like Aaron, I'd love to know if you have any favourites. (Plus if you're feeling a bit dejected it's a great spirit motivator).

Professor James T. O’Reilly teaches at the University of Cincinnati College of Law, and has published thirty-eight textbooks on legal issues.  He is a member of the National Association of Elder Law Attorneys and is a former chair of the 16,000 member Section of the Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice of the American Bar Association.  In his new book How To Protect Elders From Harm, which is part of the Oceana’s Law for the Layperson Legal Almanac Series, is a useful resource for anyone interested in learning more about protecting elders from insufficient care or maltreatment.

It is a natural human feeling to want to safeguard our parents and elderly friends from harm…

The natural first questions is: Should I complain about what I see happening with this elderly person?  If you are concerned about safety or risk, or about financial fraud against an elder, yes: express your concerns.  The recipients of the complaint will vary according to the situation.  If a person is living alone at home, and you believe is in some danger or difficulty after speaking with him or her, consider contacting the local office of your state “Adult Protective Services.”  To make it more likely that action will occur, call them with facts, names, or any other details that may facilitate their decision to investigate.

How will I know that the elder needs help?  In an elderly neighbor comes to the door covered with bruises when you check in with her, this may be a signal of caregiver abuse…If you visit a nursing home and see deplorable treatment of one or more patients, request a meeting with the administrator.  If this does not satisfy your concerns, then contact your health department or state long-tern care officials; if you can find the ombudsman for nursing homes, that local person should be contacted.

Will anyone act on my complaint?  Yes.  If you act in a calm and businesslike manner, your complaint will receive respect and attention.  The more specific you are, the more likely it is than at investigation will begin.  Persistence matters, but keep your actions polite and firm.

When must the responding person act on your complaint? The response can vary depending on the person contacted; unfortunately, that person may choose to ignore your complaint entirely.  Bureaucrats “must act” when the law requires a response.  Ombudsmen for nursing-home patients must act in accordance with their government office’s standards for investigation.  Private companies and persons may ignore the complaint, if they choose, but doing so is usually bad for public relations and may induce the person complaining to bring a lawsuit.

How should I best assert my complaint? Visit or call, and be specific; in some cases, be ready to write if the ombudsman or government office requires a particular letter or standard form to be submitted.

Should complaints be initiated locally, and made to the officials of the government agency or of the company affected? Yes. The first step is the nursing-home administrator, the seniors-housing director, of the human-services agency director. Physical-abuse cases should go to the local office of Adult Protective Services or its equivalent.  If the offending entity is a provider of services receiving funds form the government, like a nursing-home chain, then consider a complaint letter to the headquarters of that entity, with a copy shown and sent to the federal Office of the Inspector General…

Has this type of harm happened before, or does my case show the necessity of new regulatory protections? Sad, but true, the patterns of elder abuse are very well known.  If abuse of your elderly friend or others in this nursing home looks very bad, the chances are that other situations have looked worse.  Usually the shortcoming is not that the protections are missing from the rules or manuals or procedures-it’s that they are not actually being implemented.  It takes time to discern what’s occurring behind the facade of dignity and caring.

What role does government have as the entity arranging or paying for services to elders?  The benefit of government involvement is that its extensive paperwork requirements will create a record that specifies what happened, through what means, with what persons involved.

In practice, this means the possible civil case can be more readily proven.  In some cases, the violation of the federal standard or state law will be negligence “per se,” so the injured person will win.  Government also sets standards for some of the services or products used by elders and violation of those standards can be used against the defendant.

What role does government have in aiding elders-as protector of vulnerable elders or as regulator of businesses impacting them?  This is one of the basic philosophical questions community leaders must decide.  Protecting elders from harm requires that laws be written, rules drafted, enforcement staff must be in place, and then inspections and follow-up actions be taken.  Is all this worth doing?  Or must any remedy require a lawsuit?  Societies that value their elders’ wisdom also value their peaceful retirement from daily workplace conflicts.  Government should do what it can to reduce harms and to alleviate their consequences.

Does regulatory protection really serve elders’ needs?  Yes.  Government does what the market won’t do; vulnerable elderly people are not going to be protected by the free market with its deregulated and diminished “safety nets.” The very aged person-over eighty- is likely to be vulnerable, as his or her ability to self-protect had diminished with age and physical infirmity.  Government regulation exists to protect the least powerful in society, and thus addresses services and products affecting the elderly.

If we can complain to the government, then why is civil litigation necessary?  Complaints that trigger positive changes, with or without regulatory agency intervention, are the ideal.  But sometimes it will be necessary to go beyond corrective actions, to gain compensation for harm or to ask a court to intervene in a bad situation to prevent further harm.  In general, litigation make sense when a company or person cannot be persuaded to change behavior and the government has failed to act in support of an elder’s needs.

Who can sue?  An injured elder could retain an attorney and bring suit.  A guardian appointed by the court, or a person with a durable power of attorney, can sue on behalf of the interest of an elder.  If the elder dies while the case is still going on, the executor of the estate takes over and seeks damages to be paid to the estate.

For those of you foolish enough to have thus far ignored the call of Malpractice, the anthology edited by the wonderful Nate Lambert, check out the review by Anton Cancre over at Horror News.

And if that isn't temptation enough, one of the 100 word bites is written by Bram Stoker nominee Joel A Sutherland.

The folks over at Necrotic Tissue have updated their website, and as promised their store is now open for business.

Head over there and take out a year's subscription to the magazine. If you live outside of the US or Canada (like me), you can email Scott McCoy to place your subscription. The team are very supportive of horror writers (paying pro-rate to one writer per issue, and $25 for all other short stories--excluding the 100 worders which are $5 I think--which is the minimum payment required to join the HWA), so it's a good opportunity to thank them for their dedication to the genre (and to pick up a great read). But hey, most of you know that already.

You can also purchase the Malpractice anthology, edited by the wonderful Nathaniel Lambert. He is the co-author of Sideshow Pi (along with Kevin Sweeney).

The folks at Necrotic Tissue have posted the TOC for the Malpractice anthology. The 100 worders will be spliced inbetween the longer stories. The anthology is due for publication in February 2009.

Longer Fiction:

RECRUITMENT by Felicity Dowker
THE CURE by Bruce Cooper
ALL THE GIFTS OF LIFE by W.D. Gagliani and David Benton
SYMBIOSIS by Paul Milliken
SPECIAL DELIVER, BLOOM by Derek Rutherford
DEEP KIMCHI by Wayne Helge
THERAPY by Kevin Lucia
AVAILABLE by Horace James
COLD COFFEE CUPS & CURIOUS THINGS by Catherine J Gardner
A KIND OF LIVING by Paul Harris
HEART MATTERS by J.P. Wilson
POST-PROCEDURAL CARE ON THE BLOOM MEMORIAL LINE by Jeremy Kelly
PROSTHETICS by Daniel I Russell
UNIVERSAL DONOR by Bryce Albertson
7734 by Douglas Burchill
SNIP by Jennifer Greylyn
THE NIGHT NURSE OF COBBLESTONE by Vince A. Liaguno
OHRWURM by Brendan P. Myers


100-worder''s:

MALIGNANT by Daniel R Robichaud II
TRAUMA by Stephan Davis
CASE NO. 36 by Chris Chapman
GRAVITY FEED by Lee Pederson
CUTS BITE AT BLOOM MEMORIAL HOSPITAL by Bill West
THE ITCH by Alex Moisi
BREACH BIRTH by Ken Goldman
THE CREATURE OF BLOOM MEMORIAL by Emma Kathryn McDonald
ADVANCED CLASS by Paula Villegas
PATIENT CARE by Joel A. Sutherland
AUTO-DE-FE by Donald Jacob Uitvlugt
HOSPITAL DIET by Mark Onspaugh
MINOR SURGERY by Rob Brooks

OMG! OMG! OMG! Cold Coffee Cups & Curious Things has sold to the Necrotic Tissue anthology - Malpractice: An Anthology of Bedside Terror. And as well as 1 cent per word, I get a fabulous Necrotic Tissue T-Shirt (I have wanted one of those like forever).

And, coincidentally, my coffee went cold as I was too busy running around the reception (note to self - shouldn't open emails at work as I am very, very loud when I get an acceptance - okay, sometimes I'm a wee bit loud just because I'm me but...). Again, woo-hoo!