Neat! I always knew those Canadians kicked ass.

On Spec is a Canadian SciFi print magazine that has graciously posted a list of Thou-shalt-nots and the related Turkey City Lexicon. But here's the cool stuff.

My brother-in-law Mike (hi, Mike!) gave us a copy of the book Complete Idiot's Guid to Publishing Science Fiction. I recommend it, not because it has the most amazing writing advice I've ever seen, but because it's a good place to start. All the really obvious things you need to know before you start sending in stories -- like standard manuscript formatting -- are covered, and in such a way that a) your delicate writerly ego isn't hurt and b) that it defuses the nervousness: "I'm just not ready to start submitting..." Which, believe me, I understand.*

The reason I mention this book is that I needed the really obvious publishing stuff pointed out to me...so I read and liked the book. And in the book, it mentions terms from the Turkey City Lexicon. Ah-ha! Sure enough, Mr. Doctorow is from Canada.

And FURTHER, Mr. Doctorow writes for one of my favorite websites, BoingBoing.

I take personal satisfaction in following these connections.

*Nevertheless, do it anyway. Start big: you might get published. YOU MIGHT GET PAID. And then don't stop submitting once you get rejected. But that's what they say.