Vote early, vote often

Thanks go out to Chris Nakashima-Brown for pointing out that Strange Horizons is holding a readers' choice 2004 vote as I type this. My Interview with Lucius Shepard is nominated in the "Favorite Article" (ie non-fiction) category, and seeing as how it's a groovy-cool interview that I'm quite fond of, I would not mind it one bit if some or all of the 70-plus people who visit my blog daily in search of chupacabra pictures would mosey on over there and cast a vote for yours truly. Heck, I'll even throw in a highlight of the interview at no extra charge:

JB: When discussing your Dragon Griaule stories, you've said you got the original idea while smoking a joint under a tree, and while writing it you would drop acid. What role does altered consciousness play in your creativity?

LS: The first story I sold was "Black Coral," which I sold to Marta Randall for New Dimensions. I wrote the first draft of that on LSD. So I guess it was instrumental. I mean, I don't use drugs as much as I used to. It used to be about the only way I'd get myself working, but I'm more disciplined now. So, I think I've kind of generated an altered consciousness in that way. I don't do that too much any more.

It started out when I was in bands. My cousin had this really beautiful barn out in the country. This old barn with boards missing and stuff like that, with all these swallows. I'd go out there and write songs. I'd go out there and drop acid and write six or seven songs in a day. So, when I started writing, that sort of came to with it.

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