Bricks Without Straw

I have two questions only, today. One: Why do people give credence to future predictions from ancient civilizations (if, in fact, those civilizations can be said to predict anything at all), but not science? Two: Why do people not understand that the end of one Mayan long count cycle is immediately followed by the start of another, much as December 31 is followed by January 1?

My short story, When Mamma Comes to Visit , was just picked up by Grim Corps Magazine , a new speculative/dark/horror fiction magazine (print and epub). Mamma is one of those classic tales of a very bad relationship with a very dead relative. I wrote it in January of this year, and went through a touch-up re-write after each rejection (seven altogether), taking the many editorial remarks to heart. It's also a story that continues the Mill Town world which is the focus of Killing Wallace Crawton (coming January 2013 from Morpheus Tales) and The Downstairs Man . Mill Town is a blend of the many places I've lived, but I don't think I've ever come across anyone like Allison and Stanley, the odd brother-sister pair who deal with their mother in very different ways.