Some other news

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I received word that my flash fiction piece for 10Flash has been accepted. I believe that will come out in October. I have come to no conclusions regarding my general feeling about flash fiction. I think if I try to write more flash, I will shoot for Every Day Fiction. (Unless, of course, I feel inspired by the next theme for 10Flash.)

Also, I finally finished the last steps in my Web site upgrade. You can see it here. I feel like I’ve entered the 21st century. Only took me a decade.

Other writing projects are inching along. I realized I was a month off on my submission for the Rock is Dead anthology. In a good way, even. It’s due in July and I thought it was June. I’ve shifted focus to my submission for Cobalt City Timeslip. It’s not my most pending deadline, but I don’t feel inspired regarding my other projects these days.

Another feather in the cap for Mr. Crowder

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My friend, Nathan Crowder, recently received word that his story “Ink Calls to Ink” had been chosen for Night-Mantled: The Best of Wily Writers Year One. It also features such authors as Angel Leigh McCoy and Jennifer Brozek. A fine crowd to be mixing with.

I’ve been constantly impressed by all the accomplishments Nate’s had this year. Just prior to this he had a story appear in the anthology Close Encounters of the Urban Kind. And before that his magnificent piece “Deacon Carter’s Last Dime” not only appeared in Crossed Genres Year One, but was a finalist in the storySouth Million Writers Awards Notable Stories of 2009.

I’m really proud (and more than a little envious) of Nate’s success. He’s been an excellent friend, peer and mentor and I’m excited that he’s doing so well. Excelsior!

A new review of Crossed Genres Year One

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Innsmouth Free Press has put out a review today of the anthology I was in earlier this year. You can find said review here:

Review: Crossed Genres Year One

I’ll admit I’m a bad person who still hasn’t read most of the other stories in there, so I can’t say how accurate some of the commentary is. (My excuses? They are extensive.) The review is pretty mixed. I didn’t get any mention, good or bad, aside from a few words in the first paragraph. The romance without bodice ripping it mentions? That’s me. I was also surprised Nathan Crowder didn’t get a nod.

Still, it was good to see Jennifer Munro’s piece, “The Strangler Fig,” get good praise. She’s an awesome person and I’m proud to have met her through this.

Innsmouth Free Press is on my short list of places to submit. I can’t decide if the lack of mention of me should be encouraging or daunting. I guess it’s academic, since I don’t have a story I feel called to write for them yet. I want to avoid the usual tropes and cliches you get with people playing in Lovecraft’s sandbox, but that goal doesn’t leave me with any ideas for what to write.

What is best in life?

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I recently read the first collection of Conan shorts by Robert E. Howard. It had been a noted gap in my reading. While I’m a fan of old pulp novels, especially stuff by Edgar Rice Burroughs, I’d never read any Howard. Even the better authors of that period can be a little hit or miss for me, and so I’m always a little iffy about delving into an author I’ve never read.

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Win, Lose or Write

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Not the most productive of weeks. The girlfriend and I both came down with the plague, leaving both of us less interested in writing. We spent the weekend sucking on cough drops and catching up on Lost. (We’re now only a season behind.) Monday and Tuesday were both shot between tripping on my cold medicine and discovering the horrible, horrible crack that is Plants vs. Zombies.

Also sapping enthusiasm is just… I don’t know, not feeling the writing love. Something just isn’t clicking. What I really need to do is just hit the keyboard
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Hip deep in evil.

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I’ve gotten two pieces off my check list submitted. I already heard back from K.C. Ball regarding my submission to 10 Flash. She hasn’t accepted it, but she asked for me to resubmit with some changes. So that’s promising. I’ve got until mid-May to do that. I’ve got my submission in to Crossed Genres. It closes doors tonight at midnight (Eastern time). Probably sometime within the next week I’ll get word. I feel really good about this piece, but that’s never been a promising sign in the past. =P

It would be nice to have something new on the airwaves. It’s been six months since I’ve gotten something picked up and a couple months since anything new has appeared, in part because I haven’t been as productive with class and all.

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Putting on my pimping pants.

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How can you tell they are pimping pants? Because of the leopard print and purple marabou trim on the the legs.

But I digress.

In the mail today I got my pre-ordered copy of Close Encounters of the Urban Kind, edited by the lovely and talented Jennifer Brozek. It features some stories by Pacific Northwest writers that I have the distinction of knowing and loving: Nathan Crowder and Rosemary Jones.

I also see that there are contributions by other writers that I got to see at Norwescon that seemed pretty nifty, such as Alma Alexander, Erik Scott de Bie and Joshua Palmatier.

I haven’t read the stories yet, but I have enough faith in the people involved to say it’s gonna be good. I’ve missed the first two readings they’ve done, but I’m hoping to make their next one. If I recollect properly, it will be June 12th at Third Place Books.