At the Wayward trying to write this morning, but having trouble focusing. Figure I’ll review my to-do list and see what needs my attention.
Part of what I’ve been doing is just hitting some low hanging fruit just to get things off my plate. So, taking stories that are damn near done and getting them done done.
I’ll italicize the items I’ve updated.
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!
The main news is not about me, but rather about my special lady friend. She has had her first piece of fiction published by Crossed Genres. I encourage you to take a moment and check out her steampunk story, The Recondite Riddle of the Rose Rogue.
Wily Writers has a story up by Jeff Grub. I guess they’re kind of a big deal now or something. =)
I have pretty much finished my short for my class workshop. It has patches I’m not certain about, but I don’t know how to fix them. I figure I’ll offer it up to the workshopping gods, and see what happens. I had intended to submit this to Crossed Genres, but it was based off of the assumption that their genre “Gadgets & Artifacts” also had “Toys” in the name. But either I misremembered or they changed it. I’ll see what their more robust description says in a month. =P
The check is apparently in the mail for the game I wrote some five years ago. The pitches by the game company for other stuff they’d like me to work on haven’t tickled my fancy as yet.
I spent Saturday not doing a lick of writing. Instead, I played some video games I hadn’t gotten to in a while. It was GLORIOUS.
It was awesome to see my short go up on Wily Writers this weekend. It’s a little weird having an audio version of my story up, but kinda neat.
No word yet from Crossed Genres. Based off of things said in their blog, I don’t think my story’s going to be accepted. Nothing definite. They haven’t actually said, “We picked stories and alerted authors,” and I just haven’t heard anything. But my confidence is waning.
Talked to the Powers That Be at work yesterday to find out what would be involved in taking a leave of absence this summer. The good news is that it’s doable. The bad news is that I cease accruing vacation/sick leave while I’m gone and, scarier still, after 30 calendar days of absence I lose insurance coverage. In theory, at 6 weeks, the workshop lasts about 42 days. Might be a day or two less if I get to subtract a weekend day off at the beginning because of the start time. But, yeah. Kinda scary. I’m still inclined to do it, but now I know there are other risks besides just not having a paycheck for six weeks.
My first short at Wily Writers is now up. You can get it here:
http://www.wilywriters.com/blog/?p=1285
It’s available in both text and audio format. It’s free to read or download, but there’s also a donate button. This will be the first time I’ve had an “opt in” payment instead of a flat fee from the publisher. This could be awesome or embarrassing.
I’ve also tweaked the format over at bolthy.com so that I’m better highlighting whatever new thing is available to read somewhere. In the off chance that anyone ever goes there.
I was kinda excited because I thought I’d found the perfect circle to update this, Facebook and Twitter all at once. But there’s something weird about what it’s deciding to post on my “Wall” from my “Notes” on Facebook. And if it doesn’t appear on my Wall, it doesn’t get fed to Twitter. I’m not sure how it decides what to post on the Wall. I’m tinkering around with settings to see what works. I may have to just cross post stuff to Twitter. Blergh.
In the interest of trying to get some stuff going, I’m hoping to get feedback from folks.
Continue reading
In connection with some new approaches in 2010, Angel McCoy has put up submission guidelines for the Wily Writers site:
http://www.wilywriters.com/blog/?page_id=1234
I think the really awesome thing about this site is the audio recordings they offer for stories that appear there. That’s really hard to top. Not that I’m biased or anything. *ahem*
“Of Rain and Roses” by Jess Hartley
http://www.wilywriters.com/blog/?p=1212
Free to download, available in both text and audio format.
I’ve been meaning to write a post-NaNo reflection. This is not that post. Between the hectic schedule of NaNoWriMo and the hectic travel schedule we’ve had, I haven’t had much time to blog. But here’s a quick recap of where I’m at with my writing.
– With November 30th come and gone, I’m taking one-month a break from the novel. In a couple weeks I’ll get back on the horse, but I haven’t decided what I want to do. Finish the novel I was writing? Go back to one of my earlier unfinished novels? There’s also the possibility that I could write more shorts, though I’m a little leery of that. I spent last year churning out shorts for Crossed Genres, some good some not so good. In the end it killed my ability to work on the novel. Some of it was just “busy with other stuff.” Some of it was that I didn’t have as rigorous a writing regimen as I do now. We’ll see.
– I finished the first draft of a short story for their “Any Previous Genre” issue. I’d started out trying to write humor with a dash of folklore. It seems a bit more serious than intended, so it may be “folklore with a dash of humor.” More on this later.
– I’m also mulling around ideas for their “Eastern” issue. It’s dedicated to “Eastern cultures.” I have two ideas for stories, both with Buddhisty themes. One is a bit stronger in my head but is not as strictly Eastern as the other one. Not sure what I’ll do.
– Sometime next month, my short story “A Necessity of the Present” will be available at Wily Writers. It will be available in both text and audio format. Both are free, but there is a donation button.
– I sent off the revised contract to Seraphim Guard for the game I wrote for them several years ago. I think it will appear sometime next year, barring misfortune. (There’s a reason it hasn’t seen the light of day yet.)
Ummmm… I think that’s it.
