Aoife's Kiss # 31 is now out with my fantasy story "Jimmy French-Fries." And I'm pleased to report that I'm sharing ToC with Jaime Lee Moyer (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
stillnotbored) where her poem "Heroes" appears. You can check out the issue and order HERE
stillnotbored) where her poem "Heroes" appears. You can check out the issue and order HERESpent the afternnon and evening in A & E. Note to BB: please remember when giving the car a push for the garage man, to remove your hand from the doorframe BEFORE he slams the door on it. Result: big bandage on broken and split little finger, left hand. He may never play the violin again*.
The car isn't in good shape either. I drove home last night from a meeting and as I pulled up and tried to put it into reverse to turn it round I couldn't get the gear. Thought it was just me because I'm a mechanical dunce. But it wasn't. This is entirely why the garage man was at our house this lunchtime.
I'm not sure which will be most painful. BB's squashed finger or the estimate for trepairs when it arrives.
* BB doesn't actually play the violin... but he does play 'cello. Thankfully not for a living.
It's been a while since my last progress update. I've been busy, busy, busy, and am concerned I won't make my dead line. I've reached a point where I'm having to do actual rewriting of plot and such to fix some stuff, so my progress has slowed down quite a bit (not to mention that these parts are going to just have to be rough and not that well detailed due to lack of time to shine them up like the rest of the book). I've succeeded in cutting a full chapter, only to discover that in my original draft, I had two chapter 27s, so I still have 62 chapters total. So I'm looking like this right now:
The 25% cut is a bit deceiving though, since I'm going to have to go back in later and beef up some of the newer parts because I'm quite honestly rushing them at the moment in hopes of having at least 80% of the full thing ready to turn in to my crit group by my December 30th deadline. In the future, I'm not going to overestimate my abilities to produce on rewriting a 350k novel. Two months is not enough. I really miss being able to spend time with my family on weekends and evening, but I'm not going to stop trying. The next available crit slot isn't until May and I plan to have this out to agents by that time.
Back to grindstone....
The 25% cut is a bit deceiving though, since I'm going to have to go back in later and beef up some of the newer parts because I'm quite honestly rushing them at the moment in hopes of having at least 80% of the full thing ready to turn in to my crit group by my December 30th deadline. In the future, I'm not going to overestimate my abilities to produce on rewriting a 350k novel. Two months is not enough. I really miss being able to spend time with my family on weekends and evening, but I'm not going to stop trying. The next available crit slot isn't until May and I plan to have this out to agents by that time.
Back to grindstone....
My first thirty days as a Pampered Chef consultant are almost up. I have one more cooking show scheduled before the deadline, this coming Sunday afternoon. Hopefully, fingers crossed, I will meet my thirty-day requirement and qualify as a consultant. Here comes the plug...
If any of you Canadian bloggers have been considering buying some Pampered Chef products for yourself or as a gift for the holidays, please contact me ASAP. The deadline for placing orders for guaranteed Christmas delivery is Dec 17th.
You can browse the catalogue and place an order at my Pampered Chef website.
...end plug.
For those of you following the big drama in my personal life, nothing has changed. I continue to be frustrated, but have resolved to be patient and hope for the best.
If any of you Canadian bloggers have been considering buying some Pampered Chef products for yourself or as a gift for the holidays, please contact me ASAP. The deadline for placing orders for guaranteed Christmas delivery is Dec 17th.
You can browse the catalogue and place an order at my Pampered Chef website.
...end plug.
For those of you following the big drama in my personal life, nothing has changed. I continue to be frustrated, but have resolved to be patient and hope for the best.
- Location:my office
- Mood:
busy
Up to 41,800 words today. May not have won Nanowrimo, but I’m slowly chipping away at that novel…
Cross-posted from Aliette de Bodard
Leave a comment at original post, or comment here.
Looks like my picture is pasted all over the Brazilian technology news today:
Canal dos Games
Journal do Comercio
Baguete
We made a major announcement that we're moving into the Technological Park at PUCRS university and that we're hosting a Game Design post-graduate course in partnership with them. The news is moving a lot faster than I expected.
It's been a busy day!
Canal dos Games
Journal do Comercio
Baguete
We made a major announcement that we're moving into the Technological Park at PUCRS university and that we're hosting a Game Design post-graduate course in partnership with them. The news is moving a lot faster than I expected.
It's been a busy day!
Lately I've been struck with how many titles of fantasy novels have the word God in them: Gods of War, Servant of a Dark God, etc. I've even catalogued a few of them HERE. If there's any word in the title of a book that would give me pause and not pick it up, this portentous G-word is it. However, many readers seem to like this, so here's my next fantasy novel project to make a fast buck…written under a pseudonym of course.
Coming soon…
So tired of not being allowed to sit at the Big Kids' table, Dudley skipped lunch and plotted his dark revenge on his PC. A plan to rule the world and do unto others as they had done unto him!
Coming soon…
So tired of not being allowed to sit at the Big Kids' table, Dudley skipped lunch and plotted his dark revenge on his PC. A plan to rule the world and do unto others as they had done unto him!
- Mood:
devious
Silvia Moreno-Garcia interviews me at Innsmouth Free Press on Servant, writing in other cultures and my pet history peeves.
The Shine competition has gone live: basically, guess the next sentence AND guess the story. See if you can spot the collab I did with Gareth L. Powell 
And chapter 2 of Servant of the Underworld is now live at My Favourite Books.
Cross-posted from Aliette de Bodard
Leave a comment at original post, or comment here.
Once Again I Guess I Have To Move One From The Rejection Column To The Win Column
This happened last October 2008, too. And I just on Friday decided to finally move this story to ASSUMED REJECTED status.
But First Day Of The Last Month Of 2009 E-Mail Brings Me:
... a 349-day SALE of "Your First Real Rocket Ship" to Εννέα (Nine).
With the euro at about €1 = $1.50, then €44 = $66. Not bad for a very short story of under 2000 words. (grin) Of course, this means that I will have a second story published in Greek -- and the second time that a story will be available in Greek and not yet in English. (double-language-grin)
Yay -- I was hoping for some more sales to close out 2009. Was definitely NOT expecting this particular sale, so a very pleasant early Christmas present indeed.
Dr. Phil
This happened last October 2008, too. And I just on Friday decided to finally move this story to ASSUMED REJECTED status.
But First Day Of The Last Month Of 2009 E-Mail Brings Me:
... a 349-day SALE of "Your First Real Rocket Ship" to Εννέα (Nine).
Dear Mr Kaldon, We published your story YOUR FIRST REAL ROCKET SHIP in issue #443. According to our rates (3 EUROcents per word) your fee for the publication rights of the abovementioned story is 44 EUROS. You will find attached an invoice for the amount of 55 EUROS (55 - 11 = 44 - we cover for you a 20% tax).
With the euro at about €1 = $1.50, then €44 = $66. Not bad for a very short story of under 2000 words. (grin) Of course, this means that I will have a second story published in Greek -- and the second time that a story will be available in Greek and not yet in English. (double-language-grin)
Yay -- I was hoping for some more sales to close out 2009. Was definitely NOT expecting this particular sale, so a very pleasant early Christmas present indeed.
Dr. Phil
- Mood:
surprised
Witness, over in the skies of Podcastle, Jessica Lee's short story "Supehero Girl," a story about dualtiy and superheroes. Maybe. It's great fun and one of the shortest full length stories Podcastle's run, but it packs a punch that makes Val Kilmer look like Adam West. It was originally published in Fantasy Magazine, and read by Jack Mangan, the lucky bastard.
So put on your cowl and cape and go listen!
- Music:Spoon - Written in Reverse
I thought I'd fill my blog this December with some of the things I've loved about 2009 and some aspirations for 2010. I swear Longfellow wrote the below about me...
There was a little girl, who had a little curl
Right in the middle of her forehead,
And when she was good, she was very, very good,
But when she was bad she was horrid.
...If I'd worked as hard as I've procrastinated during 2009, my wrists wouldn't sting so much because I've just slapped them hard. Sort of. Okay, not at all. Feeling a brave sort of gal, I opened up my diary and read the entry for January 1st, you know the one with all the goals. Erm, bad me. It is impossible to have a story accepted by a market if you don't send them anything and throwing all your eggs at one basket is only going to leave you smelling rotten. Seriously, Clarkesworld must be sick of my submissions and Fantasy & Science Fiction must be feeling very left out. Still I believe God loves a trier, and Neil Clarke is close to God for us writers. And who doesn't worship at the altar of Ellen Datlow.
I hope you all enjoy December as much as I intend to and repeat after me, "We are going to cut our swath through 2010."
Last night, after regaling the book club with yet another round of "listen to what my family has done now," someone responded with, "No wonder you write; you're family is full of characters. You make my life seem very boring."
I always assume everyone has an insane family like mine. We are a sitcom, complete with laugh track--because of course there are always witnesses to our bumbling--and if there are no witnesses to laugh at us at the time, we make no bones about telling the story to as many new listeners as we can. (See yesterday's post for proof of that!) It never occurs to me that there are families who don't have a cast of characters like mine. And while everyone has funny family stories that they tell over and over again, build upon over the years, the repertoire of my family stories (apparently) out-crazies most.
We've also had more than our fair share of tragedy. We live big. We die big. We laugh big and we suffer big. There is no in between for this clan. While reading David Sadaris' books, I laughed a lot, not because of how outrageous his stories are, but because of how often I was struck by a feeling of kinship.
So now I wonder--is this a writer thing? Do we all have insane families? Is it part and parcel of being what we are? Because I've heard some pretty funny, outrageous stories here among my writer friends that I suppose would seem pretty outrageous to the normals who don't have gay brother's and criminal attorney fathers and crazy old aunts obsessed with their own womanly bits and latino orderlies.
Do you have lots of crazy stories? Or are you, like my book club friends, boring in comparison?
I always assume everyone has an insane family like mine. We are a sitcom, complete with laugh track--because of course there are always witnesses to our bumbling--and if there are no witnesses to laugh at us at the time, we make no bones about telling the story to as many new listeners as we can. (See yesterday's post for proof of that!) It never occurs to me that there are families who don't have a cast of characters like mine. And while everyone has funny family stories that they tell over and over again, build upon over the years, the repertoire of my family stories (apparently) out-crazies most.
We've also had more than our fair share of tragedy. We live big. We die big. We laugh big and we suffer big. There is no in between for this clan. While reading David Sadaris' books, I laughed a lot, not because of how outrageous his stories are, but because of how often I was struck by a feeling of kinship.
So now I wonder--is this a writer thing? Do we all have insane families? Is it part and parcel of being what we are? Because I've heard some pretty funny, outrageous stories here among my writer friends that I suppose would seem pretty outrageous to the normals who don't have gay brother's and criminal attorney fathers and crazy old aunts obsessed with their own womanly bits and latino orderlies.
Do you have lots of crazy stories? Or are you, like my book club friends, boring in comparison?
It’s the time of year for goodwill to all etc. With that in mind, I’ve decided to start a new December tradition. I’m calling it SAFE FYB week (share a favorite entry from your blog week).
Here’s how it works:
Of all the journal entries you’ve made this year, do you have a favorite? Would you like to share it? If so, send me the title, together with the link and I’ll post those details here on my blog for all my other friends to see. It doesn’t matter what the post is about. If you’re proud of it, that’s good enough for me.
To start things off, here’s my entry from the 8th of August:
jongibbs
A Rejection Letter With a Silver Lining
peachette48
Promoting Your Work
naomi_jay
Not all stories have explosions and car chases. That's why they have espionage and nudity
sboydtaylor
The Myth of "Finding Your Voice" and How to Develop One (or Two or Three) of Your Own
mary_j_59
The Fallacy of the likeable protagonist: a review of The Demon's Lexicon and Corbenic
mary_j_59
On Militarism and Tribalism in the Movies
musingaloud
How Pumpkin Pies Are Made
bogwitch64
It's taken a lot of years
Have fun looking back through your posts to select a favorite to share, but don’t forget to send me the link when you find it. I’m looking forward to reading your selections.
On an unrelated note
It's the weirdest thing, but sometimes people comment on my journal, but I don't get an email telling me, even though I've always got them when those same people commented before. If anyone has any thoughts on why that might be, I'd appreciate hearing them.
UPDATE: Definitely not getting notified about most comments now. very peculiar. I'll see if I can figure out what's happening, but in the meantime, I'll keep checking the actual posts to make sure I don't miss anything.
Here’s how it works:
Of all the journal entries you’ve made this year, do you have a favorite? Would you like to share it? If so, send me the title, together with the link and I’ll post those details here on my blog for all my other friends to see. It doesn’t matter what the post is about. If you’re proud of it, that’s good enough for me.
To start things off, here’s my entry from the 8th of August:
jongibbs A Rejection Letter With a Silver Lining
peachette48 Promoting Your Work
naomi_jay Not all stories have explosions and car chases. That's why they have espionage and nudity
sboydtaylorThe Myth of "Finding Your Voice" and How to Develop One (or Two or Three) of Your Own
mary_j_59 The Fallacy of the likeable protagonist: a review of The Demon's Lexicon and Corbenic
mary_j_59 On Militarism and Tribalism in the Movies
musingaloud How Pumpkin Pies Are Made
bogwitch64 It's taken a lot of years
Have fun looking back through your posts to select a favorite to share, but don’t forget to send me the link when you find it. I’m looking forward to reading your selections.
On an unrelated note
It's the weirdest thing, but sometimes people comment on my journal, but I don't get an email telling me, even though I've always got them when those same people commented before. If anyone has any thoughts on why that might be, I'd appreciate hearing them.
UPDATE: Definitely not getting notified about most comments now. very peculiar. I'll see if I can figure out what's happening, but in the meantime, I'll keep checking the actual posts to make sure I don't miss anything.
- Mood:
chipper
The deadline for submissions to Retro Spec: Tales of Fantasy and Nostalgia is December 8, 2009. Retro Spec is a planned trade paperback anthology of speculative flash fiction, short stories, and poetry about culture, society, and politics from the 1920s to the 1980s. Retro Spec will be published by Raven Electrick Ink, publisher of Cinema Spec: Tales of Hollywood and Fantasy and Sporty Spec: Games of the Fantastic.
Writer's guidelines:
http://ravenelectrick.com/retrospec.html
List of accepted stories and poems as of this writing:
55-day personal rejection from Clockwork Phoenix 3
Logged 3.6K on Wet Work. And here's an extra special Magic Meter to mark the occasion:
The end has come. First draft complete as of 11/25/09, 4:11 p.m. CST. The printout sits just over here, to my left.
I can think of many things I need to fix, but also many bits that turned out better than I had thought they would. Only a few months ago, I was on the wrong side of a second act that looked more like a brick wall. And yet I somehow found the story, as I always seem to do. I keep thinking that one of these days, I'll crash and burn before I've had a chance to build my wings . . . but not this time.
Up next: I have no idea. Seriously. I don't know what my next project will be. If you see my muse, send her my way, wouldya? Thanks in advance.
Outta here.
- Location:Calaveras County
- Music:"The Day That Never Comes"--Metallica
39-day YFOP from ROF
Two 57 day personal rejections from Clockwork Phoenix 3
Unbelievably Cute
YouTube video viaellen_datlow:
Zero to Smile in under seventeen seconds. And I put (a) a cat (b) YouTube link on the Internet. (grin)
Dr. Phil
YouTube video via
ellen_datlow:Zero to Smile in under seventeen seconds. And I put (a) a cat (b) YouTube link on the Internet. (grin)
Dr. Phil
- Mood:
happy
Just a quick note, Abandoned Towers Zazzle Store items featuring my art and designs would make great holiday gifts. And I do get a share of the profits from each sale of items featuring my work.
C'mon, make my Christmas just a little bit brighter by brightening Christmas for your family and friends by giving the gift of art this year. There are a lot of different images to choose from, from the surreal to the historical, from the folkloric to the fantastic. And the items available range from binders to stickers, from aprons to t-shirts.
Check it out!
C'mon, make my Christmas just a little bit brighter by brightening Christmas for your family and friends by giving the gift of art this year. There are a lot of different images to choose from, from the surreal to the historical, from the folkloric to the fantastic. And the items available range from binders to stickers, from aprons to t-shirts.
Check it out!
- Mood:
hopeful
So, first off, this is the result of having too much spare time the weekend before last and discovering the joys of imovie:
Yup, I made a book trailer. Go on, take a look, it’s only one minute long *grin*
Makes you want to read the book? Well, you can also drop here at My Favourite Books and read the first chapter. They’ll be posting the first five chapters of the book, one per day.
(while you’re at it, you can also head over to SFSignal, which is running similar excerpts from fellow AR author Lavie Tidhar’s steampunk fantasy The Bookman)
Should keep you busy until the book comes out in January
Meanwhile, I’ll go back to Harbinger, where a lot of innocent people are about to find out how dangerous Tenochtitlan can be on a bad day…
Cross-posted from Aliette de Bodard
Leave a comment at original post, or comment here.
New words: 525. Not enough. But book is gloopy and slow today.
First new line: But saints did not care about secular boundaries.
The king is about to be annoyed, but the dog is clean.
Reason for stopping: sore shoulders.
Skirt of the day: denim. Dull but warm.
First new line: But saints did not care about secular boundaries.
The king is about to be annoyed, but the dog is clean.
Reason for stopping: sore shoulders.
Skirt of the day: denim. Dull but warm.
- Mood:
discontent
Here’s the second part of my thoughts on the results of the poll about what might put people off from reading a blog, along with suggestions for how folks - particularly writers - who want to use their journal as a self-promotional tool might put those results to good use.
Aside from top three ‘sins’(which I covered in last week’s post) the two biggest no-nos as far as the 151 voters were concerned, are posting spiteful things about other people (58%) and ignoring most or all comments (56%).
Frankly, other than to recommend not doing it, I can’t think of any helpful suggestions about the making spiteful remarks thing. Ignoring comments, on the other hand, is a different matter.Imagine you watched a great conference panel and afterwards went up to the speakers to tell them how much you enjoyed it. What if they simply turned their backs and walked away? I don’t mind admitting that if that happened to me, I’d be tempted to never read anything they wrote again.
I don’t think ignoring someone who comments on your blog is quite that insulting, but it still seems a tad rude.
Suggestion from a self-promotional point of view:
We’re all busy, but engaging with your readers makes blogging much more fun and (I believe) is a big help self-promotion wise. If hundreds of people comment on your posts, I think folks would understand if you didn't respond to each one, but if you have less than (say) fifty people leaving their thoughts on your latest blog entry, take a few minutes to reply. If you really think you’re too busy, or just don’t want to, then disable the comment option altogether, that way you won’t ruffle any feathers.
Less important, but still useful information to take from the poll is that almost a quarter of people who voted thought less of a blogger who didn’t friend them back.
Suggestion from a self-promotional point of view:
If you’re an unknown writer (and by unknown I mean: If you stopped ten people in the street and less than eight said they’d heard of you) then, frankly, if someone friends you, check out that person's blog. If he/she is a real person, and you share a common interest eg; writing, why not friend them back?
Finally, it’s worth noting that more than half of those who voted have unfriended people for doing one or more of the things covered in the poll, and that almost 40% no longer read posts by friends who did those things, even though they hadn’t yet taken them off their friends list.
I hope you’ve found this useful. Next week, I’ll be talking about writers’ websites and among other things, why I’m not convinced it’s a good idea to have a blog there.
In the meantime, if you’ve got a minute, I’d appreciate you answering a quick question:
Poll #1492439 Writers' websites
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 28
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 28
Blog or website: For a writer, which do you feel is more important?
View Answers
Blog
6 (21.4%)
Website 7 (25.0%)
Both equally vital 12 (42.9%)
Neither - the writing should sell itself 3 (10.7%)
- Mood:
bouncy
Writers often say that a story should be a circle.
There are some obvious exceptions to this -- literary fiction often focuses on vignette, or bringing people up to the point of making a difficult decision and then cutting out, or trying to be plotless yet not pointless. Even genre fiction is often lacking in circularity -- short stories in particular don't have the luxury of space, so if they go somewhere they often don't seem to come back. And sometimes action or thriller novels shoot off like arrows in the dark.
But, really, no stories are true circles.
The point of "The Return" (as a part of plot structure) is to bring home to the reader how much the characters and/or the world have changed. If the world was at stake, to celebrate that not all has been lost. In the case of tragedy/Pyrrhic victory, to show how much has been lost. Basically, this is an attempt provide some sense of closure. To reinforce to the reader what has just happened, and give it more weight and perhaps a sense of finality.
But you don't always have to go back to the childhood home to do that. You can return to themes instead. And, in fact, the classic return (say, Bilbo returning to the Shire at thee end of "The Hobbit"), is just a return to the land where everything was innocent and happy, essentially a attempt to return to the Garden of Eden, a return that MUST always fail. After the typical Hero's Journey, the hero is no longer innocent, though. Bilbo doesn't really fit back in the shire. Gilgamesh doesn't really fit back in Ur. The machinations of ordinary life are frustrating and silly now, because the stakes are too small. Even if the world itself has changed after the hero's journey, (the Shire after LotR), the hero (Frodo) still does not fit. The hero can never, really, go back to where he has been. In effect, every one of these circles is a broken one -- and there in lies the poignancy.Because there can never be any going back.
There are some obvious exceptions to this -- literary fiction often focuses on vignette, or bringing people up to the point of making a difficult decision and then cutting out, or trying to be plotless yet not pointless. Even genre fiction is often lacking in circularity -- short stories in particular don't have the luxury of space, so if they go somewhere they often don't seem to come back. And sometimes action or thriller novels shoot off like arrows in the dark.
But, really, no stories are true circles.
The point of "The Return" (as a part of plot structure) is to bring home to the reader how much the characters and/or the world have changed. If the world was at stake, to celebrate that not all has been lost. In the case of tragedy/Pyrrhic victory, to show how much has been lost. Basically, this is an attempt provide some sense of closure. To reinforce to the reader what has just happened, and give it more weight and perhaps a sense of finality.
But you don't always have to go back to the childhood home to do that. You can return to themes instead. And, in fact, the classic return (say, Bilbo returning to the Shire at thee end of "The Hobbit"), is just a return to the land where everything was innocent and happy, essentially a attempt to return to the Garden of Eden, a return that MUST always fail. After the typical Hero's Journey, the hero is no longer innocent, though. Bilbo doesn't really fit back in the shire. Gilgamesh doesn't really fit back in Ur. The machinations of ordinary life are frustrating and silly now, because the stakes are too small. Even if the world itself has changed after the hero's journey, (the Shire after LotR), the hero (Frodo) still does not fit. The hero can never, really, go back to where he has been. In effect, every one of these circles is a broken one -- and there in lies the poignancy.Because there can never be any going back.
No movies in the theatre this period.
A no movies in he theatre right now that I really want to see. Upcoming however there is The Princess and The Frog as well as Avatar.
on DVD
B24) Hellsing
B25) G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra
B26) Cyborg 2
B27) Neverwas
B28) The Story of Saiunkoku: Season 1 (2 out of the 3 discs)
B29) The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
On TV
Ben 10 : Alien Swarm
Still watching Fringe, Bones, The Big Bang Theory, and Stargate Universe. (Or at least when they are on.) Sanctuary also gets a half-hearted viewing.
A no movies in he theatre right now that I really want to see. Upcoming however there is The Princess and The Frog as well as Avatar.
on DVD
B24) Hellsing
B25) G.I. Joe The Rise of Cobra
B26) Cyborg 2
B27) Neverwas
B28) The Story of Saiunkoku: Season 1 (2 out of the 3 discs)
B29) The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
On TV
Ben 10 : Alien Swarm
Still watching Fringe, Bones, The Big Bang Theory, and Stargate Universe. (Or at least when they are on.) Sanctuary also gets a half-hearted viewing.
Apex Cyber Monday sale–30% off all orders today only!
Enter code CYBERMONDAY on checkout!
http://www.apexbookcompany.com/news/200
Enter code CYBERMONDAY on checkout!
http://www.apexbookcompany.com/news/200
Thanks to everyone who joined in on last week's discussions. One of the nice things about fiction is that there can be more than one opinion, and mine is only mine. Not eveyone agreed, but everyone was civilised, which was far more important.
I admit it, I am not going to get caught up on several days worth of my flist. Sorry, but I have other things to do. If anything super-important happened, let me know in commments. If you sold something, Congrats!!
Speaking of which, I haven't mentioned yet here that "Snow Comes to Hawk's Folly" has sold to Panverse All-Novella Anthology Series, pending limited edits. Thanks towbledbetter, cathschaffstump, michaeldthomas and amsaph, my brave readers on this one.
This story is the sequel to "Iron Shoes", and should be coming out in May of 2010. The editor referred to this as a "Faery procedural", which I just loved. ::giggles::
After having sent out the first part of WIP1 (whatever it's called today) to some other first readers, I realized I need to cut about 90 percent of what I sent them. ::blushes::
Flipped a rejection back out the door to a market which I believe might be the perfect fit. I hope so, anyway.
Didn't do any writing over the holiday at all. Watched a year's worth of football instead. A&M/Texas was a good game.
I admit it, I am not going to get caught up on several days worth of my flist. Sorry, but I have other things to do. If anything super-important happened, let me know in commments. If you sold something, Congrats!!
Speaking of which, I haven't mentioned yet here that "Snow Comes to Hawk's Folly" has sold to Panverse All-Novella Anthology Series, pending limited edits. Thanks to
wbledbetter, cathschaffstump, michaeldthomas and amsaph, my brave readers on this one. This story is the sequel to "Iron Shoes", and should be coming out in May of 2010. The editor referred to this as a "Faery procedural", which I just loved. ::giggles::
After having sent out the first part of WIP1 (whatever it's called today) to some other first readers, I realized I need to cut about 90 percent of what I sent them. ::blushes::
Flipped a rejection back out the door to a market which I believe might be the perfect fit. I hope so, anyway.
Didn't do any writing over the holiday at all. Watched a year's worth of football instead. A&M/Texas was a good game.
Just received a REALLY close call rejection from the Dark Faith Anthology. Seems it made it right up to the final cuts. Was a little bit bummed to be sure, but it was a really really nice rejection from buddy jerrygordon and a hell of an honor to have even come that close on this antho. I've been poking around on the internet and have assembled a small fraction of the AWESOMENESS of this one's TOC. I think they're going to be posting it over the next couple days. Even though I'm not in it, I'd still encourage people to give it a look. It's going to be all kinds of amazing. And funny thing, instead of moping around the house crying like a school girl (as I usually do) I decided to use that post rejection mojo towards forming a whole new plot idea. Looks like I may give SCHEHERAZADE’S FAÇADE a go after all. See that's what I gotta do every time I get a rejection. I'm getting close I just need to step it up one more level. I'm hoping my more recent fiction will achieve that, but only time will tell.
jerrygordon and a hell of an honor to have even come that close on this antho. I've been poking around on the internet and have assembled a small fraction of the AWESOMENESS of this one's TOC. I think they're going to be posting it over the next couple days. Even though I'm not in it, I'd still encourage people to give it a look. It's going to be all kinds of amazing. And funny thing, instead of moping around the house crying like a school girl (as I usually do) I decided to use that post rejection mojo towards forming a whole new plot idea. Looks like I may give SCHEHERAZADE’S FAÇADE a go after all. See that's what I gotta do every time I get a rejection. I'm getting close I just need to step it up one more level. I'm hoping my more recent fiction will achieve that, but only time will tell.- Mood: optimistic
30-day really nice personal rejection. It was a contender to the very end, but cut due to space limitations.
- Mood:
determined
I'm still here but it's been a bit hectic. As a place-marker, here's a meme nicked from peppapig
peppapig 1. Elaborate on your default icon It;s the Radio 2 DJ David Jacobs with the slogan "From beyond the veil of death". Long story. 2. What's your current relationship status? Single 3. Ever have a near-death experience? No 4. Name an obvious quality you have. Bone idle 5. What's the name of the song that's stuck in your head right now? All The Things You Are by Jerome Kern 6. Name a celebrity you would marry: Jennifer Tilly. Vicky Coren. 7. Who will cut and paste this first? Hell will freeze before that happens 8. Has anyone ever said you look like a celebrity? I was once told I looked like John Belushi. A Mel Smith resemblance has also been noted. And I'm still single, laydeez! 9. Do you wear a watch? What kind? Tag Heuer, bought on a day when I had an atypical craving for luxury goods 10. Do you have anything pierced? No. I'm too non-conformist for that. 11. Do you have any tattoos? No. I concur with my friend Mr Driver, who says you should only have one if you've been in prison, and it must be on your forehead. 12. Do you like pain? No 13. Do you like to shop? Depends what it's for. Comics, books, CDs and DVDs are fine. Everything else is purely functional. 14. What was the last thing you paid for with cash? A rather rank Thai takeaway meal. 15. What was the last thing you paid for with your credit card? Some CDs on Amazon, I think. 16. Who was the last person you spoke to on the phone? My parents. 17. What is on your desktop background? The moon. Standard Windaz pic. 18. What is the background on your cell phone? A tropical beach. Standard Samsung pic. 19. Do you like redheads? Hell, yeah! 20. Do you know any twins? Not at the moment. I used to know a stunning pair of identical twins when I worked at Glaxo, aeons ago. 21. Do you have any weird relatives? Not "weird" as such, but my Gran was hard going sometimes, and my Dad's getting more and more like her. 22. What was the last movie you watched? "A Man Escaped", directed by Robert Bresson. 23. What was the last book you read? Me, Cheeta. |  |
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So, if you happen to have $1.08 left over on your Discretionary Regency Romance Budget Line, you may be interested in purchasing the MP3 of my story, "The Roman and the Regency" at Sniplits.
The reading is absolutely top-notch, from the snippet I've heard of it (I need to sit down with the longer version, and stifle my absurd nervousness whenever I see/hear my stuff performed). There is a sample available at http://sniplits.com/storiesforauthor.js
That is partially directed at you,_earthshine_; I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a whole slew of my stuff that can be listened to, rather than read. If you click through to my bio, there's a list of audio stuff, complete with links. Most of it is free from donation-supported podcast magazines--in fact, everything except this most recent story is!
Oh, other news: The cute robot book, AKA, Unplugged: The Web's Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy - 2008 Download (which contains my story "The Girl-Prince") has received a starred review at Publisher's Weekly. I did not get the named shout-out that several of my esteemed colleagues did (yaybeth_bernobich and tinaconnolly! For example!), but that's okay, there's enough glory from that star to go around.
The reading is absolutely top-notch, from the snippet I've heard of it (I need to sit down with the longer version, and stifle my absurd nervousness whenever I see/hear my stuff performed). There is a sample available at http://sniplits.com/storiesforauthor.js
That is partially directed at you,
_earthshine_; I don't know if you've noticed, but there's a whole slew of my stuff that can be listened to, rather than read. If you click through to my bio, there's a list of audio stuff, complete with links. Most of it is free from donation-supported podcast magazines--in fact, everything except this most recent story is! Oh, other news: The cute robot book, AKA, Unplugged: The Web's Best Sci-Fi & Fantasy - 2008 Download (which contains my story "The Girl-Prince") has received a starred review at Publisher's Weekly. I did not get the named shout-out that several of my esteemed colleagues did (yay
beth_bernobich and tinaconnolly! For example!), but that's okay, there's enough glory from that star to go around.I give you, spirit fingers kitten:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bmhjf0r
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Bmhjf0r
So the Thanksgiving pig-out is over, and the Elder Son's birthday is *almost* over -- now on to the Chocolate-filled Christmas season. Get out there and get your shopping done early! And be nice.
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Where can I buy a garment rack, I think they're called? I don't have enough closet space to hang up my costumes, and want something to hang them on in my clubhouse.
From Ansible:
Robert Holdstock (1948-2009) died at 4am in the morning of Sunday 29 November, having been in intensive care since his collapse with E. coli infection on the 18th . He was only 61 and will be much missed. All sympathy to Sarah and the rest of the family.
*
Rob was a good friend of mine. He was very supportive throughout Charles' illness and death (we were with Rob at a convention in Nantes when I first started to suspect that C was seriously ill), and continued to be supportive when T had cancer. He was, moreover, a lovely man and a very good writer - I first read one of Rob's novels when I was in my early teens and it had a major effect on me. I am, frankly, gutted.
Robert Holdstock (1948-2009) died at 4am in the morning of Sunday 29 November, having been in intensive care since his collapse with E. coli infection on the 18th . He was only 61 and will be much missed. All sympathy to Sarah and the rest of the family.
*
Rob was a good friend of mine. He was very supportive throughout Charles' illness and death (we were with Rob at a convention in Nantes when I first started to suspect that C was seriously ill), and continued to be supportive when T had cancer. He was, moreover, a lovely man and a very good writer - I first read one of Rob's novels when I was in my early teens and it had a major effect on me. I am, frankly, gutted.
Just before I left for PhilCon last weekend, the mailman delivered the latest issue of Space And Time magazine.
Even though S&T is the longest running science fiction magazine in the world (42 years and counting), I’d never heard of it until last year, when its owner and chief editor, Hildy Silverman, gave a talk for the Garden State Horror Writers.
An enthusiastic speaker (and as I saw at PhilCon, a darn good moderator to boot), I thoroughly enjoyed her talk and afterwards bought my first copy of this excellent publication. I’ve been a loyal reader ever since.
Aside from the great artwork, one of the things I like most about S&T is that I honestly don’t enjoy all the stories. At first glance that may seem an odd thing to say, but I think it’s a good thing, because it means there’s a wide range of themes, and story telling methods included in each issue.
This latest one is particularly special to me, not just because I met one of the cover authors, C J Henderson, at the con last week – I met the magazine’s founder, Gordon Linzner, there too, a most amiable fellow – but also because it includes work by two my GSHW friends, Andrew Alford and Pat Lundrigan akaaalford and dandyfunk respectively.
Andrew is in my critique group (we went over his story in this issue, St Michael’s Sword, at our second meeting). He tells me this is the first time anything he’s written has made it to print. Having read quite a lot of his work now, including my personal favorite, Tip Your Headsman, I can assure you it won’t be his last. Pat is a former ‘Writers of the Future’ winner. If the excellent writing workshop he did for us back in February is any indication, I’d say he’s probably forgotten more about the craft than I’ll ever know.
I buy the occasional issue of other magazines, but Space And Time is the only print publication I subscribe to.
How about you?
What print publications do you buy on a regular basis?
Even though S&T is the longest running science fiction magazine in the world (42 years and counting), I’d never heard of it until last year, when its owner and chief editor, Hildy Silverman, gave a talk for the Garden State Horror Writers.
An enthusiastic speaker (and as I saw at PhilCon, a darn good moderator to boot), I thoroughly enjoyed her talk and afterwards bought my first copy of this excellent publication. I’ve been a loyal reader ever since.
Aside from the great artwork, one of the things I like most about S&T is that I honestly don’t enjoy all the stories. At first glance that may seem an odd thing to say, but I think it’s a good thing, because it means there’s a wide range of themes, and story telling methods included in each issue.
This latest one is particularly special to me, not just because I met one of the cover authors, C J Henderson, at the con last week – I met the magazine’s founder, Gordon Linzner, there too, a most amiable fellow – but also because it includes work by two my GSHW friends, Andrew Alford and Pat Lundrigan aka
aalford and dandyfunk respectively. Andrew is in my critique group (we went over his story in this issue, St Michael’s Sword, at our second meeting). He tells me this is the first time anything he’s written has made it to print. Having read quite a lot of his work now, including my personal favorite, Tip Your Headsman, I can assure you it won’t be his last. Pat is a former ‘Writers of the Future’ winner. If the excellent writing workshop he did for us back in February is any indication, I’d say he’s probably forgotten more about the craft than I’ll ever know.
I buy the occasional issue of other magazines, but Space And Time is the only print publication I subscribe to.
How about you?
What print publications do you buy on a regular basis?
- Mood:
content
A final NaNoWriMo writing prompt post to aid anyone dragging themselves to the finish line or to inspire a short story for December. We're not taking any time off for Christmas, right? Well maybe a day or seven.
I finally updated my Duotrope submissions tracker today and discovered I only have 12 stories out (and one of those I suspect has fallen down a black hole - 272 days to the wonderful ChiZine and no reply to a query letter of about 50 days ago), so I think most of December will be dedicated tospewing crafting some new short stories.
Today, I completed a flash fiction story, Black Heart Balloon, which I hoped to send to RetroSpec until it took a rather vicious turn. Darn those bird carcasses and evil avian lung stealing fiends, it was a quite delightful piece until they turned up. I shall have to think of something almost as delightful this week. I have (including today) the next ten days off work. Don't envy me too much though, I have to do all my Christmas shopping. I'm sure my family don't want gifts this year. I think they'd prefer I spent my week riding the Liverpool Eye or skating in the new, rather tiny, ice rink in the city centre.
Oh, and for all of those who have completed NaNo orripped written your little hearts out a hearty CONGRATULATIONS. You're awesome and we who have put our feet up, devoured far too much internet and wasted November salute you.
NaNoWriMo Prompts:
Cobbler
I finally updated my Duotrope submissions tracker today and discovered I only have 12 stories out (and one of those I suspect has fallen down a black hole - 272 days to the wonderful ChiZine and no reply to a query letter of about 50 days ago), so I think most of December will be dedicated to
Today, I completed a flash fiction story, Black Heart Balloon, which I hoped to send to RetroSpec until it took a rather vicious turn. Darn those bird carcasses and evil avian lung stealing fiends, it was a quite delightful piece until they turned up. I shall have to think of something almost as delightful this week. I have (including today) the next ten days off work. Don't envy me too much though, I have to do all my Christmas shopping. I'm sure my family don't want gifts this year. I think they'd prefer I spent my week riding the Liverpool Eye or skating in the new, rather tiny, ice rink in the city centre.
Oh, and for all of those who have completed NaNo or
NaNoWriMo Prompts:
Cobbler
Patchwork
Backwater
Masked Mayhem
Cartwheel
Skimming Pebbles
Void
Rehearsal
Rent Payments
Backwater
Masked Mayhem
Cartwheel
Skimming Pebbles
Void
Rehearsal
Rent Payments
cheerful20 day form rejection from Electric Velocipede
17 day form rejection from Clockwork Phoenix 3
17 day form rejection from Clockwork Phoenix 3
I haven't logged responses in forever, here are some of the most recent:
16 day personal rejection from Clockwork Phoenix 3
2 day form rejection from Fantasy Magazine
3 day acceptance from 52 Stitches
122 day acceptance from The Tangled Bank
25 day personal rejection Beneath Ceaseless Skies
101 day form rejection Weird Tales
16 day personal rejection from Clockwork Phoenix 3
2 day form rejection from Fantasy Magazine
3 day acceptance from 52 Stitches
122 day acceptance from The Tangled Bank
25 day personal rejection Beneath Ceaseless Skies
101 day form rejection Weird Tales
16 day form rejections on two stories.
Profile
- vaughan_stanger
- Vaughan Stanger
Infrequently Asked Questions
Q1. Who the hell are you?
A1. I'm a British writer of SF stories and occasionally slipstream fantasy.
Q2. How long have you been doing this stuff?
A2. Hard at it since '97.
Q3. Where can I read your stories?
A3. For free on-line at Transcriptase and Hub (links below), or you can build a collection of them at:
Q4. When's that first novel due?
A4. First draft is nearing completion.
A1. I'm a British writer of SF stories and occasionally slipstream fantasy.
Q2. How long have you been doing this stuff?
A2. Hard at it since '97.
Q3. Where can I read your stories?
A3. For free on-line at Transcriptase and Hub (links below), or you can build a collection of them at:
Q4. When's that first novel due?
A4. First draft is nearing completion.
Page Summary
- marshallpayne1 : Aoife's Kiss Issue 31 [+6]
- birdsedge : Big Ouch [+1]
- tlmorganfield : Progress [+0]
- canadiansuzanne : Pampered Chef Update [+0]
- aliettedb : In which there is novel progress [+1]
- ckastens : Making the news... [+4]
- marshallpayne1 : Titles of the Gods--Egad! [+24]
- aliettedb : Linkage, progress [+1]
- fairmer : A moment of rest on a long quest [+5]
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/syndicated.gif)
ansiblezine : Ansible 269, December 2009 [+0] - dr_phil_physics : Another Unexpected Development [+10]
- krylyr : Signal Boost! To the Podcastle, Robin! [+1]
- catephoenix : Tis the Season [+4]
- bogwitch64 : No wonder I write [+46]
- jongibbs : Yay! It’s SAFE FYB week. [+21]
![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/community.gif)
specficmarkets :: ravenelectrick : Retro Spec deadline: December 8 [+0] - ra_log :: alaneer : Clockwork Phoenix [+0]
- ra_log :: grayrose76 : Clockwork Phoenix [+2]
- matthewsrotundo : Progress Report, in which I once more avoid the crash and burn [+6]
- ra_log :: chris_s_owens : (no subject) [+2]
- ra_log :: babarnett : (no subject) [+0]
- ra_log :: marshallpayne1 : (no subject) [+2]
- ra_log :: melissajm : ROF [+0]
- ra_log :: maryjdal : (no subject) [+0]
- dr_phil_physics : Your End of November Moment of Zen [+1]
- rhfay : Zazzle Merchandise Makes Great Gifts [+0]
- aliettedb : Servant of the Underworld goodies… [+21]
- la_marquise_de_ : Treacle mining metrics [+0]
- jongibbs : The Fine Art of Self-Promotion: Part Six – How to lose blog readers (cont’d) [+36]
- sboydtaylor : On Writing #6: Broken Circles - Returning to the Center [+2]
- dqg_neal : Movie Watching - 10 [+4]
- slush_wrangler : Apex Book Company Cyber Monday sale [+0]
- j_cheney : Non-Romance Post... [+10]
- ra_log :: j_cheney : (no subject) [+2]
- justin_pilon : Another Close Call [+22]
- ra_log :: justin_pilon : Dark Faith [+0]
- runmentionable : Makeshift Interim Post [+0]
- fairmer : It's not shameless self-promotion if people have mentioned they want to know, right? [+5]
- bogwitch64 : Because I am thankful for all of you [+4]
- musingaloud : Goodbye, Thanksgiving [+4]
- klwilliams : Group mind question [+10]
- mevennen : Rob Holdstock [+33]
- jongibbs : What print publications do you buy on a regular basis? [+56]
- ra_log :: alaneer : Drabblecast [+0]
- jakobdrud : National Novel Writing Month [+21]
- catephoenix : Almost at The End [+4]
- ra_log :: alaneer : The Tangled Bank [+27]
- ra_log :: wbledbetter : EV and Clockwork Phoenix 3 [+0]
- ra_log :: catephoenix : (no subject) [+13]
- ra_log :: musingaloud : Clockwork Phoenix 3 [+0]