My End of the Year Post

Here we are again. Another year gone, and that time when we all evaluate what we've accomplished.

I took a look at my post from a year ago and it only depressed me. The year of 2008 wasn't my best writing-wise. I'm still waiting for ROMEO'S KISS to appear in Wildside Press's Cat Tales. I only sold one story -- THE MASK OF DESLOW MANSION to The Edge of Propinquity. But I did finish rewriting my novel and after an exhausting research venture, started sending the poor thing out to agents. No bites as of yet, but some nice rejections have crossed my desk. I did manage to consistently post on this blog, and I've made a lot of new writer friends which have helped me grow (as good friends do).

So, what are my plans, resolutions as it were, for 2009? Well, faithful reader, I will tell you. I'm going to continue to push my novel on every agent until one either signs me, or they band together and hire someone to stop me. I'm going to continue writing as best I can. I don't know right now if 2009 will belong to short stories, novels, or just my own wailing on this blog. I plan on reading more, writing more, praying more, laughing more, and loving more. What else better is there to do?

Now, as I leave you until the breaking of the new year, I thought I would show you the best thing I've received in 2008 (which is also what has caused my writing to diminish at such a rate).

Meet Olivia Ann. That's big brother Aiden (the best thing I received in 2007) doing all the kissing.

Not Much a Goin'

Not much happening here right now.

I'm still waiting to hear back from eight agents. If I don't get any hits then I have another ten to fifteen lined up for the next round.

I just sent my story A WHITE ROOM & TIME to the anthology Clockwork Phoenix 2. I can't seem to find a response time listed for that publication, but it's supposed to be out around July 2009, so I guess I'll know sometime before then.

I'm working on another short story, one that's been rolling around in my warped little noodle for some time. I don't know how long it'll be, yet--I'm only 1,000 words in--but I'm feeling good about the flow. It's a first person POV, which is hard for me. THE BARN was the only other first person POV that I've written that I felt was worth anything. I won't tell you what it's about, but my working title is THE SHALLOW GRAVE.

Not that original. I'll try to come up with something better when it's done.

You Think YOU Had to Wait a Long Time

I received a letter today from the editor of Outer Darkness magazine, Dennis Kirk, that my story, LOVE, OBSESSION & THE DEEP FREEZE, is still going to appear in issue 37.

Now, as writers we all know how hard it is to send out a story, wait months upon months only to get a form rejection. But it makes the acceptances all the more sweet, does it not? Then comes the agonizing time between acceptance and publication. That time period where you cut a path walking back and forth to the mailbox, or you click on an ezine's homepage so many times a day that surly you should win a door prize.

L, O & THE DF has already been published in Midnight Times, but that doesn't mean I'm any less pumped to see it in print again. So, for those of you that think YOU have trudged a long road between acceptance and publication, let me give you a little back ground information.

I submitted L, O & THE DF to Outer Darkness Magazine on 12/06/2004. It was accepted 12/19/2005, and will be appearing in OD sometime in the spring of 2009.

Is four years the record? Oh, I highly doubt it, but it has to be up there somewhere close.

On a side note I would like to say that I am in no way angry or begrudge Dennis Kirk for the long wait. Life has a way of stepping in front of our writing duties and when it does we have no choice but to yield. He has had a full plate, and I think he did right by taking care of Life's tasks instead of the magazine. I'm glad to see that he's able to press on.

Ouch!

It came Friday in the mail. My first letter from an agent.

I'd love to tell you all that the letter was full of praise for my novel along with an offer for representation, but alas, that would be a lie.

It was a rejection . . . a form letter at that.

I knew rejections were coming. Lord knows I've racked up enough of them with my short story submissions. I thought my skin was thick, but man did it hurt to read. I'm still a bit sore.

I have a few more queries floating around out there, but this agent was my top choice. Maybe that's why it hurts so much. I was hoping to at least send in a partial manuscript before being rejected.

It's terribly overwhelming. I now see why writers jump on the first agent (good or bad) that gives them a yes. I mean, how do you know if you REALLY match with an agent or not. Not very many have blogs to follow and a surprising number don't even have websites.

Don't mind me. The pity party is just about over.

I was going to work on fixing a short story I've had tucked away, and I have another one begging to be typed out, but I'm afraid both will have to wait. With the two diaper-dwarves haunting this house, finding time to do writerly-things has become very limited. I need to do a bit more searching. See if any agents (and their limited info) reach out and grab me . . . figuratively, of course.

Cat Tales

Wildside Press's anthology CAT TALES #1 is now in stock.

My story ROMEO'S KISS is not in this book, but will hopefully be in #2. If you recall from earlier posts there is a chance that if the sales for #1 are low then there will be no #2. So pick up your copy today.

If you like cats and you like speculative fiction then you'll love this book. Here is the TOC:

NOT ANOTHER BLACK CAT STORY, by Geoffrey Maloney
SCOUT, by Mary A. Turzillo
AMERICAN CURLS, by Nancy Springer
THE CATS OF ULTHAR, by H.P. Lovecraft
KREATIVITY FOR KATS, by Fritz Leiber
NON-EXISTENT CATS, by Tony Richards
ANGELIQUE'S, by Sandra Beswetherick
THREE HAIKU, by Mark Budman
THE CAT, by Charles Baudelaire
BLACK PUMPS & A SKANKY TOM, by Pat Edsen
DRAGON DREAMS, by Shereen Vedam
CAT CALL, by K.D. Wentworth
A CHRISTMAS CAROL, by Jack Williamson
THE EYES OF RA, by Jim C. Hines

CREEPER SHADOWS, by Fred Chappell

Ramblings of the Sleep Deprived

I told you I would do it. I dug down deep, found three more agents that I liked and sent them each a query letter. So that’s a total of four (just in case you’re two years old or tragically behind in your math skills). I suddenly have the urge to laugh like the Count from Sesame Street.

Sorry. I’m very sleepy.

I’m going to give it a few days, maybe a week, then try to find four more agents that I like. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that one of my top choices requests a partial. But it couldn’t hurt to have some more options lined up in the event that I’m pelted with four fast rejections.

Wow. My stress level just tripled.

Anyway, all joking aside, I’m actually feeling good about this point in my writing career. It’s a lot like when I first sent my short stories out to editors. I got a lot of rejections before I landed my first publication, and that very well might happen with my search for an agent. But I’m not languishing in fear. I’m not hiding from the world. It feels great taking the next step. I’m glad to be moving on. But before I do:

One . . . two . . . three . . . four. Four . . . four agents. Ah, ah, ah!

Again, sorry. I couldn’t help it.

And It Begins

It's done. No more procrastinating. No more obsessive rewrites. It's in the mail and I can't get it back.

I have just returned from the post office, where I have finally sent my novel (technically just a query letter, short synopsis, and the first five pages) GUARDING THE HEALER to my top choice agent.

Yeah, I know. I should send my novel to more than one agent, and I will. Sending to the one was stressful enough. I'll get to the others in a few days.

But now it begins. A whole new level of stress and agony. Days and nights where I check my inbox with OCD fervor. And I thought the stress of submitting my short stories was bad.

So, after all this time, I'm taking the plunge. I'll let you all know when I touch down.

Someone Loves My Blog

You like me! You really like me!

I would like to thank Jamie Eyberg for nominating me. So now I must share the love.

Here are the rules:

1) Add the logo of your award to your blog.
2) Add a link to the person who awarded it to you.
3) Nominate at least seven other blogs.
4) Add links to those blogs on your blogs.
5) Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

Let's see. I nominate . . .

Chris F. Holm is a scientist by day, writer by night. He's got the goods. Plus, he cracks me up.
Jennifer Jackson is an agent at the Donald Maass Literary Agency. If you want to get into the mind of an agent, this is the blog for you.
Janet Reid is the Query Shark. Submit at your own risk. If you're struggling with the query letter and you want to know what NOT to do, take a look. It's also good if you need a quick laugh at someone else's expense.
Jennifer Brozek is the editor of The Edge of Propinquity ezine. He blog is visually sharp and clean. She is a lady with a lot going on. I get stressed just READING about her daily chores.
Kameron Hurley is someone I just recently stumbled across, and I'm glad I did. She has a great voice, a warped take on life (in a good way) and is too young to have to watch her pizza intake.
Jamie Eyberg is getting another one (and not just because he sent me mine). He's a writer of all trades, a man that likes to work with his hands, and his blog is great to read. Makes me want to visit Iowa.
Last and certainly not least is Catherine Gardner. I know, I know. She's been given like a hundred of these, but that should make you sit up and wonder what all the fuss is about. Go on. Check out her blog. I promise I won't get jealous (well, maybe just a little).

On a side note. I was going to nominate my wife's blog. Let me tell you a bit about this lady. She's strong, but lets me baby her. She's smart, but she tries to tell me I'm smarter. She's independent, and dependable. Beautiful, but not vain. And when she laughs her nostril flare in a way that makes me want to kiss her. She does do some writing but keeps it to herself. Her blog is about her journey through life. Sometimes it's funny. Sometimes it's heartbreaking. I would have nominated her and put a link up, but she asked me not to. But she didn't say I couldn't tell you all a little about her.

The Most Wonderful Distraction Ever

On Tuesday, September the 9th, 2008 at 7:31 a.m. (EST), I received the most wonderful distraction to my writing that I could ever want. My beautiful daughter made her grand entrance into the world, weighing in at 7 pounds, 13 ounces.

Trying to adjust my writing schedule to fit the needs of my son (who just turned 18 months) has been a nice learning experience. Now that I have two in diapers, life will be nothing if not interesting.

I'm very happy to be a father (there was a time I wasn't sure that I could be a father, but that's a different story). My family is the greatest treasure I have. I know that life is a bullet train with no stops. That's why I try to look out the window as often as possible.

I'll just keep on writing the ten to midnight shift. You'll not hear me complain.

TEoP

Last night I receive an email from Jennifer Brozek, editor of The Edge of Propinquity. A few weeks ago I had received an email from Jennifer stating that my story "The Mask of Deslow Mansion" had made it through the first round of readings. Of course I was happy for that good news, and have been waiting with faux-patience for the follow up letter.

I’m in danger of getting off topic here, so I’ll try to keep it simple. Back to the email from last night.

When I saw it come up in my inbox I was just happy that it wasn’t spam. That’s all I seem to get these days. It took me a few minutes to open it, as it always does when I’m opening letters from editors. It started out like this:

"Unlike every other one of my story submissions, you do not get a form letter response."

Ah oh, I thought. It’s a rejection. But at least it was going to be a nice rejection. The kind that come with advice or admonishment. The kind that are like nice girls, who after you hit on them, explain to you why they aren’t going to give you their number, and somehow make you feel all right about it.

I’m not saying that’s ever happened to me (not the being rejected part, the feeling all right about it part) but I’ve heard stories.

Anyway, I forged on through the email. It takes me a second to absorb what I’m reading. I’ve told you before, I’m preternaturally thickheaded. The words are all in English. I just have to wait for my brain to put them in order. When the ol’ gray matter finally kicks in and I see the sentence that follows, this is what I read:

"Rather than keep you in suspense, the short version is: I want this story."

I just love acceptance letters. Love ‘em! Like a fat kid loves cake.

Sorry. I’ll be all right.

"The Mask of Deslow Mansion" is slated to be in either the January or February volume of The Edge of Propinquity.

I can’t wait.

Where is 44 & 51?

All is quiet in the World According to Gabe. The Mask of Deslow Mansion has made it through a first-round reading at a particular publication, and now I’m just doing what I always do . . . wait with a side of more wait.

I have no new projects on the burner due to my obsession with perfecting my first novel, Guarding the Healer, before sending it out to agents. I have my query letter and my short one-page synopsis written. Right now I am systematically polishing ten pages of the novel a day--most days anyhow--while writing my long synopsis (a.k.a. the dreaded outline). It’s rough going since the only good time I have to work is from around 10:00 p.m. to around 1:00 a.m.

But, hey, sleep is overrated, right? Plus, as I’ve mentioned before, the hallucinations from sleep deprivation make great writing fodder.

So, to make up for my short and pointless post, here is a neat little item that I stole from Catherine J. Gardner.

The Big Read, an initiative by the National Endowment for the Arts, has estimated that the average adult has only read 6 of the top 100 books they’ve printed. How do you do?

1) Look at the list and bold those you have read.
2) Italicize those you intend to read.
3) Underline the books you LOVE.

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulks
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
*
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
*
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo

* Numbers 44 & 51 seem to be missing for some reason. I tried to track them down, but was unsuccessful.

Milk Duds On My Desk

I’m sorry to report that my story "The Mask of Deslow Mansion" will not be appearing in Graveside Tales’ anthology Harvest Hill.

Though they liked the story, it just didn’t fit well with the group. I always did have trouble playing with others.

Oh well, back to submitting. Don’t worry about me. I’ll be all right. The box of Milk Duds sitting on my desk is helping.

Congratulations to all who find themselves between the covers of Harvest Hill. I’m sure it will be a great read.

A Site for Sore Eyes

It’s getting down to the wire now. Any day I should be hearing if Graveside Tales is keeping "The Mask of Deslow Mansion" or tossing it to the side like a dirty diaper.

Sorry for the simile. I’ve been changing a lot of diapers lately.

I’ve been on mandatory overtime at work and haven’t had much time to devote to writing, so there isn’t much to report right now. So, instead of some whimsical anecdote or poetic prose, I’ll share with you some nice new (new for me, that is) websites that I’ve come across over the last few weeks.

http://fright-fest.blogspot.com/
Catherine J. Gardner is the author of this blog (along with an impressive number of short stories and novels). The layout of this blog is as beautiful as the content is insightful. Catherine is charming and funny, and is one of the busiest writers I have ever seen. I am envious of the amount of writing she is pumping out on a regular basis, and in awe that she has time to keep her blog as updated as she has.

http://www.chrisfholm.com/index.html
Chris F. Holm is a young writer with a sharp wit and warped sense of humor (much like yours truly). Many of his experiences and thoughts on writing mirror my own, and though I have yet to make contact with him – I barely have time to make contact with my own mother – I hope to soon. He seems to me a man of like precious faith . . . as far as writing goes, that is.

http://queryshark.blogspot.com/
Janet Reid is a successful literary agent by day and the infamous Query Shark by night. She shows no mercy to the chum that floats her way. If you are looking to strengthen you query letter or maybe just need to grab a laugh at the competition’s expense, I suggest you stop by.

http://arcaedia.livejournal.com/
Jennifer Jackson is a literary agent with the Donald Maass Literary Agency, and is the agent of the afore mention Chris F. Holm. Jennifer is smart and fiery, delivering matter of fact information with a punch. She is a beautifully clear window into the scary and mysterious world of publishing.

None of the four above know me (well, Catherine and I have had a bit of correspondence, but not much). I’ve learned from all four people and feel that any aspiring writer could do a lot worse than stumbling across these gems. When I get a bit more time, I will try to add these to my links.

Go check them out. You won’t be disappointed.

How About That

Well, I mailed out the contract selling "Romeo’s Kiss" to Wildside Press, and my copy has returned, signed by the publisher.

I’m still waiting on Cat Tales, volume 1 to arrive in the mail, and hoping that its sales are through the roof. I wish I knew the publication date – if it will be published at all – of volume 2 (I assume my story is in the next book; I could be wrong).

I’m also awaiting news from Graveside Tales’ Harvest Hill about my story "The Mask of Deslow Mansion." Their submission guidelines state that they are shooting for a response time of 4 - 6 weeks for the rejections, and today is week number six for me.

That may mean my story has a good chance of being accepted. Then again it may mean the rejection cometh tomorrow.

Just one more wait-n-see.

But hey, I got two posts in this month. How about that!

Contract Concerns

It’s here, it’s here, it’s finally here!

The contract from Wildside Press has arrived. I’ve always heard a watched pot never boils, and sure enough when I got too busy to stress out about it, there it was in my mailbox.

With nervous, giddy fingers I opened the large white envelope and AAAAHHHH there it was: two copies of the contract, a typeset version of "Romeo’s Kiss", and a couple of pages of information.

I read the contract slow, relishing every word, then poured into the beautiful typeset version of my story. What a feeling! My first professional contract. It’s official, "Romeo’s Kiss" will appear in one of the remaining three issues of the anthology series Cat Tales.

Or will it?

After putting down the contract and the copy of "Romeo’s Kiss" (mostly because my wife was watching and I couldn’t justify staring at the same sheets of paper for hours on end) I picked up the other two pieces of paper. One was simply explaining that they would like a bio from me and gave some examples of what information I might include.

Nothing bad there.

The second sheet of paper explained how that the first issue of Cat Tales was off to the printer and would be shipped out soon. It went on to state that the publisher was unsure of how the sales would go. If they end up being low then there is a good possibility that the last three issues will be scrapped. My story will be released and I will be free to try and place it elsewhere.

Boy did that take the caffeine out of my coffee.

You mean after all this waiting, even with a contract in hand, there still is a chance that this thing won’t come to pass? Maybe it’s just a legal thing, covering the publisher in the highly unlikely event that they don’t sell enough. Right? Surely they know they will sell enough or they wouldn’t have even tried. Right? RIGHT?

Okay, here is the plan: I need everyone to go online (I’ll supply the link a little lower) and order a copy. Here is a little reading material.

Cat Tales edited by George Scithers: "Cats and mysterious fantasy: it's a magical mix that appeals to the imaginations of young and old readers alike. The first volume of this new anthology series includes colorful new stories by authors Nancy Springer, Ann Marston, Jack Williamson, Fred Chappell and P.D. Cacek, as well as classics by Fritz Leiber and H.P. Lovecraft."

If there is enough support then they will continue with the other three issues. I believe "Romeo’s Kiss" will be in issue two. So get out there and order an issue.

Come on now. Don’t make me beg.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_adv_b/?search-alias=stripbooks&unfiltered=1&field-keywords=cat&field-author=george+scithers&field-title=Cat+Tales&field-isbn=&field-publisher=Wildside+Press&node=&url=&field-binding=&field-subject=&field-language=&field-dateop=&field-datemod=&field-dateyear=&sort=relevancerank&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.x=17&Adv-Srch-Books-Submit.y=9

Hurry Up and Wait

I know you should never put all of your eggs in one basket, but as any 5 year old during an Easter egg hunt will tell you, that’s a thing easier said than done.

I’ve been researching agents of late, and though I’ve come up with a short list, one agent is head and shoulders above the rest. All of my energy is pointed toward said agent and the others have fallen neglected to the side.

This is a top agent, but an approachable one. I know the odds are against me and I’ll have but one (two if I’m lucky) shot(s). My brain is screaming to spread out my research and blanket my agent list with queries, but my heart is whispering to slow down and do things right.

I may be setting myself up for a heartbreak but it’s too late now. I’m already filling my basket.

We’ll see how it goes.

In the meantime I sent another story, titled "The Mask of Deslow Mansion", to an anthology named Harvest Hill. If things go well then I won’t hear back from them until sometime after late June. Anything earlier is probably going to be a rejection.

So it’s hurry up and wait, like always.

News and More News

It’s that time again. Time for me to be a good little blogger-monkey, and jot down some words with the ink from my brain. The past few posts haven’t been breathtaking, but at least I’ve gotten in one a month.

We’ll see how long I can keep it up.

So here is my news . . .

I know that I said I wouldn’t post the name of the publication where my latest story (Romeo’s Kiss) will appear until I have received a contract from them, but the first issue is about to be released, and I thought what the heck.

Wildside Press – the publication responsible for Weird Tales, Adventure Tales, Fantasy Magazine, & HP Lovecraft’s Magazine of Horror, among others – is releasing a new anthology series titled Cat Tales.

Cat Tales will be a (I believe this is right) four part anthology series. Volume one will be out sometime in April. I don’t think “Romeo’s Kiss” is in the first volume. If it is, then wonderful, but if I’m right, then it will appear in one of the following three. I will let you know more when the contract arrives.

Now for the REALLY big news . . .

It seems that I flunked out of Baby Boot Camp and will have to retake the course sometime in early September. Yep, that’s right. There’s another one on the way.

My wife and I are jubilant that our trio will soon be a quartet. And who knows, maybe the hallucinations I have from the sleep deprivation will be good fodder for future stories.

Watching for the Snail

Though it pains me to say so, there isn’t much new coming from my writing life of late. Still, I thought I should post today. It is Leap Day after all, and if I don’t take this opportunity now, I will have to wait a long time before I can post on February 29th again.

Speaking of waiting . . .

If you are a writer, then you know the sting of waiting. If you are not a writer, or are thinking of becoming one, then let me put it the best way I can.

Imagine a snail, a turtle and a sloth are having a relay race across the country. Each animal must go coast to coast, then back again, before handing the baton to the next in line. Now imagine recording this race and watching it later in super-slow-motion.

This is but a small taste of the speed of the publishing world.

Don’t misunderstand. I didn’t say that such a race wouldn’t be interesting or worthwhile – and neither is writing. But at times both become excruciating.

I’m still waiting on two stories to be published, and all communication with the editors has stopped. I know they are busy and will send me word when the time comes. Yet, I can’t help feeling like that turtle, watching for the snail to top the horizon, signaling that my time to shine is close at hand.

Daydreams

I promised I would be a better blogger in 2008, so here I go.

I’m feeling a bit stir crazy of late. I haven’t written anything new in a while and it’s starting to get to me. I don’t sleep as well. I have weird dreams. And my wife says I’m a real grouch (but that may or may not have anything to do with my writing). I have a few things I would like to work on, and I’m afraid that if I don’t get started soon, then the inspiration might dry up.

Maybe I’m being neurotic again. I do that a lot.

The nano-seconds I have to write have been spent on the synopsis for my novel. I want to get it out of the way before I start searching for an agent. And I thought writing the novel was hard! From what I’ve read the goal is to turn every twenty-five pages of the novel into one page of the synopsis. So I have to shrink around 340 pages into about 14 pages.

It sounds easy, right?

Maybe I can get it done and start on my query letters sometime before 2009. I keep telling my wife that if she would just let me quit my job and write full time while she supports me, then I could be a lot more productive.

It’s a nice thought. I’ll daydream about it tomorrow while I’m at work.