Tag Archives: wily writers

Where does the time go?

I’ve come to realize it’s been almost two months since I last posted anything here. Things have been a little stupid busy round these parts, not helped by the fact that work has been busy and then they revised their internet policy to prohibit 99% of personal internet use.
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In the words of John Carter: I live!

It’s been pretty hectic for the last couple months. Slamming words onto virtual paper in order to meet deadlines and get ready for NaNoWriMo, three trips to the emergency room, two conventions, and a trip out of state for Thanksgiving didn’t help my schedule any. So I’m doing lots of catch up right now.
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Announcements! Progress! Cake!

Okay, I’ll admit up front that the cake is a lie. You had to have seen that coming.

First off, my long time friend Joanne Uppendahl has put out a collection of her poetry called She Sho Gathers Stones. I’ve ordered my copy and you may be inclined to order it as well.

In more local to me news, I got a mention in my neighborhood blog. Because, you know, neighborhood newsletters are so last century. The article is about the launch of the Cobalt City Timeslip anthology, which I have a story in. There is also a reading and signing event at Wayward Coffeehouse on Ocotber 9th from 7-10. The girlfriend and I won’t be able to make it due to a conflicting engagement, but all the rest of the authors should be. You can also Pre-order the book here.

I’ve submitted a story to a pro market finally and received a rejection. This was one of the most discouraging rejections to date. Not only did they get my name wrong, but when offering feedback on the story they confused it with another piece they had read. I’ve turned around and re-submitted elsewhere. So here’s to hoping.

And now, the honeydew.

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Brief notes

First, pimping of others:

There’s a new story up at Wily Writers, “The Tunnel” by Matt Cowens.

A.M. Dellamonica, who taught my UCLA extension course, has been short-listed for the Sunburst Award for Canadian Literature of the Fantastic. There’s also some other people on the list.

Crossed Genres has announced the winners of their flash fiction contest.

The location of the Seattle stop of Jennifer Brozek and Seanan McGuire’s “Murder and Mayhem” tour has changed. It is now as follows:

SEATTLE
July 10, 2010, 6pm+
Wayward Coffeehouse
8570 Greenwood Ave N
Seattle WA 98103

And, my own personal news is that I sent off two short stories off for consideration a couple days ago, for a total of three that are awaiting response. I have another one that is almost ready for prime time that is due in a couple weeks and I’m hoping to get another written and submitted by the end of the month. I’m pretty excited about this because I’m aggressively pursuing other markets beyond Crossed Genres and, even if they don’t get picked up, I’ll have a fleet of stories representing a lot of lessons learned over the last few years that I can shop around to other markets.

Standards

In getting ready to submit a short story, I reviewed the submission guidelines for the publication in question. They said they wanted it in Standard Manuscript Format, and at first I thought I knew what they meant when they said that. Especially since the link pointed to the SFWA Web site. In the short story writing class I took through UCLA Extension, we were asked to submit our story for the class in Standard Manuscript Format, and were directed to an article on the SFWA Web site by Vonda McIntyre on the subject. I’ve seen it linked to from other places and it’s one of the first things that comes up when you google “Standard Manuscript Format.”

Surely there would not be two articles on the SFWA site, or if there were they’d say the same thing right?
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Notes from the front lines.

In a move that surprises no one, I am not one of the finalists for the PNWA Literary Contest. Though I did discover that Nathan Everett, known as Wayzgoose among the NaNoWriMo set, is a finalist! So rock on for him.

The news of the finalists is mainly of note to me because the notes from the judges are supposed to be back this week. I can then turn around and roll that feedback into the manuscript I’m working on. I may have to have a few beers before facing the criticisms, though.

In other news, Jennifer Brozek is going to be on her “Murder and Mayhem” tour with Seanan McGuire. Jennifer has a collection of short stories coming out, In a Gilded Light: 105 Tales of the Macabre while Ms. McGuire will be featuring her series, Sparrow Hill Road. I have a couple locations from an email she sent out if you want to check those out. There is probably also info to be found by examining Jennifer’s Web site

SEATTLE
July 10, 2010, 6:30pm
Third Place Books
17171 Bothell Way NE
Lake Forest Park, WA 98155

SAN FRANCISCO
July 17, 2010, 3:00pm
Borderlands Books
866 Valencia St.
San Francisco CA 94110

There’s also new flash fiction up at Wily Writers. I encourage you to go check out “The Time-Share by Fred Warren.

The wind up, the pitch.

Not going to bother with a honeydew update. It’s basically the same as before, except I’ve pecked out a little bit more on my steampunk story. I really want to at least get a submission for Wily Writers together, but my idea for that (even with brainstorming) seems much more tenuous as I poke at it more. I have vast, big concept. No actual plot.

But I do have some other thoughts regarding writing.
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