Ravaged Blog Hop!

One of the things I love about writing is that it's introducing me to concepts that I've never experienced before. This is my first time participating in a "blog hop," where several writers are hosting interviews with other writers on their blogs.


Ravaged Blog Hop - 5 blogs, 10 authors, 10 copies to be won!

Welcome to the Ravaged Author Blog Hop

To celebrate the release of Ravaged this weekend, the authors have done a little Q&A hosted by five of the authors on their blogs. Starting Friday, August 3rd through Monday, August 6th, take a journey to see what brought the stories of this phantasmagorical anthology to light.

Each blog features two interviews, and if you comment you have a chance to win one of 10 PDF copies of Ravaged kindly donated by all the authors.

The blog links can be found below so please go and check out all the interviews.
Annabeth Leong

D.F. Krieger

Silvia Violet

SJ Thomas

Erin O'Riordan

I hope you enjoy these interviews as much as I enjoyed being a part of them. Thanks for reading!

The Bliss Found in NOT Writing

Holy Mary, Mother of Meatballs. Didn't realize it has been a full two months since the last time I posted. Apparently I needed a good long break from writing. And boy howdy, did I take a break!

I've hardly written a thing since March. I started a story, but haven't finished it. I just reached a point where I didn't have the energy or the desire. My brain wanted to move on to other things I had neglected, such as playing guitar and making mini teddy bears. I had new routines to learn, which means practicing and teaching, which means lots of exercise. Lots. It really is impossible to do all the things we want to and need to in the time we have as humans.

So I decided a guilt-free break was in order. Much as it killed me to fall behind two months in Write 1 Sub 1, I felt I needed to give over to this desire to do things other than write.

Some writers give excuses for this. I noticed writer's block is a common one.

No excuse for me. I simply ... didn't want to write.

I can hear other writers howling at this statement. They would tell me, "That means you really don't want to make it in the writing business!"

In a way, they're right. I don't. Well, not in the traditional sense of being the next J. K. Rowling or Stephanie Meyer. I don't have those kinds of unrealistic aspirations.

All I want to do is entertain people. I like to sing, dance, write, make gifts that delight the receivers. If I become famous and rich while doing such things, all right then. I'll accept that.

But I don't expect it in any way, shape, or form.

And who knows? Maybe in a few years I'll look back on this entry and do some howling myself. "What was I thinking? Why, oh, why didn't I just plunk my butt in the chair and apply my fingers to the keyboard every single day like I did most of 2011?"

Well, here's one reason:

I made this little guy during that time. :)

Last year was intense. Doing Write 1 Sub 1, I think I produced more in that year than in all the other years combined that I've ever written something. I was full steam ahead, and I got twelve stories published, something I never dreamed would actually happen.

And then I crashed. My steam turned into a dribble of water. And that, too, dried up.

I admit, part of it might have to do with the next blog post I'm going to write about. I've been avoiding it because I was so angry about what happened, I couldn't think about it and not have my blood pressure rise.

I'm ready now to write about it, and so with a deep breath, I leap back into the writing fray. I will do my best to lay out all the facts and not put a fiction writer's spin on it to make it more interesting.

After all, sometimes truth is stranger than fiction, yes? ;)

End of the Year Summation

Holy cow and Mother Ewe. I was just going through my spreadsheet for 2011 Write 1 Sub 1. Here's the breakdown:
33 stories and 1 novel written
12 acceptances
11 publications and 1 cancelation
2 second place contest winners
2 Honorable Mentions in contests
Approximately 35% acceptance rate for the year.

I'm agog. And addicted. I can't wait to start the New Year, Write 1 Sub 1 Reloaded 2012!

Bonded By Blood IV: Scarlet Sunset Now Available!

This past year I've had five stories published online by SNM Horror Magazine. The first two won second place. "Bonded By Blood IV: Scarlet Sunset" is the print anthology for SNM's 2011 work, and contains my first of their published stories, "Cursed By Duty." If you have someone you love that loves dark horror, this might be an excellent Christmas present! If you order before December 15th, it should arrive in time.

http://www.amazon.com/Bonded-Blood-IV-Scarlet-Sunset/dp/1468034030/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1323568169&sr=1-1

My Third Winning of Nanowrimo!

Since 2005, I have won Nanowrimo three times. What makes this one really special is that I won a day early in a month where I had less time to write than the other two years that I won.

I think I can definitely say that doing Write 1 Sub 1 has helped me in this endeavor.

And so, as is the right of an official winner of Nanowrimo, I will now display my winning swag here on my blog. I may even get myself a winner t-shirt this year, too!

Congratulations to all the Nanowrimo winners, and to all the people who had the guts to give it a try. I wish you many more happy years spent lost in writing madness. One of my favorite places in the world. :)

I Am a Writer!

I know a lot of people who do this whole crazy writing thing often think of themselves in terms of their day job when describing themselves. Myself, for example: I am a fitness instructor. That's my day job, the job that brings in the regular money.

"Writer" was always kind of secondary to my day job. Something I dabbled in on occasion, discussed with other writerly friends, and so on. I enjoyed it, but it was something just for fun.

Write 1 Sub 1 changed that. And subsequently, it has changed how I approached Nanowrimo this year.

I've been doing Nanowrimo since 2005. Each time (well, most times) I had a great story idea that I was excited to write, with every intention of finishing the story at some point in time, regardless of whether I won Nanowrimo or not.

Each one of those is sitting on a file on my computer, still unfinished.

With my participation in Write 1 Sub 1, I tackled a form that I'd never done beyond school assignments: the short story. And in following the format of the program, I've submitted most of my stories and had a total of twelve acceptances this year. (One story has been released back to me as the anthology was canceled, but it still was an acceptance.) So far, five of my stories are out in print form, one is an ebook, and the other five are part of a monthly online magazine. One of those will be in print form soon as well.

I received one of my contributor copies of an anthology in the mail last week. It was my second sold story of the year, with no payment other than the print copy. The biggest payment I received for a story of mine was $50. (But really, who's keeping track, right?)

But it wasn't until today that I suddenly realized how writing is taking precedence in my life.

I got a great idea for a story just before November. Didn't get much of a chance to work it out beforehand like I do with each of my short stories. I like to have a general guide for my story as I write, so I avoid rambling. So I started out with just a vague outline of the story from beginning to end.

My writing seems even more horrible than usual this Nano. I'm so intent on just filling the page with words, and this no longer seems functional to me. My characters seem flat, and most of the deliciously horrific elements I planned are simply not coming out as I pile on the words. I'm pretty sure that if I do decide to go on with this story after Nano, I will be chucking this one and starting all over again anyway.

But here's where the big realization hit me today: I've had a serious migraine developing since last night. I get those awful ones with huge pain, light sensitivity, and motion sickness. I can't move, I can't read, I can't watch TV, nothing. It all hurts too much. Luckily I don't get these any more than once every couple of months or so. Today I was trying everything to get rid of it, my headache balm, tea, aspirin, sleep, turning all the lights off and closing the curtains. Nothing touched it. (Usually sleep works, but not this time.)

I'm still catching up in Nanowrimo's daily word count. Supposed to be at 46,666 words today and I'm not there yet. I didn't want to lose another day and have even more to make up the last two days.

So I turned on my computer and started writing. I turned the brightness of my computer screen all the way down (to the last level before it turns the screen off), and then I plunged right in.

Last year I would not have done this. Last year, I probably would have just slept all day, hoping it would go away, and possibly not finish the Nanowrimo goal of 50k by the end of the month.

I actually had no intention of actually finishing this year. I figured there were too many days I wasn't going to be able to write to finish in time.

And yet I'm right on target now to finish in time. I think I'll be finishing a day early even, since we have a meeting tomorrow.

I credit my experience with Write 1 Sub 1 with this ability to finish in less available time than I've had in previous years. I think it's because I've made the habit of sitting down most days and writing whole stories in one or two sittings. Then polishing them up and sending them out has gotten me over stressing over every single word, and rewriting a hundred times.

Though many would say publication is the line between being a writer and just writing for fun, I think the fact that I was willing and wanting to write despite one of my nasty migraines says it even more.

I am a writer!

SNM Horror Mag's November Nosferatu issue!

My little vampire tale, "Biter Boy," is now live on SNM Horror Magazine's website for their November issue: Vampires! Link is posted on the sidebar with the other past issues. They had some problems the last couple of weeks with censorship, so this issue was a bit on the rushed side. But it's good to see them back up and running! I hope you enjoy my story, and the other horrific tales as well.

Happy Halloween!

Romance Writing and Light Ray

As you may already know, Breathless Press published my short story, "Bordello Secrets" a few months ago, and I have been posting the links to various reviews of it. Just added another one from "I <3 Bookie Nookie" on Goodreads. (The same review has appeared on a couple of other romance review websites as well.) I am very grateful to the reviewer for the posting.

One common theme I've seen when it comes to opinions of this story is that it readers would have liked to read more of it. This delights me because it makes me feel like I might actually be doing something good and worthwhile here. It's so easy to forget that when you're sitting at your writing desk and tearing your hair out because you think you've just written great amounts of slop.

Which puts me in the frame of mind to attempt a historical romance for Nanowrimo this year.

As usual, my trouble is coming up with a story idea that I'm excited to write about.

I'm struggling to keep up with Write 1 Sub 1. I've noticed since August that I've mostly been doing the Light Ray version, one story and submission per month, though sometimes more if I can manage. I'm not entirely sure what's gone wrong with me lately, except that I am physically exhausted, and my time keeps getting sucked away somehow. I need to pinpoint exactly where the time is going so I can turn the vacuum off. (I have the feeling Diner Dash will be the first to go ... )

I know Nanowrimo is going to be a tough go this year. I will really only be writing two weeks out of the four. But for me, this year is mostly going to be about hanging with my writerly friends as the snow flies outside, drinking hot chocolate and battling each other in word wars. And I hope I will have something decent to work with after the month is over.

While falling behind on the weekly Write 1 Sub 1 is a tad disappointing, the process has shown me many things about myself and my abilities. So even if I must admit to changing to Light Ray version these last few months (having not admitted it to myself previously), every moment of the year participating in the program has been priceless. It was the exact kick I needed to start the process from "wannabe" to "real" writer.

Time to search for a Nanowrimo idea. :)

More Reviews and a Very Windy Day

Two more links to reviews of my erotic romance tale, "Bordello Secrets," are now posted in the link list to the right. I would like to thank Heather's Musings and TwoLips Reviews for taking the time to read and review my story. I greatly appreciate it.

In other news, the great winds of the Mat-Su Valley are back. I kept waking up during the night when major gusts made the house creak and groan. At least the dogs are getting used to the sound and didn't bark. But the wind blew one of the dog kennels off the porch and halfway across the front lawn. This is the kind of wind that sucks your breath away and suffocates you on occasion. Looking on the bright side, at least it isn't icy cold.

Yet.

The snow is creeping down the mountains, getting a little closer to us every day. The temps get no higher than the forties at my house, and dips to the mid-thirties at night. Not quite cold enough to snow, but getting there.

I'm sitting here at my computer trying to get back into the rhythm of writing. I'm wondering how I'm going to get through Nanowrimo this year when I can't seem to keep a consistent schedule. I have two new classes added to my list (that's seven hours, plus a karate class, in one week.) And I'm practicing new routines for this month as well. Group Power's new release is this Saturday, and even though I don't teach a class regularly, I'm subbing for someone that day. So I'm frantically making sure I learn these routines before I embarrass myself in public.

In other words, I'm physically drained most of the time. Makes it hard to concentrate for long.

I'm attempting to formulate a story with a vampire theme. The problem I'm having is that it seems a very tired, overdone genre. My research keeps turning up the same old information, not lending itself to any new ideas. Everything I come up with has already been played out. The good side of this is that I'm clearly not the only one running into this issue. Hollywood seems obsessed with remaking 80s movies. The most original movie we've watched and actually enjoyed this year is "The Warrior's Way." I cringe when I think about "Footloose." I just hope they didn't ruin it.

Anyway, I'm also debating on what to tackle for Nanowrimo. I have a couple of ideas. One is a brand new idea my husband gave me, but I'm not sure I want to tackle a new idea in full length novel form when I'm also still pounding along with Write 1 Sub 1. Another idea: Pick a theme and write a series of short stories for it (how the heck do I pick a theme?!)

Also, I'm considering rewriting the first novel I ever wrote, and the only one I've completed and revised: "Sparkless." Why? Because the story is ten years old, and because I'm interested to see how differently it would turn out written in first person as opposed to third person omniscient. A lot of people seem to have a problem with third person when it's omniscient, I've noticed. I'm not entirely sure why, but it seems to have something to do with shifting points of view. I've known many writers who pull this off without a problem, but perhaps it's just not working for this particular story.

I became aware of this during last year's Nanowrimo. I wrote "Zombies Don't Eat Blondes" in third person, and it clearly was not working. It screamed to be written in first person. (I'm considering rewriting this one for Nanowrimo as well.)

I know for sure I don't type fast enough, nor have enough time to spend trying to accomplish Nanowrimo and Write 1 Sub 1 separately, so I think the only way I'll be able to pull it off is the short story collection route. I've never attempted anything like that before. (Well, this is my first year writing short stories, so I guess that makes sense, eh?)

Ah, well. Enough debate for now. Back to my vampire story.

My First Review!

Just noticed on Twitter that a review of my adult romance tale, "Bordello Secrets," has been posted at BookingIt. Here's the link:

http://www.bookingit.net/?p=2732

I am very grateful for the review and the lovely things said about my story. I never imagined what my first review would be like (aside from the usual writers' nightmares, of course). All I can think to say is, "Thank you."

And now I'll sign off before I further embarrass myself. (My smile is starting to hurt my ears.)

Drained

No, I'm not writing vampire stories. When I say drained, I mean I'm seriously drained of all energy after a weekend of intense training for certification in yet another group fitness class. This one is kickboxing, and it was definitely the most intense out of the four I've done. But I've been begging for this training for at least two years (martial arts freak that I am), so I'm glad it's finally happening.

I can barely keep my eyelids propped open, but I wanted to mention that I got another story accepted! (And as I write this, I wonder if I've written this announcement already and am too brain fried to recall.) This one was a lesson in "Never Give Up Hope" and "It Ain't Over 'til the Fat Lady Swan Dives Into a Wine Glass."

Or something like that.

I wasn't sure if they had received my submission, so I waited the amount of time they have listed on their website, even though this was for an anthology and not their regular publication. Turns out they had not received it, and though it was past the deadline, they would accept a resubmission.

A few weeks went by and I heard nothing, so I gave it up for rejection. I figured they probably had all the stories they wanted for their anthology already and mine wasn't spectacular enough to warrant fudging in.

Boy, was I wrong! They emailed me a contract. I think i sat in shock with my hands over my gaping mouth for several minutes. Or hours.

This business of writing and submitting stories constantly surprises me. I love that. :)

August insanity awaits ...

Next month is going to be crazy. I only hope I can keep up with writing at least somewhat.

What with our tenth anniversary, the last month of summer in Alaska, Group Kick training weekend, and a dozen other things, I wonder if there will be anything left of me by September. At least it's all wonderful stuff. :)

On the writing front, I'm still waiting to hear back about (pauses to count) ... one ... two ... three ... four ... five different stories.

Two are contest entries, and I'll hear about one on August 31st, and one on September 15th.

One is a writing prompt contest that got extended for an indefinite period of time. I'm debating on whether I need to send an inquiry about that one since I sent mine in a month ago and there's no telling when the contest will end.

One story I'm expecting to hear back from any day.

The last one I have no idea when I might hear back about. I sent an inquiry to the status of that one and was informed the piece had not been received. They allowed me to resend it and said they would get back to me soon.

Writers do not twiddle their thumbs while waiting. Their fingers dance over the keyboard, creating wonderful new stories -

Or they get caught up in the latest video game to cross their path. Heeheehee.

As for my Write 1 Sub 1 goals, I am depressingly behind in the number of stories I should have finished and subbed, at least a month's worth. But I still consider this experiment extremely successful as I've done more this year than I ever imagined I possibly could.

Yes, I am suddenly adverb happy. I spend so much time writing adverbs out, I figured I deserve a moment to relax my guard.

I just finished a new story today. Will polish it up tomorrow and send it off.

I'm going to go now before I start to sound like a broken record.

SNM Horror Mag loves me!

SNM Horror Mag is picking up my tale "Sister Witches" for their July Jealousies issue! This is my third story published with them, and my ninth accepted piece overall.

I finished up a story for a contest prompt that needs to be revised and sent out today.

I also need to wash dishes, practice exercise routines, and clean the house.

Guess I know what I'm going to do first! :)

A Girl Could Get Used to This ...

Got two emails in my box today, one a rejection and one an acceptance!

And I love them both equally. I'm wacky like that.

Library of the Living Dead Press is picking up my evil little tale, "All in the (Devil's) Family" for their "Hellology" anthology. It's one of my more adult tales (as in some sex and violence.) I'm sure it would shock my mother if she read it.

I also got to see the cover art for my romance tale that was picked up by Breathless Press a few months ago. There is no cure for this drooling problem I have developed the last few months, and I don't want a cure. The editing process of this tale has been pretty intense (in comparison to my other stories), but it has been worth every step. I may faint when I finally see it available on their website.

I'm enjoying this so much that I've been in a bit of a writing frenzy lately. Searching for other publishing sites to resubmit previous work, writing new stories with a queue of other story ideas waiting to be written, even pondering starting a website someday.

One thing bothers me; I wish I typed faster. I haven't worked on any of my novels this year because all my writing time is spent crafting new short stories. It feels like it takes me forever to write a thousand words. I have one finished novel and I would like to finish the other three that have been sitting around for a few years.

So the Pill Hill Press anthology "It Was a Dark and Stormy Night" should be coming out either end of June or sometime in July. The Breathless Press story should be available in ebook form in August. Will be posting links as soon as I can.

Onward and upward!

"The Fine Art of Subtlety"

Or "If It's Subtle, It Will Most Likely Go Over My Head."

I was reading the winning story for a contest. The story was printed in the website's newsletter followed by a printing of it with the editor's comments.

In many ways it was a great story, and I can see why it won the prize. But there was one thing that bothered me.

The editor raved about how wonderfully subtle the author was through the whole thing, so that you knew something was up with the MC, but you didn't know what it was until the end.

I enjoyed the story, but apparently I missed the punch line. I never figured out what was "wrong" with the MC. At least, not until the editor mentioned it at the end of her review. And then I had the lifted eyebrow accompanied with a confused "Huh?" sound. I read it again, trying to see where that "Ah-ha!" moment should have happened.

I simply didn't see it.

I guess this is a thorn in my side when it comes to writing because I am not a person who likes complications in stories. I don't mind being kept in suspense for a while, I don't mind not knowing who-dun-it until the end. But I do mind when the story is so convoluted with twists and subplots that I have a difficult time staying with the story until the end.

Why does it seem so bad nowadays to write a simple story that entertains you from beginning to end? I sometimes feel like I won't have the mental capacity to make it in this writing thing.

Another thing slightly related to this (well, perhaps not): It seems reviewers and readers complain when something isn't realistic enough. You have to practically be a doctor to write a story that involves hospitals. Or you have to have a degree in the sciences to write a space odyssey. Whatever happened to writing a story that may be impossible, but is entertaining nonetheless?

I read "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" series a few years ago and I enjoyed it from beginning to end. But if you think about it, most of the details sound like the author made it up on the fly without any sort of research into anything at all.

There are so many rules to writing, it can get frustrating trying to please everyone just to sell your work. You start to feel like you're trying to break into a very elite club with beefy bodyguards that rip your work to shreds and leave you sobbing on the sidewalk.

So coming back to the subtlety issue, how subtle is too subtle? I'll admit it: I'm probably more easily entertained then most people. I read reviews tearing into popular novels and deploring the horrible writing style of the author, and meanwhile I'm sitting there thinking, "I kind of liked it. Was it really that bad?"

Here's a great contradiction. I'm told in books on writing that novels need to be more detailed, more realistic because the public is so much better informed than it was decades ago. You have to research and research and research to make sure you don't make a fool of yourself. And yet when I get an accepted piece edited, they want to dumb down the language so readers will be able to understand it easier?

Not to sound like I'm touting myself, but I like to think I'm decently smart. My husband complains that his head hurts when I use big words. I read voraciously. I loved Nathaniel Hawthorne and Harper Lee in high school. But I don't want my life further complicated by what I read. I like simple, entertaining stories that take me away from the mundane world for a while. I like writing those kinds of stories, too.

I guess I'm just praying that there are still others out there like me, and that this writing journey of mine is not a lost cause.

Now I'm going to hug my cats and go back to reading "The Twentieth Wife."

Second Place Again! Happy Dance!

One advantage to being in Alaska is if something is going to be posted at midnight Eastern time, I get to see it at 8 pm. Of course the flip side is that a deadline in Eastern time is four hours earlier for me.

Just saw the June Jinxes edition of SNM Horror Magazine is up and I got second place for the second month in a row! Woohoo! Link is posted in the side bar. Please enjoy the stories you read on there, and also please stop in and sign the guestbook so that the Overlord will be happy! My story will be in the anthology.

So now I'm wondering if third time really is the charm. :)

No Accounting for Taste

I have discovered that if I hate my story, it's more likely to sell. >.<

I wrote a story to a theme submission that needed a word count less than five thousand. Where I was planning on going with it would have ended up three or four thousand words past the limit, so I stopped the story at what I thought was an odd place. Problem was, I discovered the deadline was in Eastern Standard Time and I'm in Alaska. I was pushing to get it in on time, so I rooted through the story real quick, cut some stuff to get it down to the five, and just skimmed it hoping to catch as many errors as possible. Then I sent it on its way.

I thought there was no chance of it getting accepted, that it was going to need some major overhaul. I thought the typos would be enough to turn any publisher off. (No matter how careful I proof, there are always some that get by. This particular story only received a cursory glance!)

I didn't receive the customary "we got your submission email," which they state should be received within forty-eight hours. So today, six days later, I sent an email asking for confirmation. I've gotten automatic response emails before where they hadn't received my submission, though. I thought it wouldn't hurt to double check.

I went karaoke-ing with friends this evening and didn't check my email again until late (it's midnight as I write this.) I got an email from the publisher that they accepted my story, despite all my misgivings and negative thoughts about it!

However, in this case I think I just got lucky. Perhaps this publisher isn't as picky as others, thinking that the story is important and all else can be fixed later. I would never suggest anyone send in anything the way that I did. Stories that have had time to settle a bit, that have had some polishing and reworking would do better in the long run, I'm sure.

I usually do one editing session for my short stories. This is to counteract my obsession with getting things absolutely right, which of course changes every time I read the story. Consequently, I would never submit anything ever. So I set this extreme limit for myself for a reason. If a story can't seem to find a home, then I will consider another rewrite.

Perhaps the universe felt I needed this little kick in the pants to continue the journey. I've been extremely lax and haven't kept up with the schedule for Write 1 Sub 1 very well. My spreadsheet shows me as still being in April as far as number of stories written and submitted this year. While it's not as important to me to get something written and submitted every week to the minute, I do want to have fifty-two stories and submissions by the end of the year. Why do I feel this way? Who knows? But that's my goal. I'm probably even going to skip Nanowrimo this year to reach it. (Or maybe I'll do a series of stories as though for my own personal anthology.) I'm sure I'll go through Nano withdrawals if I do, though.

Another thing that came out of this little experience. I ended the story a lot sooner than I'd planned. I didn't know how it was going to end. Would the MC get killed b the curse, or would the witch's spell to guard her work after all? But word count constraints made me end it a couple of scenes before then end. It was the scene that makes the MC seek out the witch to get the protection spell. She accepts that she's cursed.

I thought it was very odd ending it there. Not knowing what happens to her after that, whether the curse kills her or not. But then I realized after pondering it that it changed the meaning of what became the last sentence. Indeed, she was cursed, but not the one she thought. By changing the ending, I changed the tone of the story.

Seems to me that if a story's ending is not working for you, try ending it somewhere you don't expect. Then go back and read it later. Maybe it will suddenly make sense and seem like the right place to end after all.

This journey into the mad, mad writing world has amazed me every day. If you've ever thought about writing, join Nanowrimo or Write 1 Sub 1 or some other similar group. Lots of support from other crazy people doing the exact same thing. Love your rejections as well as your acceptances. I hope you find the journey amazing too.

Now I'm going to publish this post without really proofreading it. Because it's late, because I'm sleepy, and because I can. :)

How the West Was Wicked!

"How the West Was Wicked," an anthology from Pill Hill Press with my second published short story, is now available for Nook, Kindle, and in print form on the Pill Hill Press website! I have the links posted in the sidebar to the right.

Happy dancing around my living room!

Happy Update + Star Wars Day!

Just got an offer of a contract for my little historical romance tale from Breathless Press! I'm extremely excited because this one is royalty based, and it's definitely a change from all the horror tales I've been writing lately.

My dry period is still going, but I have the feeling this will change soon. The hardest part for me is trying to find story ideas. And some dry periods are a lot longer than others. And some are video game induced.

I'm going to take a writerly buddy's advice and just take one of the ideas I don't like so much and write it anyway. Something good may come of it. And it's better to write something bad than not write at all.

This marks the first of my stories to come with requests for additional scenes. So that will also get my little digits typing again.

My second anthology from Pill Hill Press, "How the West Was Wicked," will be hitting Amazon and Barnes and Noble soon, too. Bound editions will follow shortly after. I'll post the links in the sidebar as soon as I have them.

I have not ordered copies of my first anthology yet because I thought I'd wait until this next one came out. Help save on shipping to Alaska.

My brain is working in short sound bytes today. Guess I better pack it in for now.

Happy Star Wars Day to all you stuck up, half witted, scruffy looking nerf herders! May the Fourth be with you!

I Got Paid!

Happy dance!

This whole writing thing wasn't quite touching down with me. I'd gotten four acceptances, but I hadn't seen much to make it real for me.

Now I've seen my first anthology on Barnes and Noble, Amazon, and Pill Hill Press's website. And even more evidence I'm a real writer: I got my first check in the mail! Not much, but it's just hard to wrap my brain around the idea that someone liked my writing enough to pay me for it!

Is it strange that I feel this great need to frame it instead of cashing it? I wonder if the bank will let me keep it after they process it.

I've discovered something interesting about myself lately. For someone who doesn't like horror movies (I will only see certain ones, and they can't have zombies in them), I've been writing a lot of horror tales. I just finished another one, set in the late 17th century. Maybe it's because I'm easily scared, so I write what scares me. Doesn't take much to freak me out.

You know, this blog started out as a chronicle of our adventures living in Alaska. Over time, it seems to have morphed into a writing blog. I thought about starting a separate blog for writing, but it is so much a part of my life now, I don't feel the need to complicate my life by trying to write two blogs!

I had a late night, and an early wake up call thanks to a cat fight and the smell of cat crap in the shower. Perhaps I should end now before I start babbling.