Rejection is commonplace for a writer. A lot of people out there have talent, but it's another thing entirely to accept those ego-bruising emails and editorial and reader comments. Then there are the "almosts," the "your story almost made the cut, but..." and those Duotrope numbers that make you start to work up the teeniest tiniest bit of hope. ( Read more... )

I finished the Crossed Genres contest with an honorable mention! Thank you so much to all of you who voted. You can follow that link to read the first place finisher, "Of Mice and Astronauts ( Read more... )

Yeah. What the subject says.

This is my final day to pester everyone about voting in the flash fiction contest. Despite going up by a few votes, "Bless This House" remains in a a close three-way tie for third.

Register, read, and vote for the stories over here.Thanks to everyone who followed the link and voted for me or anyone else! I knew from ( Read more... )

Somehow, I managed to make it as a finalist in the Crossed Genres Flash Fiction Contest for the second year in a row. I won last year. I'm not expecting a repeat performance--though I won't complain if it happens--but holy moley, the competition is good ( Read more... )

When the Writer's Digest Guide to Literary Agents newsletter recently mentioned an upcoming agent contest, I felt rather wistful. I felt even more so as I read on and saw that it was specifically for paranormal romance and urban fantasy.

"Ah well," I thought. "I'm still getting lots of critiques on the first few chapters. There's no way Normal is ( Read more... )

My September writing to-do list is now done. For now. Knowing me, I'll think of something I must get done tomorrow.

I came across this earlier, and found it well worth sharing. Writer's Digest's Literary Agent Blog is holding a "Worst Storyline Ever" Contest. The prize is a query letter review with the judging editor. The rules can be found ( Read more... )

Does anyone have a completed flash fiction about werewolves or shapeshifters, or the inspiration to write such a story within the next four days? Ligonier Valley Writers' Annual Flash Fiction Contest deadline is August 15th. You can read all about it here.I placed an honorable mention in last year's contest with my zombie-working-at-Wal-mart ( Read more... )

I haven't had much chance to post this week between busy!Critter and lots of writing. But hey, there's news ( Read more... )

The contest? I won.Thank you to everyone who voted, even if you didn't vote for me. The folks at Crossed Genres are super-nice, and this contest brought them a lot of traffic and attention. My three favorite stories ended up being the runners-up, so I guess most people had similar taste. I'm still amazed that mine came out on top. I think ( Read more... )

First of all, links:

nephele of The Knight Agency posted today about a contest with a possible prize of representation. April 20th deadline.

A few weeks ago, we went on a research trip to the nearby White Tank Mountains and I said I would post pictures here. Here they are. A pivotal scene in Normal takes place in a remote area of the White Tanks. ( Read more... )