I just finished two stories today that were in the tweaking pile. Short stories #98 and #99. I guess I'm keeping count so I'll know when I get to the three digit #100. One is SF/horror and so creepy it kinda freaks me out. The other's a modern-day high fantasy, trolls and goblins with wristwatches and TVs and bad breath, etc.

Most of you who are ( Read more... )

Finished in that I typed The End on the third and final draft. It came in at 107,000 words with 18 chapters and an epilogue. (No prologue, but it doesn't need one.) Took a little over a month to rewrite this novel, working long hours most days and working at it some every day.

Now-marketing: query letters, synopsis etc.

A few weeks ago I pulled the last novel I wrote out of mothballs again. It's working title is Dark Caravan, and I never really trunked it, just that I've been focusing on short fiction for a few years. But the novel bug has gripped me again, so I've been rewriting/rekeying it from the beginning. Basically I'm tweaking and cutting at this point. The ( Read more... )

A few LJers are linking to ( Read more... )

I'm sure most of you have heard that John Updike died yesterday. I read Rabbit, Run years ago and enjoyed it. I've read a few of his short stories as well, “The Orphaned Swimming Pool” stands out most in my mind.

When watching the CBS Evening News last evening, this quote struck me as noteworthy. I'm paraphrasing from memory here but:

The reason we ( Read more... )

As most of you know, music was my first creative inspiration and outlet. I knew at a very early age I wanted to be a singer/songwriter. And while most writers say they had a good idea they wanted to be a writer very early in life, the idea didn't strike me until my 20s.

When I was 21 I saw Woody Allen's film Annie Hall at the box office when it ( Read more... )

Would you buy beef off the back of a truck? I'm talking about these guys who cruise neighborhoods, knocking on doors with a "great" deal for you.  If you barter with the guy you can probably get a good deal, but if not his "good deal" will probably cost you more than you'd pay at the supermarket. But what always troubled me is: where does this meat ( Read more... )

This week's short story is a 800-word flash piece called "The Collection Plate." A Sunday-themed little horror tale of a boy and his violin and a forced offering of the thing he prizes most to curb a world gone awry-told by a not-completely-jaded secular humanist, who would be me! *g* I like writing flash, but I still feel like I goofed off a bit ( Read more... )

I was looking over my big list of short story ideas last evening, wondering which one I'd tackle next. I had the determined notion to just start working my way through it and crank out more stories--good or bad, because sometimes it's hard to tell until you try. Now I know that some of these ideas will never get written, as I keep adding ideas for ( Read more... )

Just typed The End on a 5k new high fantasy tale I started yesterday. I need to get my fictional ass in gear more often.

My reasonable goal for 2008 was 12 stories written, and this is #12!  Story #91 on the big list. I don't usually write high epic fantasy, but wanted something to send to Beneath Ceaseless Skies. The 1500-word story I sent them a ( Read more... )