travel and writing updates, somewhat
And so, another month has passed without an entry here.
At least it's for good reason. Work travel, to an extent. But also lots of writing. And rewriting. And editing. And rewriting. And writing.
You get the point.
Because I've been doing so much writing, along with a bunch of television-watching and household chores and things like that, the book and story reviews have fallen behind. Honestly, I've done precious little reading since the beginning of March. Part of that is that I haven't been flying for work, and the trips I have taken have been "quick turnaround" (meaning, for instance, drive up to St. Albans VT on Monday, teach Tuesday, drive home Tues night. Or drive to Plainfield CT on Sunday, teach Monday, drive home Monday night).
But I still have a few book reviews to write and post, and a small pile of short story reviews to put out there as well.
Writing wise, I did probably the heaviest rewriting I've ever done during this past month. Two different stories went through deep cuts and extensive rewriting. The process was both traumatic and cathartic, and if these two stories sell, a good portion of the credit will go to the beta-readers who were bluntly honest with me that earlier drafts just weren't working for them.
One of those heavily-revised stories was sent out to an open call yesterday; the other will go out in the next day or so. That will bring me up to 8 stories currently out on submission, which is close to my goal of 10 stories out at any one time.
Also in writing-related news: today I received my contributor copies and copies I'd ordered from Amazon of the anthology ONE THOUSAND WORDS FOR WAR, edited by Madeline Smoot and Hope Erica Shultz and published by CBAY Books. The anthology includes my story "Threshold." You can purchase it in print and Kindle formats from Amazon now. You can also buy it in print and Nook formats from Barnes & Noble.
At least it's for good reason. Work travel, to an extent. But also lots of writing. And rewriting. And editing. And rewriting. And writing.
You get the point.
Because I've been doing so much writing, along with a bunch of television-watching and household chores and things like that, the book and story reviews have fallen behind. Honestly, I've done precious little reading since the beginning of March. Part of that is that I haven't been flying for work, and the trips I have taken have been "quick turnaround" (meaning, for instance, drive up to St. Albans VT on Monday, teach Tuesday, drive home Tues night. Or drive to Plainfield CT on Sunday, teach Monday, drive home Monday night).
But I still have a few book reviews to write and post, and a small pile of short story reviews to put out there as well.
Writing wise, I did probably the heaviest rewriting I've ever done during this past month. Two different stories went through deep cuts and extensive rewriting. The process was both traumatic and cathartic, and if these two stories sell, a good portion of the credit will go to the beta-readers who were bluntly honest with me that earlier drafts just weren't working for them.
One of those heavily-revised stories was sent out to an open call yesterday; the other will go out in the next day or so. That will bring me up to 8 stories currently out on submission, which is close to my goal of 10 stories out at any one time.
Also in writing-related news: today I received my contributor copies and copies I'd ordered from Amazon of the anthology ONE THOUSAND WORDS FOR WAR, edited by Madeline Smoot and Hope Erica Shultz and published by CBAY Books. The anthology includes my story "Threshold." You can purchase it in print and Kindle formats from Amazon now. You can also buy it in print and Nook formats from Barnes & Noble.