I’m making fine progress on my Return to Luna story. It’s not exactly going the way I intended but I’m not unhappy with the results. I’m around 1,600 words in (guesstimate since my first drafts are hand-written) and I suspect I’ll come in close to the 4,000 word limit, if not a little over. This story is a departure from anything I’ve written before. It feels good to stretch beyond the familiar.

My original idea is still rattling around and bugging me enough that I’ll probably tackle that one next.

[Crossposted from stonetable.org. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

Writing:

It’s been all but impossible to do any writing this past week. The day job has been out of control. I worked close to eighty hours. I did manage to sneak in the research I needed to do for my Return to Luna story.

No plans for the weekend, other than mowing the lawn, watching the hockey playoffs and writing. I should be able to finish most if not all of this first draft.

Submissions:

I have four stories out right now, in limbo ranging from ten to thirty-five days. Three to markets I’ve never submitted to before.

I’m a little concerned about my submission to Andromeda Spaceways (ASIM). I’ve heard nothing but positive things about their submission process. Tracking numbers are sent to authors within a week of receiving the submission and you can track your story through the three round reading process.

After thirty-five days I have not received a tracking number nor a response to my query (sent per their guidelines). I know of at least one other person having the same experience. Their submission tracking page hasn’t been updated in more than a month. The only sign of movement came yesterday, with a reported response on Duotrope after a one month lag. I’m still holding out hope that they are just very behind.

[Crossposted from stonetable.org. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

The California Supreme Court overturned a ruling against gay marriage this week. The fight wages on as supporters on both sides rally for the battle to make the ruling permanent. Obviously, there are plenty of heated discussions going on. Jed Hartman has a nice summary of what the ruling really means.

I summed up my feeling on the issue over on Chris McKitterick’s journal yesterday:

I’ve never quite understood how it can be claimed that we (the United States) have separation between church and state, yet the concept of a legal union is inseparable from a religious ceremony in the minds of so many.

In my mind, any man or woman, in any combination, should be able to be legally “married” and obtain all legal benefits of such.

Religion should play absolutely no part in the legal process of marriage. Perhaps it’s my limited perspective, but the majority of those I see/hear/read about are protesting and complaining based on their personal religious views.

To me, it’s really that simple. There is absolutely no reason a person should be treated differently based on their ethnic group, gender, sexual preference, or social status. In short, people should be judged on their actions.

[Crossposted from stonetable.org. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

[Crossposted from stonetable.org. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

I’m experimenting with Wordpress 2.5 and cross-posting to LiveJournal.

It appears that Wordpress 2.5 and the LiveJournal cross-poster are much improved since the last time I tested them. I’m going to knock around with this for a day and see how it fits.

I’ve ripped out the relevant portions of the LJ theme that I like and applied it to the theme here. I’ll try to keep my tests to this one post so I don’t mess up anyone’s feed.

Update:

Fairly happy with the changes so far. There are things I need to do, blanks that need to be filled, but everything critical is done.

Issues:

• The LiveJournal cross-poster doesn’t seem to copy my tags over correctly
• There doesn’t seem to be a way of changing the order of widgets in the sidebar. Drag and drop is broken in Wordpress 2.5.1

[Crossposted from stonetable.org. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

My copy of Steampunk, the anthology of Steampunk short storiesedited by Ann & Jeff Vandermeer arrived today. I've mentioned it before, but Thursday is the last day you can order it directly from Ann & Jeff complete with personalized Zepplins!

The table of contents is impressive: jaylake, Michael Chablon, Ted Chiang, Michael Moorcock, Neal Stephenson, and Paul Di Filippo are just some of the contributors. Fifteen stories, plus an introduction to the roots of Steampunk for just $12. Go buy a copy or two. You'll thank me later.

Personally, I've been interested in the steampunk theme for a while. The story I wrote for PARSEC was inspired by it. I am not well-read enough in the field for my liking so I am especially pleased to have a copy of the anthology in my eager little hands.

Tired, but happy.

Stopped off at a Barnes and Noble before seeing Iron Man tonight. Not only did we find copies of Weird Tales and Apex Digest (both difficult to find in stores, in my experience) but we saw the Steampunk anthology edited by Jeff & Ann Vandermeer, which was released today, in the wild.

No writing done today, but I'm down to the last scene rewrite for my Sword and Sorceress submission. I expect that to be ready by the end of the weekend.

Tired, but happy.

Stopped off at a Barnes and Noble before seeing Iron Man tonight. Not only did we find copies of Weird Tales and Apex Digest (both difficult to find in stores, in my experience) but we saw the Steampunk anthology edited by Jeff & Ann Vandermeer, which was released today, in the wild.

No writing done today, but I’m down to the last scene rewrite for my Sword and Sorceress submission. I expect that to be ready by the end of the weekend.

[Crossposted from stonetable.org. If you'd like to comment, you can do so either here or there.]

My first published story, a flash fiction piece titled That's Just How I Roll, is now available in the May Issue of Static Movement.

Read it, print, frame and hang it on your wall, share it with friends and family, etc. Enjoy.

Writing:

We mailed our submissions to the PARSEC Science Fiction and Fantasy
Short Story Contest last night. The theme for this years contest was "metallic feathers." It's the first contest either of us has submitted to. We should hear back by mid-June or so.

Two more submissions out the door last weekend and one rejection in. I don't feel too bad about the rejections, though. The last few have been personal ones, including an invitation to submit again. Progress.

Sword and Sorceress 23 opens to submissions this Saturday and will accept submissions until May 16th. A little known fact about me is that, as a teenager, I wrote to MZB to ask for guidelines to her magazine. I'm sure I botched the request but she still sent me them along with some little flyers and a bookmark (which still sits on my desk). Andrea has been reading the Sword and Sorceress for as long as she can remember. We're both working on stories to submit for this issue.

Last, there are two other upcoming contests I have my sights set on: the Heinlein Centennial Short Story Contest and Return to Luna, due June 1st and 15th respectively.

Taxes:

Taxes are almost done. I just need to fax the signatures over to the account for eFiling and it's done. Finally a year that I don't owe money! Of course, almost all of my refund is going to a second retainer to the divorce lawyer. Easy come, easy go.

Penguicon 6.0:

We're heading to Detroit this weekend for my 6th Penguicon (and Andrea's first). This will be my second year following the writing track rather than the tech stuff. I won't be doing the writing workshop this time, so hopefully I'll have a chance to meet some new people with writerly interests. I'm still working out how to do that, being the geeky wallflower I am, but I'm sure I'll manage somehow.

It's been a good week, chock full of writing goodness. I wrote two first drafts (a flash and a short) and started on a third. I polished up the flash piece and submitted it earlier today. Twenty-six minutes later I received an acceptance from Static Movement. My story, "That's Just How I Roll", will be published in their May issue.

Not a pro sale, but a sale nonetheless. A milestone and motivator. This is something I've been working towards seriously over the past year. While the story I sold today was less than a week old, I have to give thanks to all of the workshoppers, beta readers and loved ones who gave me their valuable feedback and encouragement. I would not be where I'm at today without each of you.

I'm still under the weather, now with an acute sinus infection, but I would be remiss in not mentioning the premier of Battlestar Galactica - Season 4 on Friday.

If you're new to the show or just want a refresher, there is an eight minute recap that will give you the gist of where we are at:

Blogging with the flu might not be a smart idea. Please forgive any spelling/gramatical errors.

My brother was in town this week. He caught the flu from my mom, and then shared it with us. Runny noses, sore throats, fever, and body aches. Not exactly how we intended to spend Easter weekend. Sharing is caring!

In between fever dreams and restless bouts of sleep, I've been reading about loglines. I'd heard of the concept, mostly applied to script writer. Ray-Anne Lutener blogged about why loglines are relevant to fiction writers.

All too often I've tried to describe a story of mine to someone and ended up confusing myself. If I haven't thought the story through enough to summarize it in one sentence, something is probably wrong. That logline can serve as a reminder as I write of what it is I'm trying to say.

I went back through some of my stories from the last year and thought about what the logline for each one would read. As I go back to revise or write new stories, I'm going to take a little time to write develop that one line summary, even if it's only useful to myself as a writing tool.

Arthur C. Clarke has died, according to the Associated Press.

:(

February was a short, busy month that ended with a bang.

I wrote and polished one new story and continued work on second.

I received one rejection and four submissions are out in the wild. A fifth story, conceived during dinner at last year's CSSF workshop, isn't far behind.

We picked up The Hard SF Renaissance edited by David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer and The New Weird edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer.

Eric Reynolds announced the Return to Luna short story contest, with the winners published in an anthology by Hadley Rille Books, whose previous anthologies Visual Journeys and Ruins Extraterrestrial have had stories recommended for a Nebula Award. Good company to be in. I'm already hard at work on my entry.

Since this was a leap year, I did something special on leap day. I won't say just what yet but it's safe to say I'm pretty pleased with the outcome.

I just took the latest meme spreading through my friends list this week and experienced deja vu:

I am: Philip José Farmer This prolific author brings surprising depths to he-man adventure tales, and broke science fiction's prudery barrier.

Which science fiction writer are you?

This sounds familiar. I guess I really am Philip José Farmer.

February is now just half over and Mother Nature can't seem to decide if it's winter or spring. In the last few days there we have seen snow, rain and thunder. The area has been under flood warnings all day and most of the snow is now melted or replaced with a layer of ice.

Andrea and I have been digging through market lists and guidelines, figuring out what deadlines are looming and what anthologies or markets we'd like to submit to. Ralans and Duotrope are invaluable resources, to be sure. Following the blogs of authors/editors I like has also yielded some leads on upcoming anthologies although I feel like there's still a secret handshake I have yet to discover.

In addition to the clockwork fable story for Shimmer due at the end of the month, I have a handful of stories in the edit pile that I'd like to get out the door and one WIP that I'd like to get finished. There may be a few anthologies with deadlines this quarter that I'll be able to submit to and the Writers of the Future quarterly deadline is just 40 or so days away.

A new year brings another round of workshops to consider. Clarion applications are due by March 1st, if I decide to apply this year. With Neil Gaiman teaching in San Diego this year and Cory
Doctorow in Seattle, it's a real temptation. There's also the CSSF workshop that I completely enjoyed and would do again in a heartbeat. Otherwise I'm just going to keep plugging away and keep on submitting.

Here are a few upcoming deadlines for the month of Februrary:

• Shimmer's Clockwork Jungle, a double-length, themed issue revolving around steampunk fables.
• Eclipse Two is an anthology of original Science Fiction and Fantasy.

Happy writing!

January has been a busy month. I haven't blogged as much as I'd like. I've had two court dates for the divorce and now I'm putting together all of the paperwork and documentation I'll need to move forward. Work has been crazy and stressful and never seems to end.

We went to see my Dad and brother a few weekends ago. Northern Wisconsin is not the warmest places to visit in January. The wind chills were forty below zero and neither dog wanted to stay outside longer than they needed to. I worry about my Dad a lot but he seems to be getting along quite well. He's always busy helping someone or doing something. He added a wood burning heating system to his trailer last year and I was amazed at how well it works. My little brother is doing well, despite his recent and continued medical problems. It's difficult and frustrating to see him in pain and knowing that there's nothing that can be done to help but he's still in good spirits.

It's been a fairly mild winter so far. The temperatures themselves haven't been bad but the wind has been killer. I'm looking forward to the spring and getting the yard cleaned up and maybe putting up a fence so the dogs can run freely. Dora, the border collie/blue heeler mix, seems much happier when she gets her exercise. She loves being outside and playing. The flatulent boxer, Perl, on the other hand, wishes we lived somewhere warmer -- like the equator.

Otherwise we've been keeping busy at home. I dusted off a couple old tables I had sitting in the basement. Now I have a nice little workbench for working on models and miniatures and Andrea has a desk and computer to play games and write at. We've been taking turns at the cooking and doing fairly well at it.

I'm a little behind on the writing I wanted to get done but not badly. I'm working on my Steampunk fable entry for Shimmer and I have a new story almost ready for submission. We both have upcoming writing deadlines and story ideas running amok. Now we just need to iron out a consistent schedule for writing.

Occasionally we omit the truth, not out of malice but to protect ourselves or someone else. It doesn't make it right, though. In our effort to protect we may do more harm than good. The truth, while painful to face, is preferable to the alternative. I would have preferred to find a way myself but a process server did the job instead. I would rather have had the opportunity to explain it myself and set the record straight but that choice was made for me. I can't change the past but I can do one thing: no more omissions.

Things have a way of happening unexpectedly. I didn't intend or seek to meet someone so much like myself but I did. The timing of it could have been better for the both of us but it is what it is. Andrea and I are happy together and that is what's important. Some people might not accept that and that's okay. A few will be angry and make assumptions without getting all the facts and we'll have to live with that. We should strive to live our lives to the best of our abilities and the most important thing is being happy.