The Return to Luna contest is officially closed.

I wasn’t sure if I was going to get my story finished in time. I wrote the first draft longhand a few weeks ago. I was in the middle of typing that up when work exploded. Between sixteen hour work days and sleeping in four hour shifts I somehow managed to bang out a semi-decent draft.

Friday night I sat down and started some serious revisions. Saturday night I had something close enough to get some feedback on. Thanks again to Adam, Will, and Carolyn for commenting on short notice. Special thanks to Andrea, who suffered through three or four drafts and patiently listened to me babble about the story for weeks.

The results won’t be in until late summer, but best of luck to everyone who submitted.

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

The PARSEC Science Fiction & Fantasy Short Story Contest results are in for 2008, at least unofficially. I received my letter today.

There were 89 valid entries this year, of which twenty-one were read by the screeners and twelve passed along to the final judges. My story The Dwarves of Iron Hammer was one of the twenty-one that ultimately fell short of the final round.

The rejection included some wonderful feedback from the screeners. They had no problem with the writing but the story fell short on plot and story arc, and the ending was a bit weak.

…the shallowness of the plot sank an otherwise acceptable story

I’m a bit embarrassed to admit just how close to the deadline I started my story. Even so, I think I’m on the right track. I think the screener’s comments were right on the mark. The lack of world building and the rush to finish the story for the deadline hurt the story as a whole. I’m going to sit down and see if I can fix the plot issues and take the story from acceptable to something remarkable.

Congratulations to the winners and good luck elsewhere to the rest!

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

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.]

[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.

[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.

Form rejection last night, so I went out today and bought labels, a box of 9x10 envelopes and a box of #10 envelopes for SASE. I'm going to hold on to the rejected story for a week and get a few more critiques on it as a kind of gut check. I did send out a different story, though. Thus the cycle begins. My goal is one new story submitted each month, on top of the rejects going back out the door.

Two of three workshop stories are rewritten. The third looks like it wants to be a novella, perhaps even a novel. I'm going to give it some breathing room and consider my options. Already working on the next WIP, an idea that came to me during the workshop. I wanted to challenge myself with something a bit different. This is both longer than any of my recent stories (estimating it should come in around 6k words), and falls somewhere between alternate history and harder science fiction than I usually write.

I've heard other people talk about it. Now I've done it, too.

I skimmed through my workshop notes for "Recycled Dreams" last night and today, getting a feel for the changes I want to make. I realized that, while I knew the background of the world, I didn't have a good grip on the characters themselves and what makes them tick. I started asking questions and what I discovered was pretty interesting (and raised some interesting ideas to explore in another story or two). I'll finish up asking questions and giving them the third degree.

My goals for the month are to finish this rewrite and submit it, and finish the first draft of "Alien Gurgitator."

Technically, it wasn't my first rejection ever. Seven or so years ago I submitted a poem to some literary magazines after taking some classes at a community college.  This is the first fiction rejection I've received. Of course, sending submissions out is the important part here. I expect to collect many more in the years to come.

This was for the flash fiction piece I talked about last week. Because of the size of the piece, many markets allow for simultaneous submission. One of them came back with a rejection today, but included a personal response. My story was a "near miss." Huzzah!

We're home. The dogs are home. Normal chaos is restored.

I sat through lots of great panels and a few duds this weekend. I met a bunch of people from Absolute Write for drinks and dinner Saturday night. That was a blast. I sat through panels on publishing, agents and what they get for their 10% 15%, manuscript preparation, publishing short fiction, and anything else relating to getting published.

I'm definitely as prepared as I'm going to be for submitting my short stories. Two are out now. I have a third that needs one more pass with the red pen before I send it out.
 
And I'm contemplating the dreaded first novel. (To be honest, it's more like the second novel, except I never actually finished the first one.)

It started off as a short story (some of you may have read it as "Narang"). I ended up cutting out a lot of the story to make it fit as a short story, which it never really did. I've spent a good amount of time considering the idea of turning this into a novella or even a novel. I think I have enough material to spin it out over 100k words or so. Heck, I even have ideas for a sequel.  Grand plans, all of them.

To start, I sat down today at lunch and started writing a synopsis and outline. Even if I only manage 1,000 words/day, as long as I'm consistent with that I could complete a first draft in 3-4 months.

What have I got myself in to?

Two days down, two more remain.

I'm pretty pleased by the panels so far. I was a bit disappointed to learn that Gardner Dozois had to cancel. He was to be on some of the editor panels. Gordon Van Gelder was there, so it was still worthwhile. Humor in SF, Dark Fantasy/Horror, Alternate Histories, Historical Research, the future of Publishing, and more I can't remember off the top of my head. It's funny how I identify more readily with some people than others. Selina Rosen has to be one of my favorites. I've sat in her panels at two cons now and she's good people. On the flip side, there are one or two people that just completely dominate the room (and not in the good way) and that just makes for an unpleasant experience.

I also had the chance to meet the folks from Black Gate (bg_editor). Those poor guys are stuck in the worst possible area, at the tail end of the hallway, away from most of the foot traffic. I picked up a copy of the latest issue and a couple of short story collections John recommended.

Sitting in panels, listening to the discussions about beginning/common mistakes both in writing and submitting, I feel like I'm on the right track. Part of that was the experience of the CSSF Workshop, that helped to put my current skills in perspective. I'm too tired to do the self-analysis bit right now, but I can sum it up by saying I feel pretty darn good about where I'm at and confident that I'll be seeing my stories in print before too long.

The dealer room is better than most I've been to.  So far the damage is minor. I bought myself a plush Cthulhu that screams when you squeeze its tummy.  I predict much fun in watching the dogs react to that. I attended one book signing, getting Gene Wolfe's autograph. My friend Matthias is a huge fan and turned me on to Gene's work. Matthias, you better e-mail me your address :)

Tomorrow should be another fun day at the con.  I need to be up bright and early for a 10AM talk about short fiction writing, and dinner that night with a bunch of the gang from Absolute Write.  Toodles!

We're leaving for Archon/NASFiC first thing in the morning. Updates, if any, will be sporadic. Back home on Monday.

I took advantage of the offer for a free copy of the 2007 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction. I'm still reading through it but I wanted to blog about what I've read so far, and what I think.

First, as usual, the cover art is nice and the print quality is top notch. I usually pick up a copy of Analog, Asimov's, and Fantasy & Science Fiction (because I keep forgetting to subscribe) and of the three, F&SF consistently has the best feel to it.

So far, I have read:

Atalanta Loses at the Interpantheonic Trivia Bee by Heather Lindsley

Requirements for the Mythology Merit Badge by Kevin N. Haw

Envoy Extraordinary by Albert E. Cowdrey

My standards for reading are simple: did I enjoy the story? For these three stories, the answer is yes. Occasionally, I'll come across a story so good that I can't help but tell everyone I know about it. None of these stories were that good, but still worth a read.

I'm going to NASFiC next weekend, so I'll do my best to finish reading this week.

I've always been a fan of the anthology. The topic came up during the CSSF Workshop, and how to find anthologies open for submission. Ralan lists some but I expect there are quite a few missing.


I love the idea behind Visual Journeys, where each story was written for a specific piece of space art. Now someone needs to do an anthology inspired by music and invite me to submit. I would love to write a story around All Along the Watchtower, Paint it Black, or Running to Stand Still.

I sat down for my lunch break, laptop in err, lap. I hoped to finish a scene or two. I completely lost track of time and finished the entire damn thing.

I need to do a line edit now and make sure I've hit all the soft spots, but I feel pretty good about it. Another few reads, an extra pair of eyes or two, and a bit more tweaking and it'll be ready to go... somewhere.

Some quick updates.

Sunday was my 32nd birthday. I spent the day reading, watching tv, and ignoring email/news.  We ordered pizza for dinner.  It was bliss.

I finished reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on Monday.  Don't worry, I won't spoil it. All I will say is that I enjoyed it.

Speaking of spoilers, I am really annoyed by hate people who think it's funny to ruin the experience for people. What kind of sick rush do they get by telling people who lived or who died? Are you really that pathetic and sad of a person?

Finished revising another scene of "Wholesale Goods". It feels good to finish things. It will feel even better to send it out the door.

One of my favorite cheesy movies of all time is finally out on DVD: The Monster Squad.

Finished editing scene two, ending it at 640 words. So far I think I've successfully beaten the infodump bug and avoided most of the dreaded passive prose.

This weekend is going to be a little busy.  Harry Potter book 7 is out at midnight. We're going to Rockin' the Troops 2007 tomorrow night.  I'm not sure what we're going to do Sunday, but we're planning to do something.

Tonight we're off to the races, literally. Right after I call Sears for the fourth time today.  Besides the fact that their repairman performed service this morning without providing us an estimate or explanation, he also left it more broken than it was and hasn't called us back despite promises that he'd call "in the next few minutes" three times over the past five hours.  Our next dryer isn't going to be from Sears, that's for damn sure.

Oh, almost forgot to mention that I received my copy of the September 2007 issue of Fantasy & Science Fiction!  I'll be posting a review in the next several days.