Escape Artists
The Lounge at the End of the Universe => The Writing Forum => Progress Reports => Topic started by: Listener on November 13, 2007, 08:44:47 PM
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I got about 1500 words into this new story of mine (IFOWONRO, or "Robot Overlords" for short) and, after I closed the lappy for the day, realized that the protagonist wasn't as bleak as I'd like him to be.
So I scrapped everything except the eight paragraphs that were the germ of the character and the story and started again.
I'm much happier. Except that the story will be developing more slowly than I'd like, and may have to be a novella to be told correctly. I guess I'll just work my way through it and see how long it ends up. Most of my short-stories are over 10,000 words unless I actively try to shorten them.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novella (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Novella)
The SFWA says 17,500 to 50,000 is a novella. Well, I don't know if I'll get this story up to 17,500 but I certainly can build in some more backstory that will help explain the character's motivations. I just hope it doesn't come off as forced.
Does anyone think titling a story with a derivative of a line from The Simpsons would get me in trouble with their legal department? I was going for a really catchy title, which I think this is.
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My first attempt at breaking into the horror genre, "The Very Next Day", was rejected by Weird Tales. It has now gone off to +Horror Library+ Volume 3.
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"I For One Welcome Our New Robot Overlords" is done and is in the first-revision phase. The title will definitely be changed, because as it turns out, they're not robots.
I've also started a new piece called "locksmith" on my computer. Don't know what the final title will be; not sure if it'll be horror or SF but I'm leaning toward horror because of the locksmith's appearance and overall funk. (He's based on a rather stinky guy here at work.)
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"locksmith" continues to sit on my hard drive. IFOWONRO is in my bag, waiting to be edited.
Last night, the story that had been chewing at my brain for the past few days bit through the straps and, despite that I had to be up at 5:30 and was (and am) pretty sick right now, I rolled out of bed and sat down at the computer and, from 10:45pm to 12:55am, wrote the 4500-word story currently titled "My Pillow". I may change that if something else jumps out at me in editing.
The premise is: there's a dude who has back problems and also trouble sleeping. His friend -- who's also his massage therapist -- suggests one of those knee-separating pillows, but the lady at Bed Bath and Beyond convinces him to get a body pillow instead. Then it veers into weird territory, though I think not explicitly enough in the execution -- the pillow absorbs his negative feelings until it acts to change his life -- to say it actually makes sense. I'm trying to keep it under 5000 words so it's easier to sell, but I don't know if I'll be able to pull it off.
*sigh* I need a beta reader.
Anyway, that's where I am. Still haven't heard back from +Horror Library+ Volume 3 about "The Very Next Day".
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Wrote a short horror story called "My Pillow", which my friend called, after reading it, "the homicidal body pillow" story. It's going to get a pretty major rewrite when I have time.
Still no word on "The Very Next Day".
25% through the first edit to "Robot Overlords".
Currently focusing on a rather long (outline-wise) piece of erotica called "Shell Game". Rather than posting a link to it here, if you want the URL where I've got it online, PM me and I will send it to you. (Warning: not sci-fi, fantasy, or horror in any way.) So far I've written about 30,000 words of it in six total finished chapters.
Figures... the stuff I progress most on will likely be the hardest for me to sell.
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In addition to SF/F/H, I also write erotica.
There. I said it. If there's ever an Eropod (Poderos?), I'll be first in line to work on it.
Anyway, right around (I think the day before or the day after) Christmas, I wrote a 3300-word piece of BDSM erotica.
Since then, I have written a total of 47,600 words in nine completed chapters, including two that were about 6000 and one that was 9000. (And that 9000-word one is a single story arc so I really can't split it into two separate chapters.) Yesterday I added another thousand words. I've outlined this story for 26 chapters, though I may do some cutting here and there for plot points that don't need to be addressed. (I have a three-chapter arc that I probably can toss later on.)
It amuses me that the 16-chapter novel I wrote in 2003 is only 65,000 words (it was horrific; don't ask), while this thing will be twice that size.
If you'd like to read some of it (the in-progress story, not the other novel), PM me and I'll send you the link. I'd rather not put the URL here.
Anyway. Onward.
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It amuses me that the 16-chapter novel I wrote in 2003 is only 65,000 words (it was horrific; don't ask), while this thing will be twice that size.
It's funny when we look back at past projects isn't it? I recently reread the first longform fiction I wrote as part of a college directed study, about 65k words too... and it made me wish I was born both blind and illiterate. It is literally the worst collection of English words ever assembled into something resembling paragraphs ever produced by any human, anywhere, in any medium, in this universe or any others.
It's a manuscript so bad it makes even L Ron Hubbard's work look polished and well thought out. A story so relentlessly unfocused, poorly plotted, and ham handed, that reading it silently made my children cry (and possibly the children in a 100 mile radius).
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Up over 60,000 words on "Shell Game". Haven't written any actual sellable fiction lately, or edited any of my three completed stories.
Horror Library declined "The Very Next Day", so time for another small polish and another submission.
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Over 70,000 words on "Shell Game". Actually, probably close to 75,000. Plus another 3500 on a new story called "Any Port In A Storm".
At some point I do have to finish revising "Robot Overlords"... and come up with a new title.
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"Any Port In A Storm".
I hope it doesn't involve an anal probe. ;D
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"Any Port In A Storm".
I hope it doesn't involve an anal probe. ;D
I'm sorry, but I can't divulge that information. Mostly because there's no real outline and I don't actually know what's going to happen, exactly.
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ZOMG!!!
As I said in the EP#147 thread, when Steve said there was precious little underwater sci-fi lately, I had an inspiration born of my scuba diving experiences and the fact that I really haven't written anything sci-fi, fantasy, or horror lately.
At 2 p.m., I started writing an as-yet-untitled underwater-based sci-fi story.
At 10:30 p.m., I finished it. Six more-or-less solid hours of writing in two three-hour blocks.
11,024 words.
I feel so good about this story. Maybe it sucks. Maybe it's awesome. I don't know. But I know I loved every second of writing it, even the stressful and tough parts for my main character.
I posted a preview on my LJ, not under friends-lock, so anyone can read it. Here's the URL:
http://listener42.livejournal.com/106207.html
It needs editing -- it is, after all, just the first draft -- but it just feels so good to get back into writing sci-fi.
If it suffers from anything, IMO, it's that the ending is VAGUELY similar to "Robot Overlords" (my other SF story that I wrote last year) although only in a very, very slight fashion. Also, I'm not sure if I really need the coda at the very end. *shrug* That's what revisions and betas are for, and I now have betas.
Enjoy the preview. Tell me what you think, either here or on the LJ. I have to go stop my cat from peeing on the floor now.
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Finished first round of edits, cut down to 10,862 words. Now sent off to my two official betas.
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Knocked out another chapter of Shell Game, bringing the total to about 85,000 words.
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Started a new sci-fi story, this one a little more hard sci-fi than "oh, look, there's some sci-fi over there, but for the most part it's a story about people". I'm hoping it stays between 4000 and 7000 words in the end. For the moment, it's called "Memory", and it was spawned by a discussion about Alzheimer's disease that I had at work yesterday with a couple of dudes on our team.
It kept me up and thinking for 45 minutes last night after lights-out, even after I tried to blank my mind with "Voyage of the Shadowmoon" (which I've read before), and my underwater story was the same way, so that's good.
Anyway, two pages -- about 700 words -- done.
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During lunch, I wrote another 900 words of "Memory", pushing up to 1767 total.
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The underwater story is back from my betas with generally good feedback. Now I just need a title and I can start sending it out for consideration by publications.
Next up, hopefully more Shell Game. Getting behind on that one.
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"Shell Game": just about 100,000 words last time I counted. Up to the middle of Chapter 17. (26 total in the outline)
"113 Feet": my underwater sci-fi story now has a name. I hit the dive shop yesterday and workshopped my technical stuff, and did the final round of edits last night. Now it's time to find a place to submit it. (Once it gets bought at least once, I'll send it to EP as well.)
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"Shell Game" Chapter 17 was finished yesterday -- 4900 words.
"113 Feet" goes into the mail this afternoon. First stop: Asimov's. Regrettably, they don't accept online submissions, so I have to mail the thing. $4, not including the "hey, secretary, sign this and mail it back" green card. $1.82 for postage each way, plus the "I'm actually reading this now" postcard if they choose to send it back.
In case you're interested, here is my cover letter. As a PR writer, I love writing cover letters that stand out:
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Greetings. I am pleased to present to you my recently-completed short-story, "113 Feet", which I believe will be a good fit for Asimov's. On your site, you note that you're looking for character-oriented stories, which in my opinion are the best kind. And I'm not just saying that to kiss up; in other stories I've written, I've sacrificed the plot to build the characters.
But not in "113 Feet". "113 Feet" is a story about obsession, SCUBA diving, and the search for the truth. It's about a young woman named Eleanora who learns what her father's research is really about just in time to lose him to it. But it's about more than that. It's also about Eleanora herself -- what led her to become the woman she is, what she likes and dislikes, what bothers her, what makes her happy, that sort of thing. She is one of the most well-rounded characters I've ever written, and I don't even describe what she looks like. Well, not really. I mean, I do make the occasional reference, but you won't find one of those annoying expository paragraphs about her lustrous blond hair or piercing green eyes. (She actually possesses neither of those characteristics, but you wouldn't know that from reading the story.)
I liken the way I reveal the science in this story to Neil Gaiman's "How to Talk to Girls at Parties" in that the story is about the people, not the science, but without the science, there'd be no reason to care about the people. I really hope you enjoyed that story, because if you didn't, I think I'm in trouble. (If you didn't read it, I think I'll be okay.)
In any case, I hope you enjoy the story, and I hope you and the editorial team at Asimov's (which, for all I know, consists of Sheila Williams) choose to publish it. I thank you in advance for your time, and I look forward to hearing from you.
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My rates are reasonable if you need any PR writing done. I charge industry standard, and am willing to do research for an hourly fee. My work has been cited on Vedior.com, an HR news source. (Mods, if this is spam, please feel free to clip this last bit off.)
Anyway, wish me luck!
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"Shell Game" Chapter 17 was finished yesterday -- 4900 words.
"113 Feet" goes into the mail this afternoon. First stop: Asimov's. Regrettably, they don't accept online submissions, so I have to mail the thing. $4, not including the "hey, secretary, sign this and mail it back" green card. $1.82 for postage each way, plus the "I'm actually reading this now" postcard if they choose to send it back...
Anyway, wish me luck!
You sent it return receipt?
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"Shell Game" Chapter 17 was finished yesterday -- 4900 words.
"113 Feet" goes into the mail this afternoon. First stop: Asimov's. Regrettably, they don't accept online submissions, so I have to mail the thing. $4, not including the "hey, secretary, sign this and mail it back" green card. $1.82 for postage each way, plus the "I'm actually reading this now" postcard if they choose to send it back...
Anyway, wish me luck!
You sent it return receipt?
Actually, no. Since I posted that, our executive assistant, a big-time SF/F/H fan, borrowed the automated postal meter so I wouldn't have to drive 5 miles out of the way this evening to buy stamps. I did include a stamped "please drop this in the mail" postcard in the hopes that they will, but they say if you haven't heard within five days of postmark (which is tomorrow) to consider it lost and submit again.
I'm going to drop it in the OGM box in a few minutes. We have a schoolbus on fire right now. You can go to livenewscameras.com and pick "Atlanta NBC 1" to view it, if you're so inclined.
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"Shell Game" Chapter 17 was finished yesterday -- 4900 words.
"113 Feet" goes into the mail this afternoon. First stop: Asimov's. Regrettably, they don't accept online submissions, so I have to mail the thing. $4, not including the "hey, secretary, sign this and mail it back" green card. $1.82 for postage each way, plus the "I'm actually reading this now" postcard if they choose to send it back...
Anyway, wish me luck!
You sent it return receipt?
Actually, no. Since I posted that, our executive assistant, a big-time SF/F/H fan, borrowed the automated postal meter so I wouldn't have to drive 5 miles out of the way this evening to buy stamps. I did include a stamped "please drop this in the mail" postcard in the hopes that they will, but they say if you haven't heard within five days of postmark (which is tomorrow) to consider it lost and submit again.
I'm going to drop it in the OGM box in a few minutes. We have a schoolbus on fire right now. You can go to livenewscameras.com and pick "Atlanta NBC 1" to view it, if you're so inclined.
Ah, I misunderstood. Good luck with Asimovs :)
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"Shell Game" Chapter 17 was finished yesterday -- 4900 words.
"113 Feet" goes into the mail this afternoon. First stop: Asimov's. Regrettably, they don't accept online submissions, so I have to mail the thing. $4, not including the "hey, secretary, sign this and mail it back" green card. $1.82 for postage each way, plus the "I'm actually reading this now" postcard if they choose to send it back...
Anyway, wish me luck!
You sent it return receipt?
Actually, no. Since I posted that, our executive assistant, a big-time SF/F/H fan, borrowed the automated postal meter so I wouldn't have to drive 5 miles out of the way this evening to buy stamps. I did include a stamped "please drop this in the mail" postcard in the hopes that they will, but they say if you haven't heard within five days of postmark (which is tomorrow) to consider it lost and submit again.
I'm going to drop it in the OGM box in a few minutes. We have a schoolbus on fire right now. You can go to livenewscameras.com and pick "Atlanta NBC 1" to view it, if you're so inclined.
Ah, I misunderstood. Good luck with Asimovs :)
Thanks.
You actually didn't misunderstand. I did not post an update. So let's just call it even. ::)
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Asimov's sent me back my stamped postcard that I asked them to send back when they got the story. Someone actually signed it, too, which was nice. Yay paper trail!
The reason I haven't been on the forums much is the same reason I haven't been writing: work. Lots and lots of it. I basically wrote 75% of a new website in the past five business days, minus Monday because I was sick.
Oh, yeah, a crippling 24-hour stomach virus blew through my family -- daughter, then wife, then me -- and now my mother-in-law has it (she came over to help us with the baby while we went to the doctor Sunday). So any writing I planned to do this weekend was moot.
I did about 2000 words of Shell Game Chapter 19 last night, so at least that was something.
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Finished "Shell Game" chapter 19, now 2000 words into 20 and have about 3000 more to go.
19 was interesting to me because of... okay, so, when you write a character, you've built this person, basically, who has to react in character. So Sarah did something, and Michael reacted the only possible way he could. I never thought I would write that scene, but I did, and the aftereffects stretch into the start of 20.
Still haven't heard back on "113 Feet" yet.
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Asimov's did not buy "113 Feet". The editor sent a personalized rejection letter complete with suggestions for improvement, which was greatly appreciated. I'll probably go back and revise it in a few weeks.
"Shell Game" continues into its 22nd chapter, now up over 111,000 words.
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Asimov's did not buy "113 Feet". The editor sent a personalized rejection letter complete with suggestions for improvement, which was greatly appreciated. I'll probably go back and revise it in a few weeks.
"Shell Game" continues into its 22nd chapter, now up over 111,000 words.
Wow, a personal rejection from Asimov's is a rare feat! Congrats on a good rejection, man, and good luck with the next market.
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Finished Chapter 22 of "Shell Game". Finally. It was a really tough one, because I had to seriously hurt one of my characters and I felt really crappy about it.
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I still need to write more of "Shell Game", but last night I did the first 2000 words of its sequel.
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3000 words in on "Shell Game" chapter 23. I hope to get some writing done this weekend while on vacation.
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I wrote absolutely nothing while on vacation, but after we came back, I finished Chapter 23 (5700 words) and Chapter 24 (about 5000 words), and got about 2500 words into Chapter 25.
Since the book is outlined to end after 26 chapters, I'm pleased to say I'm almost done. Yay! Up over 130,000 words now in total.
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Chapter 25 ended with a total just over 4900 words.
Chapter 26 is in progress, up to about 2400 words now.
I may have to stretch it to a 27th chapter, but the problem I'm running into is the past/present divide. I have enough material for the present, but not for the past.
Oh, and there'll be a prologue.
Last night I also came up with some art/production design for the story, as well as a dedication and author's note, and a little chunk of the acknowledgments page.
Here's the dedication:
To Clare:
Professor Shell is nothing like Alan Rickman. Sorry to disappoint you.
And to Mary:
I'll leave the metal spatula in the drawer. I promise.
(Clare and Mary are my beta readers.)
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Shell Game is DONE!!!! ZOMG!!!!
139,484 words. 26 chapters, one short epilogue.
Next step: rereading to make sure the timeline is accurate. Then giving the whole book to my beta readers so they can give it a critique (Clare and Mary, referenced in the previous post).
If you are not put off by BDSM fiction and explicit sex and you would like to help in the next-draft process, let me know. I would put this in the Crit Group, but I haven't even had time to check it out yet. I just wanted to crow for a moment. I realize this is an SF/F/H board, but hey, we all write different things, and the main characters ARE a tad geeky, so there's at least a LITTLE SF in the book. *grin*
Anyway.
ZOMG!!!!
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Very cool, man. Congratulations on getting it finished!
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Grats! I'm feeling less and less daunted about writing a novel, and other people finishing them always gives me a little more strength. Thanks for not giving up and giving the rest of us hope!
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Last night, I wrote a 5914-word horror story about a couple that buys a fixer-upper house, and the horrifying experiences of a family that lived there 18 years ago torment the husband in his dreams.
It's a really hard story to describe.
It also horrified me more than a little.
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Reminds me of Amityville Horror.
Also, there is a kid outside advancing like a soldier while he carries a nerf gun.
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"113 Feet" has been revised. It's gone up to 11,787 words (about 39 pages, but there's quite a bit of dialogue, and that pads page count). I'm going to show it to my betas (who have read it already) and a couple of other people (who haven't) and then resubmit it to Asimov's. Then, if the editor says no, I'll try another market.
(She said "I can't promise I'll buy it if you do decide to work on a rewrite, but I would be very happy to take second look at this story." That combined with her opening, that she liked it but was disappointed by the ending, is promising, at least IMO.)
I think today I'll find another market to submit "The Very Next Day" to. That one's about as done as I want to make it. I'll let you know.
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Oh, and I also started writing a timeline for "Shell Game" -- basically, skimming the chapters and laying out everything that happens to make sure I get all the dates and times right. I'd hate for a reader to be pulled out of the story because I wasn't accurate with my facts. After I finish that, I'm going to probably put it on the shelf for a few weeks before printing it out (all 260-plus pages, which are single-spaced, so imagine what it'll be like when I DS it for editing) and working on revisions.
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Sent "The Very Next Day" to Ideomancer. Should know by 7/17 if they've accepted it, rejected it, or put it in the "we're not sure" stack.
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Final revision of "113 Feet" is done. Special thanks to DKT for a private reread. I'll be mailing it back to Asimov's tomorrow, and if they don't buy it this time, I'll be sending it elsewhere. Honestly, I think I've reached the point where I can't possibly make any more revisions that will improve the story.
So here goes...
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First draft of the new fantasy story is done. At least, I think it best qualifies as fantasy. Perhaps SF. But not horror. It's not horrific. I like to think I made it funny at least some of the time.
I have no idea what I'm going to call it, but as I may have mentioned, it's a retelling of the story of Super Mario Bros, in the same vein as "Tin Man" being a retelling of "The Wizard of Oz".
7553 words.
Not sure if I'm going to put it in the crit group, but before I even consider that, I still need to do my first revision.
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"The Very Next Day" rejected by Ideomancer. Ah, well.
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Sending:
* Asimov's has confirmed receipt of the rewrite of "113 Feet".
Revising:
* Fantasy/Adventure/Comedy about a couple of plumbers who meet a turtle/dragon and a princess who floats.
* Horror about a husband who, while remodeling his house, starts having nightmares that affect him physically. They're about a horrible thing that happened in the house 15-17 years ago.
* Sci-fi about aliens who come to earth during a baseball game.
* "Shell Game", a novel for adults.
Rewriting:
* Horror about a homicidal body pillow.
Writing:
* "Memory", about aliens who only have a limited store of "hard drive space" (for lack of a better term) in their brains. Very hard sci-fi.
* "Rebecca Shell Grows Up", the sequel to "Shell Game".
* "Any Port in a Storm", erotica between over-40s.
Considering:
* Doing a version of the horror story about the remodeling to make it more like my original vision.
* "Imperfection", an erotica story about the imperfections we all have and how to break through them, inspired by a recent conversation with my friend Bad Bad Girl (obviously a pseudonym).
I think that's everything.
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Sending:
* No news on "113 Feet" yet.
Revising:
* No major crits from the group on the remodeling story. I may shelve it for a while.
* "Shell Game" first read continues, pre-revision.
Rewriting:
* No change
Writing:
* New SF adventure-ish story in the "Ten Families" universe I created in 2004 but never did anything with. Up to 15 handwritten pages out of (I'm guessing) 21-22.
* Imperfection (stalled)
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"Return to Waypoint 5" has been completed -- first draft, between 7000 and 7500 words. It's sci-fi adventure. I will be posting it in the Crit Group once I go through my first round of revisions, which will be done as I type it in.
Yep. I hand-wrote it. 25 college-ruled single-spaced pages. Took about eight hours over three days to do.
I'm hoping it becomes the first in a series; I already know most of what the next story will be about, at any rate.
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I never watched Babylon 5, but my cubicle-mate, who did, said the beginning is a little too reminiscent of it. I'll have to revise that part soon.
Started writing the second part. Mostly on Kage Gray's ship, though toward the end we will land on a planet for a rendezvous and a plot coupon I dropped at the beginning will be used to save the day.
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Revising:
* No major crits from the group on the remodeling story. I may shelve it for a while.
* "Shell Game" first read continues, pre-revision.
Hey, Listener, I was planning to give you a crit on the remodeling story, but I have to re-read it first and it's a little daunting atm, bc of subject matter (not that this is a bad thing, y'understand). Anyway, 4th of July caught up with me and I was out of townish for a while which makes me behind on a number of things. Do you still want crits when I get around to it or have I missed the expiration date?
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Revising:
* No major crits from the group on the remodeling story. I may shelve it for a while.
* "Shell Game" first read continues, pre-revision.
Hey, Listener, I was planning to give you a crit on the remodeling story, but I have to re-read it first and it's a little daunting atm, bc of subject matter (not that this is a bad thing, y'understand). Anyway, 4th of July caught up with me and I was out of townish for a while which makes me behind on a number of things. Do you still want crits when I get around to it or have I missed the expiration date?
What she said. I'm going to read it sometime this week, just haven't had the time yet.
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No, no limit on when you comment on it. I'm not upset that it didn't get reviews; I know it's heavy, and graphic, and not for everyone. But then, it's horror, and I find I can write pretty horrifically.
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Okay, here it is:
I have written a novel for adults. I hesitate to call it erotica, not because I have anything against erotica (I actually like it very much :) ), but because I feel it is more than just 140,000 words about sex. It's also about people. I grew to love these characters over the course of 26 chapters, and there were times when even I couldn't believe what they were doing, times when even my heart was beating fast at the action (non-sexual) in the story.
It's not SF, not Fantasy, and not Horror. It would probably be shelved in the Erotica section because the central plots of the story are related to BDSM.
However, I would welcome anyone who enjoys that sort of thing to read it. It's posted on AdultFanFiction, because for several years I was a member of that community. There's even some fanfic on there, but don't judge me too harshly; all of it's written before I refined my craft.
Here's a direct link to the story: http://original.adultfanfiction.net/story.php?no=600095956
Enjoy.
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http://groups.google.com/group/thelistener -- for more updates and insight into stories I've written, and to discuss or ask questions about my non-SF/F/H work, join my mailing list. If you want.
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My story "The End of the Movie" is featured this week on the podcast "Air Out My Shorts". Go to http://snurl.com/3238h or iTunes to listen.
It's not awesome, but I think it's decently visceral. I've discovered since February, when I wrote it, that I don't function too well in the sub-2000-word genre, but it was a fun creative exercise.
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"Rendezvous at Blue Valley" is done. I'm not thrilled with it, but that's what revisions are for. It's about 23 hand-written pages, but I drew some diagrams of the ship as I went, so it's probably closer to 21.
I think the next Kage Gray adventure will be where they add the third member of the crew -- an engineer, most likely. I haven't conceived him in my brain yet.
I wonder if I shouldn't consider podcasting these at some point.
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Definitely getting closer to the idea of doing the Kage Gray Adventures as a podcast series. And, on the plus side, I have a professional actor to play the bad guy in the first episode -- the guy who's playing Shimizu in "The Kingery" and Thrawn in "Star Wars: Dark Harvest". He introduced me to EP... it's only fair... *grin*
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With all your experience, a podcast probably wouldn't be too far off a shot for you. Good luck!
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With all your experience, a podcast probably wouldn't be too far off a shot for you. Good luck!
Well, now that my cold is getting better, I can start writing the next one. I only write these in bed, by hand. Then I have to type them in. Then I have to edit them. So the first one probably won't make air until at least October. But thanks.
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Well, the unnamed Kage Gray Adventure #3 has about 12 pages to its credit. These stories have been running 21-25, but this one I may have written myself into a bit of a corner. Plus, this one is the Sex Episode. It does have space pirates in it, and also a space-Lucy Lane type of character (Smallville version).
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Well, the unnamed Kage Gray Adventure #3 has about 12 pages to its credit. These stories have been running 21-25, but this one I may have written myself into a bit of a corner. Plus, this one is the Sex Episode. It does have space pirates in it, and also a space-Lucy Lane type of character (Smallville version).
Lucy Lane???
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Well, the unnamed Kage Gray Adventure #3 has about 12 pages to its credit. These stories have been running 21-25, but this one I may have written myself into a bit of a corner. Plus, this one is the Sex Episode. It does have space pirates in it, and also a space-Lucy Lane type of character (Smallville version).
Lucy Lane???
Specifically, this iteration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Lane#Smallville).
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Well, the unnamed Kage Gray Adventure #3 has about 12 pages to its credit. These stories have been running 21-25, but this one I may have written myself into a bit of a corner. Plus, this one is the Sex Episode. It does have space pirates in it, and also a space-Lucy Lane type of character (Smallville version).
Lucy Lane???
Specific
ally, this iteration (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucy_Lane#Smallville).
Ah, I treat that show like popcorn. I'm not going to remember any character that was on for less than 15 episodes.
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I have finished writing "Kage Gray Adventure #3", as yet untitled. 23 handwritten pages, single-spaced. No diagrams to fill space.
I also edited the first chapter of my book.
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Started "Kage Gray Adventure #4", which does have a title. Up to five handwritten pages.
Started a new story called "Bittersweet Symphony". I would call it Doctorow-esque in that it takes something happening now, extends it into the near future, and looks at how much it will suck if we keep going the direction in which we're going. 3745 words. Preview on my mailing list (http://groups.google.com/group/thelistener).
The entire first act of "Shell Game" has been through the first round of edits -- that is, me going through and fixing stuff. Act One is chapters 1-6. I now have to put those edits into the computer and send the chapters to my beta readers.
Still haven't heard from Asimov's about "113 Feet" yet beyond the "yes, we got it" postcard.
And finally, my freelance gig is probably going to contract me to turn all of their articles into a book, which would be a big non-fiction project that would pay really well and take maybe a month to put together. So that will be an interesting adventure.
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"Bittersweet Symphony" is up to 6180 words. Really have to work on wrapping it up. I wish it had a climax; right now it's just a thinkpiece, a sort of journey that doesn't have a lot of action in it. Kind of frustrating. But I like writing it.
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As I mentioned on my LJ, I've had to shelve KGA and scale back on Bittersweet Symphony because I got a commission to write a nonfiction book for the company I freelance for. It'll be in the neighborhood of 70,000-100,000 words. So far, I have 5000 of them written in one complete chapter and another 2000 in an incomplete chapter.
It's really challenging, but getting paid for writing is many writers' holy grail, and I'll definitely be getting paid for this.
I hope to get back to Bittersweet Symphony soon -- I tend to write that one during lunch breaks at work, but as I've been working in the news department and will be doing so again all next week, my lunch breaks are spent working and by the time I get a break I just want to crash on my chair for half an hour.
I have been editing chapters of Shell Game at night, but I still need to type in all the edits I've got so far (first nine chapters).
Still haven't heard from Asimov's about "113 Feet".
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And now, a full update of everything writing-wise that I'm working on.
Non-Fiction Book: five chapters have first drafts completed, and one
is up to version 2.0, which means it's done for now. This is the one
I'm getting paid for, so it takes precedence over any other writing.
113 Feet: officially rejected a second time from Asimov's, with
another personal letter from the editor. I don't have anything else to
send her right now, but given that I'm on her radar, I need to get
something done soon. Next stop for this story: the Magazine of Fantasy
and Science Fiction.
Bittersweet Symphony: not done yet. I think I have to redo the
beginning to make it more about family and the sacrifices people think
we make for them.
Memory: really need to get back to this one.
Kage Gray Adventures: three stories completely done, and the fourth is
about 45% complete. I plan to introduce the third member of the crew
in this one at some point. Got the alien race all picked out.
Shell Game: Chapters 1 - 15 have gone through the first phase of
editing, which is me printing them out and writing down all my edits.
I hope to have all 26 plus the prologue at least hand-edited by 10/11
so I can input the edits soon after and then send them off to my beta
readers.
Belief: needs basically a complete rewrite to make the tone more
consistent throughout before sending off to publications.
untitled remodeling story: remains untitled, needs some rewriting to
move the concussion scene in the beginning to somewhere in the middle.
Did get some nice feedback about knowing exactly where to go from
reality to dreams.
The Princess and the Plumbers: have to cut off a bunch of the
beginning and pepper it through (as much as I hate that technique),
and then re-workshop it.
Winder: have to figure out exactly what I want to do with this one.
Still not sure if it needs to be made longer or remain as short as it
is.
Rebecca Shell Grows Up: probably won't start on this until December at
the earliest, but just today I thought of how I want to end it for
maximum impact.
I think that's everything.
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F&SF rejected "113 Feet" about two days after I sent it. Ah well.
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F&SF rejected "113 Feet" about two days after I sent it. Ah well.
They've got incredibly fast rejection speed. Sorry to hear it, though. Keep your chin up and keep subbing it out.
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F&SF rejected "113 Feet" about two days after I sent it. Ah well.
They've got incredibly fast rejection speed. Sorry to hear it, though. Keep your chin up and keep subbing it out.
I prefer it to be fast. I hate being on the hook. Now I just have to find another market to send to.
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F&SF rejected "113 Feet" about two days after I sent it. Ah well.
They've got incredibly fast rejection speed. Sorry to hear it, though. Keep your chin up and keep subbing it out.
I prefer it to be fast. I hate being on the hook. Now I just have to find another market to send to.
How long is it again?
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F&SF rejected "113 Feet" about two days after I sent it. Ah well.
They've got incredibly fast rejection speed. Sorry to hear it, though. Keep your chin up and keep subbing it out.
I prefer it to be fast. I hate being on the hook. Now I just have to find another market to send to.
How long is it again?
11,800.
I have Ralan bookmarked. I just have to find a market I want to send it to. I'd submit to EP but Steve said he buys reprint rights so I'd rather get it published somewhere else first, then send it to Steve. (His suggestion.)
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11,800.
I have Ralan bookmarked. I just have to find a market I want to send it to. I'd submit to EP but Steve said he buys reprint rights so I'd rather get it published somewhere else first, then send it to Steve. (His suggestion.)
I use Duotrope almost exclusively. It's much easier to navigate than Ralan's, and if you hate marketing as much as I do, easy is helpful.
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"113 Feet" is on its way to Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. The three-months-and-one-week clock is now ticking.
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FINALLY finished the first round of edits on "Shell Game". I swear my editing process takes forever. I hope to put the edits in and send the chapters off to my betas soon. I'm REALLY hoping to say "okay, done" by the end of the year, but 26 chapters in two months may be a little much to ask people to read, critique, and help me edit. Oh well. My second threshold date is 4/12/09 (if you read the book you'll understand why).
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Finished "Bittersweet Symphony" (the near-future air travel story). 9200 words. Needs some editing to make the main character's arc of change a little more defined.
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Started a new story last night, "Greener". Basically, it's how sex changes in the near future (about 50 years from now) but relationships really don't. Title may change. Got about 3000 words. The title will probably change; it's a play on "the grass is greener".
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Up to 4399 words on "Greener". Not sure yet if science/technology is going to play a major role in the ending, or if it'll just be a story that takes place in the future.
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"Greener" is done. 7606 words. Futurism, sex, medicine, and relationships. Probably needs a little revision near the end, but I enjoyed most of it, and I think I managed to make at least one sex scene hot* without being explicit.
* - for certain values of "hot"
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New story started. Not named yet. Involves migraines, death prediction, and using power for monetary gain. 891 words so far.
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Those of you in the crit group will remember "The Princess and the Plumbers". Well, last night I had an idea for the next story in the "fractured video game" genre (think "fractured fairy tales"). It's called "A Star Above His Head". I'm sure you can guess what video game it's for.
I also finished Chapter One of the non-fiction book, which means all I have left to do on that end is a couple of appendices and I'm done. And then we go into revisions -- which don't have a hard deadline, so I don't have to worry about having them done by a certain date.
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Still waiting to hear back from OSCIGMS on "113 Feet".
Need to edit "Greener" so I can post it here.
My migraine story is still only 1000 words done.
Have not begun entering edits for Shell Game, but I'll do that while I'm on disability leave (got surgery coming up in the next 45 days or so).
Need to edit "Bittersweet Symphony" too.
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Edited "Greener". It's now in the Crit Group.
Finished Appendices A and B of the non-fiction book. Now just need to do C and E and I'm done with it (except for the editing, but they're paying me to hand the chapters in, and then edit over the next few months).
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"The Next Time Around", a sci-fi/fantasy love story, is finished. 4206 words including the brief dedication. Will do some editing, then post in the crit group. It's a bit too wish-fulfillment-y to get sold, I think, but there's bound to be a SF/F/Romance collection coming out sometime that could benefit.
Send me a PM if you want a preview; I'll googleshare it with you.
No other progress in any other writing at this time.
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Finished first round of edits on "The Next Time Around". Now I have to type them in.
Had a semiprofessional writer (she's published, at any rate, though we were friends before she scored her first publishing credits) review "Greener" and she didn't find any major flaws in it. Still waiting to see what the crit group says about it before revising again and submitting.
That was a hint. (http://forum.escapeartists.net/index.php?topic=2192.0)
Still waiting to hear back from the Intergalactic Medicine Show on "113 Feet" -- according to my calendar, my follow-up date with them is 1/28/09, just after I get back from medical leave, so that works out fairly well.
While I'm out of work in January, I plan to input all my edits on "Shell Game".
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Submitted "The Next Time Around" to Crossed Genres (crossedgenres.com).
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Started a steampunk/clockpunk/mystery story. Already up to 2542 words, and we haven't even gotten into WHY there's a mystery. This could end up being a novella or even a novel, even though I only planned it to be a short-story. But I still have to pull a minor reveal of my character's appearance, and also a couple of other things about him.
It's set in a very wintry Seattle, Washington; not sure of the date yet. Hasn't become important to the story. I'm guessing 1920s, after the First World War, but the geopolitical (is that the right word) landscape is different than what it was back then -- specifically, Russia never sold Alaska to the US, and they probably (haven't decided) took over/occupied much of western Canada. Washington is part of the US, but think of it in the same way the border towns on the Rio Grande are thought of -- American, but with lots of immigrants, illegal and legal, from the other side, although these immigrants are Russian, not Mexican.
Not quite sure how it's going to end, or who the ultimate bad guy is going to be, but I'm having fun writing it so far.
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The story is now up to 6691 words, and has a title:
"The Clockwork Russian: A John Bach Mystery"
Interestingly, it's not going the direction I envisioned. In fact, I think the Clockwork Russian himself has made his last appearance in dialogue; the next time we see him, I think he's going to be dead. Not 100% sure yet.
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Feel free to google share anything with me. I'm not a writer or a professional critic, but I do enjoy good sci-fi.
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Thanks. I think this one's going to end up on the Crit Group when I finish it. Though I do still have a story on there that no one's actually critiqued yet. *cough cough*
:)
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It's been 24 hours. I've written 11,000 words on "The Clockwork Russian". Maybe 50-60% done.
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"The Clockwork Russian: A John Bach Mystery", the first of at least four stories starring that character, is done.
Word count: 17,989
I made it a point to finish this story before my surgery, and I've done that. 2500 words Thursday night, another 4000 in the early-morning hours Friday, about 3000 during the course of the day at work Friday, and then the last 7000 or so tonight, from 8pm to 11:30pm.
I'll probably print a copy at work on Monday so I can do my first round of edits before I send it out for critiques. I guess I'm calling this a novelette, because after I edit it it'll probably drop below 17,500. But it's an awfully-long novelette.
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Submitted "Greener" to Futurismic to get it in before I go into surgery. I've only revised it once, so it could probably use a little work, but when Futurismic opens submissions, waiting around is NOT recommended.
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"Greener" was rejected, but the editor did say he thought it was well-written. He said no because the sci-fi was too secondary to the relationship part of the story -- which was what I intended. Great turnaround time, though... three days...
Meanwhile, both my parents have read "The Clockwork Russian" and seemed to enjoy it.
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Finished the first round of edits on paper for "The Clockwork Russian". Now I have to type them in; probably going to do that tomorrow. As someone who hasn't written a lot of noir fiction, I'm hoping that the way I tied the ending together works for other people, or else I'll probably have to add more scenes and this will really become a novella. My goal is for it NOT to exceed 20,000 words (25,000 at the absolute most); right now it's at about 18,000.
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Input the first round of edits for The Clockwork Russian. Will post to the Crit Group in a few minutes.
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"The Next Time Around" was rejected from Crossed Genres. They said I made the short list, which is nice. So is the under-one-month response time.
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"113 Feet" -- rejected by the Intergalactic Medicine Show due to length (they SAID they take stories that long, but in the letter they said they are closed to submissions over 10,000 due to overload... *shrug*)
"Shell Game" -- working on Ch 3-6 today, which require some serious rewriting
"Clockwork Russian" -- still waiting for more input from crit group *ahem* :)
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Input handwritten edits from Chapters 3-13 of "Shell Game" today. Will finish tomorrow or Thursday.
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Where is this crit group you keep winking at? I'd be glad to help critique when needed.
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Where is this crit group you keep winking at? I'd be glad to help critique when needed.
http://forum.escapeartists.net/index.php?board=58.0 -- it's the Escape Artists Writer's Group hosted on the forums. If you can't get in, go to The Writing Forum and find the thread about it so you can PM the moderator (Therinth, I think is how she spells her name).
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Have input edits of "Shell Game" chapters 14-22. 22 is a very tough chapter because I have to seriously hurt a character I've grown to love. After I did that one yesterday, I stopped for a while, but I have to finish the rest today because on Monday I go back to work.
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on Monday I go back to work.
Yay! Not that you have to work, but that you're well enough to do so.
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Wrote 1875 words on the first "Seashell" -- a set of companion short-stories to "Shell Game".
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* up to 25,000 words on "Any Port in a Storm", which is an adult story (okay, okay, it's erotica) that will NOT be ending the way I expected it to. But I'm having fun writing it. When it's done, I'll probably post it where post (most of) the rest of my erotica. I'll put up a link.
* edited "Greener" to incorporate suggestions from the Crit Group. It is now up to 8,000 words. If you want to read the updated version, send me a PM, Twitter DM, or e-mail.
* still waiting to hear back from a couple of beta readers on The Clockwork Russian (http://forum.escapeartists.net/index.php?topic=2318.0) -- it's a bit long, but I've made it downloadable, so feel free to download, read, and comment.
* my beta reader for "Shell Game" says that, of chapters 1-6, she only found one glaring error (pronoun use) and one part that needs some better pacing, so that makes me happy.
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Submitted "Greener" to Future Fire (futurefire.net).
Submitted "The Next Time Around" to Expanded Horizons (expandedhorizons.net).
Submitted "113 Feet" to Total Quality Reading (tqrstories.com).
Gave "The Clockwork Russian" to the sports director here at work. She's a pretty big sci-fi fan (Lost, Battlestar, Heroes, Trek, etc), so she can tell me from a consumer standpoint if it sucks.
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Fastest rejection ever (for me)... six hours, and Expanded Horizons says "no thank you" to "The Next Time Around".
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1215 words on "Maker", a fantasy story about the misuse of magic.
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Wrote three more pages on Kage Gray Adventure #4, but they're handwritten, so they take longer.
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Since yesterday, I've done 6458 words for a fanfic challenge I'm part of.
Laugh if you wish, but when you can't think of anything to write for yourself, or don't have the motivation, sometimes borrowing someone else's toys is just what you need.
Today I'm going to stop at a copy shop and print some stories that I need to revise. At least, I think I am.
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"Greener" has been rejected by The Future Fire. Oh well.
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aww
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Submitted "Greener" to Silverthought (silverthought.com).
Still waiting to hear back on "113 Feet" from Total Quality Reading. Their editor e-mailed me yesterday to say he was in the middle of a server move and would get back to me as soon as that was done.
Performed in "Halloween in July" for The Dunesteef.
Edited a forthcoming Dunesteef story.
Am about to begin editing another podcast -- in the next couple of days or so.
Am writing a long piece of fanfic for a fanfic challenge. Up to 15,000 words, but am taking a brief break to work on other projects.
No other progress of note.
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I just spent 2.5 hours writing the first draft of my Broken Mirror piece for the Dunesteef. It's called "27 Jennifers" -- after the Mike Doughty song that inspired me this afternoon on the way home -- and it's a sci-fi story about clones, exile, and... well, 27 Jennifers.
5,000 words.
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I submitted "27 Jennifers" to the Dunesteef for their Broken Mirror Story event last Friday. Also: submitted "The Next Time Around" to Quantum Kiss, and queried Reflection's Edge (I think) about possibly reading a story 876 words over their limit.
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"The Artist", which I edited for The Dunesteef, is now posted:
http://dunesteef.com/2009/04/20/page-13-osse-the-artist-by-alex-moisi/
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"The Man Who Sank", which I helped to edit, appeared on Pseudopod:
http://pseudopod.org/2009/05/01/pseudopod-140-the-man-who-sank/
Also:
* Finished "Clear the Way", a flash story. 893 words
* Finished the Lizzie story, a piece of erotica that probably won't ever see the light of day, but was gnawing at me until I wrote it
* Submitted "113 Feet" to GUD
* Queried Piker Press about "The Clockwork Russian" as a possible serial
* Trying to decide where to submit "Belief" -- and trying to find a better title, though I'm having trouble.
Waiting:
* "Greener" is being reviewed by Silverthought
* "The Next Time Around" is being reviewed by Quantum Kiss
* "113 Feet" was rejected by Total Quality Reading due to them not running any fiction in their next issue -- the editor said he felt it wouldn't be fair to hold the story until the issue after that. It's a weird market; hard to figure out.
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"113 Feet" was rejected by GUD.
I'm running out of places that'll print a story that's over 10,000 words. I may have to hold it until I have an anthology of my very own.
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Hmm... not only is Piker Press open to long stories (under 25,000 words), but they responded positively to my suggestion for serializing my John Bach mysteries. Now I just have to write more of them... and edit the first. Yeah, let me edit the first tomorrow, and add a new scene or two, and trim some stuff, and then decide how I'm going to do the next one.
But still, good news is better than no news.
Speaking of no news, still waiting on Silverthought, Quantum Kiss, and Dunesteef.
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Submitted "The Clockwork Russian" to Piker Press. I wish they said what their turnaround time is, but I'm just going to query after 90 days if I haven't heard. Apparently they've been a weekly e-zine for seven years, and they count as a legitimate e-publishing credit.
This would definitely be an impetus to write more John Bach, too.
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Submitted "The Clockwork Russian" to Piker Press. I wish they said what their turnaround time is, but I'm just going to query after 90 days if I haven't heard. Apparently they've been a weekly e-zine for seven years, and they count as a legitimate e-publishing credit.
This would definitely be an impetus to write more John Bach, too.
Like Bigfoot, chupacabra, underground UFO bases in Nevada, and the Loch Ness Monster, a "legitimate e-publishing credit" does not exist. A nobody editor at a nobody website posting nobody authors impresses nobody.
If you put stuff into a market that does not pay even a token amount, ever, the credit is both literally and figuratively worthless. Plus, you're giving away the first rights to your stories to these clowns. If they publish under Creative Commons (and I don't see that anywhere on their ugly website) you will reserve some rights, but the work will be out there in text already and freely available already so paying markets will most likely pass on it.
This market isn't listed at Ralan, but they are at duotrope.
http://www.duotrope.com/market_3519.aspx
For a place that's been in business for 8 years they only have 3 entries in the response times database. Look over their list of writers, do you recognize any of their names? Has their work appeared anywhere of note, or anywhere you recognize, that isn't piker press?
If you want to fast-track your way to nowhere, by all means, give your writing away to these guys, or some other "for the love" market. But, I've read your writing adventures since you started posting them here, and I think you work too hard to screw yourself over purely out of haste.
You want to be published and have the credit mean anything at all? Then you need to cash a check, and it has to come from a place that other editors of magazines of note respect. Otherwise, you might as well cut out the middle man and post your story on your own blog or personal home page because it's going to have the same clout but at least you'll be able to choose the font in which it's displayed.
You want to be published? Then improve your writing. Join a good writer's group that will be honest with you, edit your 12,000+ word stories down to 4000 words, then rewrite them, and resubmit them to paying markets, or at least better markets than this.
There, I've said my piece - That and a $1.78 will get you a small coffee at Dunkin' Donuts.
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Submitted "The Clockwork Russian" to Piker Press. I wish they said what their turnaround time is, but I'm just going to query after 90 days if I haven't heard. Apparently they've been a weekly e-zine for seven years, and they count as a legitimate e-publishing credit.
This would definitely be an impetus to write more John Bach, too.
This market isn't listed at Ralan, but they are at duotrope.
http://www.duotrope.com/market_3519.aspx
That's where I found them. I was under the impression that Duotrope was generally reputable.
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Submitted "The Clockwork Russian" to Piker Press. I wish they said what their turnaround time is, but I'm just going to query after 90 days if I haven't heard. Apparently they've been a weekly e-zine for seven years, and they count as a legitimate e-publishing credit.
This would definitely be an impetus to write more John Bach, too.
This market isn't listed at Ralan, but they are at duotrope.
http://www.duotrope.com/market_3519.aspx
That's where I found them. I was under the impression that Duotrope was generally reputable.
Duotrope is like wikipedia, in that anyone can make entries. The point is though that you have to read what's in their entry... how many people report turnaround times, what are their stats for acceptance vs. rejection, does any one have comments about the editor, what do they publish, how often, in what format, do they pay?
I read the listing, and the only information there is the 3 people who reported turnaround times from 1 week to 6. For an e-zine that's been around for 8 years? 3 people? No information about rejection/acceptance, nothing, the only other information there that's important is whether or not they pay, and they do not.
Piker Press listing
Accuracy We have received 3 reports within the past 12 months, not including pending responses or ignored reports. The more responses reported, the more accurate the info.
Days Reported 2 | 3.3 | 6 (min | avg | max)
Responses Insufficient data
Acceptances: Insufficient data
Rejections: Insufficient data
Rewrite Requests: Insufficient data
Non-Responses Insufficient data
Assumed Rejections: Insufficient data
Author Withdrawals: Insufficient data
Contrast the Piker Press listing with the Escape Pod listing -
Accuracy We have received 51 reports within the past 12 months, not including pending responses or ignored reports. 5 responses are pending (with an average wait of 125.2 days). (This only includes pending reports of users who have been active on this site within the past 30 days.) The more responses reported, the more accurate the info. Rejections are often underreported, which skews the statistics in favor of acceptances. Most markets have a lower acceptance rate than indicated here.
Days Reported 0 | 112 | 279 (min | avg | max)
Responses (98.04 %)
Acceptances:1.96 % (250 avg. days per acceptance)
Rejections: 94.12 % (107.8 avg. days per rejection) | 39.58 % personal, 37.50 % form, 22.92 % unspecified
Rewrite Requests:1.96 % (194 avg. days per rewrite request)
here is the text from the Piker Press website -
We are not a paying market. We do count as a legitimate e-publishing credit on a writing resume. Items published in the Piker Press are considered officially published and may not be submitted elsewhere in the e- or print industry as a previously unpublished work. By submitting an item for publication in the Press, you are offering the Press one time electronic rights to publication. The author retains all other rights and we wholly support an author who desires to publish pieces submitted to us in other e- or print venues. It is standard for us to also ask for the rights to maintain an article in our e-database and archive. We have no problem removing items per an author's request.
So you're giving away first rights.
We do offer compensation in the form of a designated portion of advertising space, in which the author is welcome to promote works published elsewhere. This service is meant primarily for books and articles, though occasionally other products qualify, and is subject to approval.
This is BS. What good is advertising at a site that no one visits? They might as well throw in a sack of magic beans too.
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Wrote the first 1334 words of John Bach novelette 2.
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Sent "Bittersweet Symphony" to Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine.
Sent "Belief" to Jetse de Vries's SHINE Anthology.
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Sent "The Clockwork Russian" to F&SF. (Or, at least, I will after I get to the post office later today, so odds are it won't really be sent until tomorrow, when they empty the APC mailbox.)
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Sent "Bittersweet Symphony" to Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine.
Received correspondence today from ASIM that I have passed their first round and have moved to the second. w00t!
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Wrote about three paragraphs more of "Maker".
I still want to write a story about GPS devices, but as I was thinking about it yesterday I came up with an idea for an ARG story that is something akin to Michael Marshall Smith's "More Tomorrow" (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/More_Tomorrow_%26_Other_Stories), but without the sex aspect. Wrote about three paragraphs. I know where I want it to go, and I know how I want it to end, but I can't think of a good way to start it without doing an infodump as the guy gets up from his desk and goes to his next location to find the next clue.
Ah well. I'll work on it.
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691 words on the ARG story. I think I figured out how I'm going to do it. I'm hoping I can keep it under 6000 words.
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"You Look North", an under-250-word romance drabble, written today to make me feel a little better. (Feeling kind of down.) Bet I could sell it to a romance publication. And, better, I could probably even rewrite it as a SF piece, maybe just a bit longer, and sell it that way too.
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ASIM has put "Bittersweet Symphony" on their shortlist, which means I have about a 33% chance of being picked from their shortlist in the next three months. I'll keep you posted.
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Up to 2524 words on "Maker". Probably going to go a little longer than I planned. Going to try and keep it under 10k.
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"Belief" rejected from the SHINE anthology, but with a personal note from the editor. He called it "a really nice story", which gives me hope that I can sell it somewhere else, but not a good fit for the anthology.
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"The Clockwork Russian" rejected from F&SF; form letter from the assistant editor saying "there's some good writing here but it just didn't grab my attention". I wonder, if the writing had been atrocious, would the form letter have reflected that?
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I believe F&SF has tiered rejections, that is, the rejections reflect how far you got in the process.
I'm unwilling to sub to F&SF, so I've never paid attention to the formula, but I know there is one.
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I believe F&SF has tiered rejections, that is, the rejections reflect how far you got in the process.
I'm unwilling to sub to F&SF, so I've never paid attention to the formula, but I know there is one.
Well, it was signed by the associate editor, not the editor, so I don't know what that's worth. The last story I sent was signed by the actual editor.
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Hand-wrote about three more pages on KGA#4. Should have it done in 20 hand-written pages; then on to #5, in which I think I'm going to introduce another crewmember to the ship and then get into the hunt for the Thunderbird (the main story arc alluded to in #3).
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Well, it was signed by the associate editor, not the editor, so I don't know what that's worth. The last story I sent was signed by the actual editor.
Two seconds with google gives me JJA's rejection formula: http://www.nightshadebooks.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=378&post=31361#POST31361
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Well, it was signed by the associate editor, not the editor, so I don't know what that's worth. The last story I sent was signed by the actual editor.
Two seconds with google gives me JJA's rejection formula: http://www.nightshadebooks.com/cgi-bin/discus/show.cgi?tpc=378&post=31361#POST31361
Useful, but the person who signed my note was Lisa Borders.
*shrug* It was a longshot, and a really long piece. Someone'll buy it, or I'll end up turning it into a book and sell that instead.
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Submissions:
"Belief" to Strange Horizons
"113 Feet" to Reflection's Edge
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KGA #4 is done. Only 19 handwritten pages, so about 6500 words instead of the 8500 I usually do on these stories. Next one will get deeper into the search for the Thunderbird.
Kage's ship: http://www.flickr.com/photos/listener42/3592549617/
Deck plan: http://www.flickr.com/photos/listener42/3593356134/
Very rough sketches, and yes, I know they're derivative of a cross between Serenity and Bebop, but there are only so many ways to make a ship like that look. I've already drawn the Thunderbird and it's quite different from that.
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Up to page nine (about 2700 words) of KGA #5. I really wish I'd written more last night, but I wasn't really in the mood. Should've worked more on "Maker".
I think I'm going to scrap the page or two I've done of John Bach #2 and restart it. The plot I've got it a bit too convoluted, even for me.
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Wrote another four pages of KGA#5. At the size of my handwriting, that's about 1200 words.
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Wrote about 2000 words of fanfic today.
"113 Feet" rejected from "Reflection's Edge" -- "not what we're looking for at this time".
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It was hell to do, but I cut "113 Feet" down from 11,800 words to 9980 words -- just enough under 10,000 to get in at publications that only take 10k or shorter. I lost chunks of character development that I really miss, but oh well. I guess I'll just have to print the longer version if I ever do a short-story collection.
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Submitted the shortened version of "113 Feet" to ASIM. Hope they like it as much as they liked "Bittersweet Symphony".
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Considering "Greener" rejected by Silverthought -- their site says if you don't hear in 90 days, you're rejected, and it's been 90 days.
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Sent "Greener" to Reflection's Edge.
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"Greener" rejected by Reflection's Edge. They seem to have speeded up even more.
"113 Feet" moved to Round 2 at Andromeda Spaceways.
"Bittersweet Symphony" still in Round 3 at Andromeda Spaceways. If they haven't published it in seven weeks, I get it back.
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Submitted "The Plumbers and the Princess" to New Myths.
Heard from Quantum Kiss, who said "The Next Time Around" is still under consideration.
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Wrote and submitted a 100-word drabble called "My Selection For This Evening" to the Drabblecast.
It was originally going to be a longer story called "Looking At The World From The Bottom Of A Well", a Mike Doughty song I enjoy, but after reading the lyrics I realized the song is much more positive than the horror idea I had.
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Rejected: "The NextTime Around" -- though they said it was a good story so that was gratifying.
Written: 1/2 page (handwritten) of KGA #6. Finally they go to a planet primarily populated by Earthers.
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Submitted: "The Next Time Around" to M-Brane SF.
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Rejected: "Belief", from Strange Horizons
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Submitted: "Belief", to Continuum SF
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Rejected: "My Selection for This Evening" from Drabblecast.
Written: now up to 5200 words on "Maker".
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Rejections:
* "The Next Time Around" from M-Brane SF
* "My Selection For This Evening" from Drabblecast
Writing:
* Up to 6200 words on "Maker"... I think it's becoming a novella, much to my chagrin.
* Up to six handwritten pages on Kage Gray Adventure #6
Acceptances:
* I have won a writing contest from a semiprofessional (read: they pay you, but not a lot) publication, but I have been asked not to reveal that I have won the contest (nor the story I submitted to it) -- prize includes being published by them -- until they reveal it on their site. So stay tuned...
PS: If you know which story or contest, please don't reveal it yet in this thread.
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Semi-Acceptances
"113 Feet" is now on Andromeda Spaceways's "third round" list, which means that there is a 33% chance they will publish it in the next three months. "Bittersweet Symphony" has been there for almost three months without hearing anything more, though, so I'm not sure what's up on that score.
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"Bittersweet Symphony" rejected by ASIM after spending 2.5 months in the 3rd round.
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"Bittersweet Symphony" submitted to Futurismic.
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Contract signed for "27 Jennifers" to appear in the Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine (dunesteef.com). They said it would be published sometime in September.
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Finished the first draft of a turn-of-the-century-ish murder mystery that takes place on an airship/dirigible. 6500 words. Will probably have to expand to 7000, unfortunately. Targeting Crossed Genres's LGBTQ issue (deadline 9/30), which means I'll know by the end of October if it's been accepted (their turnaround is VERY quick).
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"27 Jennifers has now been published. Hear it here, on the Dunesteef. (http://dunesteef.com/2009/09/29/page-76-the-broken-mirror-story-event-part-2/) Enjoy!
(They also post the full text, if you prefer that.)
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The airship murder story, "Amid the Steep Sky's Commotion", was rejected by Crossed Genres (rather quickly, too), and is now over at Electric Velocipede. It turned out to be 7300 words.
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Contract signed for "27 Jennifers" to appear in the Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine (dunesteef.com). They said it would be published sometime in September.
I listened to this yesterday and I really enjoyed your story, and hey, it was the winner. I thought it was an interesting take on cloning and I liked the way you handled the grouping of the clones and the different relationships between them. Good job!
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Contract signed for "27 Jennifers" to appear in the Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine (dunesteef.com). They said it would be published sometime in September.
I listened to this yesterday and I really enjoyed your story, and hey, it was the winner. I thought it was an interesting take on cloning and I liked the way you handled the grouping of the clones and the different relationships between them. Good job!
Thanks. I'm glad you liked it.
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Last week I saw a picture on IO9 of a stylized steamship traveling down a narrow river by way of locks. Immediately a story unraveled in my mind, and 7227 words later I have a mashup that includes:
* Battlestar Galactica
* Tank Girl
* Waterworld
* Mad Max
* A TFLN post about a Prius floating away that eventually became an entirely different story idea that I have yet to write.
I really like it, but I have to trim it down quite a bit. This morning it was only 3000 words, but I've been writing a LOT today. However, I don't want to lose the giant steamship bearing down on the colony, or the battle scene, or the paddleboat on its side with the bridge shearing away to crash against the ground.
So, y'know, I'm working on it. ;D
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"Amid the Steep Sky's Commotion" has been rejected by Electric Velocipede. I think I'm going to try F&SF; I really think it's one of the better stories I've written, and of the stories that I personally think I wrote well, it has the best pacing.
Now I just have to print the damn thing and find an envelope. And pay like $5 to mail it.
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I have seven stories out right now in various states of being read for possible publication. The closest to it is "27 Jennifers", which would be a reprint. I've also written some chunks on "Maker", which I can tell is going to need to be completely rewritten anyway because it's becoming a novella. So, y'know, at least something's getting done.
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Seven or eight stories are out being read by various publications. Just wrote a little 2800-word piece of erotica for a friend. 900 words into the sequel to "The Clockwork Russian".
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Given that Crotchgate just happened, it looks like it's time to quickly polish up Bittersweet Symphony and send it out again...
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Wrote a few hundred more words on John Bach #2, then had a surge of inspiration and, in the past three hours, wrote a 3200-word first draft of another video game retelling.
I'll give you a hint: it takes place in 200X.
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I have nine stories out, being reviewed by various publications. I expect to hear back about one of them by the end of the week, because it's for the issue that goes live 2/1.
Also, I started writing a new novel on Sunday. Non SF, non fantasy, though it does borrow some themes of family from Heinlein.
Got a semi-personal rejection letter from Lorelei Signal -- unless she says this to everyone, the editor said the story I sent was one of the last ones cut before finalizing the contents of the upcoming issue (she referred to the story by name). So that was nice.
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Hey, take it as a compliment! I seriously doubt the editor says that to everyone :)
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Hey, take it as a compliment! I seriously doubt the editor says that to everyone :)
True. Picked up another rejection last night -- my third from a certain publication -- and it was exactly the same as the last one I received. Apparently they liked my first story best, because that one got a personal rejection.
Going to send off two more stories today -- the one that got rejected last night, and the "remodeling" story I posted to the Crit Group last year (or was it the year before?), which has been 45% rewritten. I found a few likely-sounding horror markets, and since it's technically a ghost story, I can submit it to ghost-story markets too.
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Got another very nice rejection, this time from Abyss & Apex, who said they considered it, and that it was well-received. So that's a start.
Maybe I should start a rejection blog; post all my rejection letters.
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Got another very nice rejection, this time from Abyss & Apex, who said they considered it, and that it was well-received. So that's a start.
Not to completely burst your bubble, but that's one of their form rejections. It's just the nice form, the "We won't throw your stuff in the garbage automatically if you send something else" form, rather than the "Please go away and never touch a keyboard again" form. I've got a handful of "well-received" stories myself. ;-)
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Got another very nice rejection, this time from Abyss & Apex, who said they considered it, and that it was well-received. So that's a start.
Not to completely burst your bubble, but that's one of their form rejections. It's just the nice form, the "We won't throw your stuff in the garbage automatically if you send something else" form, rather than the "Please go away and never touch a keyboard again" form. I've got a handful of "well-received" stories myself. ;-)
Ah. Thanks for the information. It's stuff like that that we need more of -- what do each of these form rejections mean? Someone posted something (perhaps here, I don't recall) about the different rejections a writer might get from F/SF.
*shrug* I got something accepted by Drabblecast on the same day as I posted that, so that's something. I'll be sure to shout it loudly when the official show date for it is announced.
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Three of my last four rejections have been personal ones, including specific reasons as to why they passed on the story and specific reasons as to why they liked it. The fourth was from Clarkesworld, and they have an automated system.
I've got to think that means the stories are at least making it out of the slush pile and into the hands of the decision-making editors. Now I just need to take that final step forward, to them actually saying yes.
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Welcome to Limbo. Good luck. ;D
(Hopefully better luck than I, thus far.)
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Now published by the Drabblecast: "The Birthday Party"
http://tinyurl.com/birthdayparty42
Enjoy!
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Two Drabblecasts in a row... in Episode 152 I'm performing "Monkeys Imitating Humans Imitating Monkeys".
www.drabblecast.org
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Picked up two rejections this week -- Strange Weird and Wonderful, Drabblecast -- and have five more stories out. Hoping I hear about "113 Feet" before 3/31 because if it's rejected I want to send it in for the Hoffer award.
Just wrote a 1350-word story -- the shortest thing I've written that wasn't intentionally flash -- about lawyers, and my friend who's a lawyer for the state of Florida has approved its content. I might post it in the crit group. Not sure yet.
DESPERATELY need to revise some stories, including the storm one, the man who evacuated the planet, two horror stories, and I need to edit the last 15 chapters of the novel -- and soon, because I actually have someone who'll recommend it to an editor for me.
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11 total stories out at various markets -- will try to send a 12th on my lunch break today. Someone's got to like ONE of them...
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11 total stories out at various markets -- will try to send a 12th on my lunch break today. Someone's got to like ONE of them...
One would think that, wouldn't one...? :-P
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11 total stories out at various markets -- will try to send a 12th on my lunch break today. Someone's got to like ONE of them...
One would think that, wouldn't one...? :-P
Well I've grabbed two rejections already... now have a total of 13 out though...
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I'd like to think it's encouraging that the slush reader for Lightspeed Magazine decided this morning to follow me on Twitter. She didn't with the last story I sent them, which I hope means she liked my current submission enough to (a) take at least a minor interest in what I'm doing and (b) pass the story up to the editor himself.
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Hmm, so much for that. But at least I got a personal rejection this time.
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11 stories out. It'll be 12 on Saturday, when it's been 7 days since my last rejection from Lightspeed. Still no more acceptances.
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13 stories out. So far my best chance is at ASIM, but the slush reader for Lightspeed did pass my two most recent ones up to JJA, so at least she likes my writing. Now if only she was the editor...
Also, last night I wrote the first draft of one of my PC flash entries. It came out to EXACTLY 500 words when I finished the first draft. Serendipitous.
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I've been editing my (non-SF) novel "Shell Game" this week, and have gotten through six chapters this week (20 total edited). Six more to go. Then I e-mail my British novelist friend who said she'll try to get it in front of her editor.
Also, I just found out a short (1300-word) satire I wrote has been accepted for publication (online zine). Once I get the contract signed I'll have more information. So that was good news.
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My steampunk/airship murder story, "Amid the Steep Sky's Commotion", will be published in July. Just found out today. More information after I sign the contract.
It's been a good week. ;D :o
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Also, I just found out a short (1300-word) satire I wrote has been accepted for publication (online zine). Once I get the contract signed I'll have more information. So that was good news.
The story, "Section 3A", will be published in October in Big Pulp (http://www.bigpulp.com). Good for magazines, bad for my OJ.
The magazine doesn't have an RSS feed but they do have a Twitter (@bigpulp) where they post links to their new stories, so that's a plus.
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My steampunk/airship murder story, "Amid the Steep Sky's Commotion", will be published in July. Just found out today. More information after I sign the contract.
It will be in the summer (July/August) issue of Khimairal Ink.
In other news:
* Only two more chapters of Shell Game to edit (but I'm waiting for my local PIO to finish reading the police station scene).
* Wrote my Dunesteef BMSE story in three days. I was one of the winners last year, so hopefully I can repeat. It's almost exactly the same length, too, but this time it's fantasy instead of sci-fi.
* Listening to EP242 I got an idea that will either be one of my two EP flash stories, or a full story in and of itself.
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Hey Listener, Congrats!!
But let me get this straight, you've got 2 stories about to be published, right?
For a while there, I wasn't paying close enough attention and thought they were the same story you were talking about.
That is really fantastic!!!
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Hey Listener, Congrats!!
But let me get this straight, you've got 2 stories about to be published, right?
For a while there, I wasn't paying close enough attention and thought they were the same story you were talking about.
That is really fantastic!!!
Yep, two different stories.
Thank you.
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* Wrote my Dunesteef BMSE story in three days. I was one of the winners last year, so hopefully I can repeat. It's almost exactly the same length, too, but this time it's fantasy instead of sci-fi
So... you, uh, gonna put that up in the Crit Group? *cracks knuckles, grins savagely (revealing faint bloodstains)*
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* Wrote my Dunesteef BMSE story in three days. I was one of the winners last year, so hopefully I can repeat. It's almost exactly the same length, too, but this time it's fantasy instead of sci-fi
So... you, uh, gonna put that up in the Crit Group? *cracks knuckles, grins savagely (revealing faint bloodstains)*
Honestly, probably not this one. I'm pretty sure you'll find the same flaws in it that I've found already. But I will put the next Yermomanems stories in there -- turns out the band really liked them, and they're going to put them up on the band site and possibly do some animated versions (since everyone in the band is an artist or programmer -- we all work at the same place). I have 3.5 more of them ready in my head -- the werewolf one, an alternate-universe one, the return of Steve McEvil, and a new villain called The Tank.
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I always like confirmation that I'm right about the parts that suck, personally. On the other hand, I have no one else to beta-read for me. (Except for my wife, whose literary vision and taste are almost the same as mine, which leads to the same myopia about certain kinds of issues.)
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I always like confirmation that I'm right about the parts that suck, personally. On the other hand, I have no one else to beta-read for me. (Except for my wife, whose literary vision and taste are almost the same as mine, which leads to the same myopia about certain kinds of issues.)
I don't think my wife's bothered to read -- or listen to -- either of my published works. I know she'd prefer to read them, given that she styles herself a proofreader and she'd love to catch any grammar mistakes I made.
In other news: 2000 words on the sequel to "Amid the Steep Sky's Commotion". I'm probably going to have to go back when I'm done and add context clues about the ship itself. I hate doing that, but it's the nature of the sequel beast.
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As we say in Georgia (or so I'm told), "lord willin' and the creek don't rise..."
"Amid the Steep Sky's Commotion: A Tale of the Airship Ozymandias" appears in the Summer issue of Khimairal Ink tomorrow. Do please check it out if you like airships, murder, and women who kick ass. (And stories without sex scenes, which apparently some of the forumites do. ;D )
It should appear on this page:
http://bedazzledink.com/khimairal-ink-magazine/current-issue/
That is all. For now.
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Apparently the creek rose, but it must've gone down (though you'd not know it from the downpour we had today) because "Amid the Steep Sky's Commotion: a Tale of the Airship Ozymandias" has been published.
http://bedazzledink.com/khimairal-ink-magazine/current-issue/
Free to read and download.
And here's an amusing story: the short URL I made for Twitter is http://is.gd/dKTst, and DKT was a big help in workshopping this story, so thanks to him.
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I apologize for my absence -- my life has been epic hectic these past few weeks. But I did want to pop in and say that "Section 3A" has been published by Big Pulp, in The Golden Ark:
http://bigpulp.com/goldenark.html
Also, those of you who are EA editors or crit group members might remember my story "Belief". I sold that this week, and it will appear on the internets in Q1 2011.
Now, back to obscurity.
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Hey, glad to know you're doing okay, man. And congrats on selling stuff.
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Thanks.
The truth of it is: I went out and got a new job that has almost zero downtime, and that plus joining a gym means no time at all to write. If I can't write, I can't post either. So that explains that.
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Just made my first professional sale.
To Asimov's.
A triumphant clap of the hands was heard throughout my entire floor at work when I got that e-mail.
The story was "Bring on the Rain". The folks in the crit group might remember it as "Fighting for the Storm".
The contract hasn't been signed yet, but I figured I'd mention it here.
Now I really have no excuse to avoid writing.
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Congratulations!!!
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Sweet! I liked that story. When's it coming out? (Does Asimov's have a free online version? I read more fantasy and horror than scifi under normal circumstances.)
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Just made my first professional sale.
To Asimov's.
A triumphant clap of the hands was heard throughout my entire floor at work when I got that e-mail.
The story was "Bring on the Rain". The folks in the crit group might remember it as "Fighting for the Storm".
The contract hasn't been signed yet, but I figured I'd mention it here.
Now I really have no excuse to avoid writing.
Congrats. Make sure you post when that issue hits the stands!
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Thanks, and I will. It'll still be a couple of months until the contract comes (editor's words), so I predict it'll hit in about a year.
I don't think they have a free online version, but I know a certain magazine with a free online version I'll be submitting it to once audio rights revert to me...
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Congrats!
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Sold a reprint of "27 Jennifers" to Port Iris. Probably about time to shelve that one, except maybe for submitting it to relevant anthologies. It will now have appeared in print and audio.
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Sold a reprint of "27 Jennifers" to Port Iris. Probably about time to shelve that one, except maybe for submitting it to relevant anthologies. It will now have appeared in print and audio.
Poor baby. :-P
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Let's news! (I'm sure at least one of you will get that reference.)
Big Pulp has reprinted "Section 3A" in their Winter 2010 issue, which you can buy for 99c in PDF form or under $6 as an actual object you can put on your shelf. -- http://www.lulu.com/product/paperback/big-pulp-december-2010/14360764
Still no info on when "Belief" and the reprint of "27 Jennifers" will appear on the internets.
"A Dog And His Boy" is up on the Dunesteef, under the Broken Mirror 2010 section. Given that the first three stories are the ones that got podcast, does that mean my position as fourth makes me the first runner-up? Or is it just arbitrary? In any case, here it is -- http://dunesteef.com/broken-mirror-stories-2010/a-dog-and-his-boy-by-josh-roseman/
I haven't gotten the Asimov's contract yet, but I got a holiday card from them, signed by the editor, so I'm hoping the contract comes soon.
After a query response, I sent "The Clockwork Russian" to Icarus, and it got redirected to their novella imprint (launching in 2011). The editor of that imprint said he enjoyed it and gave me a ton of feedback that will eventually turn the story into either a full novella (right now it's only 17k) for them or an actual novel (which may go to Lethe Press, the parent publisher of Icarus). I think that's my main project for the first half of 2011.
Up to 6200 words on my vampire story, which unfortunately will probably end up at 9k, instead of the 6k I was hoping for. At that point I may go back and expand it further (I think I could make a novella or a full novel out of it, with some more plotting) or trim out a bunch of it and hit only the subplot -- the ever-popular vampire-human relationship -- instead of the main "mission" plot.
Island princess story is just over 10k. I come back to it every now and then. I have a pretty good idea of how I'm going to end it. It'll probably go 15-20k in total. It's definitely for adults, but there's still a market for that.
I think that's everything.
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Another quick update:
"Belief" should be appearing by the end of February.
The reprint of "27 Jennifers" is temporarily on hold due to some issues at the publication, but the editor said it would be soon.
The Asimov's contract is signed, the galleys have been proofed, and if I'm right about the page numbers, I may even be the first story in the issue, which the editor says is the July one. I'll probably yell a lot about this later this week, when I finally pick a day to say "hey, guess what?"
Mostly I've been writing a lot for the EP blog and doing lesson plans for a class I'm teaching this month at the local university. I hope to get back to writing more fiction soon.
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"27 Jennifers" was reprinted in Port Iris.
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I may have mentioned at some point that I wrote a "novel for adults" called Shell Game. Well, recently I reconnected with a friend who was a fan of that story when I showed it to her, and some of the things she told me got me inspired enough to start writing a meta-Shell-Game story -- a story about the writer of a book called "Three-Card Montgomery". Anyway, I've written almost 21,000 words on it since last Friday, and I know how it's going to end, and I actually care enough about these characters (well, one in particular) to finish it. It's not sci-fi, but I'm having a good time writing it, and that's the important part.
I've also written, rewritten, or edited parts of:
* From the 800s
* The Man Who Evacuated the Planet
* The Tape Library
* Something I'm tentatively calling "Murphy's Law"
And, finally, the check from Asimov's came today. If ever I worried that they might change their minds, there's no going back now.
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Still waiting for "Belief" -- if it's not out by the end of this month I'm emailing the editor again. Finished a non-genre piece called "Faded Glory". Started a genre piece about the oceans rising. Submitted eight stories over the past two weeks. About to reformat the first three chapters of "Shell Game" and fire them off to Noble Romance. Am in issues 184 & 185 of Starship Sofa as a narrator, and a couple of upcoming Dunestaves*.
And, if you're so inclined, you can vote for me in the American Gods contest (http://neilgaiman.bookperk.com/engine/Details.aspx?p=V&c=29933&s=7829185&i=1#SD). But you don't have to.
* Plural of "Dunesteef"
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Joe Haldeman. Bruce McAllister. Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Norman Spinrad. And me.
Which of these is not like the other?
Well, okay, Rusch is the only woman on the list. But besides that.
"Bring on the Rain" is now available for you to purchase in dead-tree or dead-electron form from Asimov's.
My hands are still shaking a little bit from being in such august company.
http://www.asimovs.com/2011_07/tableofcontents.shtml
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Joe Haldeman. Bruce McAllister. Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Norman Spinrad. And me.
Which of these is not like the other?
Well, okay, Rusch is the only woman on the list. But besides that.
"Bring on the Rain" is now available for you to purchase in dead-tree or dead-electron form from Asimov's.
My hands are still shaking a little bit from being in such august company.
http://www.asimovs.com/2011_07/tableofcontents.shtml
Congratulations man!
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Freaking awesome, dude!
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Thank you.
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That's way awesome. I will have to pick up a copy ASAP. :)
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And on the heels of Asimov's comes my story "Belief", now live in Issue 16 of Fusion Fragment.
I had this one critiqued in the Crit Group. It's one of the first stories I wrote with intent to sell.
http://apodispublishing.com/fusion/pages/16_belief.htm
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Shiny!
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This morning I signed the contract on "The Plumbers and the Princess". It will appear in the June 2012 issue of Aoife's Kiss.
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Finished writing a novella (for adults), and started a sci-fi novel -- my first one since writing Star Trek fanfic novels in elementary school. 2400 words in, but I've outlined the entire thing (more or less).
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Just got the verbal agreement for a second story to appear in Asimov's. Waiting for the contract now.
Also, "Bring on the Rain", my first story in Asimov's, will appear on Starship Sofa soon.
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Started editing my novel -- FINALLY -- but each chapter is taking half an hour, which is MUCH longer than I expected it to take. Hope to be done by weekend-after-next.
Also, "Bring on the Rain" appears in Episode 203 of StarShipSofa, along with a brief interview Tony did with me about the submission/acceptance/revision process. And Tony asked me to narrate the story, which was a bit of an odd experience. If you haven't had a chance to purchase the 7/11 issue of Asimov's, here's a chance to hear the story for free: http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2011/09/13/starshipsofa-no-203-josh-roseman-geoffrey-a-landis-pt-3/
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Just got the verbal agreement for a second story to appear in Asimov's. Waiting for the contract now.
Written contract sent back. Not sure when, but "Greener" will appear in Asimov's within... I'd say a year, though probably closer to six months, judging from the last time around.
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Looks like I sold "Greener" just in time... because this technology is totally in it: reliable home HIV tests (http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/io9/vip/~3/bR-8s6FY3FQ/new-home-hiv-tests-are-safe-and-accurate-enough-for-regular-use)
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So, I didn't mention that I narrated EP313, "Playing Doctor".
I narrated EP313, "Playing Doctor". http://escapepod.org/2011/10/06/ep313-playing-doctor/
And I also did a Vonnegut story for StarShipSofa: http://www.starshipsofa.com/blog/2011/10/13/starshipsofa-no-207-kurt-vonnegut/
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The TOC of "Fat Girl in a Strange Land" has been released, so I think it's safe to report that my first anthology sale was to it. I'm story #4, "Survivor". The anthology comes out 2/17/12.
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I'm curious to see what it ended up looking like.
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Coming soon:
2/12 -- "Survivor" (Fat Girl in a Strange Land anthology)
3/12 -- "Greener" (Asimov's)
6/12 -- "The Plumbers and the Princess" (Aoife's Kiss)
unknown -- narration of "Fortitude" by David Brin (StarShipSofa)
unknown -- narration of "The Never-Never Wizard of Apalachicola"* by Jason Sanford (StarShipSofa)
unknown, but probably around Christmastime -- a story for Journey Into whose name I don't recall
* -- I could've sworn it was "Appalachicola", but I guess I was wrong.
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So I can't tell you ANY details because I don't have a contract yet, but an editor sent me an e-mail last night accepting one of my novels for upcoming publication.
Okay, I can give you one detail: it's not a genre novel.
So, yeah. There's that.
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So I can't tell you ANY details because I don't have a contract yet, but an editor sent me an e-mail last night accepting one of my novels for upcoming publication.
Okay, I can give you one detail: it's not a genre novel.
So, yeah. There's that.
Congratulations! Looking forward to hearing details once you do have a contract :)
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HOLY. A novel?!!! Are we talking mass-market or what?
Congratulations!
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HOLY. A novel?!!! Are we talking mass-market or what?
Congratulations!
Thanks.
It's not a mass-market company, but it's a well-respected publisher who pays decently. I consulted with a couple of their writers (who are friends of mine and helped beta the book) before submitting, and they both endorsed the publisher. Just goes to show the power of networking...:)
You probably won't see the book in the big bookstores, but it'll be on the various e-formats and they will print actual books as well.
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Well that's good stuff, any way you slice it. Great to hear it. I hope it works out well for you.
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"Survivor" is now out in Fat Girl in a Strange Land, available for $5 on your favorite e-reader. (For certain values of "favorite".)
http://crossedgenres.com/titles/fat-girl-in-a-strange-land/
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"Greener" is now out in the April/May Asimov's.
http://www.asimovs.com/2012_04-05/tableofcontents.shtml
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I've been invited to appear on WREK 91.1 in Atlanta tonight (Thursday 3/29) at 7pm. Listen online: www.wrek.org/scifilab/
They keep shows archived for two weeks, so you have that long to hear me make a fool of myself. ;D
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Just sold a story that was inspired by a Steve Eley intro -- it was for Pressure (http://escapepod.org/2008/02/28/ep147-pressure/). Won't reveal the market until I sign the contract, but after four years of revising and re-submitting, I'm really glad I sold it. And proud. It's one of my favorites.
Of course, it's also been cut down by more than 4000 words from the original; maybe someday, when I have a short-story collection published, I'll include both the original and the published version.
As soon as I sign the contract and get the okay from the editor, I'll pass on the good news like Chris Griffin does to Mr. Herbert.
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Sold another one to the Dunesteef. w00t.
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Just signed the contract for my third qualifying professional sale, which means I'll be applying to join the SFWA as a full member pretty soon. Just waiting for the check to clear. I'm not actually sure if I should say where it's been accepted yet, but I'm pretty sure you've all heard of it.
Also, "The Plumbers and the Princess" is now in print in Aoife's Kiss #41 -- http://samsdotpublishing.com/aoife/cover.htm
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"Section 3A" is now available for free, for your Kindle, until 6/16. http://goo.gl/KuMXq
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Can't get better than free...
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The story that made me an active member of the SFWA, "113 Feet", has been published by this podcast you may have heard of once or twice...
http://escapepod.org/2012/06/28/ep351-113-feet/
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I just hit 60,000 words on my fantasy novel, and we haven't even SEEN the Big Bad yet. I don't want this to be an epic, but I fear that it's turning into one.
17 chapters down, about 14-15 to go.
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"Belief" has been reprinted in the Dunesteef.
http://dunesteef.com/2012/08/08/episode-132-belief-by-josh-roseman/
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Well, you can't read it yet, but my novel is up to 78,000 words, with about 50,000 to go (depending upon how long each of the remaining 14 chapters is -- I'm averaging 3700 words apiece).
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For those of you not following me on the Twitters, the Facebooks, or the Plussed Googles...
Since August 21, I've written a little more than 40,000 words. The novel is now done. It totals 122,100 (first draft). Right now it's with a beta reader, and I'm hoping to have the first round of edits done by 11/1.
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Journey Into has agreed to reprint one of my fantasy stories. The contract is signed.
Dunesteef is currently producing one of my novellas.
An agent requested the first three chapters of my novel. She has them now and I am waiting to hear more.
You are now caught up.
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Dunesteef is currently producing one of my novellas.
The story is now available. It's called "Secret Santa". Just in time for Christmas. http://dunesteef.com/2012/12/23/episode-138-secret-santa-by-josh-roseman/
An agent requested the first three chapters of my novel. She has them now and I am waiting to hear more.
The agent said no. I have since sent to a different agent. If that other agent (who is representing this writer I know locally) doesn't like it, I'll start going directly to publishers.
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I'm back.
If you enjoy erotica, you might want to check out my erotica novel, which was published recently: http://amzn.to/1aKt2v2
I've had a couple of stories accepted by the Dunesteef, and one forthcoming from Journey Into, but overall it's been a quiet year for me, publication-wise.
On the audio front, I've appeared on StarShipSofa, Protecting Project Pulp, Crime City Central, Pseudopod, and Tales from Gnosis College.
Now you know.
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And knowing is half a bottle!
Wait...
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Speaking of StarShipSofa, they just reprinted "Greener", which originally appeared in Asimov's in March 2012.
Listen. (http://www.starshipsofa.com/2013/11/13/starshipsofa-no-313-josh-roseman-and-michelle-marquardt/)
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Just yesterday I released "Secret Santa", which aired last Christmas on the Dunesteef, in Kindle form.
http://amzn.to/IezMpa
The Dunesteef is publishing the sequel as well.
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The Dunesteef published "Secret Santa 2" last week, but I haven't been near enough to a computer to really post about it. So... here:
http://dunesteef.com/2013/12/25/episode-149-secret-santa-2-krampusnacht-by-josh-roseman/
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Here are some things that have happened:
Renaissance E Books has sent me contracts for a second novel as well as a novelette. I am in the contract review process now, which basically means "figure out where the hell I filed my last contract so that I can make sure the terms are the same".
Cast of Wonders has accepted one of my stories for publication.
I have written almost 20,000 words of a new novel (non-genre) since Tuesday the 14th.
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Well, it's not Nanowrimo, but I wrote the first draft of a 58,800-word middle-grade non-genre novel in 42 days (1/21 through today).
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Sold a piece of flash to Tina Connolly's Toasted Cake.
Sizzler Editions put out my second erotica novel on Kindle last Saturday.
Finished the first round of edits to my middle-grade novel, currently titled "Monkeybutt". It's out with beta readers now.
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"The Roommate Situation" is now published: http://toastedcake.com/2014/06/toasted-cake-111-the-roommate-situation-by-josh-roseman.html
After the Apocalypse went to a publisher. She liked it, but wants me to cut another 20-30 thousand words. That'll take some time, I fear.
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Sold a story to Black Denim Lit. They predict it will be out in their October issue.
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"Survivor" was reprinted (in audio and print) in this week's Cast of Wonders.
http://t.co/d5DA2yIpzh (http://t.co/d5DA2yIpzh)
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If you enjoy erotica, you might want to check out my erotica novel, which was published recently: http://amzn.to/1aKt2v2
To the erotica fans out there: I've written a piece of fantasy erotica (that is, it takes place in a fantasy setting, where there is magic). Feel free to check it out, but do remember that it's NSFW (obviously). http://amzn.to/1og7vkE
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"Clean Up", a short piece about what happens AFTER the superheroes defeat the vampires, is up on the Dunesteef today.
http://dunesteef.com/2014/11/17/episode-166-twsc-clean-up-by-josh-roseman/
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I've self-published a near-future story about medicine, insurance, and governmental regulation. It's called "Side Effects", and you can get it for the Kindle here: http://amzn.to/1vIIx1z
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"Return to Waypoint 5" is free to read at Black Denim Lit. Sci-fi adventure. They liked it enough to make it this month's cover story.
http://www.bdlit.com/return-to-waypoint-5.html
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Available Friday in paperback (http://tiny.cc/ata-print) and e-edition (http://tiny.cc/ata-kindle): my new novel After the Apocalypse.
Okay, technically you could order it today and get overnight shipping on the paperback, but most people are going to do two-day shipping and it'll arrive Friday, and the e-edition goes live Friday, so... Friday it is.
Anyway. Check it out. If you like. No pressure.