Tag Archives: writing biz

Interview, meh

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So the interview . . . went. I really, really hate phone interviews. I just can’t gauge anything with just a voice to work with. And I don’t make the best impression over the phone. I work best with body language and eye contact. Generally, I think it went okay. Probably closer to the “meh” side of okay than the “!!” side. We’ll see.


Writing Stuff

Finished the rewrite on the folktale after several more passes, packaged it up to go to Cricket, and then received six more Critters critiques, including a couple that make me want to go back in and do another several passes. Urg. Tear into the submission envelope, or just let it go as is? I hate second guessing myself.

Also received the contract from benpayne for “The Life and Times of Penguin” that’s scheduled for issue #18 of Andromeda Spaceways. Signed and sending it out to Aussie-land today. And I saw on their website that they’ve posted the cover art for #18. Pretty:

Club 100 For Writers
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Thanks to everyone who wished fosteronfilm and me a Happy Anniversary!

Had a “Resume Building” workshop at the unemployment office this morning. Why is it everytime I go there, it’s raining? My class consisted of folks like me who’ve been out of work going on two months now. I noticed a large drop in business suits (none), and a huge increase in jeans and sweat suits. Also, an increased level of desperation in people’s eyes.

The class taught me that my resume needed punching up, so as soon as I got home, I spent the next several hours updating the damn thing. It’s all shiny and trendy now.

Interview tomorrow. Stress happening.


Writing Stuff

Received my contract from the Cricket Magazine Group for “The King of Rabbits and Moon Lake.” Signed and mailed it back. It puzzled me greatly when I got the envelope because it was one of my SASEs, and I always indicate on them what story is being responded to (very helpful when I send more than one story to a market, which I routinely do to the Cricket folks). But I knew I’d already had “Moon Lake” accepted, so couldn’t figure out what could be in it. Were they retracting their offer of publication? Eee! Of course, after an anxious rip or two, I realized they must have sent me the acceptance using their own stationary. Silly Eugie.

Also received word from my agent that Candlewick and Penguin-Putnam have passed on my novel and that he’s sent it to HarperCollins and Roaring Brook Press next. Got the feedback from the editors. My story made the Putnam editor cry, but she still didn’t buy it. Fooie.

Words: Beginning my rewrite of the folktale going through Critters. Running stats on the crits and making notes about tweaks and tunings. Got some excellent nit-picky feedback. Two passes so far. I hope to have it out the door by Thursday.

Club 100 For Writers
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Hobkin on the mend

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Hobkin had plenty of appetite yesterday, which I found very reassuring. He ate most of his lunch, begged for a snack before dinner (which I gave him because I am a total softie), and scarfed down his whole dinner. He also went tearing around the house, stomping at shadows, so all appears to be well. I wish he didn’t have these bouts of upset tummy so often. It worries me.


Writing Stuff

Received my contrib. copies of June’s Realms of Fantasy. Yay!

Also received a very curt 31-day “we’ve decided not to accept it for publication” from Strange Horizons without even an invite to submit again. Ouch. That story really seems not to have gone over well with them. Well, foo.

3 more crits from Critters, bringing my total thus far to, um *counts on fingers* twenty. I’m so behind in thank you notes.

Call from Ann, Revenant, Fan Mail

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Writing Stuff

Got a lovely phone call last night from Ann Crispin. We chatted for almost an hour. She’s going to send me an electronic copy of her new novel, and she suggested I write a sound byte blurb for my current WIP so I can have something to rattle off to publishers on the fly, as a quick pitch. Gleep. Novel pitch. Going to spend some time today working on that. It’s so much harder to scrunch a project into a sentence or two than it is to write a multi-page synopsis.

Received:
– 8-day rejection from F&SF from JJA. “Nice writing here but . . . ” Dammit, I just can’t get past him, anymore! I miss those “alases” from GVG”
– My contrib. copy of the Revenant: A Horror Anthology chapbook with “Caesar’s Ghost” in it. My story’s in the esteemed “last” spot. Neato.
– Fan mail! Got an email from a reader about “The Storyteller’s Wife” in the current Realms. He called it a “marvelous gem of a story.” I love fan mail.

In less good, RoF news, I found out that Carina is resigning from her position as slush reader. That totally sucks. I understand why she’s doing it (and how). Her position was unpaid, and she recently got engaged, plus her singing career is taking off, so she really doesn’t have the time anymore for the huge time glut that slush reading is. But I’m so going to miss her. She was the best slush reader Realms has ever had, and I’m not just saying that because she passed so many of my stories on to Shawna.

‘Nother interview, movie night, RoF issue

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And the 2004 tax season comes to an end. Actually went out yesterday to the post office to mail something non-tax related, and didn’t have to wait in line. It was only after we were on our way out of the parking lot that it occurred to us that we’d risked life and limb, mailing something on tax day. Huh. Maybe the e-filing push is really working?

To celebrate the day, we had glenn5 and arkhamrefugee over to watch Fight Club and Harvey. glenn5 had never seen Fight Club before. Whee! More people to introduce to the glory and wonder which is Fight Club! Much fun.

Also got a call yesterday from another head hunter outfit. They want to schedule me for an interview next week with a large insurance company for basically the same sort of job I had before, for approximately the same wages and benefits. And get this, they’re based out of approximately the same part of town my previous work office was located before, which is a much nicer daily drive than a downtown commute would be. Same job, different company. Seems like a good opportunity to get back into the salary rat race. Not exactly excited about the prospect of being a cubicle monkey again, but I have to admit the appeal of a plump, regular income with snazzy health benefits is seductive. I’ll take the position if they offer it to me, but I won’t be crushed if they don’t. Plus, this company is undergoing some major legal investigation by the Securities and Exchange commission–something I wasn’t aware of until glenn5 brought it to my attention–so I’m not sure what to think of all that.

But I’m happy that I continue to get calls.

Also, it’s undoubtedly old news by now, but heard yesterday from the Dragon*Con Director’s mailing list that Joss Whedon has been confirmed as a guest. Fangirl squeeing! He’ll be joining Adam Baldwin, Nathan Fillion, Ron Glass, Jewel Staite and Morena Baccarin to pimp Serenity. Now I’ve just got to find a way to sneak out of the Daily Dragon office for long enough to attend one of their panels.


Writing Stuff

Got my subscription copy of June’s Realms of Fantasy in the mail yesterday with “The Storyteller’s Wife” in it. Happy dancing! It’s the lead story again, and full-sized and up close, the illustration is even more gorgeous! They also published my photo in the “contributors” section.

But I haven’t received my contrib. copies. Hmph.

In worrisome news, the Transfinite website appears to be down, and their guidelines listing is gone from Ralan.com. I’m rather concerned that my poor story has been orphaned. I’ve fired off an email to the editor. Waiting to hear back.

Job Interview. Those racy Greeks

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Got a job interview tomorrow. It’s for a company that specializes in staffing tech positions. It seems to be a cross between a temp agency and a head hunter from what I can tell, but solely for IT work. The job they want me for has full benefits. It starts out as a three month contract with potential to become permanent. The thing is, the hours reek–10AM to 7PM Monday thru Friday. Seven? I wouldn’t get home until 7:30 at the earliest and probably closer to 8! And the pay is a lot less than what I was pulling in at my previous job. On an up note, it’s for a web content editor position, which is cool since I’m definitely interested in moving my career in that direction. But I’m not happy with the hours and pay cut. Plus it would involve a daily commute downtown. Yuck yuck yuck. We’ll see how the interview goes tomorrow. But I’m not exactly gagging for this position. At least I’m getting calls, though.


Writing Stuff

Received my contrib. copies of my reprint in the Greek publication, 9. And yep, can’t read a word of it. Although I was able to identify my story by my byline. It’s a very nice publication–glossy full color cover, high production values, gorgeous interior artwork. I’m extremely pleased with it. I’ve scanned in my story and created a PDF out of it, and emailed it to someone in one of my writers groups who lives in Greece (and obviously, can read Greek). I’m curious to see how close the translation is to the original English version.

9 is pretty racy as publications go. It’s the weekly “Comics and SF supplement” that goes with the newspaper, and the comics are of the variety you’d expect in Heavy Metal. Of course, I can’t read the storylines, but there are naked breasts and asses depicted in full, comic booky color. And check out the cover: Continue reading →

Taxes and Polish SALE!

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We put the finishing touches on our taxes yesterday. The only thing left are the envelopes and stamps. Whew. And we’re getting a refund. Not as big as refunds in past years, but still, a helluva lot better than having to pay.

To celebrate, we mixed up some more gin drinks–Matthew thinks they’re closer to being gin & tonics than Tom Collinses. They’re a jigger of gin, a jigger of lime, a sprinkle of sweetener, tonic water to taste, and lotso ice. Whatever. Yum. Anyway, we put on Interview with a Vampire, popped some corn, and I got nicely toasted.


Writing Stuff

12-day SALE to Nowa Fantastyka! I sold a Polish reprint of “All in My Mind”! The editor also said that he really liked my work and asked me to send him several of my stories. If he likes them, he’s going to bundle a contract for multiple works. Another sale to a venue that publishes in a language I can’t read. Woohoo!

Finished up the “author’s notes” that my Cricket editor requested. It’s going out in the mail today.

Also assembled a care package for jackzodiac for his Make a Wish Foundation Charity Auction at Mobicon (it’s going out in today’s mail too, Davey!).

Final Wonderfalls and Cricket SALE!

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Received the third DVD of the Wonderfalls set from Netflix, mixed up a couple Tom Collinses, popped some corn, and watched the last five episodes yesterday. Being flayed with butter knives is too good for the Fox execs. Wah! But I’m glad the writers had time to wrap up the season on a good ending note. Still, it sucks that there’s all this crap on TV and they cancel shows like Wonderfalls. Ptoo.

Got tipsy on gin, which is pretty decent therapy too, although not one I plan to engage in on a regular basis–for obvious reasons.


Writing Stuff

101-day SALE to Cricket! They bought my short story “The Raven’s Brocade,” my tenth sale to the Cricket Magazine Group. I needed a sale, and once again, these fine folks deliver. I love my Cricket editor! She also wants me to write an author’s note to accompany the story. The author’s note alone will probably pay more than some whole stories I’ve written. Yay!

Taxes, sinuses

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Gah. fosteronfilm and I made the first foray into doing our taxes yesterday. For the last clump ‘o years, we’ve had them professionally done, but we figured we’d save the couple hundred bucks and do them ourselves this year. I did my Schedule C all by myself (C-EZ baby!), and we’re making inroads into our Schedule A and Schedule B, but Schedule D: Capital Gains is kicking our asses. My head was threatening to spin itself off toward the end of the afternoon. Will try to dive back into it later today. The IRS could really use a good writer/editor to punch up their instruction forms. There’s got to be a friendlier way of conveying the necessary information; there’s just gotta.

This pressure front that’s been going through the area is playing havoc on everyone’s sinuses in the house, including Hobkin’s. I’ve been suffering from massive sinus headaches that refuse to dissipate, no matter how much Sudafed and Excedrin I pop–but I do have a profound case of the jitters. Matthew’s been sinus clogged and congested. And Hobkin keeps licking his paws and them rubbing his nose with them. I think that’s his way of trying to clear his sinuses, the poor little guy. He also makes snuffy sounds in his sleep.


Writing Stuff

19-day “There is some beautiful writing here but . . .” from Ideomancer on a flash piece. I’m always somewhat ambiguous about my flash. It’s an awkward medium to write in, smack dab between poetry and prose. I’d give up on it, except so far all of my (few and irregular) flash pieces have sold. I guess occasionally I just get feeling particularly lyrical but without enough substance for a story. I know I’m no poet, so that just leaves flash.

Revenant: A Horror Anthology published by Carnifex press, with my short story “Caesar’s Ghost” in it, is out: $4.95. Herein a very small cover image. Will get a bigger, higher res one scanned in when I get my contrib. copy:

Outlined my novel WIP, rah! After some brainstorming and seeing where my muse seems to want to go with it, it’s obvious that it’s going to be a YA novel (assuming I can finish the thing). Teenish protag, morality and philosophical issues, plus I’m aiming for 40-50K, not nearly long enough for an adult novel, but a comfy length for YA.

Words: 700 (all in outline, but hey, that counts, right?)

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500/day
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Dude_the okay, Apex interview

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Got a phone call from dude_the late last night. He was in an accident on his way home from work. His air bag deployed, his car was totaled, but he’s okay. He said he’s got a couple burns from the air bag, and he’s surprised his glasses didn’t break. Apparently they came off when the air bag went, but they withstood the impact. Both him and the other guy were checked into the hospital and were released. The hospital people want dude_the to come back in for a follow-up, but the important thing is that he’s okay–alive, nothing broken, and no head trauma.


Writing Stuff

Got an email from Apex Science Fiction and Horror Digest. They want to interview me for their Summer issue. Of course I said “yes.” My first interview!