Tag Archives: writing sale

TromaDance packing

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Packing Matthew up for Utah. He’s going off to emcee the TromaDance film festival. (TromaDance, sponsored by Troma Films, is one of the You-name-it-dance glut of independent film screenings at Salt Lake City and Park City that Robert Redford spawned with SunDance.) He’s also going to do a commentary track for the DVD of Roadside Attraction, one of the shorts featured in Dragon*Con’s 2004 Film Festival. Matthew gets to party with all the film happenings that are going on this week and rub elbows with film luminaries, and I can’t go because I have to work. Plus Hobkin would probably blow a fuzzy gasket if we sent him off to skunk camp again so soon after Christmas. Still, fooie.

So it’s going to be just Hobkin and me this weekend. I hope to get a goodly chunk of writing done. Realistically, I suspect there will be some vegging before the mass-entertainment altar of viewing, and unproductive fiddling and surfing on Mr. Computer. Maybe some napping too. I’ve also adjusted our Netflix list so as to get all the chick flicks this weekend that Matthew keeps pushing down the queue.



Writing Stuff:

Made my first sale of the year! I sold my short story “Caesar’s Ghost” to the Revenant anthology published by Carnifex Press. Very pleased about that. The editor emailed me to let me know it had been short-listed months ago, and I’ve been trying (unsuccessfully) not to obsess over it ever since. Exceedingly happy this story found such a good home. It’s my tribute and eulogy to all of the ferrets who’ve graced our lives. Yes, it’s a story about a ferret ghost.

Words: 500. The novel continues to kick my ass. Thinking about switching gears again and working on a short piece. I seem to have a brain barrier erected against completing longer works. Dammit.

Club 100 for Writers
49

500/day
17

Eugie’s amazing weekend continues

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Writing Stuff:

Received today:
70-day encouraging personal reject from Futurismic after making the second round (with invite to send more).

AND

87-day SALE to the Modern Magic: Dark Tales of Fantasy anthology, published by Fantasist Enterprises. Woohoo!

Also got a lovely email from Laird Barron praising my Tangent review of his story “Bulldozer” in Sci-Fiction.

This weekend just keeps getting better and better.

Hungry Hobkin, Dragon*Con, and Cricket SALE!

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My wing stubs didn’t hurt today! Hurray!

But this morning was rough on the sleeping front, due in large part to an insistent fuzz beast whose internal clock claimed adamantly it was breakfast time a good two hours before it actually was, and for that matter, before I needed to wake up. I can’t count the number of times Hobkin clambered up beside me, pawed at my head (thereby waking me), and then hopped down to pace in front of his food tray . . . loudly. Oof. Bloodshot eyes and frayed nerves, that’s me.

Updated the Daily Dragon website and wrote up staff handouts, as well as schedule change request and announcement request forms. Definitely getting in gear for Dragon*Con.

Practiced my opening talk for Ann’s Workshop. Needs some work yet, but I’m getting there.



Writing Stuff:

I SOLD my folk tale “Li T’ien and the Demon Nian” to Cricket! Woohoo! Got me my sales fix!

And to deflate my sails, also in the mailbox:
– A 9-day “there’s nice writing here but . . . ” from JJA of F&SF. Sigh. I remember once upon a time getting alases from GVG. Out it goes again.
– A form “no” from The Strand after 535 days, without even an apology for the long wait. Grrr.
– 30-day personalized “not quite right for us” from Stanley Schmidt of Analog with invite to send more.

But, to end on a “yay” note, I also got a lovely fan email from an aspiring writer who discovered my blog. They said they were inspired by my ramblings to join Critters and to start submitting their stories to markets. They also bought a copy of Ascendancy of Blood. It really made my day.

In other news:
– The new issue of IROSF.com came out sans my “Subgenre Spotlight on Cyberpunk” article. No word from the editor on whether they liked it yet. *fret fret fret*
– Carina’s back from her vacation and I still have yet to receive a BFoD from my second story that was in the previous RoF batch. Might I *gasp* actually have had two stories forwarded to Shawna from that batch, bringing my total waiting on her desk for her attention to three? Oh my. I shall, of course, query Carina, because she is the coolest, nicest slush reader evar.

Wild skunk and Sale to Third Alternative

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Matthew told me an amusing story he read on the skunkchat community. Apparently a neighbor of the president of the ADSA (American Domestic Skunk Association) was sitting on his porch when a skunk meandered up and started rubbing against his leg. Knowing that his neighbor kept skunks, he reached down and pet it for a while, and then called her up, letting her know that one of her black and white babies had gotten loose and was on his porch.

Her reply: All of her skunks were accounted for, and besides, she didn’t have any black and whites.

Turns out he’d been petting a wild, fully-loaded skunk for the last ten minutes or so. Hee!

All skunks are lap skunks:



Writing Stuff:

Opened up my email this morning to a wonderful note from Andy Cox, editor of The Third Alternative (as well as Interzone). He thought my novelette “Running on Two Legs” was “superb,” and wants it for TTA!

I’m so very, very pleased. I love “Running on Two Legs.” I think it’s one of my best stories, and I’m emotionally attached to it. I was getting a bit disheartened for a while there, despite Ann Crispin, Victoria Strauss, and Kathleen O’Malley giving it wonderful comments when I sent it through Ann’s Advanced Workshop at Dragon*Con in ’02. It also won an Honorable Mention in the WotF contest, but still no buyers, although I was racking up some very nice editorial comments.

Then I found out that Andy Cox had taken over Interzone and was reading all subs for both IZ and TTA. I’d already sent “Running” to TTA via their American first reader (cheaper postage) a year or so ago, but had been shot down. Since then, the American reader has been let go. I really thought it was a TTA story and not an IZ one, but since I couldn’t re-sub to TTA (even though I highly suspected Andy had never seen it), I sent it to IZ. And voila, serendipity!

I’m tickled! TTA is a beautiful publication with a fabulous reputation. And Andy said I could send subsequent submissions to him via email, which is extremely considerate of him. Also, it ensures I’ll be sending a lot more subs his way, as I’ve been holding off on overseas submissions of late because of that whole expensive postage thing.

Delighted squeeing to commence.

Sale to Leading Edge!

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Slept like crap, neck still hurts, and I had disturbing dreams involving maggots. But I’m happy!!


Writing Stuff:

Sold “Of Two Minds to Lanais” to Brigham-Young’s Leading Edge! It’s my second sale to these folks. Very pleased because this is both a longer high fantasy work, and I was beginning to despair at finding it a home, despite that gut feeling that really it was a good story, dammit!

They asked me to lengthen the denouement as they thought it too short and abrupt, so I’m off to do that now.

A sick day for me

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My headache is still in evidence, and it’s turned into a harbinger of flu. Blah. Staying home today. Going to curl up on the couch with chamomile tea and court Mr. Sandman.



Writing Stuff:

In between naps, and riding the jitters from Sudafed, I managed 500 words on the “Island Love Story.” It’s done! It’s raw, in dire need of a rewrite, but the story’s down from start to finish. It logs in at a whooping 10K manuscript count (around 8.9K word processor count). This one’s going to be a hard sell. But I’m at zero draft! Rah.

Also sold another reprint of “Second Daughter” to the new market Story Station. This is my second reprint sale of this story, my third sale of it total. Sweet.

I asked the editor when to expect a contract, and he said that they don’t have contracts (!) and if that affected whether I wanted my story published by them to let him know immediately. I responded by emailing him a standard contract–almost identical to the one I wrangled up for the previous reprint sale actually–and asked him if he had any problems with it. I haven’t heard back from him yet. I’m a little anxious, but I really do feel strongly about contracts, even if they’re just simple, down-and-dirty ones. I would like this to work out, though, as there are so few children’s lit markets.

Back from the Caribbean, Cricket sale, and various rejections

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Got back yesterday from a week long Caribbean cruise with the family. Wonderful time, although now I’m back on land, I keep getting inner ear tweaks that make me think the ground is moving beneath me. Details and pictures from the cruise coming soon! I’m compiling my notes and logs, and downloading pictures from our new camera.



Writing Stuff:

Going through the various Critters critiques I’ve received last week. Email was crap on the ship so I didn’t read them while onboard.

After coming home to a week’s worth of new mail. Received:
– SALE to Cricket for my folk tale “The King of Rabbits and Moon Lake”! Good news indeed to return to!
– Rejection from Cicada. Pook. While they really liked the story, they thought it too emotionally wrenching for their teen audience, and hence not right for them.
– Rejection from Talebones – personalized. “Almost, please send more soon.”
– Rejection from Sci-Fiction – from Ellen Datlow, “not subtle enough” for her.
– Rejection from Asimov’s – form from Sheila Williams (sigh).

Oof. But I’m happy-dancing ’bout another sale to Cricket!

Also, my excerpt “Visiting Day” is up at the ELP Library with very cool cover art: