Category Archives: LJ

Wing stubs very painful. Seriously considering spending this weekend in a clonazepam haze. Ow.

Watched Sex, Lies, and Videotape last night. I liked James Spader in Secretary better.

Writing Stuff:
Received:
94-day “Although your work has great potential, we must regrettably decline” from NFG.
63-day personal “not for us” from Space & Time.
69-day “nicely done, and well conceived but . . . ” from Brutarian.

Oof. Not a good day.

At the suggestion of JJA of F&SF (!), I’ve started researching a subgenre spotlight article for the Internet Review of Science Fiction on cyberpunk. He saw a discussion I had with Ellen Datlow (!) on the Tangent newsgroup, and sent me an email saying that since I seemed knowledgeable on the subject, I should write this essay and submit it to IROSF. AND he said I could tell the editor he referred me.

I’m still dealing with the fact that I had the temerity to actually engage in a discussion/debate with Ellen Datlow. And now JJA sends me an email saying I can use him as a referral. Eep. I feel like the smallest, wide-eyed upgrade in the circuitry bin.

So I queried John Frost, the editor person of IROSF and he’s interested. Need to swing by the bookstore and/or library to shore up some of the gaps in my reading list repertoire. Making good inroads into the article.

Wing stubs giving me grief today. Started feeling them last night as I hunched over our desktop system. While I applaud the use of CSS in web development, I find it incredibly annoying when people lock a font size in which is teeny-tiny, so I have to squint and strain to read the text. Also topping my list of infuriating web developers: people who use dark red print on a black background. Not only is my eyesight screaming bloody murder, but my wretched posture, prolonged for several hours, has aggravated by TOS. Ouch. Might be time to break out the Clonazepam again.

Writing Stuff:
Read and started writing the review of this week’s Sci-Fiction story, “Volunteers” by Alex Irvine, for Tangent. Ye olde editor has again faded into some mystic unknown dimension. My reviews of the last two weeks still haven’t been published.

Heard from the editor of the Dreams and Shadows 2 anthology which I sold “Cyberevenge Inc.” to that he found a publisher for it–Cyberpulp. I’ve got mixed feelings about that. On the one hand, it’s always good when a project gets green-lighted. On the other, I’ve been intentionally not submitting to the Cyberpulp anthologies because I’ve been uncertain about their business model. They don’t seem to provide hardcopy contributor’s copies to their writers, among other issues, plus their anthologies seem to be primarily aimed at the eBook market, and I still much prefer the look and feel of paper. I’m not going to pull the story, as I knew it wasn’t going to be a big money-maker anyway, but I would have preferred it if the anthology had found a more traditional publisher.

Experimenting with stimulants today. Decided to eschew my usual coffee and just go with green tea to see if I could get a mellower pick-me-up. Surprising me, it seems to have worked. Now contemplating the major life change of swapping my coffee out for tea.

Writing Stuff:
600 new words on the revived story. I think it’s turning into some sort of fantasy mystery/adventure tale. I think. My rein on this baby is loose and frayed. Giddiyap.

Sent a query re: royalty status to the editor of the Asylum anthology series. So far, no word.

Been watching the discussion at Jim Van Pelt’s author topic at the Speculations Rumor Mill about submission volumes per market. To go with it, read with some interest Andrew Burt’s 2003 article on SFreader.com where he asked various editors what their average monthly submission numbers were.

According to Andrew’s article, the numbers range from 850 per month (Asimov’s) for the top markets to as little as a mere handful for the smaller ones (25-50 for Oceans of the Mind).

Of course, whether or not a writer sells to a market isn’t a numbers game. Editors don’t randomly reach into their slush pile and pluck out a story to publish. The numbers do give a bit of an idea of how much competition one’s little story is facing. But in the end, publication success comes down to keeping at it–writing, submitting, and then more writing. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

Or, as Jim Van Pelt so much more articulately puts it:
“ . . . success in writing comes from perseverance. Perseverance in learning how to tell the stories you have within you to tell, and then perseverance in marketing. Most people don’t persevere. Writing a story is beyond most folks. Actually getting up the nerve to find out where to mail it and then putting it into the mail is beyond many of the folk who write a story. Sticking with it after the first rejections is beyond many more.

“Staying with it long enough to sell work, and then to sell it consistently, really is the writers’ version of making the Olympics.“

Dreamed I cut my knee on broken glass, and when I woke up, I could still feel the pain from it. Brains are funky things.

Matthew and I saw I, Robot yesterday. (What follows should be spoilerless.) I liked the end credit to Asimov: “Suggested by Isaac Asimov’s I, Robot.” Suggested seems so much more fitting than “based upon.”

Aside from the terribly predictable storyline, indicative of not-very-inspired screenplay writers, I liked it. Yes, Will Smith’s acting appears to be quite limited in that he seems to always plays the exact same character–smart-ass, physical dumb guy. But my, he’s become quite buff. I assume it was for the Ali film he did, but he’s gotten a really impressive physique–a fact not lost on either him or the filmmakers. The gratuitous shirt off shots and the shower scene were an obvious attempt to increase the titillation factor. Of course, I like being titillated, and I quite enjoyed ogling Smith’s attractive, naked butt, but it was still gratuitous. I’m also tired of seeing intellectuals being panned in favor of the stupid, but that’s been going on forever. It made it hard for me to like Smith’s character, but all the EFX made it easy to get lost in all the CGI violence. Full of flash and zing. Nice, escapist fare. Fun. Not deep or meaningful, but fun.

Writing Stuff:
On faerie_writer‘s suggestion, I broke out my children’s picture book publishers guidelines and compiled a submission packet for “Second Daughter.” Sending it out tomorrow. Why can’t we have postal service on Sunday? *whine*

No new words. Need to adhere rear end to chair.

Slept like a lump last night. Tipped over after dinner, woke up briefly at midnight to get ready for bed, and then fell back asleep. Laid down with Hobkin nestled under my chin, and woke up in the exact same position when my alarm went off. Seems like both of us got a good night’s rest.

Writing Stuff:
It was confirmed by John Betancuort of Wildside Press that all DNA Publications titles will be part of the new 15K distribution deal. So not only will HPL get a circulation bump, but so will Dreams of Decadance! (And, of course, all the other DNA mags I haven’t sold to . . . yet). Sweet.

Did a couple Critters critiques. Good stories actually, better than the usual stuff. (#9714 & #9709 if anyone is keeping track.)

Took a stab at re-working “Blind Love.” Decided to take gardenwaltz‘s suggestion and intersperse the text with stanzas from classic works to punctuate the myth. I’m uneasy about it, as I’ve never done it before, but it does frame the story nicely. And I decided that I really didn’t like the title “Blind Love” and have re-titled it “Caught Between a Twofold Way” which I like much better. Although it’ll still go up in the Critters queue as “Blind Love” since Andrew uses the title as the key field and if I changed it, I’d lose my place in the queue. I think it’s one or two more passes away from being at the first draft stage. Making progress.

Received a #2 form rejection from Asimov’s signed by Sheila Williams with an invitation to send more. Not as good as a personalized rejection, or, of course, a sale, but better than the “you can’t write, you dope!” #1 form.

And again my sleep was off. It was Hobkin’s turn to be restless last night. Every time I’d get settled, he’d decide he wanted down, and climb over me (waking me up in the process) before hopping to the floor. Then when I’d fallen back asleep, he’d decide he’d want snuggles and clamber up beside me, and wouldn’t settle until I pet him–forcing me to wake up again. Repeat. And repeat. And repeat.

My eyes feel scoured by sand. Oof. Was he getting back at me for Monday night? Now there’s a scary thought.

Ran out of herbal tea at work so grabbed some “Japanese Wild Cherry” tea from Teavana that we had lying around before heading in. Didn’t realize that it was green tea and not herbal. So I had caffeinated tea with my caffeinated coffee. *twitch* There’s a fine line between caffeine happiness and caffeine misery. I long jumped over it.

Writing Stuff:
I got a note from Carina! She’s definitely passing my story from this batch of Realms of Fantasy slush to Shawna! Woohoo!

I also got Ann Crispin’s and Victoria’s Strauss’ permission to post blurbs from their critiques of “Running on Two Legs” on my website. *preen*

On the writing progress front, my imagination has been captured by Persian Mythology. Currently reading a translation of The Book of Kings. I love ancient mythos.

Slept like crap last night. Don’t know what it was, but I couldn’t sink into a deep sleep state. First I was too hot (kicked the comforter off), then too cold (frantic groping for comforter on the floor), then my neck couldn’t get comfy no matter how I punched up my pillow, and then despite all the white noise going on in my head, every time I shut my eyes, they popped back open again. Dammit.

Hobkin ran off early to sleep under his hutch, in some disgust with all my tossing and turning.

Managed to get a bit of light napping in, but eventually got up an hour before my alarm from a fitful sleep. Sleep is stupid. *grumble*

I spent the day cranky and red-eyed. Fortunately I don’t have to deal with people very much in my day-to-day work environment. I suspect I would have been quite snappish to anyone who came close enough for me to take a bite out of.

Writing Stuff:
Heard from the editor of The Third Alternative that “Running on Two Legs” will likely be in issue #40, which I believe will be their Winter 2004 issue. Unfortunately, he doesn’t have a PayPal account, so he’s going to pay me via check in pounds. I wonder how large a lump of flesh my bank will excise from me to convert it to dollars.

Still haven’t received a BFoD from Carina of Realms of Fantasy from this batch of slush. Could that mean my story is being sent on to Shawna? According to the website, it was read on the 7th and it’s almost two weeks later. Usually Carina sends out rejections the same day she reads a manuscript. Oh, I can’t stand it! I’m going to query her. I’m very glad Carina is so cool about queries. She’s the best first reader RoF has ever had, IMO.

Still waiting to hear from Shawna on my previous story sent on to her from the last batch too. *twitch*

Matthew finally first-readered “Blind Love.” Ugh. Okay, I knew this probably wasn’t his sort of story, but I didn’t take into account that he’d have nearly zero frame of reference for it. It’s a modern day Greek myth retelling. (Which myth I’ll not say as there are several Critters on my LJ Friends List who might read it when it bubbles up the queue.) Now my hubby is well read and quite literate, more literate than I would normally expect the average reader to be. Furthermore, our brains are typically in amazingly close sync.

And this story totally didn’t work for him. He didn’t have enough familiarity with the original myth to have any resonance with it, and so it was nearly meaningless on that front. And without the myth subtext, it’s rather deflated.

Now I don’t know what to do. I’m going to take some of his suggestions and do a rewrite, but now I’m wracked with doubt and wondering if the thing is salvageable. Guess I’ll wait to see what the folks at Critters think of it.