Published…AGAIN!

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I could have hardly expected success again so soon, but it has been given to me! Last night I got an email from Library of Horror Press that they will be publishing my story titled “Infestation” in their upcoming collection “Fearology 2: Beware All Animals Great and Small.”

I’m pretty stoked about this whole affair. Not only am I getting published again, but I found out that on this occasion my story is one out of only 23 that were picked for the anthology, and that was out of over 140 submissions! That’s about fifteen percent! And, on top of all that, I’m actually going to get paid for this one! Paid! Someone is giving me money for a story that I wrote! Can you believe that? I’m being compensated for the work I put into a story. In this economy, that’s slightly staggering to the mind that there’s a place out there giving writers money for words. I have to say I’m pretty dang pleased to be one of those people!

As soon as I have more information on the issue – when it is coming out, where it can be purchased, all that jazz – I will update here.

I celebrated last night by having some cake and ice cream (with whipped cream!) with a friend. She asked me how I planned to celebrate further, and I said, “I’m going to write more and send out more stuff.” It seems to me that a pretty good way to celebrate something that you’re good at doing is by continuing to do that thing, and so I shall. I hope to have further publication news for you as time passes. It’s obviously possible for me to get some work out there, now I just need to work harder at it and see what the results will be from that work!

I AM FREAKING PUBLISHED!!!!

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Check it out, dudes!!!! The August 2010 issue of Skive Magazine – the vampire issue! http://www.skivemagazine.com/ The story is titled “Luna,” and I’ll not really go into what it’s about, save that it’s obviously about fanged people.

I’ve been published before, but never for fiction. This is a first! Sweet! This is the beginning of my published fiction history!

A friend of mine commented on my announcement, and our friendship goes back a few years, with an initial shared interest in writing. She said we were discussing writing while she was in her old apartment, which she moved out of in 2006, “so it’s been a while.” I guess I’m seeing the payoff of persistence here, and it’s good to know that rather than sitting around and worrying about what the outcome might be, I just went ahead and wrote!

Okay, now I think I’ll celebrate by writing and submitting more stuff!

Salvo number three fired!

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It seems I’m building up a bit of a head of steam here. Today I managed to get another short story sent out to another publisher, Library of Horror Press! This is the third story I’ve sent out in three months, which makes it a record for me in the number of submissions I’ve submitted within one year. I realize that three per year isn’t exactly anything to write home about, but it is something to blog about. After all, it was only a few short years ago that I wasn’t even writing anything, and then I was writing and not submitting. Then there was writing and submitting one piece. Now we’re up to three pieces. Progress, kids, progress. That’s what we strive for here. Maybe one day I’ll be celebrating getting my 20th submission in six months. Or maybe a single novel? It’s impossible to say, but the facts remain that I’m doing more writing work now than I used to, and that’s nothing but good.

The latest submission is a piece I have sent out before, but I did some editing before I sent it out again. None of the changes were really large. I feel they tightened things up a bit, hopefully added a few bits for clarity, and overall made it a better read. The previous editor’s personal rejection told me that he really enjoyed the piece, but that he was short on space by the time I submitted it. I’m getting this one in over three weeks prior to the deadline, so maybe I’ve given myself a better chance of seeing it in print. One can hope.

The story I submitted early this July has not been responded to yet. I’m concerned, as it states on the site that acknowledgment of reception is usually given within 24 hours. I’m primarily concerned, because I’ve already identified another market for this same story, should it be rejected. I don’t want it to be stuck in limbo and only find out after this other deadline has passed that they somehow never got mine. As this second submission deadline closes in I may have to write and inquire. It’s too bad if they didn’t receive it, as I understand that they personally respond to ever single submission, and feedback from publishers is always nice. When you’re not getting paid, feedback is currency.

We shall see how all this pans out. In the meantime, I’ve come across another market I’d like to submit for, but this one has the caveat that the deadline is in three days, and I literally have to write the entire story from nothing in that time. I’m excited about the story idea, but not sure if I can make it happen. I think I’m going to give it a shot, though. It sounds like a fun story – creepy things in the depths of the ocean! Who can resist?!

Back in the game

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It’s been hard to keep up with posting pics, partly because I don’t seem to be turning out any notable pics lately, at least not ones that I find to be particularly moving or exciting from my own perspective. That, and, well, it’s just really hard to keep up! The effect that has had on the blog related to other postings is that I…haven’t posted. I’m trying to change that a little, and since I have news today, I’m not going to wait until I’ve gotten caught up on a month’s worth of photo postings to do it.

Yesterday was a pretty friggin’ awesome day in the world of personal accomplishments. For one, I FINALLY put the R90S up on Ebay after having posted some internet ads and gotten little interest. Ebay was kind of the final choice, and it’s a little scary having that thing up there and knowing that in seven days (hopefully) it will be sold. It’s been a big responsbility owning that bike, and it feels like a big responsibility selling it. I’ll be glad to let it go and move on to other pursuits, not to mention using the cash to pay some bills. That’ll feel good, freeing.

In news directly related to creativity, yesterday I made another story submission! Woohoo! Rock! *bows to self in admiration*
I was writing in my journal yesterday morning things like, “I really haven’t done anything creative related to sculpture or writing in at least two months, and this is the stuff I REALLY want to do! I need to do it!” Somehow that got me all revved up, and that afternoon I took a look at Duotrope’s Digest and realized that there was a deadline for a vampire anthology coming up in 1.5 days. Lucky me, I had just such a story in my files (Ah, the benefits of finishing things! Now I have files of completed stories!)

I checked the submission guidelines and realized that my story was going to need some serious editing if it was going to make the requirements. The word limit was 2,500, and mine was at 3,700. Ack – just a little on the high side! However, I was determined, plus I thought the story couldn’t hurt from some editing, and I wanted to see what would happen if I grabbed a machete and started hacking.

It took a while, but a few hours later I found myself sitting in front of my screen looking at the word counter which read 2,456 words. Sweet! I put together a quick email, added some probably unnecessary biographical info, and shot it off into the etherwebz. There’s no pay for this thing, even if it does get accepted, but at least it got me off my butt and got me writing/rewriting. Now I’ve sent in yet another submission for this year. I may be at a record of TWO whole stories submitted within a year. Woah! Yeah, I think I’ll try and shatter that record with an additional submission. I’ve found another that looks likely, and I think I’ll try my luck there. That one even pays. Payment for writing – what a concept! We’ll see. For now I’m happy to be back in the process. Good times.

Beale Street

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Sadly, my trip had to come to an end. I was on my way back from New Orleans to Indianapolis today, and I stopped for the night in Memphis. The easy way to do it put me right near Beale Street, so I went down there and hung out for a bit. I’m pretty picky about music, and I didn’t really see anyone that particularly sparked my interest, so I grabbed some dinner at one of the fine establishments and called it a night.

Street poetry

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Man, we went out Saturday night to hear music and check out what a typical night in the French Quarter was like. The bands we heard were excellent, but one little thing that really knocked me out was out on the street there were three or four people sitting there with typewriters and they were writing poetry While-You-Wait! It was awesome! I wish I would have had time to talk to them. What a cool idea! Talk about putting yourself into the process.

New Orleans houses

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Man, I could not believe the architecture all around town. This was shot while we were on a street car ride down near St. Charles Street. It’s along the parade route, and in many of the trees you can see beads hanging that got caught while being thrown from the floats. They just stay up there all year long. I suppose it’s much more festive than, say, leaving your Christmas tree lights up on the porch all year long.

Standing watch

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It was so hard to pick a photo which summed up my first full day in the Crescent City. This was a striking image I captured at the end of the day, though. It’s the top of a cemetery monument. The cemeteries here really are as amazing as everyone says. I didn’t even have to get out of the car to shoot this. We were sitting at a red light when I got it.

Metal sculpture!

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Fairhope, Alabama is very encouraging of the arts. Hot as it was while I was there, we still managed to get out and see some of it. This sculpture garden had some fantastic work. Unfortunately, I forgot to get the name down of the sculptor. I took a bunch of pictures. I envied this artist’s raw material! Such great stock from which to work!