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!
Congratulations! Looks like we’ll be sharing a TOC together. My story “Night of the Widow,” a story about spiders, was also one of the handful chosen for Fearology 2. So this was your first paid publication, as well? Excellent.
Look forward to reading your story, not to mention getting my hands on that book…
Alex, thanks for wandering over to my corner of the web. Great to hear from another Fearology author! I’m looking forward to reading yours and the other works as well when the anthology becomes available. I have this strong curiosity about the cover art for some reason – just can’t wait to see how it’s going to look! I hope, too, that the subject matter has brought out some creative story ideas.
I see you’ve read King and Bradbury. I read tons of King when I was in grade school and high school. I’ve been reading some Bradbury recently, along with that whole group of West Coast writers that hung together, like Charles Beaumont, Harlan Ellison, and Richard Matheson.
This would be my first paid fiction publication. I have done nonfiction work in the past, straight journalism. This fiction work is a new animal (pun not intended), and it is just like starting all over again.
Did you manage to whip something up for the Malicious Deviance anthology?
I looked at that one and, honestly, that whole idea freaked me out a bit. I’ve heard enough about people doing bad things in the world. I don’t need to write about it, at least not right now. Could be that at some point in the future, I may be feeling something that needs to be told through a story along these lines, but right now the quirky and darkly humorous are suiting me fairly well.
Did you get a submission off to them for it?
Yes, Fearology 2 was my first-ever submission to them, so the sale definitely motivated me to continue submitting to their anthologies. I sent in a story for Malicious Deviance the last day before the deadline, and now I’m thinking I’ll definitely submit to Fearology 3, Made You Flinch, and Rockets, Swords, and Rainbows. Having a few deadlines in the next few months has my mind digging deeper for more, and hopefully better, story ideas.
Good luck to you, and hopefully both our names will show up in the Fearology 3 TOC (which I suspect will be a really great batch of stories).
Alex, I’m still working on a short story for another market. I need to finish that one before I look at other opportunities. I also just got word on an agent who is interested in novels involving future dystopias, and I happen to have a rough draft of just such a thing. I wrote it back during last year’s NaNoWriMo (which is coming up in November, so check it out!), and told myself that the goal was to submit it to at least one agent. This seems like the perfect opportunity. I’m not necessarily trying to get it published, but I need to take the next step in regards to sending out submissions for novel-length work.
Report back with your progress on submissions – woud like to hear more!
Congratulations on the sale! I’m sure it’s exciting to have two acceptances so close together. Keep plugging away and I’m sure more will follow. I, too, will be published by Library of the Living Dead (the Library of Science Fiction and Fantasy division in Doomology: The Dawning of Disasters) soon, though I found your blog through Alex. It’s always nice to meet other writers online. If you’re looking for something to do, you’re welcome to stop by my blog. I blog about parenting my toddler as well as my writing exploits.
Tom, I’m planning on doing NaNoWriMo this year. I signed up a few months ago as ScienceFictionMommy. In fact, I’d intended for it to be the motivating factor to write my first novel, but then I went and got a novel idea that I just couldn’t wait that long to start, so I guess I’m doing two this year. Although it’ll be a challenge to get this one done first, since my pace has slowed. I was hoping to spend October outlining one for NaNo, but we’ll see.
Hi Tom –
I look forward to reading “Infestation” as soon as I get a copy of Fearology 2.
I thought I would pop in and say hello as I’ve also been accepted for “Revenge on Apex Mountain”.
This should be an excellent book. Have a good one!
-Michael
Thanks for dropping in, Michael. Yep, can’t wait to read the other stories myself. I keep hoping I’m going to see notice of the cover art being completed soon. Congrats on your acceptance!