Well, well, well! Kerlak Publishing's Dreams of Steam has a cover and a book trailer! It also includes a story called "Dead Man's Hand," by some guy whose name looks almost exactly like mine.
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Where Was I?
Oh, yeah... Finished "The Merlin House" and set it loose into the wild (cross fingers). In a way, it's a riff on the same ideas as the "backwards" episode of Red Dwarf, only done with horror instead of humor. Also, I repolished last year's flash fiction piece "Tag" and sent it off as well.
I'd like to trim down "Venera" again before I send her back out into the slush pile jungle. It did okay at Writers of the Future, but I'm learning that I'm sending stories off to that contest before they're really ready. I'll have to make sure I take a little more time on the next one.
Also, I'm taking one last slog through The Blood Prayer. It's been long enough since the last time I swam through it that I'm finding lots and lots of stuff to fix, plus coming up with more and more ways to flesh it out. Goal: 95,000 words, more or less. Then on to the sequel, then Book III for Nano.
On another front, it looks like I've been accepted to A.C. Crispin's master class for novelists at Dragon*Con this year, which I'll be taking in addition to her two-day basic writing course. Can't wait!
I'd like to trim down "Venera" again before I send her back out into the slush pile jungle. It did okay at Writers of the Future, but I'm learning that I'm sending stories off to that contest before they're really ready. I'll have to make sure I take a little more time on the next one.
Also, I'm taking one last slog through The Blood Prayer. It's been long enough since the last time I swam through it that I'm finding lots and lots of stuff to fix, plus coming up with more and more ways to flesh it out. Goal: 95,000 words, more or less. Then on to the sequel, then Book III for Nano.
On another front, it looks like I've been accepted to A.C. Crispin's master class for novelists at Dragon*Con this year, which I'll be taking in addition to her two-day basic writing course. Can't wait!
Monday, June 28, 2010
Quick Note
Just got Honorable Mentioned again at Writers of the Future, so I guess I better get serious on queueing up another story.
WotF's honorable mentions are nice - they're the nicest form rejection letter you can receive - but they still don't tell much except that you're in the upper few percent of the marginally competent. What I find myself wondering, though, is if a story doesn't even make the semi-finals, is it even worth sending out to other pro markets? Logic would say "Of course" because you never know what another editor will think. Impatience says to go ahead and get it out there to the semi-pros, just so you can put it behind you.
Right now, a more polished draft of my first Wotf HM story is sitting in the slush pile at one of the "Big Three" scifi digests, so I guess I'll see how that one fares before making any rash decisions.
WotF's honorable mentions are nice - they're the nicest form rejection letter you can receive - but they still don't tell much except that you're in the upper few percent of the marginally competent. What I find myself wondering, though, is if a story doesn't even make the semi-finals, is it even worth sending out to other pro markets? Logic would say "Of course" because you never know what another editor will think. Impatience says to go ahead and get it out there to the semi-pros, just so you can put it behind you.
Right now, a more polished draft of my first Wotf HM story is sitting in the slush pile at one of the "Big Three" scifi digests, so I guess I'll see how that one fares before making any rash decisions.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Statement of Intent
Now that I'm past the 100-page mark on my 7th or 8th draft (I've lost count) of Nightfall in Majadan/The Blood Prayer, I'm going to take a break for a week and start over on my time travel story, "The Merlin House." The deadline for a certain anthology I'd like to send it to is July 4, so I've got that much time to wrestle this sucker into existence.
As you were.
As you were.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)