And they call this a holiday

Tomorrow may be the Independence Day but it is not a holiday, not around this house. I ave finished putting my edits into the computer and after reading the ending, for the 5th time on full read through, I am not happy with it. It seems to be missing something that I can't put my finger on. I think I may have to let this one simmer for a while longer and maybe change the POV that I tell the story from. Not what I want to do, but I think it will do the story more justice. Besides, it is only 23,000 words long so it won't take long to change it. I just have two POV's I would tell the story from. The third one I can't consider because they die in the end.

So, now that one project is filed until a later date I can focus on cleaning the house and building monkey bars for the kids. Tomorrow I bake some cookies and then we blow stuff up, or watch other people blow stuff up, legally. It is completely legal.

Also, before I go I want to give a shout out to Barry Napier who just had his collection, Debris, picked up by Library of Horror Press. If you haven't already, go on over and give him a virtual pat on the back. Even if you don't know him. He would like to meet you. He is a nice guy, really.

To all of you out there, have a good and safe weekend. Don't put sparklers near your eye or in your friends eye, although rude strangers- NO, Don't do that either.

Thirsty Thursday

the old stand by at the bars in Ames (and probably everywhere else) was Thirsty Thursday. The weekend is so close from here you can almost taste it. Regrettably, weekends don't mean as much to me as they used to. Granted I don't have to go to class anymore, but I also don't go to work anymore (The luxury of being a stay at home dad). This means Thursday is just another day and I hope to accomplish 2 things. 1. get another 25 pages of edits into the computer. 2. finish reading the non-fiction book I started 3 days ago. Everything else I want to do today is gravy.

I know I said earlier that my edits would take 2 or 3 days to input. They are going much slower than that. So far I have worked for 2 days on it (not a lot of time each day but as much as my life allows) and I am only half through the process. I almost dread the process I have in front of me with my MG book. It is only slightly longer and I am unsure how much work I have to do with it. It is a 3rd re-write of it so I am hoping it goes smoother.

In the meantime, I am enjoying the unseasonably cool weather we seem to be having right now. It isn't even cloudy, just cool. Mos of the day I can open the windows up and let the fresh air flow through the house. I also took the boy out yesterday to check the raspberries (and look for fuzzy woodland creatures) and can report that most of them are not yet ripe. But soon. . .

Hope everyone has a good day and if, for some reason, I don't post tomorrow and you live in the states, Happy Independence Day (that is the 4th of July)!

June in retrospect

I really can't believe June is gone already. It seems like just yesterday it was March. This year is breaking the speed limit or something. I don't know what.

So, let me think of what June was. Okay, after checking my records I wrote one flash piece for Shroud and edited and edited and then I edited some more, but I finished with my edits on Beneath These Walls. I also managed no rejections and two acceptances, although one was a reprint. I have, as of this morning, 11 stories out in sub land. I read two books this month and started a third (it is non-fiction and probably wouldn't interest most of you).

Now I have goals for July. My first writing goal is to finish putting all of my edits into the computer and print a copy for my wife to read. I then plan on putting her suggestions to good use and then submit it. My second goal is to finish my Vermin story and submit it. My Third and final goal is to edit my MG book, let my wife read that, use her suggestions and start shopping for agents this month. I think I just crammed way too much into my month.

Let the fun of July begin!

today is a good day

I finally finished my edits, on paper, yesterday. Today I plan on transferring some of those edits to the computer. I know this takes longer, but I feel that I am more thorough. I know I am an anomaly when it comes to this, but I don't care. I also seem to add a lot instead of cutting. Yes, there was some cutting, but I seemed to add as much or more back. I hope it made for a stronger story. I will know on the third read and more after my wife gives it a try.

In other news, I was excited to see that Duotrope has added a ton of new markets, most don't pay, but the markets are there. Also Apex magazine is back and accepting submissions. I just wish I had a story to send them. My mind is aflutter with new ideas and not a single one is short story length. Am I alone in this?

I hope to start making my posts a little more timely and not so sporadic as they have become. I appologize for this. Have a great Tuesday.

the post of 7 sins

"Sometimes you can learn more about a person by what they don’t tell you. Sometimes you can learn a lot from the things they just make up. If you are tagged with this Meme, lie to me. Then tag 7 other folks (one for each deadly sin) and hope they can lie."

Carrie Harris tagged me for this one. I am trying to figure out why. I am not funny and I don't like to lie, unless I have a good reason for it or I just think the truth doesn't sound right.

Anyway, here are my answers...

Pride: What is your biggest contribution to the world?

My biggest contribution to the world would have to be the internet. It was during my tenure in congress that I took the initiative to pass legislation to invent the internet.

Envy: What do your coworkers wish they had which is yours?

When I worked with people they were jealous of my yard. The way I have to mow it every week and the lovely shade of dandelion yellow it turns every spring. Others wished they had my ability to make up words while dealing with mechanical things.

Gluttony: What did you eat last night?

I made a delicious meal of leftovers with some new food thrown underneath for texture.

Lust: What really lights your fire?

I like to use a kindling of small sticks and those lighters that are long with the electronic clicker. Then put the larger pieces of kindling on top and finally the logs that you will roast the marshmallows with.

Anger: What is the last thing that really pissed you off?

People talking in movies. even worse, people having conversations with the actors in the movies. I could tell you about the woman yelling at Wesley Snipes while we were watching Blade.

Greed: Name something you keep from others.

My credit card information. That would be silly to give to others. I don't know you.

Sloth: What's the laziest thing you've ever done?

Nothing. What is lazier than that?

Well, that was fun. For the next people to do this (and you don't have to if you don't want to. You can be slothful- really, its okay) I pick Cate, Aaron, Jameson, Barry, and BT.

Now, go forth and enjoy the weekend. Happy Friday everyone!

Thursday, already

I can't believe how fast this week is going. Yesterday, before the boy woke up, I managed to get another 2500 words edited in the ol' novella. Just 30 pages to go (7500 words) I hope to get through that today. I seemed to have really found my stride in the second half of it and haven't had nearly as many notes on the page as I did the first half. I hope this holds up. Although I am thinking of changing the ending. Not really changing the ending, but more like changing how the ending comes about. If that makes any sense.

I also managed a nice lunch out with the wife yesterday at a local Chinese restaurant. It was nice, and good food. Don't ask what I had. I end up butchering the spelling of whatever we eat. If it wasn't for Oscar Mayer I wouldn't know how to spell bologna.

If anyone is interested, I came across this editorial by JA Konrath about the whole free vs pay market on e-books. Interesting article. it is here. He also wrote an article about his own sales online (I found it interesting, I don't know if you will) Here I know that these numbers don't apply to me (I have never had a best seller, or a pro sale for that matter) but numbers still fascinate me.

Hope everyone has a good Thursday. Have a productive, virus free, acceptance filled day!

Yesterday was a good day

I have to say I liked yesterday. I might have to mark June 22, 2009 down in my list of good days, like my wedding anniversary, the birth of my children and my birthday. I got not one, but two acceptances yesterday. This made me feel pretty good, considering I hadn't heard from an editor, good or bad, since May 9. One was for my story Undertow, which is actually a sequel of sorts to the story I submitted to the Dead Bait anthology (and subsequently rejected) and the other was actually a reprint of a story that I enjoyed writing immensely. Solitaire and other Games Children Play was accepted into a witch anthology. It was odd because I had never really thought of reprints. It is nice when a story does double duty.

To top it all off I managed to get one thing done on my list from yesterday. The yard has been mowed (now I need to take the weedeater to it).

Because we are in a heat advisory today, with temperatures nearing 100 degrees and a feels like temp of 105-110, I am staying inside today. It will be a good day to work on my edits, and maybe read a book. Maybe I could read the Necrotic Tissue that I received in the mail yesterday. Whatever I do I am not going to get to the weedeater today.

Time to get some work done. Have a good day.