does everyone have this problem?

I seem to get more re-write requests than the average writer. I don't know why, but they all say the same thing. "We are willing to look at it again but you need to expand on -" one idea or another in the story. I know a lot of people overwrite their stories and I seem to underwrite them. I don't know if it is the flash fiction writer in me or the lazy writer in me. Editor's are asking questions of my characters that I thought were pretty obvious or I didn't think I needed to waste valuable words on.

That being said, I do think that most of my stories come out for the better once they are re-written, it usually only takes a line or two to clear things up but I was just wondering, is this a problem I am alone on or does this happen to everyone on occasion? I know that Stephen King said in his book "On Writing" (wonderful book, if you haven't read it I recommend it.) To cut out at least 10% after you are done, just to make it less convoluted. I seem to have the opposite problem. I need to add another 10%. My problem is I don't know what 10% to add.

Have a great rest of the day. At least it isn't snowing here!

Month 2, Day 1, Jamie 0

February is upon us and the warm air that my place was blessed with yesterday is gone. It did not get warm enough to melt all of the snow despite getting close to 60 degrees (I still have 30 inch piles of, now dirty, white stuff all over the yard). It is supposed to warm a little later on this week. Just as long as we don't get any more snow I will be happy. My snowthrower has operated more than it should have this year.

Now it is is time for *January in Review*-

January was actually a pretty good month, by my estimation. I wrote 2 flash pieces and two short stories. One of the flash pieces was accepted by Flashes in the Dark and will be on the website the 25th of this month. I had eight stories rejected and I have 17 stories out in sub land (the longest being to Another Sky Horror Antho at 388 days, the shortest being to Necrotic Tissue from last week) I have two stories, should they get rejected, will be retired. I managed to write a couple of thousand words in my book, Invasion.

I also managed to read or finish or start: Deep and Dark and Dangerous (YA book but a very good ghost story), The Poisoned Apple (Hello Cate!), and I am half-way through Just After Sunset by Mr. King. I have also been reading through Shroud #4 (Much different than I though it would be but I am enjoying it immensely).

I don't know what my plans for this month are yet, other than editing the hell out of my short stories and possibly finishing draft #1 of Invasion. I have a slew of books to start on if I want to (Money Shot, Return to Luna, Zombie Haiku-and that is just to start) and I will be turning another year older this month, to be celebrated by opening up a well chilled can or bottle of beer (hell, you could tap a Keg. I won't argue, just be sure to invite me over) and drinking with a medium rare steak and fried potato and onions.

Hope the weekend is going well and I look forward to seeing the progress we all make in the next month.

Spring can come any day now.

I had the pleasure and opportunity to scoop the drifting and blowing snow in my driveway twice this weekend. I think that means of the seven days in a week I managed to push snow at least 6 times. I think it has melted enough to form a crust that the wind can't get under now. I should be safe until the next snowstorm.

I got absolutely no writing done this weekend although I am reading an interesting YA book called Deep and Dark and Dangerous. It is a ghost story at its root and is very well done. I might finish it today instead of doing my own writing. My problem with reading is I usually only have about ten minutes a day to actually read (time where I feel like I don't need to be doing something else, like pour an idea into my computer or laundry, sometimes dishes) this is one of the reasons I love the short story so much as well. I feel like I can get into it more quickly and finish most short stories in a quick read instead of having do devote countless hours to one story. For a writer I read pathetically little. I need to change this. I think it would, doubtless, improve my writing.

Just my random thought of the day. Happy Monday to everyone.

Worth looking into

I sent off my story to Dead Bait and got a nice little acknowledgment letter back promptly. I thought about it a minute, checked my records and realized I didn't received any such thing for the 2012 AD story I had sent out last week. I wrote the editor and asked if he had received it. He had not. I was glad I asked. I promptly resent it and got a nice little acknowledgment letter. This is the second time this week where I have had to ask an editor the where abouts of a story and the second time I have gotten news that it was a) with an editor that was no longer with them or b) it hadn't made it there at all. What are the chances.

As I was saying. I did go over my Dead Bait piece yesterday. It read better than I thought it might. I changed a few lines, changed some words and some verb tense re-read it, changed some more things, re-read that and sent it off. I hope it doesn't suck. I really like the ending. I don't know what I will work on today. I think I have most of my short stories out of me for the moment but I am not 100 percent sure.

It made it down to -24 below last night (that is Fahrenheit) but by the time I had to take my daughter out to meet the bus it was 0. It almost felt warm. Almost. Speaking of my daughter, she lost her first tooth last night. The tooth fairy is much nicer than she was when I was a kid. I didn't realize inflation had gone up that much, either that or I got the cheap tooth fairy.

A balmy -23 F or -30.5 C

Damn it is cold outside. I am not even going to attempt to start a car that hasn't been garaged overnight. At least my snow thrower worked yesterday afternoon and it didn't drift back overnight for once this week.

Received bad news in my inbox this morning. Apex declined my story. I am currently seeking a new market for this piece after I go over it one more time. Just for peace of mind on my end. It is a longer story (4300 words) and the only 'true' science fiction story I have ever written so markets are hard to come by. (It doesn't help that I have only sent it out to professional markets so far and received positive feedback. the only reason I am doing that is it came in as an honorable mention in the Return to Luna antho, which is a darn good book by the way.) Once I run out of pro markets I will work my way down the scale. I think it will find a home. I just don't know where.

I also received an email from Stefanie Freele at the Dogs: wet and dry antho and my flash piece is still in the running. That made me happy.

so let me see, I still haven't gotten an acceptance this year, but I now have one hold. Better than a sharp stick in the eye. I still think I am on track to send out my Dead Bait story tomorrow, or maybe Saturday depending on how tomorrow goes. I am not going to rush it just to meet a self imposed deadline.

Hope everyone has a warm and productive day, so stop reading blogs on the office computer and get to work.

Happy weekend

Well, here we are on a Saturday and I am posting. Heck, just about everyone seems to be posting today so I don't feel so bad.

I have officially sent off my 2012 AD story, Fate's Hand in Mortal Affairs. I am pretty happy the way it ended although I hope it doesn't read like I wanted to finish it quickly and tacked an ending on it. I then got a good start on my Dead Bait story. I have re-used Mr. Calloway and a familiar pond from another story. I call it re-using but he is really just the set-up. We are introduced to him and he is already dead, or presumed so. I will be curious to see how this one plays out on paper.

I know what you are thinking, 'he told us he was only going to work on one short story a month and here it is the 10th and he is on his second short.' You are right, but inspiration struck and I hope future editors can enjoy the moment like I am.

Other than that I am planning a very quiet weekend. My wife ended up working and on call so the only things we will be doing this weekend include getting groceries and going to her companies post Christmas party, at which she will be on call. That should be fun for me if she gets called out in the middle of dinner.

By the way, I really hate the weather people around here. They were calling for snow in NorthEast Iowa, nothing for where I live in West Central Iowa and we got nailed last night with several inches of the white stuff which I will now have to get the snowthrower out for. Darn Weathermaps and their 'predictions.'