Happy Candy Day!

My kids just wanted a little time on the ol' blog
I thought I would let them. Happy trick or treating.

Good luck to everyone participating in NaNo tomorrow. At least we will have enough chocolate to get us through November this way (That is why they have it in November, free chocolate in October.)

Damn my crystal ball

Okay so I was right, I heard back from Time and Space. It was a quasi-nice personalized rejection letter, saying they liked it but. . .no thank you. So I reformatted the story and sent it off to Apex Digest.

Remarkably I also heard back from Boston Review, although it was on my blog and not in my email, from the publicity guru there. I don't know how he found my blog but I welcome him to read my posts any day he wants. But, other than that, I haven't heard from the 'review' officially. I can guess what their response will be.

I am not making any more predictions, at least for awhile, because they are becoming to frequently true (I won't tell you about what I think of the civil war we are about to have, forget about the grey and the blue, more like blue and red. I may have told you too much already)

Just a second, i have to answer the door, some guys in dark sunglasses and darker suits, talking into their thumbs. I be back in just a second-

As I gaze into my crystal ball . . .

I am going to make my predictions about which markets I will hear from next. By next I mean the next two weeks. That is all the further my psychic ability goes. My last ones were pretty spot on. I had a couple that took longer than I thought but overall I did pretty good. Unfortunately all the responses were negative so I don't know if I want to put a lot of credence in this. So without further ado:
My next three responses from editors:
1. Winter Solstice- this one has been out to Time and Space for long enough. This was a story that got an honorable mention in the Return to Luna antho but didn't make the final cut. I should hear back soon.

2. Open graves- Boston Review. Really. I am right on their average so any day now I should hear back from them. (Can they throw a new guy a bone, please)

I actually have a few others that I should hear back from any time now but I am not going to go out on a limb and say it is in the next two weeks. Three maybe. But two? I don't know.

Now for the fun part of today. I get to replace a drafty window in my kitchen that is at least 80 years old if not older. Should be a good time and I should make a horrid mess doing it. My wife will probably not want to speak to me after she sees the carnage inflicted.

I will get right on that after my next 1000 words in my re-write. (Still on schedule to get 15000 words done before NaNo.)

In case I don't make another entry before November 1. Good luck to all involved in the month of November and the 50,000 word dash that ensues. If you want to include me as a writing buddy I am jeyberg74.

Happy Monday

I am late getting to the old blog here today. My internet was down yesterday and didn't come back until just now so- (Darn heavy winds blowing antenna down)

On Friday I almost doubled my rejection count for the month. I got two more. One from a story I have had circulating for almost a year. It was one of my first attempts back at writing and I believe my very first attempt at something in the horror vein. I am debating about rewriting it and keeping it in circulation or shelving it for another day.

The other story I got a 'jection for is a literary piece and I will be the first to admit that I am sending it to some fairly large markets so I don't feel quite as bad when I get it back. On the other hand, I am running out of good paying markets for it and I am going to have to delve deeper to find one for it. I still really like the story. That and it is one of the few stories of mine that my wife likes so I am going to keep at it until I find a market for it.

In other news. I was watching the new Christian Slater television show "My Own Worst Enemy." very intersting. While I was watching it I came up with a complete non sequiter and came up with an idea for a new story. Unfortunately, I think it is a book length idea and not a short story idea so now I am faced with two ideas for NaNo. I might have two months of novel writing if that is the case. December could suck just as bad as November for me.

Either that or if one idea peters out on me I can start on the other one. (heh, heh, heh)

Going's on

Well, my new goal for the end of the month, which is coming up next week already (sheesh!) is to complete 15,000 words in Big Chief my YA book. I am nearing the 12,000 word mark on it and I would like to be, by my estimation, close to half-way done before the end of the month. Then I will feel like I could make the mad dash into NaNo with a clear conscience. Not as clear as having the whole thing done, but I can deal with half.

In other news, I recieved my copy of A DemonMinds Halloween. It is actually pretty well done and I am happy to have a story in it. Solitaire, and Other Games Children Play was a story that I enjoyed writing, perhaps more than 90% of the other stories I have written this year. Felicity Dowker has a story in it as well. I haven't had a chance to read that one yet.

Oh, and just for fun I included a picture of my library, it was a must have room that we put into an addition on our house. It is made from walnut if any of you were wondering and yes, I did all the work myself. Even the fireplace surround is custom made. Two walls are solid bookcases, there are two leather chairs on the opposite wall and the exposed walls are painted a classic library red, which my wife will tell you was worth it even though it took several coats to get even coverage.

Inspiration

Yesterday, Aaron had a post concerning the reasoning behind his writing. It was a thoughtful discussion with himself and it made me think. (Thanks a lot Aaron, now my brain hurts) I began to think about the inspirations for my writing. What works have inspired me, touched me, reached out with a 2x4 and cracked me upside the skull. It was a pretty good list to be brutally honest. I have decided to narrow it down to ten pieces, and here they are in no particular order:

1. My Side of the Mountain, by Jean Craighead George. I read this book over and over as a boy, it helped me find a voice.

2. Stuart Little, E.B.White. More than The Elements Of Style with his mentor, this book showed me there are no limits to the imagination and it can be said very precisely.

3. The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien. What can I say. It is The Hobbit. What a world to create.

4. Rage, Richard Bachman (Stephen King). How prophetic and real can a book be and still be considered fiction. And this was an early work.

5. The Painted Bird, Jerzy Kosinski. A haunting WWII story that very well could have been true. The imagery still sticks with me.

6. Fear, L.Ron Hubbard. Written on a train ride across country, it was a great ride in and of itself. A case of 'what if' and among the best of them.

7. The giving Tree, Shel Silverstein. Honestly, I could have included any book he ever wrote but I decided on this one. Simple storytelling, well chosen words, and a story that you never forget.

8. Sweets To the Sweet, Robert Bloch. One of the few short stories on the list. I have never forgotten the first true chill that words gave me when I read them.

9. The Hot Zone, Richard Preston. Truth is sometimes way more frightening than fiction.

10. A Continuity of Park, Julio Cortazar. Really, did you think I would be able to get away with this list without the namesake of my blog. If you haven't read it before you are missing out on one of the best flash fiction pieces ever written. It twists and loops on itself with precision and skill that I have never seen before but would like, someday, to mimic.

Yippee!

First, I want to thank Aaron for drawing my name out a hat and letting me win a copy of 'Tainted.' I look forward to reading it. I am jumping it to next in my reading list whenever it shows up.

Yesterday, my aunt K.A. Bye who has a series of children's books out from the Boys Town Press e-mailed me. She said some nice things about the not so nice things that I do to my characters on an almost daily basis and, although I don't know if she will read this, I wanted to thank her. That and I wanted to plug her books which can be found at Barnes and Noble

My imagination is running wild with ideas for NaNo at this point. My cup seriously overfloweth. I just hope I can keep it up until the end of November. Still no new news from any editors. Just crossing my fingers that good news is on the way.