Journal Entries
Procedural Progress
Posted Jan 19, 2016
Well, after misplacing my login information due to a nearly two-year stretch where I didn't have my own Internet and a shuffling about of three computers that happened almost *immediately* after h2g2 left the BBC's management, I've logged back in thanks to the work of the h2g2 staff. (Thanks again!)
This whole thing shouldn't have taken so long, of course. I have only myself to blame. If there's one thing I've learned about myself, though, it's that when there's a simple solution that involves more than two quick steps I get ridiculously flustered. By my count, this particular simple solution involved three steps, so naturally it took over a year of Internet access for me to figure it out.
All is well, though. I seem to have created an unintentional tradition wherein my story Three Virellium Coins always takes Winter off. That really wasn't planned, but it seems to be working out that way. If it happens again next year... assuming the story doesn't reach its conclusion before then... we'll know that it's something that I should just embrace, I think.
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Latest reply: Jan 19, 2016
Writing on the Run
Posted Sep 30, 2014
Over the past two months of releasing my serial adventure, I've realized that I need to write faster. This isn't entirely unexpected. As of yesterday, I uploaded the 25th episode (of the twenty-five that I made sure to have ready before publishing.) I still have a backlog of three weeks, so I've not been slacking off entirely, but I'd ideally like it to be closer to four weeks. (Granted, I got sick last week and haven't written as much this week due to it, so thoeretically I might've been on track... but that's not what happened, so naturally it's not how things are.)
The two things that I need to work on now that I have this as part of my regular schedule (apart from picking up the pace and writing faster) are figuring out if I have a big enough archive to justify advertising yet, and determining how to fit my *other* writing into everything. I have a few spec scripts I want to get written, a book to edit, and another book to write (and, of course, NaNoWriMo looms in the distance like some sort of monstrous literary tyrant.) The good news is that all of these problems fall under the spectrum of good problems, problems that wouldn't exist if good things weren't happening. The bad news is that they still remain as problems that need solving.
All in all, though, it's great.
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Latest reply: Sep 30, 2014
Angstromically Incremental Success
Posted Oct 23, 2013
Apparently, I sold a story (or "had a story accepted by an anthology" might be more connotatively correct) at the beginning of September without even noticing.
September, incidentally, was a very busy month for me. Not only did I not have Internet then (I'm approaching my tenth month without a personal net access) but it was also the very end of the seven-month moving process. Oh, and I was being sued multiple times for eviction from a house I no longer lived in. And my dad had a heart attack that led to a triple bypass (which failed after a week or two, but he's since had stints put in and feels better than he's felt in months.) Now, keep in mind that I've had my email address for a long time. Like, longer than I've had this h2g2 account. I do pretty good at fighting back Spam, but it gets cluttered sometimes. So, naturally, that's the moment an email gets sent to the cluttered email account asking me to get back to them within two weeks. 
Three fortnights later, I finally find that email and get back to them. Fortunately, they say that they'd had a lot of late responders and would still be interested in talking to me. No actual payment for inclusion, but they'd give me a free copy of the anthology along with a 25% discount on buying extra copies if I wished. That plus having something to put on a resume (do writers have resumes? Portfolios? Bibliographs?) seemed like a fair trade for first publication rights, especially considering it's a story that I've not been able to get published since near the end of college.
So, this morning I got my e-contract which I was able to e-sign and e-mail and that should be a more or less done deal. Now they'll set me up with an editor and I'll get them a photo and short bio by the first of November.
All in all, it's a tiny step in the right direction but I'm still glad for it.
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Latest reply: Oct 23, 2013
Typing Limit
Posted Jul 3, 2013
Writing fiction is so much easier now that I'm not a newspaper reporter.
On the other hand, though, I'm no longer a newspaper reporter. Win some/Lose some.
Still, this means that Three Verellium Coins is closer than ever to seeing the light of day. I've just gotta decide the proper medium for publishing it. (Tumblr or wordpress maybe? Hard to say. Something cheap, naturally.)
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Latest reply: Jul 3, 2013
Submitted For Approval
Posted Apr 25, 2013
Well, I've submitted another application for a rejection letter. By which I mean, submitted another short story to a magazine.
I can understand how some people are frustrated by the seemingly endless list of rejection letters, but... honestly? It's kinda fun to see how they've changed over time. Graduating from the form rejection letter, to the form rejection that has a hand-written note saying "Sorry" or something, to the polite "Sorry, not what we're looking for" to (my current favorite) "I'm sorry, but we've already got a story this month with a bell as the villain. Well... part of the villain, anyway." To think that I thought that last one was too outlandish. It wasn't original enough!
Anyway, now begins the waiting. Though I'm close enough to the end of another story that I'll likely get it sent out before I get this next rejection letter. I think it was Asimov who gave the "Don't sit on your stories" advice.
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Latest reply: Apr 25, 2013
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