W1S1 Update - Month 1

The first month of the Write 1 Sub 1 challenge wore out its welcome and has since left the building. I am proud to say I have been knighted in to the League of the January Juggernauts!

While I did meet the goal for the month, I wish it was something more than just Twitter fiction. I'm in a procrastination funk. My to-read pile is growing by the day. I'm slipping on my blogging and writing duties. This is not the way to start out a year. But I refuse to give up. I have the next 29 days until the next goal to start proving it.

BTW, while I have your attention, J.A. Konrath, Black Crouch, J. Carson Black, Lee Goldberg, and Scott Nicholson are hosting a Big Kindle Boogie. They're giving away Kindle books, Amazon gift cards, Kindle Fires and library donation today and tomorrow. Please check out the website for a list of free ebooks and more information on the giveaways - http://bigkindleboogie.blogspot.com/.

What's Next

I have to make a confession. I HATE this new Blogger interface...thing. The whole thing is a mess. I would like to switch back to the old one but the link has mysteriously disappeared. Sneaky bastards! They tricked me with pretty candy. It's the story I'm sticking with and no one can prove otherwise. Hopefully, with enough people complaining, they'll return the option but I doubt it.

I should be excited we are starting a new year but all this talk about apocalypses has made this year such a downer. Is it December 21st yet?

As you can see, I have signed up for the Write1Sub1 Monthly for 2012. I reviewed my writing productivity for last year. Long story short....it's nothing to brag about. Currently, I have a submission out from last month to a charity anthology. I'm anticipating the rejection. With every announcement of a well known writer joining the project, I'm losing faith in my little story. It's great that Jeff Strand, Jack Ketchum and Joe R. Lansdale are contributing. I was among the famous with the last charity anthology I was involved with. Not feeling confident the lightning will be striking twice this time around but we'll see.

An Expected Rejection

I submitted my little short short to One Forty Fiction the Saturday before the week of Halloween. Actually, I may have sent it twice. My first attempt to send it ended with our power going out (It was raining). Sent it again when the power came back on...a few hours later. Since it was a themed week and my story wasn't chosen to be published, I was expecting this. Happy Saturday!

Dear Andrea:

Thank you for giving us the opportunity to read your work. Unfortunately this particular story, "No More Cute," was not the right fit for One Forty Fiction.

Thank you for trying us. And we welcome any submissions you might make in the future.
-
Editor @ OneFortyFiction.com

One Day Left

I can't believe Nano is one day away. October seemed to speed by pretty fast on his Harley. Somebody should give that guy a ticket and tell him to slow down next year.

After four years, I'm kind of burned out on Nano. I think I'll skip this year's fun. But I don't have a problem sitting on the sidelines with my foam finger, cheering everyone else to the finish line.

GO WRITERS!!! Woot! Woot!

Should I Nano?

October is fast approaching. Some writers are starting, if they haven't already, to develop ideas and strategies for this year's National Novel Writing Month extravaganza. However, I have yet to determine whether or not I want to participate in this year's activity.

Of course, I made the same proclamation last year and ended up participating anyways. Will November be a repeat? In some regards, I'm an overachiever and will take on the challenge any day of the week especially since I know its an obtainable goal. This leaves me with the option of raising the bar. Push myself a little harder in to that horizon...

Or, I can spend the month watching True Blood and eating pie (gaining weight I certainly don't need). Maybe throw in a little Supernatural for good measure. I guess in 31 days (and counting) I'll surprise myself.

How Long Has It Been?

I can't believe it's been several months since the last time I posted here. I'm totally slacking this year.

I doubt anyone was really holding their breaths over the results of the contest. As I predicted, I didn't win. I wanted feedback and feedback is what I got. Despite only a handful of entries, I didn't really receive a lot of comments on my novella. I'm not really reading in to that. The judge pointed out sections I already knew needed work (didn't have time to do extensive edits at the time). Overall, it was what I expected it to be.

I bow my head in shame for the lack of actual writing and submitting this year. I've been catching up on book reviews for Ghost Stories as of late. However, I have been doing a little market research. Hopefully, I'll get some submissions in before the year ends.

My birthday was Saturday. I received my gifts a week early in the form of a new DVD player (my old one was on its last legs), DVDS (including Season 3 of True Blood and a collection of other horror movies. Yay!) and a new flat iron to replace my old one. So, I wasn't really expecting much on the day of my birth other than birthday wishes from family friends and maybe a cake. The surprise came in the form of "Happy Birthday" balloons. I can't remember the last time I received "Happy Birthday" balloons. It was quite unexpected.

Happy National Camera Day

It's amazing what people dedicate an entire day to: doughnuts, eclairs, fairies, doodles, etc.

So, it's been almost a month and an announcement hasn't been made concerning the AW contest yet. I'm not in the mood to put any added pressure on the judges. However, the wait seems to have gotten to a few participants. They've dusted off their torches and pitchforks and started a riot. All in good fun, of course.

In the meantime, it's National Camera Day. Enjoy the photo!