Staying Busy

My dragon flu story, "Fire in the Blood" is with my critique partner for the third time.  I probably won't have to do much to it now when she gets it back to me, hopefully, so my mind is on the next thing.  I have a list of dozens of story ideas I should work on, and I have a few partially-written stories on my hard drive waiting for me to finish them.  I don't know what to pick next, though.

I have a problem.  I have issues with just writing a story and finishing it just because I want to write it.  I have to have a home for it in mind beforehand.  "Fire in the Blood" is one example, as is my vampire hunter story "Lessons," as is everything else I write, it seems.  Even if I've had the idea for years, I can't get it out until there's a sub call.  Take the novelette I wrote, Strange Days.  I had the idea since I was fourteen or fifteen.  It sat in the back of my head for ten years until a press was doing an angel anthology.  I started writing the story for that, but quickly blew past the maximum word count.

Now that I think about it, I can't think of anything I've had published that wasn't for something.  Even if it didn't get in the anthology or whatever that I intended, I wrote or rewrote the story for that thing.  Huh.

On that note, I already have three deadlines for myself next year.  They're in January, March, and June, so no pressure.  Probably.  For two of the anthologies, there are stories already started.  For the one in March, however, it's just a vague idea I have that I have to flesh out.  We'll see if that deadline whooshes by.

Well, staying busy is better than nothing, right?

Update!

I got an acceptance today for my chupacabra story.  I'm very happy because it was the first thing I finished that wasn't for a class.  It will be in Static Movement Press's Evolutionary Blueprint cryptozoology anthology.


In other writing-related news, my dragon flu story is with my critique partner.  She said today that she'll try to have it back to me by Thursday.  I'm also in the process of rewriting a previously-published story to submit it to a podcast that accepts reprints.  Fingers crossed there.

Stuff I'm In (Master Post)

So far, here are the publications that have been dumb awesome enough to publish me.

Periodicals

• “Phosphorescence.” Nebo Spring 2007, Vol. 25, No. 2
• “Immortal.” Nebo Fall 2007, Vol. 26, No. 1
• “Being Death.” Nebo Spring 2010, Vol. 28, No. 2
• “Carrier.” This Mutant Life July 2010, Issue 3.
• “Operators Standing By.” Flashes in the Dark.  www.flashesinthedark.com.  May 2, 2011.
• “Giving up the Ghost.”  Hogglepot.  www.hogglepot.com.  July 3, 2011.
• “Gray.” Luna Station Quarterly.  Issue 007.  www.lunastationquarterly.com.  September 2011.
• "Scifaiku."  Scifaikuest.  Issue 35, February 2012. 
• "Alternate Delivery." The Natural Tale, Spring 2012. www.thenaturaltale.com.
• "Seed." Eschatology. www.eschatologyjournal.org. May 2, 2012.
•  "The Call." Micro Horror. www.microhorror.com. July 25, 2012.

Anthologies

• “Dear Troy.”  Letters From The Dead.  The Library of the Living Dead Press, 2010.  (Amazon)
• “The Damned.”  The Zombist: Undead Western Tales.  The Library of the Living Dead Press, 2010.  (Amazon)
• “An Afternoon with the Dead.”  Deadication.  Panic Press, 2011.  (Available through Panic Press’s website at panicpress.org)
• "Night Things."  Evolutionary Blueprint: Strange Tales of Cryptozoology.  Static Movement Press, 2011.  (Amazon)
• "My Life with the Dead."  Tales from the Grave: An Anthology of True Ghost Stories.  Rainstorm Press, 2012.  (Amazon.)

An actual writing post.

So, just some things.

I finished the dragon flu story that I've been working on.  I'll do one more round of edits before I send it to my critique partner.

Also, I wrote 1,217 words on one novel and 784 words on another.  That's fair.  My word counts are never high.  Like, I can never write 3,000 words in a day like some people I know.  Both of these novels are urban fantasy.  One is just a fairly-serious story with some romance (because I'm a mushy girl), while I refer to the other as my urbfanromcom.  (urban fantasy romantic comedy)  There where points, while I was working on the novels tonight, that I felt emotions.  I write urban fantasy with heart, okay.


The rest of the words belong to a story that came to me in a dream.  I call it the body-hopping, gender-swapping demon story.  It's kind of risqué, so I don't know if I'll ever finish it.  It's sad, really, because the story has a lot of potential.  I blame the whole thing on my sheltered upbringing.  I can kill characters off in all sorts of horrible and violent ways, but sex makes me uncomfortable.  Blarg.


I also added some flesh to the bones of a vague idea I had for a while.  I don't know if I'll ever write that one, either, but it's because I don't know if the idea will become fully actualized.  Only time will tell.


Heh.  At least I'm getting some things done.
 

...

Okay, I think I know what I'm doing now.  I just wanted to get my Twitter on here.  I must pimp myself out, you know?

I'll post something writing-related later.

First post?

This is my first post.  I have no idea what the hell I'm doing.  Help.