Writing, And Other Mis-Adventures

The first draft of "Rainfall" is finished. It came in at just over seven thousand words, which is fine. I'm not completely happy with the ending, but that's what re-writes and workshops are for. I'm sending "Into This Land" to careswen for editing, and "The Foundling" to The Online Writer's Workshop for feedback. "Anansi", "Callooh Callay", and "Starry Night" are all out the door. I've turned my attention back to "Move Along Home", which is now nine thousand words and no end in sight.

I am also considering marketing my whimsical poem "Where The Left Overs Go" as a children's book. Of course, I don't know the first thing about that market, but that's never stopped me before. I smell research in the air.

I received a very nice email from the folks at the L. Ron Hubbard contest (which I sadly still qualify for) on my story "Over The Bridge", which said:

Dear Entrant,
Thank you for entering the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of The Future Contest. Congratulations! Your entry placed in the semifinals of the 2nd quarter 2004 (January 1 - March 31, 2004). We are held up for a week or two on the critique you will receive on your story as well as the formal notification of judging results, so I'm sending you this email in the meantime. If you would like to prepare and submit another entry for the 3rd quarter 2004, which closes June 30, 2004, we would welcome it. The deadline is by postmark. We'll be in touch about your last entry at our earliest opportunity. Sincerely, Rachel, Contest Administrator

While winning would have been nice (who am I kidding, it would have rocked!) I am greatly encouraged by this, and look forward to receiving the promised crit and feedback. I'm getting the editor's attention, just not enough to close the deal.

I have been here before. I'm starting to think I need to join a real live writer's group, preferably one with members at different levels of skill and achievement.

In that vein, The Science Fiction Writers Meet-Up is soon. I think careswen and I are both going to go. This would advance my plan (along with being more involved at conventions) to become more connected with the Speculative Fiction community in the Twin Cities. This is a freaky scary step for me, by the way, as I am most terribly shy.

I have recently finished a couple of interesting books.

"Bare Bones" is a collection of interviews with Stephen King. These interviews start early in his career and end around the time he published "It". While they can get a little repetitive, I found them interesting, with King talking frankly about his career, the early days when he almost gave up writing, his college drug use, how incredibly supportive his wife Tabitha is, what scares him, and the process of writing a novel. There are also a couple of interviews with both King and Peter Straub, which are very amusing. They feed off each other and it is fun to read.

"Making Book", by Teresa Nielsen Hayden is an interesting look at fandom, copyediting, being a heretic, and just about anything else she can think of. Read this book, if no other reason than to watch the way Teresa makes words jump through hoops and other neat tricks. And hey, there's a Minicon/Minnesota fandom story, so it has local flavor.

Peace, Love, Cheese Enchiladas

Michael

Writing, And Other Mis-Adventures

The first draft of "Rainfall" is finished. It came in at just over seven thousand words, which is fine. I'm not completely happy with the ending, but that's what re-writes and workshops are for. I'm sending "Into This Land" to careswen for editing, and "The Foundling" to The Online Writer's Workshop for feedback. "Anansi", "Callooh Callay", and "Starry Night" are all out the door. I've turned my attention back to "Move Along Home", which is now nine thousand words and no end in sight.

I am also considering marketing my whimsical poem "Where The Left Overs Go" as a children's book. Of course, I don't know the first thing about that market, but that's never stopped me before. I smell research in the air.

I received a very nice email from the folks at the L. Ron Hubbard contest (which I sadly still qualify for) on my story "Over The Bridge", which said:

Dear Entrant,
Thank you for entering the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of The Future Contest. Congratulations! Your entry placed in the semifinals of the 2nd quarter 2004 (January 1 - March 31, 2004). We are held up for a week or two on the critique you will receive on your story as well as the formal notification of judging results, so I'm sending you this email in the meantime. If you would like to prepare and submit another entry for the 3rd quarter 2004, which closes June 30, 2004, we would welcome it. The deadline is by postmark. We'll be in touch about your last entry at our earliest opportunity. Sincerely, Rachel, Contest Administrator

While winning would have been nice (who am I kidding, it would have rocked!) I am greatly encouraged by this, and look forward to receiving the promised crit and feedback. I'm getting the editor's attention, just not enough to close the deal.

I have been here before. I'm starting to think I need to join a real live writer's group, preferably one with members at different levels of skill and achievement.

In that vein, The Science Fiction Writers Meet-Up is soon. I think careswen and I are both going to go. This would advance my plan (along with being more involved at conventions) to become more connected with the Speculative Fiction community in the Twin Cities. This is a freaky scary step for me, by the way, as I am most terribly shy.

I have recently finished a couple of interesting books.

"Bare Bones" is a collection of interviews with Stephen King. These interviews start early in his career and end around the time he published "It". While they can get a little repetitive, I found them interesting, with King talking frankly about his career, the early days when he almost gave up writing, his college drug use, how incredibly supportive his wife Tabitha is, what scares him, and the process of writing a novel. There are also a couple of interviews with both King and Peter Straub, which are very amusing. They feed off each other and it is fun to read.

"Making Book", by Teresa Nielsen Hayden is an interesting look at fandom, copyediting, being a heretic, and just about anything else she can think of. Read this book, if no other reason than to watch the way Teresa makes words jump through hoops and other neat tricks. And hey, there's a Minicon/Minnesota fandom story, so it has local flavor.

Peace, Love, Cheese Enchiladas

Michael