The Journal of Michael Merriam

I know I have been kind of quiet here lately. I'm still working, still writing, still involved in my various writing communities (lobo_luna, Minnesota Speculative Fiction Writers , the fine folks here on LJ), but I'm reassessing what I'm doing with my Live Journal, and until I figure out what it is I want this LJ to be, I might not be posting as much. I am, however, still reading LJ and responding to your posts.

I realized I forgot to post my stats from last month, so here they are.

October Stats:
Submissions Made: 2
Sales: 2
Rejections: 3
Other: 0
Publications: 1
Crits Given: 65
Approx Word Count: 6229
Stories Circulating: 12

I'll probably stop doing this after the new year starts, since my focus is shifting away from short fiction and more toward novels.

And speaking of novels, I've pulled out Rija's Tale (aka the Not a Milk Maid of Destiny novel) and started working on it again. My love of writing this character is still strong, and I now have a better understanding of where this novel is headed.

Rija's Tale

September Stats:
Submissions Made: 3
Sales: 0
Rejections: 4
Other: 1 (Rewrite Request)
Publications: 0
Crits Given: 5
Approx Word Count: 27864
Stories Circulating: 13

I'm quite pleased with the word count, especially after finishing a novel last month, as I fully expected to be in a down cycle. Instead, I finished (in first draft) a novella, a novelette, and a short story this month. Now, I'm off to clean house and finish the alpha read of a friend's novel.

Just so you guys don't think my blog has gone all politics, all the time...

August Stats:
Submissions Made: 3
Sales: 0
Rejections: 3
Other: 1 (Rewrite Request)
Publications: 1
Crits Given: 37
Approx Word Count: 23386
Stories Circulating: 10

And I finished the first draft of Dark Water Blues

I started pre-writing on the Weird West Steampunk Novella, but still have not officially started the piece.

Untitled Weird West Novella

I started feeling not-so-good last night and it has progressed into I-think-something-is-wrong.

Headache, sinus pressure, nausea, dizziness, topped with a smidgen of intermittent disorientation and punctuated by a hundred million mechanical crickets chirping in my ears. Fun times.

I managed to drag my weary self, plus laptop, notebook, and pen, upstairs after finishing the one thing I needed to get done today no matter what.

I'm going to rest and maybe pet The Reverend, who is hovering anxiously around her ill monkey.

I do have things I want to blog about, but until I start to feel better, and maybe regain the ability to concentrate, I'm leaving you with stats and a word meter.

July Stats:
Submissions Made: 3
Sales: 1
Rejections: 0
Other: 2 (Stories accepted by Anthology Builder)
Publications: 0
Crits Given: 0
Approx Word Count: 12876
Stories Circulating: 10

Dark Water Blues

There will be real content tomorrow.

June Stats:
Submissions Made: 5
Sales: 1
Rejections: 3
Other: 0
Publications: 2
Crits Given: 0
Approx Word Count: 6535
Stories Circulating: 11

We played in this puzzle game last night.

Sadly, I am not particularly any good at this sort of thing, so for me it involved a lot of being frustrated by my inability to work out the puzzles, followed by a lot of walking all over Uptown.

In the rain. For five hours.

Actually, it didn't rain for the whole five hours, but we did get to see some hail and lightning. Luckily we were in a coffee shop (not solving a puzzle and being frustrated) at that moment. That said, the organizers worked really hard and did a great job in general, and I shan't fault them or their game because I was unable to do anything useful. And congrats to the groups who solved the puzzles and had a good time. Not my cup of tea, I guess.

May Stats:
Submissions Made: 3
Sales: 0
Rejections: 2
Other: 2 (WotF Honorable Mention, and a rewrite request)
Publications: 1
Crits Given: 1
Approx Word Count: 19261
Stories Circulating: 11

And now, a word meter.

Dark Water Blues

If you would be so kind, ask me the seven questions below. Just copy and paste them into a comment, replace the blanks with anything you want--personal, silly, surreal (e.g. 3. Donkeys or sandcastles and why?), or deep -- and I'll answer honestly as I can!

1. What do you think of _____________ ?

2. When did you last ____________?

3. __________ or ___________ and why?

4. What did you ______________?

5. What's your favorite ______________?

6. How would you ______________?

7. Who would you most like to ________ ?


April Stats
Submissions Made: 4
Sales: 0
Rejections: 3
Other: 0
Publications: 2
Crits Given: 2
Approx Word Count: 12398
Stories Circulating: 11

I stayed away from Live Journal for most of yesterday, as I'm not a big fan of April Fool's Day. I didn't write at all yesterday, but I did manage to finish several other projects that needed my attention, so it's all good.

I'm still feeling unsettled as a writer, though I don't know why. If it doesn’t pass in a few days, maybe I'll try to articulate what I am feeling here in the blog, and then let you guys smack some sense into me.

March Stats
Submissions Made: 7
Sales: 1
Rejections: 5
Other: 2 (1 market folded, 1 rewrite request)
Publications: 0
Crits Given: 0
Approx Word Count: 11588
Stories Circulating: 11