Happy Day

I got good news in my inbox this evening:  one of my stories has been shortlisted at a major, pro-paying sci-fi market!  I won't name the story or the market just yet, just in case it could affect the outcome, but I wanted to share the good news!  I did a little happy dance and printed up the email, not to file as usual, but to hang on my desk for a little while.  I ought to know the outcome within a month.

Happy day!

April Stat Check

During the month of April, I wrote/edited on all 30 days

I finished the readthru of my novel, sent it out to some beta readers, revised a story I wrote about a year ago, and wrote the first draft of a picture book
I made 11 submissions
I received 2 rejections
I have 12 stories in slush pile circulation
I made 3 blog posts
I took no days off

Analysis:
I feel pretty happy with my progress for this month.  Finishing something as hefty as a novel and soliciting opinions for it was a big step, and then it was nice to get back into stories.  I've been so enthused about my writing this month that I'm frequently bargaining extra time from my kiddos after their naps/quiet time (can't you occupy yourselves for a little longer so I can keep writing??)

Writing a picture book was quite different--especially since it's in rhyme--but the nice thing about kids' books is that they're SHORTER!  So you finish them much more quickly.  I'm feeling pretty good about that one and hope to get it out later this year.  In fact, if all goes well, it could be a series.

I subscribed to Duotrope this month, and it was very nice to get my stories back under consideration.  I just ended my subscription, and am planning to pay for another month in July or so.  I think I've come up with a good way to keep track of everything until that time, so I ought not to let everything lapse again.  So I'm feeling pretty confident on that front, too.

I've got a long list of things I'd like to get to next, but with limited time, I know it'll all be slow.  But slow is better than nothing!

Stories are different from novels

I'm six days back into working on short stories after my novel, and it has been interesting.  The material is much shorter and easier to see the whole picture at once, but after having the space to delve into greater detail and take more time, it's weird to be back into the fast-paced, everything-should-pack-the-greatest-punch style of the short story.  Although really it's not THAT different, it just feels alien to be working on a different plot now.

I'm not all that sure how long I'm going to be able to maintain working on short stories.  I have a handful that need editing so I can get them submitted and trying to work for me, but in the midst of it all, the next novel just won't leave my brain alone!!!  If you know me, and notice me staring off into space or altering my facial expressions while doing a task alone (like making dinner,) it's most likely because I'm working out plots and scenes in my head.  These characters and this situation really has taken over my brain, and probably won't let go until I write it down.  But I DO want to get these stories taken care of, and preferably write a few fresh ones that can simmer while I work on the next novel and will be ready for rewrites whenever I need a break from the next one.

In other news, I'm finally getting my stories resubmitted.  I've been aiming for one per night starting this week, so by mid-next week I ought to be caught up.  And then the rejections can start piling up again, and the process goes on.  This is the longest stretch I've let things go in the last few years.  Life happens, I guess.  But I don't like sitting on my stories, because they aren't doing me any good if they're not under review.

I've also got one that's been out for almost a year, is long overdue, and has not responded to my query from nearly a month ago.  It's a major market, though, and seems a good fit for this particular story, so I'm not sure what to do.  Do I resubmit, in case they never got it?  (It was a snail mail submission, one of the rare few these days.)  Decisions, decisions.  There's always something.

March Stat Check

During the month of March, I wrote/edited on all 31 days
I spent half the month turning the final two chapters of my novel into one, and then read through the entire thing.  (Well, technically I got through the first 31 chapters in the last eleven days of March, and then took four more days of April to read the last six.  Holidays'll do that to you.)
I made 0 submissions
I received 0 rejections
I have 12 stories ready for slush pile circulation, but only three of them are under review
I made 4 blog posts
I took no days off

Analysis:
March was the final showdown for my novel.  I'd expected to finish it a little sooner, but hadn't anticipated the amount of work the last-two-chapters-that-were-destined-to-become-one would take to beat into submission.  But I did it.  Whew!  I'm pretty happy with my work here, and with the fact that I was only four days over my goal to finish by the end of March.

I'd been hoping to be a little more prolific with blogging this month, but I'm not too worried about that.  I don't want people to forget about me, but keeping up more frequently just isn't really in the cards right now.

April is going to be..... different.  I've been focusing on the novel for so long, it's going to be very weird to write/revise something else.  I've been having elements for another novel taking control of my imagination on a regular basis lately, but even so I think I'd like to pause novel-writing and get back into short stories for a while.  I have a handful that just need revisions--some light and some heavy--before being ready to be submitted, plus it would be good to write something new again.  I haven't written anything new in...well, probably a year.  Wow, it's hard to think about it like that, but it really has been that long.  Yikes!  Most likely, I'll start with some that need revisions, just to get back into a short story mindset.  I'm not sure how long I'll let short stories prevail before letting the next novel take its course--my goals have become very much fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants right now.  And that's good.  I need to explore a little.

April will be the month to get story submissions back under control.  Why?  Because Duotrope offered a free month as a NOT April Fool--so I bit.  I've got it for a month, the trial kicked me in the pants like nothing else has managed, and I intend to use it.  Which basically means I can say good-bye to sleep for the month of April.  Alas.  This will be good.

Well, that's a wrap!

I feel somewhat in awe.  I finished the readthru of my novel today.  It's a pretty cool feeling to know that I wrote a novel, and it is complete, and it seemed to tell a pretty tight story--from my completely-biased-perspective-as-the-author.

I'll be getting readers in the near future and then shopping for an agent later this year.  Whee!  Fun times!

I finally put a good deal of thought into titles, and if anybody is still reading, I'd like your opinions.  Without, of course, knowing ANYTHING about the book itself, which title would you be most likely to pick up and read?

Moonfall
Project Beryl
Escape Velocity
Lunar Eclipse
Lunar Descent
Eclipsed Moon

Thanks for your input!




(Eeeeeek!  What am I supposed to work on now?????!!!!!)