I wrote part 8 of “The Graveyard Shift” tonight, about 1,100 words in 50 minutes or so. This was good because part 7 is about the halfway point of the story and I was not sure going into that section exactly what was going to happen. (I always know how the story is going to…
In case any non-writers out there have ever wondered what a rejection slip looks like, here is a link to the best rejection slip I ever received (from Asimov’s last April 2005): See the rejection slip
For the third night in a row, I have stuck to my new writing regimen, and it is working out well. I had another good session tonight. I’d scheduled two hours (between 7 – 9 PM) to write and hoped to get through two more sections of “The Graveyard Shift”. I got through both sections,…
I had planned to write from 7-8 PM tonight and ended up writing an additional twenty minutes. I completed sections three and four of “The Graveyard Shift” doing about 2,200 words in 80 minutes. I like what I’ve got so far. The forth section completes the first “part” of the story, which now stands at…
On a few occasions recently when I tell people that I write, they’ve asked, “Have you ever tried submitting anything?” I explain that I have, but have not yet had any fiction published. On a few occassions, I’ve gotten the sense that people are surprised that I’ve even tried submitting stories. Well, the fact is…
I don’t know what it was, but I was in a mood today. I can’t quite describe it. I was on some kind of roll that I just can’t explain. I was, in fact, hilarious. I had myself in stitches. Some of it was work-related. On the other hand, I felt rather productive today as…
Minor rant follows: How do people decide how many elipses to use, in particular when composing an email or instant message? Is there a different set of rules of which I am unaware? I often see people write things like: You’ll never guess what happened……….. Now, what made that person decide it was okay to…
I completed the first draft of a new short-short science fiction story, “Blind Date”. The idea for this story was inspired by Lisa’s forgetting to pick me up for the kickball game this past Sunday. It’s nothing spectacular, but it amuses me. The premise couldn’t possibly hold for very long, so the story runs about…
There is not much to do here at this hotel and I was just tired and lazy enough to not want to go out and do anything either after work today. And so I find myself in one of those moods where I just don’t know what to do with myself. I watched an episode…
I turned out the light to go to sleep just after 9 PM. I woke up shortly after 11 PM and some crazy dream that involved the Incredible Hulk, but of which I can recall no other details. When I woke up, I also had a terrible headache. I took a few more Advil and…
Mom and Dad got to the hotel right on time, at almost precisely 5:30 PM. We headed over to Ocean Avenue Seafood shortly thereafter. I got to see (and ride in) Dad’s new Acura, which I think is the same color as Norm’s Acura, and the same model, too, minus the navigation unit. While Norm’s…
My story, “The Last S.F. Writer,” was rejected by STRANGE HORIZONS today. It was a form letter rejection this time (or form email, I should say), but it seemed to come back faster than the last time I submitted something to that magazine. Ah well. I got praise on the story when it was submitted…