Which leads me to two important announcements: I’ve had two stories published since I last posted. The first is in the December 2011 issue of Fantastique Unfettered. It’s called “The Bachorum Principle,” and was born out of anger. I can honestly say it’s the most disturbing story I’ve ever written.

The second appears in the January 2012 issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly. I wrote “Little Brother” in 2010. I don’t remember what inspired it, other than wanting to write a horror story from a little boy’s point of view.

The new year is off to a decent start with two new short stories drafted and a third in progress. How are you progressing toward your goals so far this year?

As a part of 2011, I joined the W1S1 effort. That is, I strived to write and submit a story each week. Though I started in June, I kept on track for quite a bit. I eventually dropped back to the monthly version of the challenge because I was trying to finish the draft of my novel. Still, I kept up with that version as well.

So, what’s the verdict?

The six months I participated in W1S1 in 2011, I wrote more stories than I ever had before in any previous year. Here’s some stats:

Drafted: 16 brand new stories

Revised: 12 stories

Submitted these 12 stories along with 7 others from 2010

Rejections: 99

Acceptances: 4

Pending: 14 (including 5 subs made in 2012)

I don’t like making new year’s resolutions, but I feel confident this year is going to be a good one for writing. Though it’s somewhat out of my control, I’d like to make several more sales this year, including to pro markets. I’d like to be able to join the SFWA by the end of the year.

Nothing’s guaranteed, but I know I won’t get anywhere unless I write. And write. And write some more. And once I’m done, I need to submit. And submit. And submit some more.

Here’s to a prosperous 2012 everyone!

This is pretty awesome. I’m honored that my story was included. Pardon me while I go perform a celebratory dance.

So, now that I’ve wrapped up a short story for an anthology, no more bright and new short stories for me. Nope. I’m done. If I get an idea, I’m jotting it down or making a brief outline but THAT’S IT until my novel draft is done.

You know I started this novel for NaNoWriMo last year? Yeah. Pretty sad. And I just now reached 64k. Granted, I had to backtrack and dump about 30k a few months ago to add a new POV character, but still. I can’t help but think, “I should be done with this by now,” every time I open up Scrivener to write.

Alas, it won’t get done unless I, to quote a certain captain, “Make it so.” That’s why I’m putting a moratorium on new short stories and even revisions of drafts I’ve already written. Apparently, I can’t be trusted with working on multiple creative projects.

I’d like to have the novel draft done by November 27. If I write 1,000 words a day from now until then, I should reach 100k. I might not need all of those words, but I’d like to allot for them anyway. Once the draft is completed, I’ll worry about revising the handful of short stories I have sitting on my hard drive as drafts at the moment, maybe pen a new short or two, then dive into structural and plot revisions. I hope I can clear plot problems up in one go and then tackle the details, but there’s no way of knowing until I start.

In other words, I’m getting serious, yo!

Maribelle’s eyes open. This time will be different, she thinks and looks to her right. Sea urchins stick out of the ice cave’s walls, purple spines swaying whenever the wind disturbs them and bumblebees freeze in the air, on the verge of buzzing, but never quite.

Read the rest on the site and be sure to check out the rest of the issue as well. There’s some great stuff in there! There’s even an illustration by Marge Simon for my story, which is so beyond awesome. “Maribelle” started as a free-writing exercise. I had an image of a woman in an ice hut, waking from a dream, surrounded by sea urchins in my head and the story tumbled out from there. It goes down a dark path, but I hope you enjoy it.

It’s a pity party, I know. I’m completely aware that persistence and practice are the only two ways to be successful in this industry. I know that. But sometimes it’s hard to believe when all you see is rejection after rejection after…

I started writing this post Sunday night. I’d received about six rejections in the past week, on stories I really liked, and was feeling like a big old pile of crap about it. I sent my stories back out because that’s what you do. But I told myself I was said pile of crap and wallowed in some more pity. Because, you know, that’s productive.

But on Monday morning, an acceptance came in. I had to laugh. For all of my crummy mood moments in the prior week, this one acceptance turned it around. I’m a writer, dammit. And no rejection is going to stop me from telling the stories I have to tell.

The moral of the story? Keep writing. Keep submitting. If you give up, that next submission very well could have been an acceptance. And if you give up, you’ll never know.

I’ve read Weird Tales for quite some time. I enjoy it. I like the direction Ann VanderMeer took the magazine. That’s why I’m upset to learn she will no longer be editing it. She, a cultivator of the weird, has rejected me numerous times and I know it was for good reason. But I always had hope that one day, I’d break through. One of my very first submissions began with, “Dear. Ms. VanderMeer.” Sad.

As if that weren’t enough, the debut issue under the new editor will be Cthulhu-themed. I’m all for themed issues, but this seems strange. Weird Tales, a long time ago, was one of the original places to publish H.P. Lovecraft. Like, for real. When he was alive and stuff. Making the issue “all Cthulhu, all the time” is a bit too self-referential for my taste.

I guess my point is this: wouldn’t the best way to honor Lovecraft and all the mythical monster makers of the past require setting aside a space for the authors of today to create the next generation’s monsters and weird, fear-worthy things? Wouldn’t that be the best way to encompass what is “weird” and let the magazine live on in the tradition of Lovecraft, rather than in his image?

I know I’m basing this just on the theme of the first issue, but still. I can’t help but think this is a bad decision.

I had to drop back to W1S1 Monthly due to a combination of factors. The day job has become more demanding in the last month. Likewise, I’m working on a novel and that eats a significant amount of my writing time and creativity. The good news is after tearing apart my novel in the last few weeks, it’s back on track and going smoothly. The draft stands at about 48k words right now. Onward! And Socorro the Mysterious has found himself in quite the predicament. But isn’t that what happens to haphazard magicians that don’t know the power of the devices they wield?

As for short fiction, I finished a short story and submitted it yesterday. It wound up at 3,100 words. This is one that I started last month. It took some time to get “right,” but after a run through beta readers and some polishing, I’m fairly satisfied with the outcome.

Tonight, after completing day job work, I hope to write a draft of a story for an anthology and write the next chapter of Dr. Fantastic. Though I may be asking a bit too much of myself. We’ll see.

A man without shirt;
Belly so shiny, it blinds
even summer sun.

The draft was at about 60k and I just cut it back to 37k. Ouch. Big time, ouch.

Why on earth did I do this? Well, I discovered having just one POV character throughout a whole book was limiting. There were all sorts of scenes I wanted the reader to see that the main character just couldn’t be there to witness. So now, one of the supporting character is a POV character, the action is split between them, and I’m finding all new opportunities to slip in fun scenes that would have never made it in the book in its original incarnation. Like a moment where a woman ponders the finer art of burning down a building. And another where my main character witnesses a bizarre ritual complete with glow-y symbols, made-up chants, and puppetmastery.

Now, I’m just wondering how you query a book with two main characters? Pick one? Eek! I have research to do eventually. But for now, I must write and flesh out this story that I’ve been working on entirely too long.

Hey, maybe I can finish it, revise it, and start querying before the end of the year? Is that asking too much?