June News
June has been busy for me with new acceptances, contracts, cover reveals and releases. Add into the mix outdoor jugger and gardening and blogging gets reduced to one or two postings a month.
I’m happy to say that the e-book version of Tesseracts 20: Compostela is now available with the print version to follow in September (it contans my short story “Better” – I mentioned the pre-order last post) This one’s a thrill for me, due in part to the fact that Spider Robinson is one of the editors. I grew up reading his books (Night of Power was my favourite as a teen but I’m not sure which I’d give top place now,) and he actually lived in Nova Scotia for a time, so I hold him in high esteem.
Another new release is in Gathering Storm Issue #3. “Counting Crows” is my second appearance in this beautiful venue (their format is formidable and their artwork breathtaking, like the cover artwork here.) I’m submitted something for issue #4, so fingers crossed.
My story “Wrigglers” will make a reprint appearance in Gehenna and Hinnom’s Year’s Best Body Horror 2017 Anthology . You can find the ToC announcement here.
And to top it off, I just receive an acceptance and contract for an all Canadian horror anthology in the works. More news on that later.
I have a couple more things brewing but I can’t include them just yet. I’ll share when I can
As crazy as it may sound, I have decided to do Camp Nanowrimo this July. This will be my first time participating as part of a group (our cabin) but it should help me stay focused. I skipped the last couple of Nanowrimos because I haven’t felt all that motivated when it comes to novel writing (especially when the 20+ novels I already have completed could probably use another round of edits and then maybe a new shopping run.) But I’ve promising my hubby the one I have planned for camp for some time now, so it’s time to buckle down and get started. I just have to get a little research in before July 1 and work my writing in around overtime and family day trips.
See you in July!
Catch-Up in June
A post has been a long time in coming (sorry), but I have been well and truly busy. I’ve been working at setting a blog up for my pseudonym as well as prepping a couple of between blitz submissions, juggling proofing and marketing requests and participating in the voting process for one of my writer’s associations. It’s also gardening season, jugger season and I’ve been spending a lot of time with my daughter lately. So yeah – I’m busy.
That being said, the last few weeks have been pleasantly rife with story acceptances, payments, cover reveals and ToC announcements – so I have to play catch-up on those (or, at least the ones I’m allowed to talk about now.)
Compostela – Tesseracts 20 – containing my sci-fi short story “Better” is now available for pre-order here . Tesseracts is one of my “writer’s bucket list” achievements, so it’s a big deal for me. I’m sharing pages with some pretty impressive people.
Clockwork Canada, the Exile Editions steampunk anthology containing my short story “The Curlicue Seahorse” is on the ballot for the 2017 Aurora Awards, in the category of Best Related Work.
I have a new free read available too. My flash fiction, Pure Mime, has been published by Body Parts Magazine.
And you can also find me listed on two ToC announcements. The first is from Digital Fiction Publishing. My short story “Octavia” will be included in their all-female writer horror reprint anthology, “Killing It Softly 2” .
The second can be found on the blog for Mackenzie Publishing . Their “Two Eyes Open” horror anthology will include my period horror short, “Soul Cakes.” I’ve shared the lovely and intriguing cover above.
I’ll have more announcements coming soon as my last submission blitz proved to be quite successful. And I just finished a horror short for a themed anthology invite that I can’t discuss just yet. We’ll see how that goes.
I hope everybody’s year has been as exciting as mine has been so far. Now its off to work on some edits…
Spring Blitz 2017 – Hanging in There
I completed my 20th submission for April today, despite not keeping up with regular blitz blog posts. I blame mundane tasks that have gotten in the way, like helping with homework, chasing chickens (see the dastardly Pecan here to the left) and doing my taxes, and not so mundane tasks like being eyeball deep in Chuck Wendig’s Zeroes (which I hope to review on Monday.) I’ve been testing new venue waters too which has meant investing more time to broaden my call searches.
I’ve been waiting on a couple of new releases expected shortly. Forest Seclusion (adult content warning) is now available here, and there will be more to follow fairly soon.
I’ve also received a new acceptance – a year and four days in the making. I was on the brink of retracting that submission when the acceptance came through, but I was pleased to see the wait was worth it. I try to give a submission plenty of time before retracting, but I usually figure a year is enough. Sometimes I do let them sit longer though, if I’m not anxious to resubmit. At the same time I received a quick confirmation that another submission had made it through phase one of a three phase review process. Fingers crossed. 🙂
And, or course, this month isn’t without its rejections – 5 so far, with two of the submissions clearing the year long mark. It only pays to be patient some of the time.
I may not post again until Monday. I have a short story I hope to finish and then it’s back to working on taxes.
But at least gardening’s not that far off … right?
Let’s Blitz Again – October 2016 #9
Yesterday’s submission, a query to an agent, took longer than I had anticipated so I didn’t get around to blogging, but today’s is done with time to spare. It’s the second time out for this newer story, rejected once only by a pro-rate venue. A cheeky tale with a chilling ending, I’m quite fond of it – which often is a mark of doom for my stories because I have quirky, eclectic tastes, so the ones I don’t like as much often fare better. If I find them a little dry or ordinary, they tend to find a home quite quickly.
I’m working on a story, “Smiles All Around,” I hope to have finished by the end of the week. I’m writing it for a specific call. It is flowing nicely and ties in some of my work experiences. I also managed to squeeze in a bit of gardening, while the nice weather lasts. Frost will clear things out soon enough.
In the meantime, things keep growing and I keep picking.
Let’s Blitz Again – October 2016
After a lengthy hiatus thanks to an insanely busy post-vacation summer, I’m back to blogging my usual October submission blitz. My first submission was a query for a horror-themed charity anthology. I’ve already received a positive response. Today was a submission for a contemporary horror anthology.
I’m still dealing with my busy time at work and harvesting my garden, as well as fall/Thanksgiving/Halloween family activities, so I’ll be keeping my posts short. That and I’ve been wading through galleys for soon to be released anthologies. One is now available for pre-order, Killing It Softly, which contains a reprint of my horror story “Orbs”.
There are still many submissions ahead of me, so I’ll be blogging again soon. Enjoy the warm fall weather.
Blitz Follow-up
I would happily take a handful of rejections over hayfever any day. Unfortunately, I’m afflicted by both right now. I haven’t received very many rejections yet, mostly from pro-rate or SF venues, and just the one acceptance as of yet, so it’s still a matter of waiting. I was a little disappointed that the “maybe” that had come back turned into a “no,” but at least they described my story as “high quality.”
As for the hayfever, that has proven to be a severe annoyance this year. I’ve only had to endure mild symptoms it the past but this year I swear these allergies are seriously out to get me. If the lack of sleep or oxygen deprivation hasn’t done me in before the end of the weekend, then I might survive gardening this year even if it means suffering to see it through.