abracanabra | Entries tagged with missing you in pieces

Circus of Brass and Bone Writing Log

New words: 437
Total words: 28,290
Overused word: money
Gratuitous reference: Sears catalog
Type of scene: Fiscally fun.
Challenge(s): Keeping up with the bits and pieces filtering into my brain.
Which line is it anyways?"Food?" the old man squawked. "How do I know what a potato's worth? How much 'change' do I give back for a chicken? Half an egg!?"
Researched: Sears catalog.
Notes: I love the thing that sometimes happens when writing, when you're just watching a movie in your brain and trying to describe it properly.
Other writingy stuff:
* Belatedly responded to acceptance of "The Perfect Costume" by Best New Vampire Tales. Bad email inbox, eating emails! Feel pretty bad about that.
* Processed "The Perfect Costume" acceptance and posted updates in various places.
* Did the publicity work for "The Radiator Burped" in Northern Lights. Important to do for every story!
* Recorded intro for the MinnSpec podcast.
* Processed Flash Me's release of "Gone Huntin'" (magazine on indefinite hiatus).
* Submitted "Alien/Whore/Mother" to the Baen's Universe Annex. Woot!
* Checked Escape Pod response times and 3+ months are not uncommon. Shouldn't query quite yet. ::drums fingers::
* Checked status of Dead Bells anthology, and it looks like there's an editing schedule, so that project is still in the works.

I am not being a good patient writermonkey. I am antsy. Soon, soon Writers of the Future will announce the results for the 2nd Quarter, the one I sent a story that's reallygood to (No, it is--I promise!).

::drums fingers::

And that end-of-the-world anthology that I did get accepted into, which has had pub. deadlines pushed around--last I heard we were supposed to approve and finish edits by the end of June. Which is coming up pretty fast now.

::drums fingers some more::

And the other anthology that I just found I out I made the first cut for, which, er, might make me a leetle more Christmas-morning-impatient than usual.

::drums fingers even more::

There's the publication (coughGUDcough) that promised a sub response by April 14th, but which is flooded (because yes, they are that awesome) and now has an undetermined response time.

And the anthology that said it would send responses sometime after the reading period ended (April 30th), but which has posted no status updates since.

::drums fingers so hard it sounds like the Horsemen of the Apocalypse::

Sigh.... Settling down. It's not like I don't have other things to worry about, and all of these should wait at least another month before I status query.

In fact, I have lots of other writingy things to worry about.

What am I wasting my time with this for? It's out of my hands at the moment, and that's kind of okay. I don't need anything else to juggle right now.

Most of this week I've just been getting the freewritings done and not much else. Some combination of too much work at the day job, too much sleeping in, and too much http://www.casttv.com. Bad Abra, no biscuit.

3/27/10, Saturday
* Posted freewriting
* Caught up on the writing blogs I read--in case you're wondering, they're Agent in the Middle, Guide to Literary Agents, Lit Soup, Nathan Bransford, Query Shark, Scalzi's Whatever, and Storyfix (still deciding on that last--some useful stuff, but a fair amount I disagree with), and updated agent list from them.
* How to correctly format an email query letter: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2010/03/how-to-format-query-letter.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+NathanBransford+%28Nathan+Bransford+-+Literary+Agent%29
* Processed TweettheMeat's acceptance of "She loved her new husband's mansion" and submitted "The Reaper came" and processed receipt acknowledgment.
* Belatedly processed TweettheMeat's acceptance of "Gene therapy worked" and payment received.
* Processed "The Miracle Material" personal rejection with editorial feedback from Apex Magazine.
* Processed new publication date (September) and edits info for Dead Bells (with my story "Missing You In Pieces")
* Read Critters, WritersWeekly, Duotrope, WritersDigest, FFWSmallMarkets, and Publisher's Lunch newsletters and updated market list from them.
* Start your stories with action is bad advice: http://blog.writersdigest.com/norules/2010/03/11/TheBiggestBadAdviceAboutStoryOpenings.aspx

It's the holiday season and I've been working full+ time for the day job, so the writing time has been very spotty. Among the things I haven't had time for is posting writing logs, so there's an impressive backlog.

( Read more... )

11/30/2009 - Monday, full day at job
* How to respond to a manuscript critique/editorial letter: http://blog.nathanbransford.com/2009/11/how-to-respond-to-manuscript.html

11/29/2009 - Sunday
* Read Duotrope and Critters newsletters and updated market list from them.
* Filled out questionnaire for Spec the Halls listing at Ralan.
* Updated bibliography document to add recent sales "Salvaging Scottwell" and "Missing You In Pieces," processed submission and document tracking spreadsheets, and updated Critters bio, LJ profiles,

penthius freewriting entries, Facebook profile, website bio and bibliography sections. Every writer should keep a list of where to update when stories get accepted/published.
* Processed "Haunts of Hill Crossing" form letter rejection from Way of the Wizard Anthology (and by extension F&SF Magazine).
* Updated submission order for "Haunts of Hill Crossing" and submitted to Fantasy Magazine. Marveled at their submission process and stated turnaround time.
* Updated submission order for "A Phoenix By Any Other Name" and submitted to Short-Story.me!
* Emailed market that hadn't yet responded to a March submission, withdrawing "Demons of Disease" from consideration. Updated submission order and sent to the Timelines Anthology. Hope that cryogenic freezing counts as time-travel. Processed receipt acknowledgment.
* Updated status of "They'll Seal Any Leak, Guaranteed!" I'm so bad at processing ones that are "we'll tell you by X if we want it--otherwise you won't hear from us" but I was worried I'd have to start submitting out my literary stories. Shudder.
* Posted writing log.
* Did NanoWriMo--and I'm not too happy with how that experiment is working out. Will have to do massive rewrite and am not even done with the story yet.

He drove to The Juicy Plum's hidden side entrance , not for the first time --though it was the first time he wasn't being paid for it. #nwm
NgithOwl encouraging employees to buy company-branded Lands End clothes & wear when not at work. It is to ROFL.
Dead Bells Anthology accepted "Missing You In Pieces!" Woot!
Coworker re friend, "He got off on--what's it called--Contemporary Insanity."
Mrs. Crinoline herself greeted Carl at the side. He half-carried the girl into a dimly lit room. She fled to huddle in a corner. #nwm

10/28/2009 - Wednesday
* Put the "Missing You In Pieces" submission and shortlisting information in my manuscript and submission tracking documents.
* Posted writing log.
*

penthius freewriting inspired by "Back in Black."
* Submitted "Charity From a Thief" to Beneath Ceaseless Skies.
* Redmarked first 9 pgs of Vicesteed chapter 20, from 4:30 pm to 5:45 pm, 9:30 - 10:15.

Woot! "Missing You In Pieces" has been shortlisted for the anthology--fingers crossed it makes the final cut!

09/24/2009 - Thursday
* Slush Reading, Seuss Style: http://jimhines.livejournal.com/467074.html
* Posted writing log.
* Rewrote "Missing You In Pieces" to have people dying in their sleep. The damage wasn't as bad as I'd feared. Deleted scene:

In the gas station, the clerk slumped over the counter, his fingers clutching a lottery ticket. On the other side of the counter, a dollar bill lay on the floor next to a plump woman still in her New Years Eve finery.

* Submitted "Missing You In Pieces" to Dead Bells Anthology. Fingers crossed!

09/23/2009 - Wednesday
* Thought-provoking article about (the lack of) writing interpersonal relationships in SF: http://critters.org/rel/rel.ht

09/22/2009 - Tuesday
* Penthius freewriting inspired by looking for inspiration for penthius freewriting.
* Edited "Missing You In Pieces." Felt very, very accomplished. I thought I'd written it sparely to begin with, but I was able to cut it down from about 4,600 words to 3,950 words, safely under the 4,000 word maximum for the anthology I hope to submit it to. Then I re-read the guidelines for the anthology and discovered two problems. 1) People are supposed to die in their sleep, not wherever they were when the bell tolled midnight. That's a pity; I had some lovely post-apocalyptic "where people died" details that I'm going to have to rewrite entirely. 2) They want references to the past to be minimal. That's a huge problem that I can't fix. Half of my story takes place in the past, and it's crucial to the plot and story. It is, in fact, the idea that sprang full-fledged into my mind when I read the guidelines.

I suppose I'll fix problem 1, submit it and hope the story's good enough to get them to overlook problem 2, and if they don't accept it, put my lovely post-apocalyptic descriptions back in and submit it elsewhere. I have a lot of faith that this story's good enough to get published *somewhere*, now that I've hopefully made the ending slightly less confusing while still leaving it a brain-twister.

09/21/2009 - Monday
* Penthius freewriting.

09/20/2009 - Sunday
* Penthius freewriting about not having internet connectivity. Which is terrifying.
* Posted writing logs.

+ 1st physical therapy apt went well--I'm ahead of the curve on getting back range of motion etc.
Husband's crit of horror story: "You're writing too proper!" ...Hrm.
Buzz Aldrin and Snoop Dogg rap mockumentary. Go, laugh, love spaceflight. ping.fm/QPHGL

Cumulative and boring. I've been busy with work stuff and haven't gotten much done a-tall. Except for Friday.

9/3/2009 - Thursday
* Added joining Broad Universe to me "To Do Once Pro" file. Yes, I have a file. It's where I keep my stratagems.
* Processed personal "Caught out attention, but--" rejection of "Charity From a Thief" by Heroic Fantasy Quarterly.

9/2/2009 - Wednesday
* Ken Schneyer's Clarion reports: http://ken-schneyer.livejournal.com/18265.html. For writing tips, check out the "Week Three Report" as well as the "Some Writing Wisdom..."
* Posted part 3 of my CONvergence panel notes, this time with pictures.

9/1/2009 - Tuesday
* Posted request for volunteers to crit, "Missing You in Pieces." (No takers.)

08/28/2009 - Friday
* Finished "Missing You In Pieces"--and I absolutely agree with

yuki_onna that there ought to be confetti and kazoos when a piece is finished. And applause. (Perhaps confetti only for novels.) Seems like there ought to be a device one could create to do that. (Wasn't there a web page somewhere on the internets that had a big red button that, when pushed, produced applause?)

08/27/2009 - Thursday
* Posted writing log.
* Penthius freewriting about a girl kidnapped and found two decades later.

What is a serial killer without victims? Rick wakes up the day after New Years Eve to find a dead woman in his bed. He expected that--what he wasn't prepared for was a world where everyone else died mysteriously in the night.
( Excerpt )

I wrote this to submit to the Dead Bells Anthology. Technically, I suppose this is a horror story, but it's psychological and creepy, not violent or gory. I need to cut about 600 words to meet the preferred 4,000 word max, but that's not an unusual percentage for me to cut during edits.

Title suggestions are always welcome, whether you're interested in critiquing this or not. Possible thematic elements to reflect in the title: death, being left behind, memory, illusion, murder, the sea, a high heeled shoe, or a woman named Lily. Right now I'm calling it, "Missing You In Pieces," but I'm not sure if that's a good title or not.

I might or might not run this through my MinnSpec writing group, too, depending on timing. Subs run through Oct 15th, but if you get a story in earlier, it's better.

Things done today:
* Had one-month post-surgery knee checkup. Everything looks fine, my mobility is good for the time range, and I've got a prescription to start doing "official" physical therapy. The appointment was for 8:30 a.m. Phil got up and went to work, I rolled over in bed and tried to go back to sleep (which also was bad because it would have left kitten unfed and unwiped). Fortunately Phil remembered I had a doctor's appointment and came back and got me. Whew! Good husband earns brownie points. Between that and him putting up with pain-and-sleep-deprivation-induced crankiness, I think there will be the baking of brownies this weekend. (Yes, my brownie points are literal.)
* Finished writing my after-the-end-of-the-world short story, "Missing You In Pieces." Only about 600 words over-budget. Stay tuned for the critiquers call.
* Started weaning the kitten by mooshing formula with kitten food pate and letting him eat it off my finger after he'd had some straight formula. He likes the idea a lot, but he's shaky on implementing it. He ended up wearing a large amount of the food.
* Witnessed kitten's first solid bowel movement. Kitten formula may have the things a growing kitten needs, but it's not 100% ideal for their digestive system. There have been poosplosions. This is a huge improvement. I have hopes he may soon start using his litter box, too.

Things forgotten at home when I went to the job:
* Thumb drive with my writing files on it.
* MP3 player with things to listen to if there's office projects (so far, no).

Food things acquired recently:
* On my way home yesterday I picked up fat-free Target fudgesicles (better than sugar-free, because I despise the taste of artificial sweeteners--and alas that fudgesicles are one of those things that are difficult to find in an unaltered state), blueberry toaster strudel, and DanActive (for the taste--reminds me of tasty sweet Nigerian yogurt drinks, or of sweet lassi).
* Phil, because he knows what makes me happy, bought real fudgesicles for me on his way home. He's definitely getting brownies.
* The CSA was duly split last night, so I have many tasty vegetables and some tasty fruit. Yellow watermelon is heaven. Also need good tomato recipes.
* On my way to work this afternoon, I was handed a bag of pretzel crisps and a wedge of Laughing Cow cheese. Yum. La vache qui rit cheese always reminds me of growing up in French-colonized West Africa. And I love working in downtown, where free things are handed out on the street corners quite regularly in summer.

08/26/2009 - Wednesday

"Missing You In Pieces" Writing Log

New words: 211
Total words: 4,468
Overused word: silver
Sneaky hint: beady eyes
Type of scene: The beginning of the end.
Challenge(s): Trying to tell two stories while writing one.
Which line is it anyways?Their thudding footfalls merged until it sounded like only one person ran across the beach, towards rescue.
Notes: Are we there yet?
Other writingy stuff:
*

penthius freewriting about birds with ruffles.
* Posted writing log.
* Posted part 1 of my CONvergence panel notes.
* Processed new Spec the Halls subscriber.
* Added "The Lover's Key" to my manuscript tracking spreadsheet. First literary fiction and now poetry? What am I trying to do, kill myself getting things published? Well, at least it's arguably spec-fic. Worst comes to worst, I can repurpose it as flash fiction.

08/25/2009 - Tuesday
"Missing You In Pieces" Writing Log

New words: 383
Total words: 4,257
Overused word: tool
Gratuitous tool: hedge trimmers
Type of scene: Evil revealed!
Challenge(s): Making it atmospheric, but keeping it short. I'm already over the wordcount limit.
Which line is it anyways?The glow of light pouring from Rosa's Seaside Cafe promised doom for him and rescue for her--if she made it that far.
Notes: Grah. I'm over the wordcount limit, and I've still got another 400ish words to the finish line. Ngg. They say the wordcount limit is flexible, but to query--querying adds another obstacle in the acceptance process. Much editing will be required. And is the working title a good one? I hate titles. A lot.
Other writingy stuff:
* Penthius freewriting about painful toes
* Posted last batch of panel notes from 4th Street. Still ahead: CONvergence! (Eventually, I may even finish writing up last year's CSA.)

08/24/2009 - Monday
???

08/23/2009 - Sunday
* How to support an author friend: http://www.startribune.com/entertainment/books/53857827.html
* Penthius freewriting about faces in the walls, also posted the one catch-up one from when we had no internet.
* Some writing on "Missing You In Pieces," not sure exact demarcations.

http://www.aswiebe.com/writing/markets.html

The next update of Aswiebe's Market List will be on 09/15/2009.

Editor's Note
Never think that circumstances mean that you can't write. They might mean that you write less, or that you have to focus on shorter projects, but they never mean you can't write at all. Especially never allow yourself to think, "Well, I'm too [fill in excuse here] to write, so there's no reason to try." Give it an honest try and you'll be surprised.

A couple of weeks ago, I had knee surgery to replace a torn ACL. I couldn't sit in a chair. I was under the influence of painkillers. I slept an awful lot. Just as I was starting to sleep less and get a little bit done, some neighbor kids knocked on our door and handed us a very, very tiny kitten to take care of. Tiny kittens need a lot of being taken care of, and I was the one who was home all day.

Not the best writing circumstances. I didn't trust myself to do my best work, so I stayed away from my larger writing projects. Instead, I started work on a short story. It was slower going than usual, but I'm just about to finish it. And--surprise!--I'm quite happy with the results. I picked an anthology with a specific theme (because that right there increases the odds of a story that fits being accepted). I played with story structure as a necessary part of the plot. Even if it doesn't get accepted, I'll have an interesting story written. I'll call that a win.

( Useful Writing Links and SF/F/H Market Info )

"Missing You In Pieces" Writing Log

New words: 674
Total words: 1,839
Overused word: mother
Gratuitous food: samosas, muttar paneer, and lamb curry
Type of scene: a date, and after the apocalypse
Challenge(s): keeping the build-up interesting
Which line is it anyways?A single fly buzzed around in the car, then landed on the old man's mouth and crawled inside. (What? It's a horror story!)
Added to spellchecker: muttar paneer, waitressing
Notes: More than usual, while writing this story I keep getting compelling ideas about scenes further ahead. So I go and write that out and then go back to where I was and--I've got about three (very short) scenes being written at once. I'm usually much more linear.
Other writingy stuff:
* Heard the sad news that Jim Baen's Universe is closing. http://baens-universe.com/articles/Universe_Closing says that they've responded to all submissions, but I haven't heard any further word, so I queried the assistant editor I've been working with. Updated the market list.
* Posted writing log.
* Great (not-quite-official-yet) news! Jim Baen's Universe *will* be publishing "Salvaging Scottwell"! It's bittersweet, since they are closing their doors soon. We'll be losing a great SF/F publication. But this will be my first pro-level sale, so I'm very excited!

08/04/2009-08/05/2009 - Tuesday & Wednesday. Recovering from knee surgery.

"Missing You In Pieces" Writing Log

New words: 348
Total words: 1,165
Overused word: laugh/laughed
Gratuitous word: chatter
Type of scene: Making a date with a serial killer.
Challenge(s): Figuring out how to keep reader engagement in the sections that are just a woman getting into a relationship--esp. since it's not from her POV.
Which line is it anyways?"Believe me, it's difficult to kidnap a woman in broad daylight in front of everyone!"
Notes: Never realized how much of a romance's readability depended on the female POV being fairly tight and sympathetic and showing emotional involvement.
Other writingy stuff:
*Patricia C. Wrede's excellent and comprehensive discussion of questions to possibly consider when fantasy world-building: http://www.sfwa.org/2009/08/fantasy-worldbuilding-questions/
*

penthius freewriting inspired by the above.
* Posted link to MinnSpec and approved pending members.
* Posted writing log and updated previous writing log.

"Missing You In Pieces" Writing Log

New words: 499
Total words: 817
Overused word: trash bag
Gratuitous landscape: white sand beach
Type of scene: murder aftermath
Challenge(s): describing cleaning up after the body in an interesting way
Which line is it anyways?A gold Happy New Year! crown tangled in the tide of red hair that spilled over her body and obscured her blotchy face and purpled neck.
Researched: windsurfing, the name for the top of the arch of the foot
Added to spellchecker: grey
Notes: I have to stagger these storylines properly, and it's a bit worrisome.
Other writingy stuff:
* Read WritersWeekly, FundsforWriters, and WritersMarket newsletters.
* Posted writing log.

Reviews, Recipes, and Random Slices of Life

Being the journal of an all-too-human writer, reader, and eater of deliciousness

Writing Log: Lots of "Other Manuscripts" stuff

Sometimes Waiting's the Hard Part

Writing Log: Processing.... Processing....

A Ridiculous Number of Writing Logs

Writing Log: Submission Tracking

Work Stuff and a Double-Dose of NanoWriMo

Writing Log: Need to Get Better at Keeping Submissions Out

Shortlisted!

Writing Log: Rewrite Complete!

Writing Logs: The Problems with Writing for a Specific Market

+/- Video Worth Watching

Writing Logs, Cumulative

Volunteers to Crit "Missing You In Pieces"?

Things Done, Forgotten, and Eaten

Writing Log: Two! Two Stories in One!

Writing Log: So Close I Can Taste the Illusionary Happy Ending

Aswiebe's Market List Update 2009-08

Writing Log: Baen's Universe

Writing Log: Dating Is Hard

Writing Log: The Top of the Arch of the Foot

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