Got A Bit Done

Currently it's 9:14Pm on Tuesday night (Mind you, I didn't finish writing this post till 9:45 - see I do get side tracked) - so nearly 12 hours since I posted this morning about what I was going to try and get done. Not surprisingly, I didn't get a long way through my short list.

Lets recap:

I wanted to review the anthology Triangulation: Taking Flight. This was the first thing off the bat, and as indicated earlier, has been completed. I've alerted at least one of the authors to its birth but haven't had any feedback yet - not that it matters one way or the other, all my reviews are honest.

Next cab off the rank was Wamphyri, my short story for the diploma. Due to be in a marketable state by November, I wrote the outline over a month ago, the major character outline a few weeks ago and the first scene three times in the last fortnight. Then inspiration struck and I wrote the whole story in an evening. The assignment requirement was for a 4000 word story but my night of falling through the hole in the page led to a 4300 word story. Today I was intending to do the first revision. After the fourth revision, I had it down to 4000 words. Ordinarily I prefer to leave time between changing work--which I did--ordinarily I tend to have bigger breaks than a walk to the fridge for refreshment--but today I didn't. Still I think it comes up pretty good now so I've sent it to a couple of people for comment.

Next was Idolatry. After it's rejection, I looked hard at the story and kept the editors comments in mind. It is a horror story but not hard core. In my way of placing stories into genres, Idolatry is dark fiction at worst. 1920s pulp fiction maybe a better description. So I needed a lighter speculative market this time round. I'm still not ready to send work to exposure only markets, although I'm not far away from that. For work over 1000 words, I'd rather get something for my efforts. In the end I chose Byzarium for a couple of reasons. They are SpecFic, prefer shorter works, don't pay huge amounts, have a quick response time, and have a currently open submission window. Actually they accept all year round, but not everyone does - read the guidelines page before submission anywhere!

Last two items were assignments and Newland. Not going to happen, even though Monday and Tuesday are assignment nights. Instead I got sidetracked - again.

I went through every page of Musings Of An Aussie Writer - The Website. I've updated most pages and checked all the links (I think). I've added some new content and removed some older stuff I no longer want to support or host. I've updated my goal progress (or lack thereof) and a whole heap of other stuff. Feel free to wander through and let me know if I need other stuff either added or removed (or fixed).

And yes, I know the ads are a pain, but I simply don't have the time or the money to spend on a new site right now. Soon, I'll look into a domain but just not yet.

Last announcement (that I can think of at the moment - head like a sieve), the details for next years PARSEC contest are already out. Go have a look from the link in my competitions list and keep it in mind. Good luck!

Okay, that's it from me for today. Obviously I didn't spend the full 12 hours at the computer but it was at least a full days work. I think I did okay on the amount I got done. What do you think?

Back to my real job tomorrow :( Wednesday, Thursday & Friday of working in the real world to go--oh, and then I've got all of next week off :)

Sorry - couldn't resist.

Hope things are working out exactly as you want them to in whatever it is you're doing.

BT