Goal Reached

Just got an acceptance email from 52 Stitches for "Murky Depths". Apart from being over the moon about the acceptance, it also allows me to pass last years acceptance count.

In the first 12 months of writing "professionally", I secured publication at Fiction Factor (x2), and Antipodean SF (1), for a total of three published pieces.

This year I have gained an acceptance in Fear & Trembling, 52 Stitches and two acceptances in a British erotica anthology. Unfortunately none have yet reached publication. 52 Stitches and the British anthology isn't slated until next year - I don't know when F&T are planning to publish my piece.

3 acceptances/publications in 2006. 4 acceptances in 2007. No publication of my fiction this year, but then that is balanced by the amount of freelance stuff I've had published. 7 articles in SA50s+, 4 reviews in Black, and a dozen or so reviews, news, and comments articles on HorrorScope

There's still a few weeks of this year to come and I still have 8 pieces in the market place - two of which have been queried and the staff are still interested in - so more good news may yet be to come. But I'll stop from extending this post into a look back at 2007 just yet.

I've received my word counts for the next issue of Black so I need to finish the final book I'm reading and get the review written up this week.

Work continues on finding the last third of my book, as does the writing on the first two thirds I've already found. The ending may change some of what I'm doing now, but that's okay. I refuse to just sit and allow things to drag on.

Lastly, welcome to the latest cult member/follower: SES Wilson. Go and check out his blog where he posts a lot of his flash fiction. I see you've already added my link to your blog so I'm happy to return the favour.

Don't be shy folks, become a follower, link up and let me know - always happy to return the favour.

Time to go read a chapter or two.

BT

Shock Horror

I have just realised I didn't post at all yesterday - most unlike me.

I've been plotting and reading, and reading and researching. All very mundane and fairly boring stuff, kinda...

I've ripped Newland in half. I didn't like the way the second story line of the book was coming together so I pulled it. That left me with half a book which needed an extra 45,000 (or so) words and an ending to find. I needed to find layers to make the extra tale a lot more than just padding.

At the moment it looks like my story is going to be around 40 chapters in length, which equates to somewhere between 8-100,000 words. I'm gunning for 90-95k - if I can find an ending.

The research came about due to Alex's teachings on layering, imagery, and plants. I've made a choice on my imagery and that requires some additional learning on my part. It will make the whole thing that much more authentic and visually stimulating (remember this is a historical dark fiction piece). I've been thinking about my layers and that's made me realise my opening scene is that much more powerful because of the layers I instinctively included.

I explained it a mate today who was asking why I was reading some stuff he hadn't seen me reading before. I explained all about the imagery in my opening scene, what it represented, how it was portrayed, hidden meanings from a number of different angles - he looked at me kind of weird as if to say, "Yeah right. You've written something that subtly complex..." - I just smiled and walked away - I did write something visually stimulating, full of imagery, and full of layers for my opening scene - it still needs polishing by my beta readers, but not yet. I need an ending.

I'm working through the first half of my plot and fixing missing bits and adding in additional threads to build the story in the later half where I removed the old storyline. My big issue now is the ending (have I mentioned that yet?). I have a few in mind, but they all seem a little cheesy or gimmicky to me - not good. So I continue to work on what I've got and hopefully the characters will reveal to me what the ending has to be. Not how I like to work.

My plot is two thirds complete, with the beginning of a third act. I'm just not sure where or how it will finish. Wish me luck in finding it - and soon.

New Anthology Market

Thanks to The Other Aaron for the heads up.

The Monsters Next Door have called for submissions to The Devil's Food anthology. Quoted from the site:

Stories should be centered on humans as food for some type of monster. Stories should have a supernatural element. Classic monsters (vampires, werewolves, zombies, etc…) are okay, as well as new, creative and original monsters. The focus of the story should be the threat of being eaten; this should dominate the tone of the story. Gore, sex, and violence are fine as long as it is used to enhance the story and not merely for the gross out or the smut.

Stories should be 3000 to 7500 words in length, Times New Roman font, double spaced, two spaces after sentence ending punctuation. Please do not use headers or footers. Stories should be sent as .rtf or .doc documents. The author’s contact info should be on the first page of the manuscript as well as in the body of the email. A short synopsis should also be in the body of the email.

We will pay $25 dollars and a contributor’s copy for First North American serial rights for each story selected. Authors will be paid upon publication. All rights revert back to the author upon publication.

Send submissions to MonsterAnthology[@]yahoo.com (without the brackets) as attached .rtf or .doc file. On the subject line, put DEVIL’S FOOD: your story’s title. If you do not receive confirmation that we received your submission within 10 days, feel free to query.

Multiple submissions are fine as long as they are in separate emails. Simultaneous submissions okay as long as it is clearly stated in the cover letter (aka body of the email).

Submissions will remain open until April 1, 2009. All submissions will be responded to by June 1, 2009. Do not query on your status until after that date. Publication date is scheduled for late summer 2009.

I have a few in mind that could go here if they don't find a home where they are currently submitted.

Give it a go and good luck.

BT

Blog Numbers

Over to the right you'll see a couple of different counter type things. A little lower you'll also come across feedit which shows where some people are arriving from.

All interesting stuff that can be interpreted and displayed in a myriad of different ways.

Heres's something else I recently came across which I thought interesting.

I've had over 5100 people visit this site over the year and a bit I've been blogging. Most of those numbers are return visitors.

In fact I've only had a little over 1500 unique visitors - and that's fine. I'd be happy if I only had a dozen or so people who popped in on occasion to say hello. I write this blog as an exercise for me, as my writing presence on the web, and to try and help out any other writers who are just starting out. It is cathartic for me in many ways.

So where have all these unique visitors come from? I'm glad you asked. Just click on the image below to blow it up into something you can read without crossing your eyes.

The top three are kind of expected to be leading the way. The next three surprised me a little but then I don't know what I would have expected to take their place. Maybe New Zealand, Ireland and...and...I have no idea.

Once upon a time I mused about having more people from India or South Africa, or possibly South America pass by. Now I'm just happy people find me and some of them come back more than once.

Thank you one and all for taking the time.

Good luck with your writing.

BT

Updates

I've done a little house work since the semester has officially come to a close.

You may notice (especially as I'm now pointing it out), I've updated the links to my Bibliography, my Diploma Progress, and my Work In Progress pages. I've also added a new flash fiction piece to my Work Examples page.

I'm currently trying to write one piece of flash fiction a week at Cafe Doom. I imagine the first few (maybe all of them) will be a little rough so rather than subject my stumbling efforts on editors around the globe, I though I'd throw them up on My Examples page for you, and prosperity, to view at your leisure. Comments welcome. The first offering is "Spring BBQ" and again touched on my love for writing dark fiction involving children. If you have a weak stomach or don't like to think about situations not so nice involving kids - then look away now. No sex or actual violence in this one. The one I posted to Cafe Doom today however, is completely different. No kids, a little bit of nudity, implied sexual scenario, and a zombie. Makes the mind boggle doesn't it? I'll post that one to the examples page next week.

You may also notice - although these things are way down on the sidebar - a new book has been added to my current reading for review list. It is "Envy the Night" by Michael Koryta (a very young and intense looking fellow). I'm reading this for Black magazine. The review will be out in January, with a full review to be posted on HorrorScope in February.

With Newland - I'm still working with the structure and will be for a little while yet. Storyboarding points out all sorts of downfalls and thin sections within your planned book. It makes a lot more work prior to the actual writing, but writing should then be so much easier when I get to it.

Lots of people are putting up reports of the previous month so I figured I'd join in on the fun.
So, what happened in November? (ala (also labelled as) Status Report)

I didn't participate in NaNoWriMo. :(
I wrote around 2000 words in Newland. :(
Began storyboarding Newland.
I revised Idolatry and submitted it to a new market.
Submitted Wamphyri to market for the first time.
I wrote "Spring BBQ" for Cafe Doom.
Wrote a new flash piece titled "Murky Depths" and submitted to market for first time.
I read "Promise Not To Tell" by Jennifer McMahon
I wrote three reviews of "Promise Not To Tell" by Jennifer McMahon
I completed and submitted 3 assignments, passing them all and completing my first year of study successfully.
Slushed 8 stories. (still haven't found a gem)
Critiqued 1 manuscript, 1 Query letter, and 1 synopsis. Excellent premise I expect to see grow.
Queried two submissions and received notice they were still under consideration.
Received 1 somewhat positive rejection.
Received 0 acceptances
9 pieces currently out to market.

I still feel like I didn't do enough though, and I think that's primarily due to not doing a lot on Newland.

That's enough for the updates.

Go read Spring BBQ and let me know what you think...

Speak soon

BT

Next lesson from Alex

Alex has posted a new part to her writing instructions titled Elements Of Act Three - Part 1. I've added it the main post where I'm gathering all these bits of wonderful information together here.

I am seriously looking forward to when this all gets turned into a single book.

Flummoxed

To be puzzled or confused.

Yep, you guessed it, I received my final assignment back from my nemesis, Mr Jonathon Stone. I received a B-. Not a great grade but enough of a grade to get me another distinction.

So why am I annoyed and flummoxed?

The accompanying note from Mr Stone has always been a case of give with one hand and strike down with the other. Don't get me wrong, I've learned a lot from this lecturer over the course of this year, but it hasn't been without a fair bit of aggravation.

Assignment 6 was to take material that was numbers based - a table or statistics or similar - and create an article from it. The module was titled Processing Information, and so it would be normal to assume I was supposed to take these gathered statistics and process them in an effort to create an article for a correctly targeted market. At least that's what I assumed.

The one hand giving: Mr Stone labelled my article as "ingenious!" (yep, he included the exclamation mark). He went on to say, "Of all the various approaches I've seen to this assignment this effort of yours takes the cake!" (yep, he included another exclamation mark).

He then went on to strike me down: "In reality of course it's a human interest story..." and "It's hardly a revelation..." and could have been the basis of a one-sentence article!" (yep, another exclamation mark).

Then, as if trying to smooth things over and make himself overly generous in the spirit of Xmas he writes: "But I guess your ingenuity on this occasion...deserve recognition - even though we both know your treatment of Assignment 6 isn't what Unit 6 is all about! (I'm sure we've been instructed in this first year not to use exclamation marks excessively but he packs them in).

So he passed me not because of the work, but because he thought I deserved it on the whole. He tells me we both know the work doesn't address the assignment - as if I'd pass in work I knew didn't meet the criteria!!!!

Let's go back to the facts.

The Unit is titled "Processing Information"

It deals with numbers, statistics, tables.

I was required to find such material and turn it into an article.

I chose to write an article for a local sporting organisation based on the scoresheet from a previous game. This was a cricket game. A scoresheet from a cricket game is nothing but a confusing collection of numbers and statistics.

The article was based around a fine innings of one young batsman. Yep, a human interest story - which suited perfectly the requirements of the local sporting clubs newsletter.

As for being able to state things in a single sentence - aren't all stories supposed to be able to be expressed in a single sentence. Professionals would call that a logline.

So I took a huge amount of numbers, and created an article for a viable market. That's what it asked me to do for the assignment; it is what the Unit is about.

The lecturer considered it an ingenious approach and then condescends me with the comment that we both know it's not he was really after but (nudge, nudge, wink, wink) I'll give you just enough of a grade to still gain your distinction - what an arrogant...

Breath...

Forget it.

The year is now officially over and I can move on.

I finished with two credits for semester one, and two distinctions for semester two. I would have been happy with just a pass so I'm pretty chuffed with myself. (Even if I still feel like I was gifted one of the distinctions - moving on...)

I'll have Mr Stone to deal with again next year, but I won't worry about that until then. And this time we'll be face-to-face as I'm purposefully switching to be an internal student just for his module. That should make for some interesting conversations.

Did you do any study this year? How'd you go? What about next year?

Speak soon

BT

Yesterday

Yesterday, I was a bad boy. I did my normal Sunday chores and...nothing else. I watched "The Birds" again, some cricket, repeats of sport on FOX, and a few other very mundane things.


I didn't write a word. I didn't read a book. I didn't turn on the computer, which resulted in me not surfing the web or checking emails. As far as writing was concerned, I did nada!


And I didn't mind a bit.


This morning, I loaded everything I've done so far on Newland onto my thumb drive/usb key/flash drive/call it what you will. December has finally arrived and I intend on doing my own form of NaNoWriMo, but it will be over December and January. I'll be writing as I can, which should be most days.


I have two books to read and review, one of those with a short deadline. I'll commence reading that one tonight. I need to leave work early every dau this week to pickup my youngest from school so I'll be looking to write for an hour or two when we first get home, and then do some reading later in the evening.


I should finish the first book inside two or three days and then write up three reviews.


That should free up additional writing time.


My goal is to write not 50,000 words in a month: My goal is to write the remaining 80-90,000 or so words in the next two months.

...

I began writing this earlier at work and never got around to posting it - who'd have thought I'd actually have to do some work :c(

So at 7:30 PM - here's what I was musing earlier...

Blog Level

This is a strange thing I was directed to by Janet Reid's blog:

What does it mean? God knows, but I'm sure you'll want to do it as well.

Have fun...