I just heard this from Chuck McKenzie on the Southern Horror Group grapevine. Go forth and spend your $20.
**Update** I've finally signed up for a Nectrotic Tissue Subscription. A little more than $20 when the conversion rate is taken into account. But all for a good cause - right.
Seems to be my issue lately.
I mentioned to Aaron what I thought about his anthology "Tainted: Tales of terror and the supernatural" before finding out the reason behind it being that way - well duh, there had to be guidelines at some point, but now I know what those guidelines were or at at least what the inspirations were, I can see how this marvelous collection came together. But - I haven't finished reading it yet (I will by tonight), so I'll save any further comment for my review.
Second premature shot into the darkness came with PARSEC. According to the guidelines for the anthology, contestant entries should be submitted to the antho as well, just in case it's good enough to go into the book but not quite there for the competition win. Submitting to the antho gives the editors a chance to ask for rewrites. So, with a week or so to spare, I've sent it off to the antho portion of the market as well as the competition section. Two shots at it can't be a bad thing.
My lecturer has gotten back to me and has suggested I just send in what I have even though it's well over the word limit. I'm going to have another go at shortening things up to get closer to the word count and then send it.
Want a good read to round things off? Seems a number of us in this little group have published or republished recently. I give you:
But not to be out done, our little group of writing friends has also had a bunch of acceptances:
Not a bad little collection of emerging writers there. Maybe we should start our own webring?
Congratulations to everyone with a recent publication, acceptance, or to those who have simply gathered enough courage to submit somewhere for the first time.
Keep on writing!
Heads up folks. One of the best sources of information for writers has moved to a new home.
Here's a copy of the email I received:
The web version of the Bullsheet can now be found at:http://bullsheet.sf.org.au/
Ted Scribner, our Ace webmaster, keeps the site updated as the month progresses, so it's worth while dropping by to catch the latest news.
Our thanks to Jeremy Byrne for his help in finding the Bullsheet a new home.
Bests Edwina
If you don't currently subscribe to the Bullsheet, drop by and have a look. You'll find out all the good oil on things going on in the industry - subscribe today.
The winners of the 2008 Flash and Short Story Competition are:
SHORT STORIES:
WINNER:
Drowning, by Alice Godwin
COMMENDATIONS:
The Lord of the Law, by David Conyers
The Dead End, by Stephen Studach
The Biting of Nails, by Steven Cavanagh
FLASH:
WINNER:
The Exchange, by Benjamin Hayes
COMMENDATIONS:
Portrait, by Crisetta MacLeod
Cold Feet, by Carolyn Eldridge-Alfonzetti
The Salbine Incident, by Patrick O'Duffy
Apparently there were over 100 entries this year of which my "Too Late The Rain" was obviously not one of the better ones. Congratulations to all the winners and to those who made the short list.
I guess there's always next year.
Time to find a new market for "Too Late the Rain".
Not getting a lot of fictional writing done lately. I've posted a few critiques into my new writers group "The Prose Nest" (TPN) but haven't had anyone take a look at my little short yet.
I've packaged up my latest assignment but decided to hang onto it until I gain feedback on my resubmitted one.
Slugging my way through the latest issue of Albedo One. I've read six or so stories and the interview so far. The interview is good and worth the cost of the mag but I've only identified with two of the stories so far. Some of those I thought not particularly great are apparent award winners. I've asked a fellow HorrorScoper for their opinion so we'll see if I'm in over my head or not. Personally, I just don't like most of the stories in the mag. :(
Tonight I have other commitments, (Cricket) so its a non-writing related night, but that's cool. I don't like to obsess and my writing was definitely bordering on an obsession. I'm slowly reigning it in again although those that are closest to me may disagree. ;)
For those of you interested, the short list for Australia's Premier Award in Dark Fiction, The Australian Shadow Award has been announced. You can check it out here.
Good luck with your submissions.
Well the free writing assignment has been completed and is ready for posting. It'll be in the mail first thing tomorrow morning.
"Too Late the Rain" has been prep'd for sending out to another market. I've done some serious research into the types of markets out there in the dark fiction arena so I'm hopeful of finding the right place.
I'm going to revamp all the short stories I have and submit them all again. I didn't make my goal of gaining a second fiction publication before the end of 2007 but then if I never have another four months like that again - it will be too soon.
Haven't yet heard what my new duties are for HorrorScope but I'm anxious to get started.
That's it for now....
Good luck with your submissions.
I have just been informed that I have been accepted as the sixth and final new member on the HorrorScope Associate Editors team. It means I get the opportunity to review books, magazines and DVD's in the horror genre - woohoo!!!!!
Make sure you check out the best horror blog on the web :)
HorrorScope
What a great way to start the day!
As you may have noticed - some fundemental changes are taking place on the blog. The colour scheme and fonts may seem a little out of whack at the moment as I play with a new look. Unfortunately it doesn't seem to want to let me do it from work during my lunch break so I'll have to find the time at home.
My course books arrived yesterday and last night I began reading and working on my first assignment. 15 minutes of "Free Writing" and then revision of the result. Have you ever sat down cold and attempted to write an opinion piece? This was not to be written within 15 minutes but writing for 15 minutes non-stop. It's not as easy as it sounds.
I was instructed not to worry about grammer or spelling or the like - just write. Or, as it turned out, just ramble on. The purpose was to revise the piece to sharpen focus, identify audience, tone, etc etc - an exercise in the style and context of writing professionally. An interesting exercise. Draft 1 and revision 1 were completed last night. I'll leave it for a day or so to allow a fresh pair of eyes to have a look at it on the weekend.
Thanks for reading and good luck in whatever you're doing in your field of writing.
I have just heard that Australian Horror Writers Association is launching their own magazine.
For all the details see here:
http://ozhorrorscope.blogspot.com/2008/02/news-ahwa-to-launch-midnight-echo.html
or check out the AHWA web site:
http://www.australianhorror.com/
Excellent news!!
Get cracking on those stories!
Well - if nothing else, yesterday was an interesting experience. I learnt pretty much nothing from my orientation course that was of any real use. We had a tour of a building that I will rarely if ever visit again.
The look in at an empty ceramics class allowed me to come up with a description of the smell, taste and texture of the air, plus the general atmosphere which could be useful. Same goes for the look in at an empty drama student rehearsal room. The corridors were straight out of Nightmare on Elm St - enclosed concrete tunnels with exposed metal pipes and air conditioning ducts. The whole complex is a labyrinth of tunnels encased in way too much concrete, metal and glass. A brick feature is stunning in its contrast as was the huge bark painting.
The library was disappointing as was the staff there. During a demonstration of how the databases worked, I had to step in to fix a frozen computer as no-one else knew what to do and the demo was about to be prematurely cut off. After fixing it, I was disappointed that there wasn't a lot more to see anyway. We could have had an early lunch! Instead we sat through another 20 minutes of inept examples and got to lunch late.
My classmates (As I'm an external student I use the word loosely) are an amazing group of the most unlikely sorts imaginable. We have a girl completing her final year of high school so she can only be 17 or so. Another who only finished last year so add a year. 90% are between 20 and 30. Most of those are below 25. 18 students turned up for the orientation out of an allocated 40. 20 internal students and 20 external students (I think). Only four externals turned up for the tour - perhaps they knew something I didn't.
An amazing mix of backgrounds were represented, high school students, university students, checkout chicks, pharmacists, English teachers (one retired and one not), psychologists (one practising, one not), a man recovering from a brain tumour, another IT person like myself and barmaids and waitresses. (I think - I forget every ones occupation but the range was incredible for a group so young).
I started to become worried when it came to expressing why we had chosen to do the course. Too many of the younger participants, who enjoyed writing creatively, were there without much idea of why - they were just there as they were offered a spot. I'm expecting a high drop out number as the course progresses. The fact that very few seem to have much life experience is also a warning sign. We incorporate what we experience into our writing to make it richer and fuller. If you haven't experienced a lot then wouldn't you tend to copy a little more. I realise that there are plenty of good young authors out there but the bunch I met yesterday concern me. Hopefully they will prove me wrong.
So I got into work early yesterday as I'd forgotten my paperwork. I then went straight into town - an horrendous drive of nearly an hour in peak hour traffic. Eventually found a car park near the admin building and paid my fees without hassle. I then had to find another, long term, car park closer to the Arts Academy building - almost a full hour before I had to be there. I should have known then that the day wasn't going to be the one of splendour and awakening I thought it was going to be right then and there :(
Now I sit and wait for the arrival of my books and the beginning of my external school year. Apparently there will be an assignment each week and it should take up around 10 - 14 hours of my time each week.
Let the fun begin!!!!!
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