Online, in print, and now I go AUDIO! Dunesteef to broadcast, "The Question."

I just got word that Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine is going to audiocast my story, "The Question." "The Question" was my first published story, and the version Dunesteef is going to broadcast is an improved version. I cleaned up some of the text, streamlined other parts, and added a few new gags (there's an ostrich!)

This story is one of my favorites, and I'm excited about making it into Dunesteef, one of the premiere audio magazines out there.

I'm not certain when the story will go live, but I'll provide a link when it happens.

RLR

Heir Apparent now on Kindle w/ stories from me, Eric James Stone, and...

Digital Science Fiction's 4th anthology, Heir Apparent is now available on Kindle. It includes my story, "Floaters," "A Lincoln in Time," by Eric James Stone, and...

• Father-Daughter Outing – Martin L. Shoemaker
• Ghostbook – Paul Cook
• Hooked – Cassandra Rose Clarke
• In the Arms of Lachiga – Alex J. Kane
• My Silent Slayer – Ed Greenwood
• Persistence of Memory – Brandon Nolta
• Philosophy – Ronald D. Ferguson
• To Titan on the Daily – George Walker

I'm really excited to be included in an anthology with these other great writers.  From what I understand, the anthology will also be available in print in the near future.

Eschatology to publish my story, "Ghost Dancing."

I just received word that Eschatology is going to publish my story, "Ghost Dancing," in their Dec. 7 2011 issue. It's a flash piece and the first in what I hope is a series of short stories to incorporate some of the Native American elements I came across in my former history studies (my novel in progress also incorporates some of these elements).

This is my first sale in a while, and this makes me feel a whole LOT better, since my school work has seriously limited my writing time recently.

And a special thanks to Sylvia Hiven, a fellow Codex member. Eschatology is publishing one of her stories as well, and when I saw the title, I said "hey, I remember critiquing that story!" and took the time to track them down.

I'll put up a more specific link when I have it.

It's coming! Digital Science Fiction's 4th anthology! w/me!

Digital Science Fiction's 4th anthology is coming soon!

http://digitalsciencefiction.com/digital-science-fiction-anthology-4-story-author-list/

I'm really excited to be included in an anthology with these other AWESOME writers.  My story, "Floaters," is a story I started writing TWENTY years ago (damn, I'm old) and didn't take up again until little over a year ago. I'll probably talk about it a little more once the anthology goes live.

RLR

Setting and meeting goals: SFWA membership

A little over a year ago now, I decided to start writing and submitting fiction.  Because it's the kind of person I am, I had a "master plan" for how I was going to get my first novel published. A key part of that plan, of course, is actually WRITING a novel.  I haven't manage to finish one yet.  I'm working on it.  However, a step on that path to getting my first novel published was joining the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America group.

I did that today.  Yay! 

It's not like I get a magic pony, buckets of cash, an agent, or a huge contract just by joining (yeah, learning I wasn't getting that pony was pretty devastating).  I won't even get those things when I'm a full member with at least three SFWA qualifying sales.  I have one sale now. When Digital Science Fiction gets SFWA status, shortly after their one year anniversary, I imagine, I'll have two (and hopefully a third or more in the meantime).

Succeeding at anything is often about setting and meeting realistic goals.  Honestly, I didn't think I'd make it into SFWA as fast as I did, but count that as one goal met.  So now what?

Today, my next goal is going to be finishing a novel in the next year.

I also have some short stories in the works I'd like to finish.  I'd like to take as many cracks as I can at the Writers of the Future Contest before I become ineligible, so I'll split time between working on my novel and my stories, but I think I can manage both.

The one BIG thing complicating all of this is that I'm also an undergrad again, working on getting a nursing degree and qualifying for my RN.  Getting that day job MUST be my first priority, and I'm not settling for just qualifying for the BSN program (I'm pre-BSN now), I want to be among the best students in the program.  Plus I want to be the best father and husband possible, and lose sixty more pounds--I've lost 95 so far--not have the house fall apart around me, and accomplish a lot of other things(like earning straight As, so far, so good). 

I honestly don't know how the heck I'm going to do all that AND write a novel that doesn't completely suck, but I'm going to try.  Go me!

Congrats to Daily Science Fiction for becoming the newest SFWA qualifying venue!

Congrats to Daily Science Fiction for becoming the newest SFWA qualifying venue!  This also means I'll be eligible to join SFWA.  Yay me!  Becoming eligible for SFWA had been one of my long-term goals, and it took me just over a year.  So now what?

Screw perfection: A rant against typos, fear, and other irritants.

I recently replied to a blog about typos, and I went a little off topic.  The original blog entry was written by author, Gary Wedlund, and appears at Loconeal Press's website. 

I have mixed thoughts about all of this, and when I reread what I wrote below, I think I go well beyond the issue of typos (but I think you were trying to make a larger point in any case, so I think I either added to it, or hopelessly muddled it up).

I agree that sticking a story or novel in a drawer (literally or figuratively) for a while can give you those “fresh” eyes when you take it out again. I think this is a good technique to polish a story before sending it out, or even fixing a flawed story with some promise. It’s also vital for a writer to have others take a look at his or her work. A good writers’ group can spot the picky stuff your brain skips over, or maybe they’ll even let you know when something you thought worked, didn’t. At my most recent writers’ group meeting I tried something a little different with the beginning of a novel I’m working on, and I got a pretty clear message that what I tried just didn’t work. I don’t always agree that the problems others spot are actually problems, but when you get several people telling you the same thing, you can be pretty sure you NEED to make some changes (it gets trickier when just one or two say something is a problem). I’ll do a rewrite of the beginning of the novel and see how it goes.

The reason I have mixed thoughts about all this, however, is I think it’s possible for a writer to become paralyzed by the pursuit of perfection. I know a handful of writers who are sitting on pieces I think are really great, but no one knows about them because instead of submitting their work for consideration, these writers keep polishing their work over and over again trying to make them “perfect,” make them “ready.” Ready for what? Months and months of waiting for what’s likely going to be another rejection anyway? Fire away, stop worrying, and write something else in the meantime.

While I think it’s true that a writer generally gets just one shot with any particular publisher for any given piece, and writers don’t want to blow their chance to reach the widest possible audience over careless mistakes that might get a piece rejected out of hand, I think there’s too much danger in trying to make any one piece “perfect” and as a result, writers keep that one piece–and worse, OTHER pieces!–out of a publisher’s hands (and they can’t say yes or no if they don’t ever get to read it).

Writers, your story or novel is never going to be perfect. Polish it, polish it again, then fire that sucker out and hope for the best. If a story is a good enough, a few flaws won’t sink it, and if it’s good but not great, maybe it won’t get published at the highest tier, but at least it gets published. In the meantime, write something else. Write something BETTER. Experiment with stuff. Maybe that NEW idea is going to be that one story that breaks you into the market you always wanted to break into (or win that award, get that contract, whatever it is you’re hoping for)

There are a few pieces of mine that have been published or will be published that I wish I’d held back on a bit longer before firing them off, but to heck with it, someone is going to read them and they’re good pieces (if not perfect). A writer is really never going to know what ONE story or novel is going to capture the interest of a reader who then goes back and reads EVERYTHING else that writer has written (and then everything else that comes later).

I’ve been writing and submitting fiction for just over a year now. Not everything I’ve written has been published at the “pro” or “semi-pro” level (some pieces have), but everything I’ve sent out has been published or accepted for publication–except for the newer pieces I have circulating right now which I’m confident will also be accepted sooner or later.

Damn the typos, full speed ahead! (you can always fix it when you reprint it)