Loose ends

It’s the last day of work, which means clearing up the last details on some projects and cleaning out the desk. Or, as one of my friends said, “Erase the hard drive and surf for porn.”
But I could do that at home.
There are always so many last-minute things that I tend to forget about until, [...]

Rejection letters

“Along with various business correspondence, (“enclosed please find a check for your last story”) were actual rejection letters. Yes, my friends, Vladimir Nabokov was rejected from The New Yorker. Several times. In fact every folder I glanced through contained piles of rejection letters addressed to various authors, some more famous than others. Flannery herself had [...]

Mantra

Robert dba Marlene Manners wrote this in reference to the technique and mindset necessary to performing as a credible drag queen, but I think it could apply to many other endeavors, writing included:
Study, practice, commit.
He is also a very entertaining and aware writer.

Score!

This week I got an e-mail asking me to submit a short story for an upcoming anthology. I have until April 1 to turn something in. My options at the moment are:
1. Turn in a story that I’ve already completed, but that is 3,800 words too long.
2. Write something new.
3. Turn in two stories and [...]

To read

(revised 4/7/06)
Here is my reading list for 2006. I am likely to continue updating it as time goes on, because I can’t remember everything that’s in the stack on my nightstand.
Finished:
The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis
The Passion by Jeanette Winterson
Faith for Beginners by Aaron Hamburger
The House of the Spirits by Isabel Allende
The Year of Magical [...]

A ramble, and a pattern

I’m working on about three stories at the moment, along with the book, but good grief, I need to focus on one thing at a time. So what happens? I got another glimmer of an idea today, and it kind of relates to one of the other stories already in progress. It’s all about imposters—though [...]

Rejection junkies

Though I haven’t read any work by Bret Anthony Johnston, there is a very funny essay at his Web site titled “On Rejection; or, Dear Author, After Careful Consideration.” You can read it here (click on the essay from that page to download it in PDF format).
An excerpt from the essay: “(B)eyond our dreams of [...]

Mission statement, sort of

I’ve decided what I’m going to use this for. This blog is going to be all about the writing. It seems like a good time to start keeping track, since I’m leaving my job and going to work part time while I focus more on my writing. Here, I’ll post updates on what I’ve submitted, [...]

Credit where credit is due

Many thanks to Steve, who invited me to set up a WordPress account. I haven’t decided what to do with this yet, but perhaps playing with it for a while will lead me to think of something. At the very least, it’s nice to have everything handled for me, so that I don’t have to [...]

Can you hear me now?

[tap tap tap] Is this thing on?