Is there something sticking out of my skull?

Because that’s certainly what it feels like.

A very busy week has resulted in headaches and several threads of stories that have knotted themselves nice and tight in my head.  Looking back on my previous post, I see that I did MOST of what I set out to accomplish this week.  And since the majority of my work-week consisted of reformatting bullet lists from PDF format into Word, I will not be listing said accomplishments in the same way.  So…

1 -Got a little closer to finishing Hell On Earth: Of Keys and Fire.  If I had to make a guesstimate, I’d say it’s about 85-87% done.  (I’m sure the 30 or so people that have actually read Book 1 are SUPER excited).  As I get closer, I become more and more certain that I’m going to have to rename it.  I’m writing a horror trilogy and something about the title Of Keys and Fire screams elves and dragons.

2 -I knocked out my submission to Malpractice.  I personally think it turned out pretty good and the story, titled “It Pays the Bills” ended up being one of my favorite short stories that I have ever written.  I have a foreboding feeling about it though because it’s one of those stories where the pay off really only comes at the very end and it comes in the form of a whacked-out flashback.  I felt a bit cheap, ending the story on a flashback, but I think it fit the cataclysmic feel of the story.  We’ll find out in a few weeks, I guess.

3 -Broken Skies is coming along nicely.  It now stands at 37,100 words (4,500 of which were written this week) and is looking to round out somewhere in the 65-70,000 word range.   It’s a lot of fun to write at the moment, but I’m still dreading 2 particular scenes (one at the end and one at the 90 page mark which I have skipped for now).

4 -I got basically nowhere on my story for The World is Dead.  I have no problem admitting that I’m not the biggest fan of zombie fiction.  Romero did it perfect the first time in black and white and, as far as I’m concerned, there’s no need to try to compete with the master.  (see clip below for what I strongly believe is one of the most well done horror scenes ever filmed.  That’s right; kiss my ass, Eli Roth). 

And, as usual, there are a ton of responses I’m looking in my mailbox for.  My anticipation is bordering on panic attack status in regards to three of them: Harvest Hill, From the Asylum’s Things Aren’t What They Seem and Ghosts In the Machine.

Okay, and now for the weekend.  Have a good one, everyone!