MIA

Hey everyone.  Remember me?

I think it’s safe to say that my time of being something of a regular in the online writing circles has come to an end.  I knew that making the change from freelancing to 9-5ing would result in that but it had to be done.  Of course, this means that I am behind of new anthology guidelines, the success of friends and tons of blog reading and Twitter updates.  (Wow, that almost sounds like a job in itself).

I am beginning to find a groove for myself as far as a schedule is concerned.  While writing time is few and far between (mostly lunch breaks and every now and then at night), I am beginning to value it so much more.  Also, oddly enough, this new 9-5 schedule makes acceptances much sweeter.

For instance, I was on a high for about 2 days when I received word that my story “The Mannerisms of Runners” has been accepted into 2010’s 52 Stitches.

Meanwhile, my endless pimping of Debris continues.  Check out the interview over at one of my old freelancing haunts Freelance Writerville.

And as always, for any of you that may have purchased it already, your comments and reviews are appreciated.

Now back to writing…it could very well be the only writing I get done this week…

Weekend of redemption

I am very sad to say that I managed a whopping 0 words this week.  Work has been crazy-busy (a good thing, I suppose) and I have just not had the energy or spirit to place myself in front of the computer for an additional 3 hours every day/night.

Of course, I plan on redeeming myself over the weekend.  If I don’t get down some if the ideas for the series I’m tinkering with, I’m going to go mad!  I also think I have a title going for the series as a whole…not sure yet, though.  It relies on part of the first book that hasn’t been written yet.

I also need to write some new stuff because the “due dates” for some of the shortlists I am on are scheduled for the next week or so (this includes Comet Press and, from what they have told me, the folks at Elektrik Milk Press for Dia des los Muertos).  Perhaps writing will take my mind off of the impending responses.

Anyway, I’m off of here for now.  I feel cheap in a way…writing on my blog which is about writing, without having written anything all week.

Oh, and for those interested, I now have a fairly regular gig over at Freelance Writerville.  Check out my newest article and find out what I wrestle with nearly every day.

Being productive but not writing

Still stranded in a sea of freelance writing gigs, I haven’t had much time to write.  Still, I figured I owed it to my creativity to try to do something to stimulate the fiction writer in me.  So, in the past few hours, I have managed to:

Sent off a story to Stymie Magazine.  I wrote it for them last year but missed the cut off date.  Glancing over its 12 pages this morning, I remembered how much fun I had writing it regardless of the fact that I know next to nothing about golf.

Posted a new chapter segment to Blood Routes.  This was especially exciting for me because the post entails the first few pages of Chapter 12 which are, to this point, one of my favorite parts of the story.

And now, because of the lack of anything overly interesting in this post, here is Demetri Martin…because I enjoy clever jokes involving a play on language.

When the Day Job and the Ultimate Goal collide

Rather haphazardly, I have recently found myself deep inside the seedy world of freelance writing.  I am researching it, looking for the most effective marketing tools and writing tips as I churn away on assignment after mundane assignment.

In the wake of all of this, I found an insightful and often snarky blog called Freelancewriterville.  I liked the tone of the place and when I saw that they were looking for blog post submissions about the trials and tribulations of freelance writing, I felt obligated to see if I could contribute.

So I wrote an article (note: ranted) about an issue I have been wrestling with for quite some time.  It is currently up and can be read here.  And, as is my usual pattern, the article was too damned long and they had to split it up into 2 parts.

Oh, in unrelated news, no writing yet this week.  Sad.

In the Writing Sludge

I feel like I’m up to my eyeballs in writing sludge.  That is, I want to write and I feel like I haveto write, but I simply have not had the time over the past week or so.  The freelance gigs are piling up and for the first time in the six months I’ve been barely scraping by with freelance writing, I am swamped.  I think I finally made the right connections and may actually be able to give freelancing full-time a go.

Anyway, the writing progress over the past few days has been minimal.  I edited about 6 pages of Broken Skies and added a measly 850 words to the still untitled series.  On a side note, I was watching Fringe Tuesday night and realized that I have some rethinking to do with my main character’s background; it resembles the storyline behind Joshua Jackson’s character a little too much (not on purpose, mind you; I’ve been sketching out this character and his story for almost a year now).

Also, for those of you that may not know yet, Shroud has started shipping the paperback copies of Northern Haunts…which means I should have my greedy hands on it within a few days!

And as another slight aside, here are 2 quick facts about me that, when combined, make for a remarkable output.  1) One of my favorite 3 songs of all time is Joy Division’s “Love Will Tear Us Apart”.  2)One of my favorite styles of music is the laid back almost-chill out genre out of Iceland that features female vocals.

I give you Worm Is Green and their cover of “Love Will Tear Us Apart”.  (The sound quality isn’t great, but you get the gist…also, if you dig the sound, check out the tune “You’re Too Late Satan”).

If there are indeed cogs in my head, one of them just became dislodged and sprang out of my ear

That’s how it feels, anyway.

It’s one of those days where I wish I had about six other arms and two more computers.  Most of today has been spent trying to procure a rather sweet freelance gig (it’s what is still barely putting food on the table).  But in the back of my head, there is a story I want to get written that, I think, will serve as a backup for my Dead Bait story.  It feels a bit like Hemingway’s The Old Man and the Sea but shorter and with more dead people.

Also, over the weekend, I finished up a surprising little story that I have decided to call “This Tour Don’t Roll Through Seattle.”  It gave me another idea which I don’t have the time to write at the moment.

Oh, also, if someone could explain to me why Twitter is supposed to be so damned convenient for freelancers, I’d appreciate it.  So far all I’ve done is talk to myself.

Yeah, it’s been one of those days.

Also, over the weekend I got a poetry rejection from Dreams and Nightmares for a poem I actually like quite a bit and now have no idea where to try placing it.

Now, onward with the freelance hunting.  In private, I think of this as “head hunting”  because then at least the anger and bloodlust seems to make sense.

Holy crap, where did THAT come from? *and* an antho update

So things are looking SLOWLY up in the work scope of things.  The freelance thing is beginning to sort of pay off and I have some interviews lined up for more secure jobs next week.  However, the title of this post refers to something that happened to me this morning.

While working on a freelance job, I somehow thought about a short story I wrote YEARS ago and was wondering how I could make it better. I started thinking about it and before I knew it, I had connected some very peculiar dots.  This old story idea had me thinking about new story ideas.  Mainly, the idea that has been escaping me for the Dia de los Meurtos anthology.   So I opened up the measly 852 words I had already written for that story, incorporated the main idea to the old story and wrote non-stopped for about an hour and a half.  I went back, re-read it and now need to edit it.  But I think it works.  It may be a bit darker than they are looking for, but I’m very pleased with it.

After edits, I estimate the story “The Drums Will Take You There” to be in the 3200 word range…2700 words of which were written in a blind frenzy within a 90-100 minute span.  So whew,…sorta wiped out for now.

Of course, I hear that the editors are pretty quick in their response time.  So if I can get this out by the end of the day, maybe I’ll have an update pretty soon.

Oh, also, I have it on pretty good authority (namely the editor) that the much talked about anthology Ghosts In the Machine is very close to its final stages.  According to e-mails (yes, I’ve been pestering him…usually a bad thing, but he seems very cool with it), responses should be going out any day now.  If you recall, my short story “After Passing”, written for this antho, scared the pants off of me while being written, so I have my fingers crossed HARD for this one.

Just thought I’d let you guys know.