Arr, Argh!

Arr, I've been obsessing over this submission. Checking my email over the web a few times each day (and I really hate web email).

And I just got back the rejection. And in case they're reading this, the Capts. VanderMeer and VanderMeer gave me the nicest rejection letter to date. You guys are class. I'm glad Ann is at Weird Tales, 'cause they see a lot of my stuff and I was worried about not getting the great reject letters from George Scithers and Darrell Schweitzer (of course, I'd rather have the acceptance over a nice reject letter any day).

"... it's definitely really good military space opera/pirate stuff. But it pretty much exists at the level of action."

Yeah, that's what I thought too. Bang, bang, not a lot of internal character debate, not a lot of world development. At least my seagulls didn't wheel around and there wasn't a dead captain (okay, well, at the end there is, but he doesn't come back), you know.

So, it's quick, over to Shimmer before I have to shimmy in the door. It's not that Shimmer is sloppy seconds, I wrote the story for the anthology reading, and I saw the Shimmer thing second. So, off to the Slush God with ya.

Heebee Jeebees

I'm have story post coital cool down. I want to go back and read it again. I'm at loose ends with myself. See, here's another one. If I pull it I may unravel like a wool sweater.

So, what should I work on now? Finish something else in progress, start one of my new ideas? I have a cool fairy story. Little girl, fairy she meets in a butterfly house helps the little girl deal with coming of age (no, that's not a story bone, check the post title, well, it is for me, and I really can't stop you).

Anyway, it has the feel when I quit Mountain Dew. Seriously. Withdrawl. Shakes and everything. Which, BTW, I'm trying to lessen my intake of Dr. Pepper. Diet stuff doesn't work for me and I need to get away from high fructose corn syrup. Really bad thing that is. So for the past week I've been drinking tea as often as a glass of Dr. Pepper, both interspersed with water.

Am I rambling? Okay, signing off now.

Hoist Sail, Clear the Anchor

I've read Robert's Thunder six times today. Enough. It's off to submission for Hot Antho! We'll see if Capts VanderMeer and VanderMeer like it.

I'm torn on it. It's not my best story, at least to me. I've been wrong about my own work before. And as has been said in many a forum and con panel, "Don't prejudge the market. Submit and let the editor accept of reject. That's what they get paid for."

I think the language I used was too plain. It was too straight forward. The ending was quick.

And I just noticed a typo in the cover email. Arr, matey, tis too late. Me ship is sunk. Damn.

Well, we'll see (fingers crossed).

Thunder!

Finished the second edit run through, I didn't miss much the first time. Typed in the edits, added some descriptions, and tightened the language. 6585 words. After dinner I'll run through it again. I think this went faster because I don't have any major mythological under currents in the story, not much subtext. So it was easier to create and edit. Now to dinner.

Red Line

Finished the first redline edit of the Pirate Story. I'll go through it again tomorrow and type in the changes. Then, if there's time, I'll do a line edit. I was very distracted, couldn't focus. And either I'm getting better, or I'm not being as critical as there isn't as many marks as I thought. Then again the prose is pretty dry, short declarative sentences all the way through. I like my Captain character (the villan, not the main character). To bad he's dead at the end. I have a feeling it'll be a Hollywood Death (i.e., he'll show up again).

Time for bed. Helped take down the village holiday decorations so it was an early morning with heavy work. Yeah, I know, but we have to wait for a certain person to help us with their truck. And they aren't all that worried about the village's reputation. Our big tree is still up, the sandbags and the metal ring it rests on are frozen to the ground. Tomorrow the ice storm should be here as well. Heck, we might put ribbons, then flowers on it, then decorate it with pumpkins, then light it back up next year.

On Bizness

John Scalzi has posted his income. For young writers, bear in mind John has been doing this for years, and he is, as they say, "a very hot property" at the moment. But you may want to check it out. First post. There's an addendum here." This is success. And I wish John many more decades of such success.

Crappy First Draft Done

Yes, the Pirate Story is out. 6350 words. Tomorrow I'll print out a hard copy and then start editing and revising. I know one section needs some help, and the ending goes into a little exposition about what is happening, but by then our main character is dead, so this is how the character that carries the ball to the end thinks.

Anyway. Tired. Forgot to mention I finished Farwell Summer last night. Got all new books at the library on the way home tonight. Started listening to The Prestige by Christopher Priest at work today.

Story Bone

Sometimes mangled overheard conversation is the best.

"Tourettes is going to call me back. So if you hear me paging outloud, let me know."

I'm going to use this, somewhere. But until then, have fun.

FYI, it was Charrettes (a supply company) and the "being paged" was munged up.

Auden Centennial

From Funeral Blues

The stars are not wanted now; put out every one,
Pack up the moon and dismantle the sun,
Pour away the ocean and sweep up the wood;
For nothing now can ever come to any good.

For the Rum and Lash

End of last night, 5350. I rewrote a little, added a scene. The only thing that needs to get out is the last scene. I'm pretty sure I know what happens and how. I just need to explain one thing away (or insert more violence, which might be the solution).

Last night the local PBS station had a NOVA show about the "Americas Stone Age Explorers" and right after that was Frontline's "News War, Part 2." So that sucked down most of my attention. I did edits in front of the TV (laptops are fun).

So, maybe only about another thousand words to finish, maybe less. And then, Rewrite, Edit, Polish, Submit (I don't think I have time for my usual 4 or 6 rewrites this time).

Story Bone

"The screwdriver wasn't his weapon of choice, but it was the weapon at hand."

See what happens when I write mil-lit stuff (Pirate Story, etc). I get all these combatty thoughts.

The things you learn watching TV

So, I'm veging out after rewriting one of the jokes from the book (dream sequence, seraphim, club atmosphere, and Wizard of Oz, no, I'm not telling more) that I had some great ideas on the way home. It was only 200 or so words, but it was a complete overhaul.

I'm watching, "Future Weapons" on Discovery. Yeah, it's annoying. If he says, "I just have to (try it, see it, drive it, be there) myself," one more time, well, I'm flipping the channel. And please, please, please stop showing me the same boomtastic frames over and over. Give me the basics, tell me what the system is, give me the run down on options, show me how it works, then how to integrate it into the combat system, and then do the live fire test. Although that HK MP14 looks SWEET (Say, did you safety that weapon before pointing it at the camera? Have the bolt open? Nah, didn't think so, points off for range safety.). The MP7? Nice, but 4.62mm, so much for battlefield replacement ammo. Hope you brought enough clips. (Oh, and BTW, if you or the minions have googled this, your site is damn slow. Not everybody has broadband.)

Then he shows the Stryker. I sit up and pay attention. One, it looks like a Russian design (I'm old school). Cool, yeah, integration with the LAN Warrior system (formerly known as Battlecube), neat. The front four wheels turn together. Oh shit. Eight wheels. What did I say in "War Stories?" Six wheels. Margle, frotz.

Time to edit. Yes, I already did, just in case Weird Tales doesn't bite. And if they do bite I'll beg and plead for that edit. I look like an idiot enough, don't need one more thing to help out.