Monthly Archives: June 2015

June 28, 2015 · 10:37 am

Weekly writing check-in: the one with some summer ghostly writing

 

Must Love GhostsSo, this week I worked on revising The Ghost Whisperer while drafting Must Love Ghosts. I’m pretty sure about that title for the last episode. I’m so sure that it even has a cover. (That’s it, to the left.)

Also, a few stories came back so I sent them right out again. Funny thing. I had to check this morning because I couldn’t remember 1) what had come back and 2) how many rejections I received this week.

This is the benefit of keeping stories in circulation. I don’t really think about rejections. I think about the next place I might send the story. So far this year, I’ve made thirty submissions and I’ve sold six stories. Not bad for the first six months of the year.

Writing Work:

  • Writing ~ 4,100 words
  • Writing: Must Love Ghosts
  • Revising: The Ghost Whisperer

Submissions:

  • Gretel and Hansel
  • The Girl with the Piccolo
  • Keeping Time

Rejections:

  • Keeping Time
  • Gretel and Hansel

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

 

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June 21, 2015 · 10:39 am

Weekly writing check-in: the one with giving up the ghosts

Finished off the last bit of work for my classes (for now). Yay!

I started the last of the Ghost episodes (also for now–there might be a season two). This episode is challenging. It not only has its own story arc, but also the entire season story arc comes to a close in this story. Again, hats off to television writers. This. Is. Challenging. I’m calling this last episode Must Love Ghosts–tentatively (for now).

But it’s a lot of fun. As I mentioned earlier this week, Giving up the Ghosts is live. Plus, Ghost in the Coffee Machine is free and it includes a sample of Giving up the Ghosts. So, if you’re uncertain about Coffee & Ghosts, you can give it a no-risk sort of try.

Writing Work:

  • Calvino class: All done!
  • Writing ~ 3,600 words
  • Started Must Love Ghosts
  • Revising The Ghost Whisperer

Submissions:

  • The Perfect Canvas

Rejections:

  • The Perfect Canvas

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

Giving up the GhostsGiving up the Ghosts is now live! And Ghost in the Coffee Machine is free to read.

If you want to learn more, see my post from a few days ago.

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June 17, 2015 · 5:57 pm

New release and a free read!

And … it’s here! The second episode in the Coffee & Ghosts series is live. Even better, the first episode is free.

Ghost in the Coffee Machine

Ghost in the Coffee Machine_series cover

Katy and her grandmother have always used coffee to catch ghosts. It pays the bills and keeps them in high-end beans. But after Katy’s grandmother dies, it’s as if she’s taken all the ghosts with her.

Until Katy discovers there’s a rival ghost hunter in town, one who uses tea–of all things–and one who has stolen all her clients. But when an epic infestation threatens, Katy can’t help but get involved. It will take all her wits–and some excellent Kona blend–to fight the ghost in the coffee machine.

Read for free!

Giving up the Ghosts

Giving up the Ghosts

Katy Lindstrom has used coffee to catch ghosts since she was five years old–a handy skill in a town with an overabundance of spirits. Now Katy wants to make her newly-minted ghost-hunting business thrive. Never mind that her partner, Malcolm Armand, is her former rival, not to mention a bit … distracting.

When a routine ghost eradication ends in disaster, clues point to someone close to Malcolm. But something sinister lurks in Springside Township, something Katy’s never encountered in all her years of ghost hunting, and something that has her doubting all her skills.

It will take more than high-end beans and the perfect cup of coffee this time around. It will take trust and teamwork and possibly a sacrifice Katy’s not ready to make.

Read for free with Kindle Unlimited–or 99 cents!

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June 14, 2015 · 10:53 am

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the banner week

So this past week? This was a banner week. I sold not one, but two stories to pro-paying markets, including one of my dream markets, Cicada. They bought reprint rights to Straying from the Path, which just goes to show that you can sell a story more than once, and do so at a good rate as well. One myth dispelled.

Plus, I finally found a home for The Life Expectancy of Fireflies! It’s a quirky, slightly disturbing story that’s received a lot of personal rejections along the lines of good story/not quite right for us/send us your next thing. This sort of response is gratifying if a little frustrating. But Fine Linen Magazine looks like a grand home for it.

I finished up the week with a rejection (because you can’t win them all) and with the final scenes for Gone Ghost. Last week? I like you very much.

Writing Work:

  • Calvino class: Finished reading If on a winter’s night a traveler, drafted my essay. Now all I need to do is post it and respond to the other essays. Almost there!
  • Writing ~ 3,000 words
  • Finished Gone Ghost

Submissions:

  • Knight in the Royal Arms

Rejections:

  • Knight in the Royal Arms

Acceptances:

  • The Life Expectancy of Fireflies
  • Straying from the Path

Publications:

  • None

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June 7, 2015 · 8:37 am

Weekly writing check-in: the one with even more ghost writing

Even more ghost writing this week. I’m closing in on the end of Gone Ghost, and I have story notions for the last story or two (or maybe it’s one long story that I break off at a cliffhanger–I haven’t decided yet).

One thing I know I’m not going to do again: Add in another class at the end of the school year. Things are always busy (and I always forget that). Also? I’m totally in summer mode, and that includes classwork–no matter how much I enjoy it.

No submissions or anything else this week. I am all about finishing the classes and the ghost stories at the moment.

And summer. I am all about summer, too.

Writing Work:

  • Narrative Design class: Done! Workshop portion complete
  • Calvino class: Almost done!
  • Writing ~ 5,250 words

Submissions:

  • None

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

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