Accountability check-in: so what about that cage match?

I mentioned way back in January that my manuscript, The Pansy Paradox, was in the quarter-finals of the First Page Cage contest over at Pulp Literature.

Then, of course, I never mentioned it again.

But as it turned out, the experience was beyond gratifying. The Pansy Paradox tied for first. I love this outcome, and I was so thrilled for Nikita, my co-winner. I love that Pulp Literature was so generous in awarding a double prize.

There’s another layer to this, beyond winning and the prize money. I entered the contest specifically because I wasn’t sure I could write anymore. Obviously, I can string sentences together (because here I am, stringing sentences together). But writing stories, in particular, this story?

I had no idea. After the past couple of years of … everything, I simply wasn’t sure.

So it’s gratifying to learn that I can still write stories that people want to read.

Here’s what one of the judges said about the story:

“The Pansy Paradox is a delightful New Adult romantasy set in the mythical rural town of King’s End, Minnesota. It deals with themes of grief, loss, and responsibility with humour, romance, and sentient umbrellas.”

Yes, you read that right. Sentient umbrellas. They’re a thing; well, at least in this story, they are.

You can read more about the final outcome on this post here. You can also read what’s going on with this year’s quarter-finalists here. It’s interesting to see where the editor judges agree and disagree.

Namedropped!

So last week, Pulp Literature namedropped me in their weekly email:

Cover art by S Ross Browne. Line art by Mel Anastasiou

Would you look at that gorgeous graphic?

I love Pulp Literature. And not just because they’ve published some of my stories and I’ve placed in or won a contest* or two. And not just because they have a cool tagline: Good books for the price of a beer.

I encourage you to take a look around and consider purchasing an issue to try them out. They publish in both print and digital.

*An update about my most recent content experience with them will be forthcoming. But for now, let’s just say it was grand.

Accountability check-in: maybe it’s not the marketing

So, I’ve nearly finished the marketing-for-introverts course, and I had a realization. I don’t necessarily dislike marketing. Some kinds of marketing really drain me, and the course covers why that is, depending on your type of introversion. I found that part extremely helpful.

But I don’t lack desire so much as time, energy, and headspace—literal headspace, as in how much space I have in my brain for thinking about things that relate to writing and publishing.

And … I know the culprit in all this. And … I have a … let’s call it an exit strategy, for now.

In the meantime, however, I’m going to do a little marketing and tell you that Coffee and Ghosts, Seasons 1 – 3 is on sale for 99 cents. And it has been on sale for a while because I had a BookBub Featured Deal last month.

I also scheduled some other newsletter promotions around my BookBub day. But honestly? Nothing performs quite like a featured deal, which did most of the heavy lifting. I’m in the black in terms of ROI, so I’m very pleased. The bundle will be available for 99 cents through the end of the month.

Accountability check-in: start slow to restart

Hummingbird at my camera feeder, enjoying an evening snack.

So after the big software release at work, I’m getting back to the writing and everything else that goes along with the writing—and some things that don’t, like bringing in my hummingbird feeders for the season.

This weekend I restarted MTBs (Manuscript Time Blocks). These work better for me than word count goals. I’m reacquainting myself with the manuscript, checking in with all my characters, and starting to make some progress.

Also, this week, I began taking a self-paced marketing-for-introverts class, which I’m enjoying so far.

This coming week, I plan to claw back my morning writing time. I was logging on an hour earlier because of the release. No. More. Also, I’m looking forward to an actual lunch break.

Hope everyone made a little progress on something for themselves this week as well.

Accountability: let’s do this thing

Meadow Park, after the rain, July 14, 2024

So, I’m sitting here, eating the Apple Cinnamon Breakfast Bake I just made. Let’s be honest. It’s really an apple crisp with fancied-up yogurt. (Crème fraiche! Lemon zest!) But a crisp by any other name would taste as good.

Here’s where I’m at. So far, I’ve completed the first book in the new series (at a whopping 140,000 words—not a typo). I have a companion novella at ~25,000 words. And I’m 55,000 words into the second in the series.

I suspect this will be a three-book series, and I’m going to try to draft the entire thing before publishing the first. I hope this is a good idea. I’m having lots of fun writing it, although I’ve slowed down a bit. There are reasons for that:

One, I’m working on the middle book, and the middle of anything can be slow going.

Two, I would say my day job is still a bear. But in a contest between meeting a bear vs. my day job in the woods, I’m going to pick the bear.

But we’ll be through this software release soon enough, and I hope to get back to writing every morning.

In my quest to clean out the basement and garage, I have filled one of the 10-yard Red-E-Bins. Today, I’m tackling the stacks of paperwork that should have been shredded eons ago. This, too, is slow-going; I suspect I’m in the part where it’s worse before it gets better.

Thanks for stopping by. Let me know how it’s going for you.

September’s siren song

There’s something about September. I love this month, and I always have. Even when I know we’re losing daylight. Soon, the sun will set at 5:00 p.m., and I’ll wonder why it feels like I should be in bed before I’ve even had dinner.

September is a good time to start things. I’ve (re)started the basement and garage cleanout. I’ve (re)started being more diligent with yoga. (And honestly, I don’t know why I stop; it always makes me feel better.)

So, I was thinking maybe it’s time to start blogging again. Yeah, I know. All the cool kids have a Substack. I don’t want a Substack. I have a perfectly good blog, and maybe no one else is blogging like it’s the early aughts, but that doesn’t mean I can’t.

I’m also thinking of (re)starting an accountability check-in. There are lots of reasons I stopped, the major one being grief. I’d like it to be a community thing to, if others would like to join in and use my blog as a weekly check-in. And it doesn’t have to be for writing or a creative project—it can be for anything you want.

I’d love to have you join in. I will be back tomorrow, fingers crossed, to post that entry.

Starting 2024 with a cage match

I—somewhat foolishly, I admit—entered Pulp Literature’s First Page Cage contest. At the time, I used the deadline to spur me to the end of the manuscript, and I was pleased to make the long list. But I figured things wouldn’t go beyond that.

I was wrong.

I’m in the quarter-finals. In addition to the editor judges, there’s a readers’ choice component of the contest. I’m not sure why this surprises me since the contest is a cage match. This sort of thing is implied.

However, it did, and does. But if you’d like to read more and play along, you can do so here. Or, if you’re ready to head straight to the entries and voting, you can do that here.

And if you’re curious about what I’ve been working on these past several months (and why I’ve been so quiet), you can see that below.

The Pansy Paradox

A woman with nothing to hide—except the truth—meets a man with nothing to lose—except his heart. And he’s just arrived in town to fire her.

Meet Pansy Little …

Since her mother vanished, Apprentice Field Agent Pansy Little is the sole guardian of King’s End, protecting it from a supernatural force only a select few can see. The arrival of an agent from headquarters doesn’t bring relief. Instead, it means Pansy’s well-crafted charade is about to collapse.

Meet Henry Darnelle …

Principal Field Agent Henry Darnelle doesn’t want to be in King’s End, but he’s been blackmailed into performing Pansy’s field agent evaluation—with explicit instructions to fail her.

Distractedly handsome and unfailingly correct, he surprises Pansy—and himself—by defying orders to fire her. Instead, his curiosity is piqued by both Pansy and King’s End.

Together, they investigate, unearthing the intricate ties that bind their families. Together, they might even be falling in love.

But someone with a decades-old obsession is watching, maneuvering behind the scenes. This someone won’t rest until blood is spilled.

Welcome to King’s End, where discord falls from the sky and an eccentric twenty-something patrols the streets with her pink polka-dotted umbrella. Where one misstep won’t merely bring disaster—it might spark the end of the world.

Moon launch!

So, way back in the dark ages of 2021 (nearly three years ago now), I mentioned I was going to the moon. Or rather, my writing was. Now, the Peregrine Mission One with Astrobotic is about to launch, barring any delays. (Hey, it’s space travel; delays happen.)

To celebrate, Susan Kaye Quinn has published all the stories behind the stories headed to the moon. I’m #95 on the manifest, and you can read my story behind the story here.

I probably won’t be awake for the launch. Even so, I’m excited to head to the moon.

Edited to add: By all accounts, the launch was spectacular, but Peregrine developed a fuel leak and won’t be making it to the moon. My heart goes out to Astrobotic and the Peregrine team. However, as true scientists, they’re making the most of this situation. You can read the updates here.

Autumn Story Round-up

It’s autumn story round-up time! I had a few stories come out, both new and reprints, during August and September, but clearly have been remiss in actually mentioning them.

Oddly enough, they’re all military-themed to some degree. I don’t often write about the military, so it’s weird these three stories hit all at once.

Steadfast in Does it Have Pockets

This is a reprint that first appeared in Flash Fiction Online. It is also a modern retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Steadfast Tin Soldier, complete with a gender flip and unapologetic happy ending.

Rules of Engagement, second place prose (veteran) in the 2023 Col. Darron L. Wright Memorial Writing Awards from Line of Advance

New story alert! I won’t say much about this one, except the title is a play on words.

Field Manual for Waiting in Women on Writing 3rd Quarter 2023 Creative Nonfiction Contest

A reprint, but the first time you can read it online. Fair warning: this is a piece of creative nonfiction that involves grief. You can also read an interview I did with the editors at WOW, where we discuss, among other things, current writing projects and ghosts.

When life gives you broccoli

This is what it looks like when life gives you broccoli.

Broccoli and cat friends

Trust me, that’s a lot of broccoli.

I didn’t realize before I planted it this spring that broccoli can be a little fussy. It’s prone to bolting. (This always has me imagining the broccoli dashing through the yard—with me and the rabbits chasing behind.)

But! I somehow managed to get this crop and plenty of side shoots as well. We also planted bell peppers and fairy tale eggplant, which are coming in nicely and are very tasty.

Fairy tale eggplant, green bell peppers, and broccoli shoots

But back to that broccoli. I thought, why not make one of those salads Anno recommended on her blog a while back. I picked the one from Smitten Kitchen. However, after adding that ½ cup of dried cranberries, I immediately doubled it. (Why anyone thinks ½ cup of dried cranberries is enough is beyond me.)

But first, I had to chop, chop, chop the broccoli. Then, somehow, I had to keep on chop, chop, chopping the broccoli. It. Was. Endless. I felt like Emma from my story Flowers and Stones—I had an industrial-sized amount of florets by the time I was done.

And broccoli salad for a solid week.

I also planted kale, not that we’ve eaten any of it. The rabbits have also declined to eat it, as have the deer. Still, it continues to grow to spite us all.

In non-vegetable news:

I have ~65,000 words in my current manuscript. I think that’s halfway, more or less. Yes, it’s going to be a bigger book and possibly a series (or at least two books). I’m writing from the point of view of three different characters in this story. I’m doing it in present tense, first person POV; present tense, third person POV; and past tense, third person POV. I don’t necessarily recommend writing a story this way. Still, it’s how this particular story wants to be told.

In even more non-vegetable news:

I’m going to see Ann Patchett! She’s coming to town for Talking Volumes, an author series our local public radio station sponsors. I didn’t even know she was coming to town. One day in June, I wondered whether Talking Volumes had anyone interesting scheduled for the fall. So I decided to do a quick check.

Ahem. Anyone interesting, indeed.

The tickets for Ann Patchett had just gone on sale, were selling fast, and somehow, I snagged the last lone seat in the main orchestra section, row M, right in the center. It was like it was there, waiting for me.

I can’t wait. I just finished Tom Lake, I’m rereading Bel Canto, and I think I’ll move on to The Dutch House next. I even bought a new dress.

Although, I can’t help but wonder if Ann might like some broccoli. Because I could bring her some.

I have plenty.