Tag: flash fiction

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

Well, if last week was quiet, then this one was more than exciting. Look below. I have something in every category I track, from submissions to publications. I love that sort of week. It’s a writer’s writer sort of week.

I also continued the Photoshop tutorials, did some revision work on a couple of stories, and started getting the last Coffee and Ghosts episode ready to publish.

All in all, not a bad way to end the summer.

Writing Work:

  • Photoshop tutorials
  • Revision work
  • Ghost publication work

Submissions:

  • Gretel and Hansel
  • A Most Marvelous Pair of Boots
  • The Perfect Canvas

Rejections:

  • A Most Marvelous Pair of Boots
  • The Perfect Canvas
  • Gretel and Hansel

Acceptances:

Publications:

CicadaStoryStraying from the Path in the September/October issue of Cicada.

Look at that gorgeous layout!

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the view

view

The view this morning. It came with pelicans, but they were too far away for a good picture. Still. They’re huge! Pairs of them were streaming across the lake this morning, quite focused on getting somewhere.

As far as writing? A pretty quiet week, all in all. Some revision. Some work on the Gatsby class.

But! Two publications (see links below). A Measure of Sorrow has a new online home at Evil Girlfriend Media and The Life Expectancy of Fireflies was published in the summer issue of Fine Linen Magazine.

For writers, I recommend EGM. Check out the submission page. For flash fiction, they’re looking for reprints as well as original stories.

Writing Work:

  • Revising Must Love Ghosts
  • Lit class: The Great Gatsby

Submissions:

  • None

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

Fine LinenA Measure of Sorrow

The Life Expectancy of Fireflies (check out my author copy to the left)

 

 

Weekly writing check-in: the one with another sale

So … I sold a reprint this week to Evil Girlfriend Media, which is one of those inspired names, right up there with Mad Scientist Journal. I also discovered that the Kazka Press website is no longer online, so I will start looking for reprint markets for the stories I sold there as well.

I kept up in my classes, but I’m finding it difficult to balance two craft-heavy classes with writing new words. But I knew this month would be a difficult one for new words anyway, what with dance competitions and camping trips and who knows what. And as everyone knows, it’s the who knows what that’s particularly time-consuming. So, it’s working out. I’m enjoying the classes, revising some work, and sending out some as well.

Oh, and I sold a couple of things in there too. See? It all works out.

Writing Work:

  • Description class
  • Narrative Design class

Submissions:

  • Gretel and Hansel
  • Keeping Time (reprint market)

Rejections:

  • Gretel and Hansel

Acceptances:

Publications:

  • None

For Valentine’s Day: The Burden of So Many Roses in audio

Just in time for Valentine’s Day! The Burden of So Many Roses is now in audio over at Toasted Cake.  Having a bad day? Well, have a listen. It could be much, much worse.

roses

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the Flash Fiction Online anthology

Well, that was a nice surprise. Flash Fiction Online has published a 2014 anthology of their stories. And look! It has Straying from the Path. Plus? My name on the cover as well. Very, very cool.

Also, if you like to read and write flash fiction and want to study an excellent market, pick up a copy of this anthology. You’ll get a great feel for what the editors are looking for.

In other news, I didn’t quite make my 1,000 words/day goal this week, but I came close. I also did a little formatting and other whatnot in prep for this week’s Kindle Countdown Deal for The Fine Art of Holding Your Breath.

Speaking of which, three more days to enter the giveaway:

Goodreads Book Giveaway

The Fine Art of Holding Your Breath by Charity Tahmaseb

The Fine Art of Holding Your Breath

by Charity Tahmaseb

Giveaway ends January 28, 2015.

See the giveaway details
at Goodreads.

Enter to win

Writing Work:

  • Writing ~6,257  words

Submissions:

  • None

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

flash-fiction-online-2014-anthology-coverIt’s the 2014 anthology! What a cool cover.

It’s available in MOBI, EPUB, and PDF from Weightless Books. You can also grab a copy for your Kindle at Amazon as well.

Weekly writing check-in: the one with incriminating evidence

issue-004-cover-smallNot as much writing this week, but I’m not turning up my nose at ~4,000 words either. I also did the page layout for a +300 page book in Adobe InDesign. That … takes time.

I received my gift card and a very nice note from the women at WOW, Women on Writing for my honorable mention. Plus, I sent the story on its way again.

Issue #4 of Fantasy Scroll Magazine is out and it includes my story Incriminating Evidence (links below). So all in all? Not a bad week.

Writing Work:

  • Writing ~ 4,393 words
  • Page layout +300 pages

Submissions:

  • The Life Expectancy of Fireflies 

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

Weekly writing check-in: the one with a flash honorable mention

I’m keeping a nice, easy pace of about 1,000 words a day. I need to send out a few stories. I haven’t done that for a while, which I’ve mentioned before. But I have at least four or five I could send out into the world, including the one below. So either before the end of the year (after the holidays) or at the start of the next.

And, because it’s the holidays, I give you this:

catmastree2012
Oh, Catmas Tree

 

Writing Work:

  • Writing ~ 7,104 words

Submissions:

  • None

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None, but The Life Expectancy of Fireflies received an honorable mention in the WOW! Women On Writing flash fiction contest (although they called it The Life Expectancy of Butterflies, which is a fine title in and of itself–as long as the Amazon gift certificate works, I’m not complaining).

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the sneak peek

So, this week I played around with a bit of short, short fiction, just for fun. I transcribed a story I had longhand in my notebook into electronic form and did a little brainstorming on how to expand on it.

No submissions this week, but two rejections, one for a story that was rejected a few months back–by the same market.

Uh, yeah. They weren’t sure if they’d sent the rejection, so they sent it again. But! It was a nice rejection, letting me know that the story came oh, so close, and would I like to submit again when they reopen for submissions. So, yeah, it beats a sharp stick in the eye and all that.

Otherwise, I’m gearing up for the release of The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet. Part of that includes releasing The Trouble with Prom, which has two original YA short stories and the first four chapters of The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet.

Writing Work:

  • The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet ~ proofing. layout, etc.
  • Nano fiction ~ three short, just for fun “Twitter” fictions.
  • The Longest Night of the Year ~ from notebook into electronic form, some revision work.

Submissions:

  • None

Rejections:

  • Abandonment Issues
  • Redacted ~ two rejections, one submission! Milestone!

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

KindleThe Trouble with Prom, Nook, Kobo, Smashwords

 

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the novel breakdown

No, my novel did not have a breakdown. Also, I did not have a breakdown while finishing my novel, amazingly enough. But! Finish it, I did!

The Time After came in at 94,070 words. This looks like a lot of words, and I suppose it is if you write them all at once. Here’s the week-by-week breakdown of that:

Week 1: 5,069
Week 2: 5,388
Week 3: 6,827
Week 4: 5,291
Week 5: 7,774
Week 6: 8,081
Week 7: 8,637
Week 8: 5,833
Week 9: 5,004
Week 10: 7,214
Week 11: 6,113
Week 12: 5,226
Week 13: 5,707
Week 14: 5,531
Week 15: 6,283

But let’s break it down further. I worked on this novel for 101 days. If you look at it like that, I wrote, on average, 931 words per day. That’s not a blistering pace. It’s doable. It’s about the amount that can fit into Anne Lamott’s one-inch picture frame.

For me, the best way to stack up words is to stack them up a little bit at a time on a regular basis.

In other news, on the day I finished the novel, I also sold a short story. That’s not something that happens every day. But it did on Thursday.

Writing Work:

  • The Time After ~6,283 words
  • Incriminating Evidence ~ edits
  • The Fine Art of Keeping Quiet ~ copy edits

Submissions:

  • Abandonment Issues

Rejections:

  • Doreen’s Muse

Acceptances:

Publications:

  • None

Weekly writing check-in: the one with the museum overnight

OwlA short update today, since I’m in recovery mode from my daughter’s Girl Scout troop overnight at the (scouting) museum last night.

Was it fun? Yes. Yes, it was. Did any of us get to bed before 2:00 a.m.? No. No we did not.

But where else can you have an indoor campfire, visit with owls, and eat s’mores after midnight?

I did come home to a nice surprise. The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty is now in audio over at Cast of Wonders. It’s in  episode 121, and I love the narrator they selected for the story.

Writing Work:

  • The Time After ~5,266 words

Submissions:

  • None

Rejections:

  • The Perfect Canvas

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications: