Tag: flash fiction

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: the one where I fling about some roses

W1S1 2014 - Monthly ChallengeWhile I didn’t plan to match my submissions to my rejections this week, it worked out that way. Four back in, four back out, and I still have a few more to send out somewhere else, not to mention stories I need to get out the door for the first time. 

(Wow. That was a really long sentence. Take a breath.)

Lots of writing on the story that is clearly not a short story. We know this because I just reached the 30,000-word mark in the manuscript. I think what I have here is yet another accidental novel. But I’m not complaining.

My fun news for the week is I sold audio rights to  Toasted Cake Podcast for The Burden of So Many Roses, which appeared last year in the February issue of Kazka Press. Just because you’ve sold a story doesn’t mean you can’t sell it again.

Writing Work:

  • The Time After ~7,770 words

Submissions:

  • The Patron Saint of Lost Things
  • The Perfect Canvas
  • Ghost in the Coffee Machine (audio market)
  • Abandonment Issues

Rejections:

  • Five to Freedom
  • What Little Remains
  • The Life Expectancy of Fireflies
  • Abandonment Issues

Acceptances:

Publications:

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: the one where I stray from the path

W1S1 2014 - Monthly ChallengeSo, I blew it this month, with Write 1/Sub 1. I did end up submitting a total of three stories for the month. That’s the good news. I wrote a total of 22,500 words. That’s also good news. However, those words were not in any short stories.

Not so good.

As I said over on the Write 1/Sub 1 website, sometimes I need to write a novel. The short stories will be there when I’m done.

Writing Work:

  • The Time After ~ 5,300 words

Submissions:

  • Five to Freedom
  • Doreen’s Muse
  • Like Bread Loves Salt

Rejections:

  • Inside Out

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: the one with two publications

W1S1 2014 - Monthly ChallengeIt’s hard to complain when your week includes two publications. It’s even harder when the universe lines up those publications just so. This week I saw not one, but two, military-themed publications.

In writing news, I am seriously inching my way through my story, as you can see. It’s still a work in progress. I’m almost tempted to go back on the weekly challenge, except I am also learning/teaching myself Adobe InDesign.

So, I’m not slacking … yet. And I’m really loving InDesign. Plus, it all contributes to my plan to take over the world.

Okay, maybe not that.

Maybe.  

Writing Work:

  • Lawn Mower Serenade ~ still in progress–I am inching my way through this story.

Submissions:

  • Incriminating Evidence

Rejections:

  • The Life Expectancy of Fireflies
  • Incriminating Evidence

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

Publication: Playing Soldier and Breakfast in the Desert

That’s right! I have two, count them, two publications out today. And in a crazy bit of synchronicity, they are both military-themed.

  • My Desert Storm poem, Breakfast in the Desert, is live over at Every Day Poets. That they picked today simply proves they are a pretty clever bunch over there. (See this Wikipedia article to see what I mean.)
  • My flash fiction/vignette, Playing Soldier, appears in Issue #9 of Vine Leaves Literary Journal.

This is a pretty terrific way to start a Friday.

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: the one with the polar vortex

W1S1 2014 - Monthly ChallengeOh, but it was cold this week! The kids got two extra days tacked onto their holiday break, which made them happy. But it was so cold that there was no sense in doing anything with those extra days, except shiver and bundle up.

Even so, I managed to get some writing in–not a complete story, but I hope to finish it this week. Also! I had a rewrite/resubmit request, and I’m thrilled to announced I sold Straying from the Path to Flash Fiction Online.

Writing Work:

  • Lawn Mower Serenade ~ in progress

Submissions:

  • Five to Freedom 

Rejections:

  • Five to Freedom

Acceptances:

Publications:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: in which we start 2014

W1S1 2014 - Monthly ChallengeNew year, new challenge! I’m holding steady with Write 1/Sub 1 this year. However, I’m going to switch to the monthly challenge.

One thing that started happening near the end of last year was I found myself either short-changing stories, or–even worse–not starting stories I sensed would run longer than what I could write in a week.

Plus, I have a backlog of stories, some still longhand in various notebooks, and I need to get those shaped up and shipped out.

I’m going to keep the weekly check in. I’m hoping it will keep me honest and on track. If I succumb to my Gen-X slacker ways, I will put myself back on the weekly challenge.

And I started 2014 with one publication and an acceptance, and no rejections. It doesn’t get much better than that.

Writing Work:

  • Two stories into electronic format
  • One shaped up to submit

Submissions:

  • The Perfect Canvas
  • The Madness in King’s End
  • Inside Out 

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

Publications:

Publications 2013

So, Write 1/Sub 1 made 2013 an interesting year. I embarked on a new writing adventure. Buoyed by the publication of The Secret Life of Sleeping Beauty in Unidentified Funny Objects last year, I decided to focus more on short fiction and not worry about the rest.

The results? Well, they surprised me. I ended up with fourteen sales/acceptances and nine of those were published this year, and five more are forthcoming in early 2014. Not a bad way to end a year or to start one.

Online flash:

The Burden of So Many Roses  (Kazka Press)

Payment (Literary Juice)

The Girl with the Piccolo (Kazka Press)

Keeping Time (Kazka Press)

A Measure of Sorrow (Luna Station Quarterly)

Standalone shorts:

Elvis Has Left the Building (Untreed Reads)

Anthologies:

Ghost in the Coffee Machine in Coffee: 14 Caffeinated Tales of the Fantastic

Available from UFO Publishing, but also in e-book form for Kindle, Nook, and Kobo.

Land of the Free (Haircuts) in Proud to Be: Writing by American Warriors, Volume 2

Leap of Faith in 100 Worlds: Lightning-Quick SF and Fantasy Tales

Self-published:

Blogging Airborne finalBonus publication!

At long last, I compiled my Blogging Airborne series into electronic format to make it available for e-readers. You can get it on Kindle, Nook, Kobo, and iTunes.

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 52 the one with the last check in of the year

Week 52! This is it! The very last check in of 2013. This week, because the universe has a sense of humor, I received a rejection on Christmas Eve and one on Christmas Day. I thought it was funny; friends on Facebook were trying to cheer me up.

I also managed a flash fiction piece despite the holiday. All in all, a good way to end the month and the year.

It’s hard to believe an entire year has passed us by in a flurry of words–well, more or less. Sometimes less. Although I didn’t officially “win” the weekly challenge (see accidental novel below), I did write a great many stories, I sold some of those stories, and most importantly, I learned a lot about my writing process and writing in general. 

Am I going to do it again next year? Yes,  I will, with a few modifications. More on that next week.

So how did I do for the year? Well, here’s the tally:

  • 45 short stories of varying lengths and quality
  • 1 accidental novel, 54,000 words
  • 103 submissions
  • 14 acceptances/sales
  • 9 publications

Writing:

  • Like Bread Loves Salt~ 730 words

Submissions:

  • The Maze 

Rejections:

  • The Perfect Canvas
  • The Madness in King’s End

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 49 the one with five rejections

Week 49! This must be the time of year editors clear their desks. Five rejections! Not only that, but the story I submitted for the Flash Fiction Challenge received zero points (as in none, nada, nothing). It’s one of those weeks where it pays to be an optimist.

I did a series of short writing/writing exercises based on the Writer’s Regimen, which I continue to love. Just when I think I’m not going to get anything, boom, something sparks.

I’ve also been thinking about Write 1/Sub 1 for next year. I’m thinking of moving to the monthly challenge. I do not want to slow down my writing pace, but I do want to revise that accidental novel, expand a few stories into the novellas they want to be, and I have a backlog of short stories I still need to revise and send out into the world.

So monthly it is, unless I start slacking. Then I’ll jump back on the weekly bandwagon.

Writing:

  • The Accidental Nickname ~ 300 words
  • Infamy Day ~ 500 words
  • Obstacles ~ 500 words

Submissions:

  • The Perfect Canvas
  • What Little Remains
  • Glass Slipper

Rejections:

  • The Perfect Canvas
  • What Little Remains
  • The Maze
  • The Burden of So Many Roses (reprint market)
  • The Life Expectancy of Fireflies

Acceptances:

  • None

Publications: