Tag: Writing

Publication: Elvis Has Left the Building

Elvis Has Left the Building
Elvis Has Left the Building

Here it is!

Elvis hits the virtual stands today at Untreed Reads. Curious about what you might get for fifty cents (that’s right, 5-0 cents)? Well, here you go:

Second generation Elvis impersonator, Elliot, is content with his small-town circuit and regular gigs at the Holiday Inn, until he attracts a fan who has never heard of the King.

But stepping free of the shadow cast by both his father and Elvis may prove to be impossible.

To get Elvis Has Left the Building for fifty cents, click on through to the Untreed Reads site. You can buy it in all major e-formats (Nook, Kindle, iPad) and for Kindle and Nook users, there’s a new functionality that lets you send the story directly to your reader.

Once you reach the checkout, you’ll have the option to download the file to your computer or send it to your e-reader (Nook or Kindle) directly.

I tried it. It’s really cool. Plus, you get a far better deal.  You can’t even get a cup of coffee for fifty cents these days. But for that price, you can take Elvis with you anywhere.

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 46 the one with a seaside ghost

Week 46! I was going to start this off with the phrase: another busy week, but yeah. I’ve used that. More than once. That being said, there was plenty in my inbox, on my screen, and in my notebook to keep me busy.

I worked on a couple rewrite requests, fought a mighty battle with a seaside ghost, and found a home for my flash piece A Measure of Sorrow, which will be in issue 16 of Luna Station Quarterly.

Yes, I got my write 1 in for the week, and 3,400 words of it no less. However, this story wants to be so much more, maybe even a whole novel. So … I ponder. For now. And the only reason I call it Seaside Ghost is it’s about a ghost and takes place at … wait for it … the seaside. Yeah. Not one of my more creative titles.

Writing:

  • Seaside Ghost ~ 3,400 words

Submissions:

  • What Little Remains
  • The Perfect Canvas

Rejections:

  • What Little Remains

Acceptances:

Publications:

  • Elvis Has Left the Building ~ shhhh, it’s not officially up on the Untreed Reads site yet, but if you want to grab a copy of Elvis Has Left the Building, you can get it for Kindle or Nook.

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 45 the one with boots

Week 45! A busy week since we were gearing up for a software release at work. Even so, I did write a flash fiction story and worked on summaries for Just a Matter of Time and Elvis Has Left the Building.

Plus, Timeless Tales has accepted the retelling of Puss in Boots that I wrote for their call for submissions. So, yes, A Most Marvelous Pair of Boots will have a home.

Writing:

  • Doreen’s Muse ~ 1,000 words

Submissions:

  • The Perfect Canvas
  • Breakfast in the Desert

Rejections:

  • Rules for Visiting Hades

Acceptances:

  • A Most Marvelous Pair of Boots ~ Puss in Boots retelling

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 44 the one where I keep time

Week 44! This was a busy writing week. My big goal was to complete a story for the Flash Fiction Challenge. The night before, I had a dream about the challenge and the topic assignment.

My “dream” topic?

Family outing / An  outdoor concert / a tennis ball

And yes, I realize “family outing” is not a literary genre. Even so, in my dream-state, I was brainstorming and drafting a story for this. It had something to do with Nazi Germany. Yes, a natural extension of the topic. Although it makes more sense when you consider that I’ve been reading Operation Mincemeat this week.

So imagine my relief when I woke up to find this as my assignment:

Horror / A tattoo parlor / High heels

Now that’s more like it. Unlike the last round, this suggested many story ideas almost immediately. While I don’t think the final story is scary enough for horror, I had too much fun to really care. Plus, if I don’t earn enough points to push me into the next round, I won’t have to worry about those crazy dreams about the challenge.

Even better, if I ever want to get a tattoo, I’m set.

Also this week, I doubled the word count on another short story, wrote a short poem/micro-fiction thingy, and received e-galleys for the coffee anthology and the proofed copy of my short story Elvis Has Left the Building.

And, of course, my story Keeping Time is live at Kazka Press. Click on through to read all seven stories this month.

Writing:

  • The Perfect Canvas ~ 1,000 words
  • Hurry Up and Wait ~ 100 words
  • Inside Out ~ 2,300 words added

Submissions:

  • Five to Freedom
  • The Maze
  • What Little Remains

Rejections:

  • Five to Freedom
  • What Little Remains
  • Two Hammers

Acceptances:

  • None

Published:

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 43 the one with the rift in the space–time continuum

Week 43! This week I wrote another practice flash for the next round of the Flash Fiction Challenge.

This week’s combination?

Drama / Mount Everest / a teacup

I almost didn’t do this. I mean, Mount Everest? Really? Then I pondered what might happen if I drew a similar combination in the actual challenge and decided it was in my best interest to at least try. I don’t know if it’s a story I’ll ever send out, but I did it, and in exactly 1,000 words, so there’s that.

I also spent some time this week shaping up stories to send out. Plus, I received a contributor copy for an anthology, signed a contract for audio rights, turned around a rewrite request, and had two acceptances–all in the span of 48 hours. It’s like I’m a real working writer or something.

And, in one of those weird coincidences, I had two acceptances this week, and both involve time. Keeping Time will appear in the November edition of Kazka Press. Just a Matter of Time will be part of volume 3 of Sucker Literary Magazine.

I’m excited about both, but especially Just a Matter of Time. Have you ever tried to find a home for a YA novelette? (The story is ~7,800 words long.) It’s no easy task, let me tell you. And also, let me tell you this:

Feedback I received from one market was I should dump the romantic aspect of the story (I’d been getting high marks for the “time” aspect of it). Yes, I know, I was trying to not only place a YA novelette, but essentially a paranormal romantic one at that. The trifecta of will not sell.

What aspect helped it with Sucker Literary? The relationship. I believe the editor may have used the phrase swoon-worthy.

I was going somewhere with this. Oh. Yeah. Editor feedback? Often very helpful. I did do some tweaks before my acceptance with Sucker Literary. However, it isn’t always right, or right for that particular story. Something to keep in mind.

Writing:

  • The Cure for Love Sickness ~ 1,000 words

Submissions:

  • Two Hammers
  • A Most Marvelous Pair of Boots
  • What Little Remains

Rejections:

  • None

Acceptances:

  • Keeping Time
  • Just a Matter of Time

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 42 the one with some practice flash

Week 42! This week I decided to do another practice flash since the next round of the Flash Fiction Challenge is coming up at the beginning of next month. So I reached into the magic hat (AKA the Flash Fiction Challenge website) and picked the following:

Suspense / cemetery / sewing machine

The combination screams out for a Halloween/sewing-a-ghost-costume kind of story, so I resisted that. Instead, I set it on the winter solstice and still managed to work in the sewing machine. It was good to stretch with a pure suspense tale as well.

Two rejections this week, but also two stories being held for further consideration, so it evens out. Also! I placed my 100-word story in a forthcoming anthology filled with other 100-word speculative fiction stories.

Writing:

  • The Longest Night of the Year ~ 1,500 words

Submissions:

  • Playing Soldier
  • Keeping Time
  • Rhymes with Orange
  • Five to Freedom

Rejections:

  • The Madness in King’s End
  • Rhymes with Orange (boomerang rejection)

Acceptances:

  • Leap of Faith

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 41 the one with a new goal

Week 41! This week I made my 78th story submission. I thought to myself, hmm, maybe I could make that an even 100 by the end of the year. Maybe I could. As I mentioned on Facebook, my battle cry is now:

Bring on the rejections!

Because, really, getting rejected does, in its own weird way, make that much easier. Also, I have a backlog of stories that I need to revise and send out. True, I have a few crazy ones (like the one I wrote this week) that probably won’t go anywhere. Still, I should at least test the waters with most of them.

My write 1 this week was crazy, so I put that word right in the title. Honestly, it has the feel of an accidental novel, one that needs historical research. So. Yeah. Not that I’m against 1) novels, 2) research, but I’m not sure I have the endurance for either at the moment. Still, it was fun to play in this particular world, and I will no doubt revisit it at some time.

Writing:

  • The Crazy History of Max and Em ~ 2,000 words

Submissions:

  • Straying from the Path
  • The Girl with the Piccolo ~ audio market (Yes, this one went right back out)

Rejections:

  • Playing Soldier
  • The Girl with the Piccolo

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 40 the one with yet another quiet week

Week 40! Another quiet week here, at least as far as the writing goes. The kid stuff however? That’s getting busy. All sorts of scout stuff and conferences and so on. And there’s more of the same coming up.

This is where the power of write 1/sub 1 comes in. Nine months in and it’s pretty much a habit now, like exercise.

Writing:

  • The Maze ~ 6,000 words

Submissions:

  • Playing Soldier
  • The Girl with the Piccolo ~ audio market

Rejections:

  • Straying from the Path

Acceptances:

  • None

Write 1/Sub 1 check in: week 39 the one with the end-of-summer colds

Week 39! A quiet week to end September, and I’m grateful for that. The whole house (all of us, minus the pets) had some form of end-of-summer cold, to varying degrees.

I’m so glad the Flash Fiction Challenge was last week. I had an automatic submission for this week and plenty of time to peck my way through a new story.

This week I played around with a Puss in Boots retelling for a call for submissions I discovered. By doing so, I filled up the last pages of my notebook. My daughter was paging through it, somewhat amazed that I had filled in every single page, and asked: “How do you think of so many stories to write?”

I told her I didn’t know. And actually, my best writing happens when I don’t think, or at least, not too hard.

Writing:

  • Puss in Boots retelling ~ 2,000 words

Submissions:

  • Five to Freedom

Rejections:

  • Alliance

Acceptances:

  • None