Writing, Waiting, and Work
Friday, May 25th, 2007Well, I’m out at Lake Creek, nothing to distract me from writing except for fishing, gardening, dogs, spruce hens, bears, canoing, hiking, fishing, the Midnight Sun, clean air, beautiful scenery, pristine lakes, fishing, woodcarving, my 5-year-old cousin, nesting swallows, cabbage seedlings, moose, reclining sofas with convenient blankets, fishing, dirt, greenhouse tomatoes, spruce burls, Willy, heavy machinery, Hooligan, sunshine, books, and fishing.
Here’s a recent photo of Bill and Grandpa early one morning while testing out the modifications they made to Bill’s barge:
So yeah, it’s gorgeous outside, the birds are singing, I’ve got world-class Pike and King Salmon fishing only a short walk away, and I’m finding it hard to work up the willpower to buckle down and get busy on my next project. (Which basically means locking myself in a cold, dark basement to the accompaniment of 8 Enya songs played over and over again while the breathtaking Alaskan summer dwindles away without me.)
But I will. The story Chancey and I came up with is gonna rock. It’s a conglomerate formed of several different novel ideas mashed into one. It felt a little awkward to start, but I think the problem was the two insanely awesome protagonists did not have an insanely awesome antagonist to knock em around and balance them out. That will be fixed. Heck, thinking about it right now has got my blood pumping. I’ll probably brainstorm him tonight, then start on his (or her!!) POV in the wee hours of the morning.
Aside from that, I recently received an email from BBT Magazine saying they wanted to publish Fairy. Hehehe. I’m tickled. The money isn’t hot, but this was one of those instances where I sent in my work because I like the magazine, not because I wanted the cash. Anyone who hasn’t subscribed to Blood, Blade, and Thruster should check it out. Further, I’ve been delighted with the latest issues of Apex Digest, so I’m bragging about them to everyone I know. (It helps they’ll be publishing Moldy Dead here soon, but they’re still a great magazine and a great bunch of people :)
My work with Aberrant Dreams is going well, too. Lots of great stories to read, so many it’s almost overwhelming. Joe insists it’ll get easier to get through the slush pile, but rejecting is so HARD because I’ve been on the receiving end so many times before. Ah, well. It’s gotta be done. Until people start reading more short-story publications–heck, until they start reading in general–life’s gonna be difficult for authors trying to make a living at storytelling. So if you’re reading this, get the word out. The more of your friends who subscribe to fiction magazines and buy books off the shelves, the more great storytellers will be able to emerge with writing as their main source of income. It’s all about numbers, people.
And still no word from Don. He sent me an email May 8th saying this:
“Killing Zero is on submission with editor Devi Pillai at the Orbit imprint at what used to be called Warner Books (recently renamed Grand Central Publishing). Keep your fingers crossed.”
Heck yes, they’re crossed. They’ve all been crossed so long I’m beginning to wonder if I should be eating with my feet, since my hands aren’t doing the trick. And if you’re going to be a smartass and ask me how I’m typing this blog while my crossed fingers have brought me to the point of emaciation, go chew on a log. I lie for a living.
-Sara King