My mid-week report to you that covers the three major commitments I’ve made: to write, to edit, and to read.
Writing
Last week, I said, “I work well under pressure.” As Maury Povich might say, “Your writing history determined that was a lie.” Details below!
However, it looks like there will be a follow up volume for the Raconteur Press anthology, “Or All Will Burn…” So I’m off the hook for now, but still determined to write this story eventually.
The outline for An Understanding has continued, in fits and starts. Taking a break did have the benefit of helping me mull over some of the less well0-defined plot points, so that now I think I’ve got a couple of minor changes that tighten up the story in a nice way. .
Editing
Nothing. Nada. Zip. Again: details below.
My wife and I did agree to edit a ~60k non-fiction book together soon-ish, though. So we’ve got that on the horizon. It will likely be more her than me, but we’ll be working together on it.
Reading
Finished Ghost Stories of the Appalachians and started in on Dragonesque.
I started reading this one with a bit of trepidation. I submitted a story for this open call, and there were 300+ submissions for a half dozen or so open slots. That’s some pretty stiff competition, and I didn’t make the grade. So I was wondering - did my story not fit? Or was it just plain bad in comparison to the other submissions?
As it turns out, I think it was the former. There's some solid stories in here, but the overall quality of writing is on par with what I've been seeing from up-and-coming authors lately. Under different circumstances, I think my story would have fit right in with what I've read so far.
What's my point? When an anthology has 300+ submissions, you may get bounced for ANY reason. Sure, your story might not be up to the quality they're looking for. It's more likely, though, that they already have a story with a similar setting, or plot elements, or a vampire sidekick, or... you get the idea.
Rejection doesn't mean your story sucks. It just means your story wasn't right FOR THEM. That's hard to remember sometimes, but it's a lesson well worth learning.
Do your best, tell a good story, and if it doesn't land at first, dust it off and send it out again until it does.
Other
This pace of this past week has been unbelievably frenetic. I have:
Packed up & taken our middle daughter back to college
Spent an evening with our church group
Volunteered to help run a women’s self-defense course
Spent another evening with the in-laws
Done a Discord meetup with my writer’s group
Spent an evening with my family, since I hav a brother in-town this week
Packed up & taken our youngest daughter to college
I’m pretty sure I’ve missed something in there, too. That’s not even touching on what my wife has done - helping both girls shop for college necessaries, taking a friend to a medical appointment, making meals for two families, and watching kids for a day while another friend was at a medical appointment. Oh, and laying gravel down in the new barn (don’t ask). All of which we’ve done on top of work and regular ol' daily life, and shuffling cars around (one went off to college with the older daughter).
So I am very much looking forward to next week, and getting back onto a more regular schedule! Hopefully once the chaos subsides, I’ll be able to get home before 10pm and - hopefully! - stabilize my writing schedule a bit.
Hang in there, Sam. You have a full life, and sometimes writing can’t fit into it. And thank you for setting up the writing group meeting; it was so motivating for me. 👍
Also, the Discord meeting was cool, even I was voiceless for most all of it! lol
And My hubby used to run Women's self-defense professional for a DV organization, so kudos to you for taking that on, it's so needed!