The New W1S1 High Tea Bar and Lounge (with extra-comfy sofas)

[Izz]

I did not think of a better title for my story and just sent it out into the world.
...

But that's my official story for January done.

Awesome and well done!

A handful of responses for the Zombies Need Brains anthologies have been reported on the Submission Grinder, so I hopefully should be hearing back soon.

Here's hoping for good news!

And this reinforces the nope from me.

Heh - and that clause (actually, the whole disclaimer thing a submitter has to agree to before submitting) makes me paranoid (and I'm generally not that way at all), because it feels to me like they're basically giving themselves carte blanche to steal anything they consider to be a good idea. I think I only feel this way because they're not just a zine but present themselves as a multimedia company. On their About Us page, for example, they talk about several movies they've been involved in.

I'm just trying to let my brain reset, hope to begin working on a new story within the next few weeks

Make sure to massage that brain with plenty of good food and drink

 

[Alan Yee]

Just received my rejection from the Shattering the Glass Slipper anthology. Not too surprised since it was naturally the anthology that received the most submissions. It’s clearly a form letter, so I’m not sure whether everyone got the same “while we enjoyed reading the story…” verbiage. It looks like they’re sending out the last of the rejections now. I’m probably going to wait a while on re-submitting this story since all the other pro markets are suddenly going to be receiving more fairy tale retellings than usual.

 

[Unimportant]

Just received my rejection from the Shattering the Glass Slipper anthology. Not too surprised since it was naturally the anthology that received the most submissions. It’s clearly a form letter, so I’m not sure whether everyone got the same “while we enjoyed reading the story…” verbiage. It looks like they’re sending out the last of the rejections now. I’m probably going to wait a while on re-submitting this story since all the other pro markets are suddenly going to be receiving more fairy tale retellings than usual.

Me too! And yep, same verbiage. Let's share a glass.

 

[Tamlyn]

Rejection commiserations, Alan and Unimportant.

So with January finished, I'm happy I got both a story edited (and sent out) and a story drafted, but given January is one of my most productive months, I kind of feel like I should have done more. I'm off work a fair chunk, so have time and mental energy, and I just tend to be refreshed for the entire year. I know there are months I won't be able to get something finished.

That said, January wasn't unproductive. It just wasn't productive for short stories, which is what I wanted it to be. I also wrote 37k of a Sisyphus novel >>

Hope everyone else got what they wanted out of January!

 

[Izz]

Just received my rejection from the Shattering the Glass Slipper anthology.

Me too! And yep, same verbiage. Let's share a glass.

Commiserations, guys! Have an extra one on me!

I’m probably going to wait a while on re-submitting this story since all the other pro markets are suddenly going to be receiving more fairy tale retellings than usual.

Always a good idea

So with January finished, I'm happy I got both a story edited (and sent out) and a story drafted, but given January is one of my most productive months, I kind of feel like I should have done more. I'm off work a fair chunk, so have time and mental energy, and I just tend to be refreshed for the entire year. I know there are months I won't be able to get something finished.

That said, January wasn't unproductive. It just wasn't productive for short stories, which is what I wanted it to be. I also wrote 37k of a Sisyphus novel

37K of novel words is pretty productive, if you ask me! Plus a story drafted and another edited and out the door? Sounds like a great month!

#

I'm on a roll right now. Draft-wise, anyway. Finished 2 drafts last week and look set to finish another 1 today or tomorrow.

Which is good, because I'm planning on including 2 of these in that short story collection I want to release early April, which means that I really need to have them edited to gleaming by the end of this month so I can have the collection ready for pre-orders, ARC readers, etc, by early March. Heh - I'm still forgetting to factor in all the time actually publishing stuff takes. Which reminds me, I need to sort out a cover for the collection, too!

 

[Izz]

Finished 2 drafts last week and look set to finish another 1 today or tomorrow.

Yep, finished the draft today. 3.4K. Tentatively titled, 'The Coffee Moon Bounty.' Next week I'll start editing the first Jazz shortie. Way sooner than I'd like but yada yada the timeframes I mentioned in my last post yada yada.

And hey, I guess that's my W1 for Feb, too. I don't think I've ever been this on top of the challenge. Which means by April I'll somehow be 3 stories behind

 

[AnnieColleen]

Tentatively titled, 'The Coffee Moon Bounty.'

That’s awesome. Keep it please!

I’ve been a bit invisible lately; writing is pretty much only happening in bite-sized nibbles during scheduled writing dates. Which is better than not at all but still frustrating. Sisyphus story is >< this close, but I can’t quite get to the point where it can move forward. One day…

 

[Izz]

That’s awesome. Keep it please!

Done!

I’ve been a bit invisible lately; writing is pretty much only happening in bite-sized nibbles during scheduled writing dates. Which is better than not at all but still frustrating. Sisyphus story is >< this close, but I can’t quite get to the point where it can move forward. One day…

Soon you'll have a torrent of writing time, I'm sure!

 

[Alan Yee]

I’ve been trying not to self-reject, but whenever a SFF market says they want "literary" speculative fiction, I tend to read it as "speculative fiction with prettier writing than mine, so don't send it here."

 

[Tamlyn]

(Just pretend this is multiquoted)

@Izz yay for drafts!
@AnnieColleen hope things flow more smoothly soon
@Alan Yee know those feels. I don't write literary or deep or emotion wrenching. I write occasionally fun, I guess? And sometimes not fun. Don't know what those would be, the not fun ones.

Mind, I'm terrible at describing my own work. I had to do a log line for a story submission, and I almost just didn't sub to them instead.

ASM have had a hold on a story of mine for a while and they 'released' (see rejected) it with their form about not being able to hold it indefinitely and I'm mumbling to myself no, really, you can. The slush reader's comments are so opposite (You differentiated the characters well, perfect ending! Too many characters, no satisfactory ending!). It's a long one, so I've exhausted most its markets already. I like it long, but I know from past rejects on this story and on others that I tend to meander in slow pacing sometimes so maybe I should try to cut words *sigh*

(Look, I just gave up on trying to figure out what to eat for the week for lunch and had ice cream now instead, so this is my current mindset.)

 

[Izz]

I’ve been trying not to self-reject, but whenever a SFF market says they want "literary" speculative fiction, I tend to read it as "speculative fiction with prettier writing than mine, so don't send it here."

Yeah, I'm right there with you. I typically skip right on over those markets lol

ASM have had a hold on a story of mine for a while and they 'released' (see rejected) it with their form about not being able to hold it indefinitely and I'm mumbling to myself no, really, you can. The slush reader's comments are so opposite (You differentiated the characters well, perfect ending! Too many characters, no satisfactory ending!).

Ah, that sucks. Years ago, I had the same thing, and pretty much the same reaction. Is there any other market other than ASM that does that (the whole release story if they feel like they've held it too long)?

It's a long one, so I've exhausted most its markets already. I like it long, but I know from past rejects on this story and on others that I tend to meander in slow pacing sometimes so maybe I should try to cut words *sigh*

(Look, I just gave up on trying to figure out what to eat for the week for lunch and had ice cream now instead, so this is my current mindset.)

Heh - why not let it sit for a few days and then revisit?

 

[Izz]

Does anybody else here wordle? I finally tried it a couple weeks ago and am hooked.

 

[Tamlyn]

I do my wordle in the morning. I like it's not timed; sometimes I need a lot of time to think of even a single word that fulfills the requirements. Other times there are too many potential words!

 

[Izz]

I do my wordle in the morning. I like it's not timed; sometimes I need a lot of time to think of even a single word that fulfills the requirements. Other times there are too many potential words!

Yeah, I usually do it in the morning, too. Good wakeup for the brain

So, as if I haven't got enough projects going on already, last night I pulled out a shortie that's been in the trunk for 8-9 years and decided to whip it into shape. I don't even know where the thought came from but now the story is on my tracking spreadsheet so I guess it's official

Worked out the table of contents for my short story collection last night, too (the trunk story won't be included). 18 stories. 13 previously published, 2 sold but never published (though I've since self-published 1), and 3 brand new stories, 2 of those featuring Jazz Healy. Heh - that's the easy part out of the way, now onto the rest!

 

[Izz]

So, as if I haven't got enough projects going on already, last night I pulled out a shortie that's been in the trunk for 8-9 years and decided to whip it into shape. I don't even know where the thought came from but now the story is on my tracking spreadsheet so I guess it's official

It's amazing the perspective 9 years away from a story gives you...

 

[ap123]

I'm in awe of your productivity, Izz.
I've always been a slow writer, with lots of breaks required. Now that I'm being intentional with this series of shorts, I'm figuring out I'm even slower with this. I need time and space to, umm reset? and find the voice of a new story. Particularly here, I think, because the stories are connected, it would be too easy for me to have the individual voices of the MCs begin to bleed together.

 

[Izz]

I'm in awe of your productivity, Izz.

Hmm, I think maybe I sound more productive than I actually am I always seem to have a ton of stuff on the go, but whether I'm actually producing good quality fiction, short or long, I'm not so sure.

The day job has been quieter than usual lately, too, which means I have more time to write.

I've always been a slow writer, with lots of breaks required. Now that I'm being intentional with this series of shorts, I'm figuring out I'm even slower with this. I need time and space to, umm reset? and find the voice of a new story. Particularly here, I think, because the stories are connected, it would be too easy for me to have the individual voices of the MCs begin to bleed together.

Sounds like a good strategy. Space between stories sounds like a really important component of a project like this

 

[Alan Yee]

January’s W1S1 has been sent off to its first market. I originally started it last year, but it doubled in length and got significantly rewritten in January, so I’m counting it. The past two weeks have mostly involved taking words away, adding words back, taking more words away, and adding more words back.

I already have another story from last year that’s probably 75 percent complete I plan on finishing this month. I have also another couple stories planned out that I hope will end up being under 1500 words. We’ll see.

 

[Izz]

January’s W1S1 has been sent off to its first market.

I originally started it last year, but it doubled in length and got significantly rewritten in January, so I’m counting it. The past two weeks have mostly involved taking words away, adding words back, taking more words away, and adding more words back.

The write life, amirite?

I already have another story from last year that’s probably 75 percent complete I plan on finishing this month. I have also another couple stories planned out that I hope will end up being under 1500 words. We’ll see.

Noice!

 

[Tamlyn]

Had an unexpected (well, planned, apparently, but unexpected to me) power outage on Wednesday, which is not a work day for me. Except for the minor irritations of no power, I had a nice day - some gardening, a lot of reading, that kind of thing. But it wasn't the day I had planned so it also really wasn't a nice day?

Anyway, I got barely any writing done then and barely any today in my mindsludge day of work and that makes me sad.

Also a rejection on Wednesday, which was just rude.

 

[Izz]

Had an unexpected (well, planned, apparently, but unexpected to me) power outage on Wednesday, which is not a work day for me. Except for the minor irritations of no power, I had a nice day - some gardening, a lot of reading, that kind of thing. But it wasn't the day I had planned so it also really wasn't a nice day?

Anyway, I got barely any writing done then and barely any today in my mindsludge day of work and that makes me sad.

Also a rejection on Wednesday, which was just rude.

Ah, that sucks Here's to a better end of the week!

 

[AnnieColleen]

Just checking in. Work is still eating most of my figure-it-out brain so I’m mostly just waving at stories in passing, too.

I did find Focusmate.com — co-working site for people who work better when another person is “present” — and it does seem to help with showing up on time and engaging deep focus. I’ve done similar things with writing people, but it always felt weird to those spaces for day-job stuff, plus this is pretty nearly on-demand, which is awesome.

 

[AnnieColleen]

…and a writing date (as a Clarion West “class”) was apparently what I needed to unlock the last thousand-ish words of my Sisyphus story. First draft done, complete with a character pushing themself up out of their hair [chair].

 

[Izz]

Just checking in. Work is still eating most of my figure-it-out brain so I’m mostly just waving at stories in passing, too.

I did find Focusmate.com — co-working site for people who work better when another person is “present” — and it does seem to help with showing up on time and engaging deep focus. I’ve done similar things with writing people, but it always felt weird to those spaces for day-job stuff, plus this is pretty nearly on-demand, which is awesome.

Focusmate sounds like a cool concept!

…and a writing date (as a Clarion West “class”) was apparently what I needed to unlock the last thousand-ish words of my Sisyphus story. First draft done, complete with a character pushing themself up out of their hair [chair].

Woohoo!!

 

[Alan Yee]

Received a 4-day rejection today for my most recent completed story. Sent it back out almost immediately… to Clarkesworld. I should be getting my rejection within a day or two.