Short Story Update

"Perry the Owl Boy" went off for consideration yesterday. Ten-in-Six now stands at:
One acceptance ("Bane Fish" in Night Chills Magazine.)

Five pending with "Dagon and Jill" the closest to placing (on a shortlist.)

That's four more to write (and ideally sell) before the end of February 2010.

"Apple Dan" is a few drafts from completion, but could be done next Friday.

At least two stories would have to be seriously rewritten, while "Ella the Passive-Aggressive Ghost" may be closer than I think.

My wife suggested I try writing a few Christmas cards.

Lining up Short Story Markets

A snap thanks to Duotrope. In the short fiction realm, 5 cents a word and up is considered the professional rate. A penny to 4 cents is semi-pro. Fractions of a cent - such as I was recently paid - constitute token payment. Publication copies are the minimum exchange for a story. I tend to send out to token payments and up, but don't sneer at anything that gets one aboard the resume-building train.

My last non-writing, acting, producing job took place on October 31, 1991. I worked at a temp agency on assignment to an engineering company in Pasadena. There I inputted reports into their database. Sit down, type, go out for a smoke at 10, lunch from 12:30 to 1:30, then type until 5:30.

They didn't want much: my time and effort for x hours at x dollars. I've been paid the long green and treated worse than the engineering company treated me.

Went to see good friend Ken last night for an evening of coffee shop chow and good bad movies. Same address for 29 years. That's astounding in Los Angeles. It's like living in the Sphinx.

Perry the Owl Boy

Currently perched, waiting for today's final polish. Then a read over Friday, and away it flies to a publication claiming to welcome such whimsical tales. After which, I return to the jumbo 11k horror short story. Looking forward to finishing that one and getting it out before the end of next week.

Steaks Breaks

At least for the rest of this year, due to injuries. Read his race report on the Las Vegas Marathon, where TNT chums Rouman, Elizabeth and Inez also braved the chilly desert air for a bit of 26.2 merriment.

Zombie Update

Wondering where to buy the best vehicle for surviving a zombie apocalypse? These folks have given it some thought, as well as other topics of interest to the undead community.

Another Day, Another No

This time from a wry, snarky humor mag. My story enchanted one editor, but not the three necessary for a spot in the magazine. Still, I was invited to try again. I find myself, more often than not, in what I call the "honored rejection bin." That's where editors acknowledge not accepting my work and invite me to have another go.

Cold and rainy today. But not for a man who works at home.

Not Everyone Mourned

My English nurse mom was grateful for Pearl Harbor. She'd been dodging Nazi bombs in London for two years and knew that with America now in the war, there was no way the British could lose. However, Roosevelt only declared war on Japan. Hitler saved the day by honoring the Axis Treaty and declaring war on the U.S. Italy followed right behind. WW II was on.

h/t: Associated Press

Fond Memory

I wax nostalgic this day.

h/t: libanlibanliban

Marathons

Ernesto, Nick and a few other TNT chums are training for our hometown marathon. From what I hear, the course will be point to point, starting at Dodger Stadium, traveling through Hollywood and ending in Santa Monica. I'll be training to watch it on TV, but I wish them all well. Big writing day yesterday, cranking out another draft on my long short story. (Only 55 pages now.) I'll put this one aside now and work on something shorter. Perhaps a postcard.

Write and Walk

Chi walk, that is. It's a method of locomotion that involves your feet landing under your body and not in front of it, thereby eliminating knee and joint stress. Alas, there are many moving parts to the method. But I"m not in a hurry.

Big old short story - 60 pages - is nearing the end of another draft. My word count approaches 13K, kicking me into novelette range. Its a tale I developed in workshop a few years back, sent out once or twice, came close to placing, then lost interest and put it away. This time its placing. (Remember: fiction pays by the word.)

Research and Rates

My pharmacist father-in-law helped me research a story, providing insight into what sort of items one might find in a small lab. (Apparently, many of the same items you'd find in a regular kitchen.)

Tempers flared at Black Matrix blogsite after some guy dissed the publication for not paying pro-rates. (5 cents a word, I think.) It's similar to ripping independent filmmakers for paying talent a copy of the film. Having produced and directed one independent film (and a short one at that), I know pretty much everything comes out of your pocket. You get to be in charge in return for all the headaches and expenses. (I'm not saying it wasn't worth it, but regular readers may note I'm not blogging about directing a bunch more of my own films.)

And having acted in a few independent films, I acknowledged the trade-off between my time and effort and my meager compensation. Back then, it was one of the fastest ways to build an acting reel. Student films, too.

Duotrope lists hundreds of short fiction markets: paying, non-paying, token payment. Most paying markets list their rates. I'm free to submit to whom I will and do. If I don't like the deal, there's other places to shop.

And if some markets don't pay well, there are certain benefits such as a take-it-or-leave-it approach. This can sometimes trump excellent pay and a page one rewrite.