Wow. What an epic beginning to the month. Summer came in and brought with it dense, oppressive heat. The Fourth of July was an incredible night of fun, family, and fireworks; the sky was full of color before the sun had fully set, the rumble and roar resounding for hours into the night. It was an impressive, inspiring display that everyone reveled in.
I have to admit, however, that I harbored a bit of distraction, a little giggling excitement of my own that occasionally pulled me out of the festivities for my own personal thrill – the knowledge that, in a few hours, a pair of blog posts (later to appear on the dreaded social media) would announce my latest published short stories! I vowed not to spill the beans to family and friends before those posts went live, and I was able to bite my tongue and keep the secret. But now that the word is out . . .
First up was Blade of Glass being accepted by Cloaked Press for appearance in the “Fall into Fantasy 2024” anthology. This was especially meaningful to me as a long-time reader of fantasy. This story is my first attempt at publishing in that genre, and though it was met by rejection in the past (a rejection I saw coming but sent it anyway) I was thrilled that Drew and the folks at Cloaked Press deemed it worthy of inclusion. And I must add that the family of Cloaked Press has been very welcoming, friendly, and encouraging. The link to pre-order the book is already up on Amazon (Kindle only right now; print version coming soon) and you can get a sneak-peek at the lovely cover art there too!
Following up on that is Repercussions, part of the “Book of Choices” series of stories. There will be two volumes of this anthology, and my story will be appearing in volume one. As I have documented in other posts (that I know you read, right?), this story is redemptive for me, so to have it accepted by the staff at Wolf Grove Media makes it doubly so. And just like the people at Cloaked Press, the family of authors that Wolf Grove/Blue Marble is so incredibly supportive and welcoming that I already feel like I am a part of something special before the book even comes out! I don’t have the purchase links for that one yet, but as soon as they are available, I will of course share them here.
Let’s pause here and celebrate! Woohoo! I achieved one of my goals for this year, which was to have two short stories accepted for publication. That does not mean I am done – if something else comes along that inspires me, I may make the time and work on a third. But for now, I am overjoyed that I am having such success. I have worked so hard and so long as becoming a better writer. To have others who are knowledgeable and discerning find my stories good enough for publication is humbling. And there is no way this would be happening without the encouragement, support, and help from my amazing wife. The look on her face when I show her an acceptance or update her on upcoming releases inspires me even more. Thank you for all that you do for me. None of this would be happening without you.
(Tissue break)
Just a reminder – if you have not gone over to Kickstarter to check out the campaign for “Napoleon’s Starship,” please head over there and think about pitching in. They are almost halfway to their goal as I type this – not bad, but not good enough! I know how tight things are for everyone right now, but you can get a digital copy for only $15. If you own a copy of “We Suck at Comics – Volume 1” then you already have a snippet of the story, so you can see for yourself what it is all about. Go ahead, support an indie publisher and creator. You’ll be glad you did.
Okay, so just a little bit about what I have been working on this month as this post is running long. I had a very successful writing month. I finished two chapters in the YA book series I have planned. Those came together very fast. As with all first drafts, they will need a hefty amount of editing, but I am glad I was able to move the story along. There are a few bits of dialogue I am quite proud of, and now I am up to another section that will be more challenging to balance and write.
I also finished a first draft of a short story titled The Weiralla, which began as a prompt given by my local writers group. It took on a life of its own and really grew from my original idea, and to do what I wanted I had to adopt a structure I have never tried before. Time (and my wife) will tell if I was successful or not. I did pull a lot from my own life with some of the incidents and ideas, though I did change them to fit better with the story. It is a little long – around six thousand words – so if I decide to try and find a home for it I may have to trim judiciously to make it fit. But I really like the message and theme I found for this one, and with some work it might just be good enough for publication somewhere.
I’ve been waiting so long to do this – let’s update my goals for 2024! Copy and paste and . . .
1 – I want finish editing book one of my YA series to the point that I consider it good enough for publication (it probably won’t be, but I want to get it as far as I can take it). I am still doing my second pass through book one, focusing on dialogue and continuity. It has been taking a long time because I am reading it out loud (when no one is around). Once I work through that, I will let it sit for a while as my wife goes over my changes.
2 – I want to begin querying agents to see if I can publish that book, and its sequels, traditionally. I have drafted three different versions of a query letter. I have considered having a professional look at one of them to give me some pointers, but I will sand down the rough edges first.
3 – I want to finish the first draft of book 2 in that series and begin outlining book 3 with an aim at starting the writing process this year as well. I am progressing well with this, but I still have a long way to go. This is my main project for the summer.
4 – I want to have at least 2 short stories accepted for publication (not ones I submitted in 2023). Success! Blade of Glass and Repercussions have both been accepted, which means this goal is COMPLETE! Wow.
5 – I want to extend my visibility as far as social interactions and publicity goes. The Facebook needle is moving slowly. I’m hoping that some publication news in the coming months will really get this ball rolling forward more.