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Aug. 22nd, 2004 03:54 pmI have always been disorganized and bad at record-keeping. Having two small children has exacerbated this to the point that last winter, I was starting to wondering if it was possible to develop full-blown ADD as an adult.
I turned my novel in to my editor a couple of weeks ago (this would be FREEDOM'S APPRENTICE, the sequel to FREEDOM'S GATE) and since then have been puttering around and working on various odds and ends. I wrote a story for my great-grandmother's birthday present -- it's a fantasy story that stars her as the protagonist -- and handed that out to my writers' group. I updated my website, which I think needs updating again, alas. Today, Ed took the girls to the park and nagged me to work on my short fiction, so I've been doing that.
Lyda Morehouse and I co-authored a story back in 2002 called "The Long Walk." We submitted it to Tales of the Unanticipated during the last reading period and it got rejected with a request for a rewrite. Of course, at the point that we got the rewrite request, neither of us had time to work on it. Now I do, so I rewrote the ending and sent it off to Lyda to see what she thinks. I think she'll be happy with it. Just in time, as I think TOTU submissions close 8/31.
That completed, I went off to see if I needed to send anything out. I have a short story called "When Shlemiel Went to the Stars" that's a science fictional Chelm story. (Chelm stories are Jewish folktales about a town populated entirely by fools who are convinced that they're brilliant.) Analog rejected it a month or two ago and I hadn't gotten it back out. (Yes, "send your stories out" is Rule #3 for successful writers. I was better about this when I was only writing short stories, if you want to know the truth. Also, I was better about it when I worked in an office with a readily accessible post office. Going to the post office with two kids is a pain in the ass.)
I also have a short story called "Masks" that is set in the same world as my first two novels. I started to write a cover letter to send it to Amazing, then realized that I was using, as a template, a cover letter sending Masks to Black Gate in May. Oh, yeah. I haven't heard from them. Is that because the manuscript got lost in the mail, or because they're slow? So I queried.
Ed and the girls are still gone, so I printed off a copy of "Perfection," a short story I wrote ages and ages ago and wasn't satisfied with, to edit it. It's actually not bad. I also printed off fragments of two short stories that I love but don't know what to do with. I've got setups, very amusing setups, but no actual stories, for both. One involves a woman who hits a fairy like a bug while driving home one night. She didn't previously believe in fairies and now has a seriously injured, maybe dying one, on her windshield. I really want to do something with this but I have no idea what. The other fragment is a short story that involves a young woman who drunkenly offers crash space to this guy she meets at a party, who turns out to be the Hindu God Ganesh. Before she knows it, she's got Loki and Dionysis and Coyote playing poker in her kitchen, and Jesus using her bathroom. Again, it's a fun setup, but I never figured out anywhere to go with it other than, "Look, isn't this funny? Be careful who you invite to stay at your house!"
"Perfection" is definitely worth editing, though, and sending out. It's even SF. I should send it to F&SF. Every time I send something there, I get a rejection back saying that they have too much fantasy. (Alas.)
I turned my novel in to my editor a couple of weeks ago (this would be FREEDOM'S APPRENTICE, the sequel to FREEDOM'S GATE) and since then have been puttering around and working on various odds and ends. I wrote a story for my great-grandmother's birthday present -- it's a fantasy story that stars her as the protagonist -- and handed that out to my writers' group. I updated my website, which I think needs updating again, alas. Today, Ed took the girls to the park and nagged me to work on my short fiction, so I've been doing that.
Lyda Morehouse and I co-authored a story back in 2002 called "The Long Walk." We submitted it to Tales of the Unanticipated during the last reading period and it got rejected with a request for a rewrite. Of course, at the point that we got the rewrite request, neither of us had time to work on it. Now I do, so I rewrote the ending and sent it off to Lyda to see what she thinks. I think she'll be happy with it. Just in time, as I think TOTU submissions close 8/31.
That completed, I went off to see if I needed to send anything out. I have a short story called "When Shlemiel Went to the Stars" that's a science fictional Chelm story. (Chelm stories are Jewish folktales about a town populated entirely by fools who are convinced that they're brilliant.) Analog rejected it a month or two ago and I hadn't gotten it back out. (Yes, "send your stories out" is Rule #3 for successful writers. I was better about this when I was only writing short stories, if you want to know the truth. Also, I was better about it when I worked in an office with a readily accessible post office. Going to the post office with two kids is a pain in the ass.)
I also have a short story called "Masks" that is set in the same world as my first two novels. I started to write a cover letter to send it to Amazing, then realized that I was using, as a template, a cover letter sending Masks to Black Gate in May. Oh, yeah. I haven't heard from them. Is that because the manuscript got lost in the mail, or because they're slow? So I queried.
Ed and the girls are still gone, so I printed off a copy of "Perfection," a short story I wrote ages and ages ago and wasn't satisfied with, to edit it. It's actually not bad. I also printed off fragments of two short stories that I love but don't know what to do with. I've got setups, very amusing setups, but no actual stories, for both. One involves a woman who hits a fairy like a bug while driving home one night. She didn't previously believe in fairies and now has a seriously injured, maybe dying one, on her windshield. I really want to do something with this but I have no idea what. The other fragment is a short story that involves a young woman who drunkenly offers crash space to this guy she meets at a party, who turns out to be the Hindu God Ganesh. Before she knows it, she's got Loki and Dionysis and Coyote playing poker in her kitchen, and Jesus using her bathroom. Again, it's a fun setup, but I never figured out anywhere to go with it other than, "Look, isn't this funny? Be careful who you invite to stay at your house!"
"Perfection" is definitely worth editing, though, and sending out. It's even SF. I should send it to F&SF. Every time I send something there, I get a rejection back saying that they have too much fantasy. (Alas.)
