Living the Fictional Dream

Happy 4th of July, everyone! To celebrate this auspicious day, head on over to Every Day Fiction and read the story of the day, which is my story, “The Vote.”

It’s not actually a patriotic story. It doesn’t have anything to do with the holiday, at all. “The Vote” is my flash piece about the zombie apocalypse. The rest of this entry describes my inspiration and writing process. Unless you’re into spoilers, I would head on over to EDF now and read it, then come back and finish the blog entry.

I wrote the first draft of this story after I randomly watched the new version of Dawn of the Dead on TV. I stumbled upon it and got sucked in before I knew what was going on. In retrospect, that movie was not one I should have been watching. I’m OK with horror movies. I’ve never watched a lot of zombie movies, but I’m not against them per se. The things about Dawn of the Dead that affected me were the horrible things that humans will do to each other when circumstances are bad and the sheer hopelessness of the situation. (Spoiler for the movie: If it had ended after they sailed away instead of having the unhappy tag about the boat dying and the island being zombie-infested, too, I might have not been quite as disturbed afterwards.)

Anyway, Dawn of the Dead haunted me for days. Strangely enough, one of the prompts for my writing group’s prompts contest that month was to “write about something horrible.” And, thus, “The Vote” was born. Writing it helped me get the yuck of that movie out of my brain and lay DotD to rest.

The story has been through several drafts since then. The first draft was all character development, and the action an after-thought at the end. The second draft cut out a lot of the character development and focused more on Jill’s great escape (the second draft also allowed Jill to get away, when she and everyone on the semi died in the first draft). Thanks to two rounds of critiques from my intrepid writing group, I found a good balance between the two, and I’m pretty happy with the final product.

In case you’re wondering, I don’t really think Jill survives for a long and happy life. It is possible. Though it was cut from the final version, her uncle has a provisioned survival bunker. Maybe she makes it there on her rattle-trap forklift, finds other survivors, and is able to wait out the zombie apocalypse with them until the zombies run out of prey and become inanimate again. But, sadly, chances are, Jill will find another pack of zombies when she’s almost out of gas and weak from lack of food and they’ll take her down.

However, I think it’s better to leave her ultimate fate to the minds of the reader. The glimmer of hope at the end is enough to help those of us who prefer things not to be totally dismal and depressing. And readers who do prefer the “realistic” depressing ending can easily fill that in for themselves. That’s what flash fiction is all about, right? Giving just enough that the story takes on a life of its own.

If you read “The Vote” and enjoyed it, please vote on its star rating on the EDF site. The more star votes a story has, the better shot is has of making it into the top stories classification. And I always love to hear from people who liked my stories — a comment on the story at EDF or a comment here on the blog would be great.

Happy 4th of July, everyone. And don’t let the zombies put the bite on you!

Hello to anyone who’s still out there! Sorry for the long delay between posts. Times have been crazy of late, but more on that later.

I have a few tidbits of news to share. First of all, Every Day Fiction has released the table of contents for July 2010, and guess who’s on it? Yours truly! I’ve had reprints published this year, but this will be my first official new story published in 2010. I’m excited! And the TOC mentioned me specifically as a “returning favorite.” That was nice to read.

Tune into EDF on the 4th of July and read my story, “The Vote.” I’m not going to say too much about the story until the 4th, but I will warn you ahead of time that it’s not a 4th of July story. In fact, its more apocalyptic than patriotic. But I had an interesting voyage writing and revising it, so I’m thrilled that it’s going to be joining my other stories published by EDF.

In other news, I received a contributor’s copy the other day. It was print issue #2 of Residential Aliens, which includes a reprint of my story, “The Sorcerer’s Wife.” The story originally appeared in the ResAliens webzine, and has now graced their print ‘zine, as well. If you’d like a copy for your very own, click here. It’s a great little ‘zine. I’m really happy with it. And if you want to read TSW online, it’s still available in the ResAliens archives.

My writing group had its annual Story Every Day (SED) contest in June. Sadly, I was the winner. The goal of the story is to write a new story of at least 500 words every day for two weeks. The winner is the person with the most stories, and if there is a tie, the winner is the person with the most stories and the highest word count. I say sadly I was the winner because I was able to write a whopping… wait for it… three stories. **sigh** Not a banner year for the SED contest. But, on the bright side, every story written is a good thing, so three (or two, or one, as others in the group wrote) is something to be proud of. I was hoping for more, but my muse just was not cooperating.

Why wasn’t my muse cooperating, do you ask? Well, I guess it is time to tell y’all. On the personal front, there has been stuff going on, contributing to the “crazy” in my life that I mentioned earlier.

For those readers who haven’t heard, I am pregnant. Again! Less than a year after my darling little girl was born, Hubby and I find ourselves expecting number 2. It was definitely sooner than we had planned (if this little one carries to term, as sister did not, they will be 14 months apart), but we are very excited. The new baby is due in September.

For some reason, though, when I’m pregnant, my muse clams up on me. Hence not much activity around the old blog, or on my writing in general.

Add that to working full-time, chasing around after a little girl who is crawling like the wind and working on that walking thing, and planning a first birthday party for next week, and life has been hectic to the max. I’m loving every minute, though (OK… maybe not the actual work, but even that is not so bad, LOL).

I hope all of you out there in blog land are doing well. I miss reading everyone’s blogs and commenting. If I ever have a bit of spare time, I really want to get back to that. I hope you’re all doing well, and that everyone is having a truly fantastic summer (as well as super-high word counts!).

Some might say the surprise is me posting. **sighs** I will spare you all tales about how insane work has been of late. Technical writing really can suck the urge to write anything else (even the fun stuff) right out of you!

This afternoon, I was taking a break from my latest work project for a long-overdue spin around EDF. After reading a few of the recent offerings (The Orangery was quite good!), I hopped over, as usual, to the top stories page. And, what did I see? A Castle in the Clouds  made a reappearance on the top stories of all time list.

What a nice surprise in the middle of a random, boring Thursday! And it’s not (I don’t think) even an April Fool’s joke.

In other news, I had a really good critique at my writing group meeting on Tuesday. We had nearly a full house, and it was a fun meeting. Now if we all just weren’t so busy right now. I fear that writing is not anyone’s number 1 priority at the moment. But, as with all things, I’m sure priorities will shift.

Now I just need to find the time between work and my darling little girl to do something with all the great crit comments that I received on that story!

Oh, and my recent bad news is that my story that got short listed… the one that I’d been so iffy about sending… after just a few days on the short list, it got rejected. Bummer. But, hey, at least they liked it well enough to consider it. And since they didn’t want reprints in the first place, I think that means that the quality of the story must have impressed them (or so I will tell myself).

I hope everyone else out there is doing well, and that all you writers are finding the time to put pen to page (or fingers to keyboard).

Today, Lame Goat Press  released its anthology, Kings of the Realm: A Dragon Anthology. My short story, “The Dragon Thief,” was reprinted in this anthology, so I’m excited to get a look at it. I’ve always had a soft spot for Reginald and his dragon.

And, of course, in addition to my story, there are a slew of others. The anthology is speculative in nature, so you’ll find dragon stories that run the gamut from fantasy to sci-fi to mystery.

If you’re interested in purchasing a copy of this anthology, you can do so here. Click away!

Hello, discriminating readers and fellow writers and bloggers.

I just learned that the second annual print anthology from Every Day Fiction, titled The Best of Every Day Fiction Two, is now available to order. You can order it here, or it is my understanding that Amazon and other such places will have it available soon.

This anothology contains not just one, but four of my stories that were published at EDF during the 2008 - 2009 publication year, including “A Million Faces” and “The Care and Feeding of Your Sleeping Knight,” which were two of my favorites. Writing group mates Alex, Stephanie, and Jens, all have stories in it, as well, and so do other great writers like K.C., Gay, Kevin, and more.

If you like flash fiction… heck, if you like good fiction… you should definitely check this anthology out!

It’s been a good few weeks for print publications and reprints.

First there were my four flash pieces that were accepted for the annual Every Day Fiction anthology.

Then, earlier this week, I got notice that a short story I wrote a while back was accepted into an anthology about dragons that will come out next year.

And today I had an email that an e-zine that published a short story of which I am particularly fond is launching a print version, and they want to reprint my story in it. I won’t give too many details away, as I don’t think the new version has officially been launched yet, but I’m excited to see this story in print.

Fun things in store for next year. It’s neat when a story you like makes a second appearance (and possibly garners a tad more money), and, while I love e-zines, there is something extra special about seeing your stories in print. I’m looking forward to it!

For your post-Thanksgiving reading pleasure, check out the new issue of A Thousand Faces, which includes my story, “Dinner for Three.” This can loosely be considered a sequel of my story “Bridge Club,” which was published in ATF issue 6.

The idea behind “Bridge Club” was to explore what super heroes’ spouses do while their loved ones are out saving the world. “Dinner for Three” goes back to the hero’s point of view and explores the options when things don’t work out with the spouse.

I love stories about the intrapersonal relationships of superheroes. Sure, action-adventure and crime-fighting are great, but what happens when the masks and capes come off? Can a super hero go on a blind date like any other person, or will the secret identity always get in the way?

If you read “Bridge Club,” you might be interested to note that Greg from “Dinner for Three” is the same character as Craig in “Bridge Club.” The bridge club members all use pseudonyms — Greg just wasn’t very creative!

If you check out “Dinner for Three,” leave me a comment here and let me know what you thought of it. I hope you enjoy reading the newest jaunt into my super hero ‘verse as much as I enjoyed writing it!

And, once you’re over there, you should check out the rest of the new issue. There is some great fiction in there, including “A Son of the Night” by K.C. Ball. And, as with all issues of ATF, if you want to have it after the issue is taken offline, go here to buy your very own print copy.

This morning, when I checked my email, I found the proof for “Dinner for Three,” a story set in my superhero universe that is coming out in the next issue of A Thousand Faces.

There is something fun about looking over a proof of my very own story. It’s a little sneak peek as to what it will look like when it’s published. And a proof makes the acceptance real, at least to me. I may have had an email acceptance sitting in my inbox for the past six months, but now the story is actually here, right in front of me.

I also revised my bio, which was fun. I was able to mention my baby girl in it, which gave me a happy.

All in all, a very pleasant morning. I hope you all have some good news to brighten your day. And, hey, if you haven’t read issue 9 of ATF, click on the link above and check it out. There are some really good superhero stories in this issue, including one by my writing group mate, Stephanie.

Residential Aliens, a great e-zine, has revamped its look and come out with a new website. I really like the upgrade. If you have a chance, go check it out here. And, while you’re there, you can read some good speculative fiction.

If you like prowling archives, once you’re there, you’ll find my flash piece, “The Sorcerer’s Wife,” as it made the transition to the new site.

Enjoy, folks!

My flash piece, “The Wall,” is live in the September 2009 issue of Hypersonic Tales. Check it out here — you can read it or listen to the audio version. I’ve been trying to break into the audio fiction market for a while now, so I’m excited about this publication.

This story made the rounds for a while before finding itself a home. I wrote the first version about 10 years ago, while I was still in college. It was a much longer version with a romance and a happier ending. I pulled it out of mothballs when I renewed my focus on writing back in 2oo7, and, with the help of my writing group, refocused the story and made it flash. For this story, the shorter format works — it makes it pop. There wasn’t really enough plot for the longer version.

I don’t remember any more what inspired this story, but I see it as a combination of the fantasy and sci-fi genres. When I shopped it around, a lot of sci-fi markets said it was too fantasy for them, and vice versa on the fantasy markets.

If you haven ‘t read the story yet, this paragraph is a spoiler, so skip to the next one. Personally, I think the end of “The Wall” is a happy one. In my mind, Hannah was saved from her prison in Orlon by what she knew as the Chaos, but in reality, life on the other side of the wall is beautiful and free. However, you could also interpret the ending in many other ways. That she was willing to die rather than be reprogrammed is also a valid reading of the story. I’d love to know what you thought.

I was beginning to think this story was cursed. It kept getting “almost” accepted, and then, once, it actually got accepted, but the market shut down before “The Wall” could actually be published (bummer!).

But, now “The Wall” is finally having it’s day, and I couldn’t be happier with Hypersonic Tales. Go check it out when you have a chance, and let me know what you think. You can leave a comment here.

Watch out for the Chaos — it will pop up when you least expect it!