I have 350 words to bring this thing to a conclusion that doesn't suck. I did the first ending in 87 words, but it was a little easier than this one.

Argh.

I guess I could just set it after the trial...

I love the new hook I have for the Merc&theSnake fic. It's fabulous.

HOWEVER.

I can't help but think that cutting her throat as a "distraction" (even though medical technology is such that she'll only be mostly dead) *nods to William Goldman* is a bit...

Extreme.

I need to raise the stakes somehow.

And...I think I may have just figured out how.

Righty-ho. *cracks knuckles*

ETA: That means I have to set up the medical technology earlier in the story. And... I just figured out how to do that too. Go, me.

I know they say "Kill your darlings."

And I know that the Merc&theSnake story is...well, pretty predictable.

But the solution offered for making it not predictable means I have to gut a scene I like quite a bit--and add some gore that I'm not sure is really necessary. And it makes "saving" my protagonists...problematic. Because if they're both dead, then how do they get out?

Argh, I know this isn't making a lot of sense to people who haven't read the thing, but I just needed to vent a little, and the usual people I vent to via YIM aren't online right now. *cries*

Whether that's better than a "way," I don't know. However, in no particular order:

• Merc&theSnake: Going to Fantasy & Science Fiction next. They have a shockingly quick turnaround time. After that, maybe Strange Horizons. Will cross that bridge if it comes.
  
• CatFeet: Contingent upon it being salvagable, it's going to Weird Tales. Right now my Writing Buddy, Dan Willis, and Bob Defendi have it and are hopefully tearing into it.
  
• WerewolfFic: Probably sending that one to Writers of the Future, unless I can get something else hammered out before the deadline.

What's next on my plate? I have no idea. None of my prompts are really firing my cylinders right now. Hopefully I'll be able to meet with snarking_boojum on Monday, he'll give me back the WerewolfFic and the CatFeet story, and I'll at least have something to edit. Merc&theSnake is formatted and ready to go, at least.

I really like a "cats as aliens" idea, because cats are freaky little creatures. I realize that it's been done to death, but what if there was a cat that just wasn't very good at being a cat? *eyes the Tober-Kitty, who is misshapen and rather graceless and is just...stranger than most cats* And thus people began getting suspicious?

I haven't heard back from Fox Cutter on any edits for the DragonFic yet, either, so that'll be something I'll have to jump on as soon as he gets back to me.

Hm. Looks like I'll be wearing my Editor Hat rather than my Writer Hat for the forseeable future. Yayness.

But everything I consider "complete" is either out there in the Wild Blue Slush Pile or headed that way ASAP. Cuz, you can't get published if you don't send the crap out. Writing is 20% inspiration, 40% perspiration, and 40% plain old gumption...ation. Yeah.

Drive's been cancelled.

I guess people would rather watch TRASH like "The Wedding Crashers" or "The Littlest Groom" than something with interesting characters, an engaging plot, and pretty cars. *growls*

They've only filmed six episodes. We may, the word from On High says, get the last two eps sometime in May, on consecutive Fridays. What I want is a boxed set of "Drive" and "The Inside," together. Am I going to get it? Eh, probably not. I swear, Fox has the crappiest track record in the world when it comes to Tim's shows. "Wonderfalls" was cancelled after three episodes, IIRC. *snuggles my box set of that show leik whoa*

In other news, the Hubby set his pants on fire doing some welding repair work on his race car. He came in and told me that his ankle felt warm, he looked down, and AUGH! Fortunately, it didn't burn through his pants, let alone his sock, so he's all right. *shakes head*

On the weight-losing front, I've actually been succeeding in doing it. We bought a new scale (finally), and it measures in even tenths of a pound. Apparently I'm doing something right, because I've been losing a steady four-tenths of a pound a day for the last week and a half or so. I was 132.8 this morning, which I haven't seen since before Thanksgiving, and I've dropped all the weight I gained in Moab plus a smidge.

And I just got an email from Writers of the Future telling me that they got my entry for the second quarter. *crosses fingers*

The Merc&theSnake fic, which I'm calling "Fortunes of Soldiers" has been beaten into shape, formatted, printed, and shipped off to Writers of the Future.

*wibbles*

I finished this thing in record time, folks, and it came to just under 4,000 words. Many, many thanks to those who took the time to give me crit on it, because it is much improved from the initial version I posted. You guys all ROCK. And that includes the Hubby, who never sugar-coats his opinion just to spare my feelings.

I managed to hide his motivations a little better in the final draft, and the last scene is far better than it was. I always go through about four or five revisions for action scenes.

Of course, I still haven't heard back from them about the BeagleFic from last quarter. No news is good news, right?

The Merc&theSnake fic has a "the end" at the bottom. It's a little over 3500 words.

Now I just have to beat it into shape before Saturday so I can send it to WotF. I'll probably post it later for the Concrit Group, after I poke it awhile longer.

See what I mean about a deadline concentrating the mind wonderfully?

Heh. This is frighteningly accurate...



What does your drawing say about YOU?

• You tend to pursue many different activities simultaneously. When misfortune does happen, it doesn't actually dishearten you all that much.
  
• You are a direct and forthright person. You like to get to the core of the issue right away, with few signs of hesitation.
  
• You like following the rules and being objective. You are precise and meticulous, and like to evaluate decisions before making them.
  
• You have a sunny, cheerful disposition.

I am the queen of multitasking. I generally have about seven windows open on my computer at the same time. When I get a rejection letter, I shrug and send the story off to the next market. I'd rather be direct than beat around the bush. You know that "pros vs cons" list thing that some people do when they have to make a big decision? Yeah, I do that.

And I am, in general, pretty happy. I guess. Today's mood notwithstanding. Frelling snow.

---

In other news, I have 1650 words in my Merc&theSnake story, along with a slight idea of where I may be going with it. At least I know how it ends. And I got the CatFeet story back from my (published) Mom, and it wasn't bleeding profusely, so maybe it's better than I think it is. Most of the issues she brought up with it, I'd already addressed based on feedback from other people, other than one thing, which bigsciencybrain helped me with quite handily.

I also have ink for my printer, so whatever I decide to send to WotF, whether it's CatFeet or Merc&theSnake, I can at least print out. Yay.

I have 450 words of set-up for a new story. This one, I hope to be able to bang out and into shape by Friday as an emergency entry for WotF. I poked through my prompts list last night and found one that will do ("So. I'm dead.") I have a space mercenary, his pet flying snake, and a spoiled brat woman-girl. And possibly plot-ness.

We'll see where it goes. Wish me luck.