Arrant Nonsense

I got in the last bits of edits on the Janni story (unless and until I hear more from the folks who have it) and re-read Ghost Ship. I didn't outline it, but I re-read it. Yeah, it doesn't know what kind of story it wants to be and I'm almost afraid to ask. There's no dramatic tension, not really, it doesn't pop like it should, and neither the stowaway nor the ghosts actually take pride of place. The "problem" is also solved much too easily. I may have to excise the stowaway, even though I like her. I'll do that in a new doc, though. *sigh*

Two rejections in my inbox tonight. One flipped to the very last pro market on my list for it (not because it's a bad market, it just... hit last). The other--after rebooting my printer because it was being a butthead, editing the header after printing part of it out, realizing after I'd printed all 67 pages that I'd still neglected a space in the header and deciding not to print it again, because jeepers, and then printing out a cover letter that called a novelette a "short story" and, yes, reprinting that--is ready to wing its way to a snail mail market. I bet you can guess which one.

So much Fail in such a short space of time. Good Lord, I hope tomorrow is better.

I've incorporated the crit I got for Unquiet Neighbors. It still needs a title, so I'll sleep on that. I gave it to my Writing Buddy tonight, and I guess I'll wait a week and see what he says about it. But that one is thisclose to being done and ready to sub. Unfortunately, it's also over 11,000 words, so markets will be thin. Bah. But, you know. All it takes is one, right?

He, also, cannot put his finger on what's wrong with the Eldritch Plumbing story. He knows there's something, but exactly what eludes him. I'll have to post that up next, I guess.

I have a couple more lines to add to Janni's story. It has a title already, and it's about ready to go. Or, uh, I should post it too, since I don't think I ever did. Unfortunately, I'm about to the point where I just want to kick these things out the door ASAP because I'm tired of banging my head on them.

I brainstormed a little bit of Chambliss's background tonight, which did not help me with the brainstorming I was supposed to do re: "inner workings," but oh well.

Tomorrow I'll poke at Ghost Ship, retroactively outline it, and see if that shows me where I went wrong.

And it was fantastic as always. The new venue was amazing, with a really good restaurant and a bar. And WALL PLUGS EVERYWHERE. Honestly, I hope we keep that venue instead of going back to UVU next year.

The panels were awesome. I learned a lot, and got some ideas for where I was going wrong in parts of the things that are driving me crazy right now. The panels I was actually on were great too. The readings were not publicized at all, so I ran around telling everyone I knew when mine was. Most of the people who attended it were leftovers from the previous person, and I think I hooked them with the title ("Beverly Hellbunnies"). And of course, I left it on a cliffhanger and had people going "AHHHHHHH where can we read the rest of it" and I responded "MINE IS AN EVIL LAUGH YOU CAN'T." Although I did pass the manuscript off to a couple of friends. And then on Saturday at midnight, I'm sitting there talking with some people and someone else I knew came up to me and said "I understand I should talk to you about bunnies." So that was hilarious.

I got to network with some people. Dave Wolverton/Farland was there, and I had dinner with him and got to bend his ear a little about WotF. And one of the guys at TM Publishing was lamenting the size of his slush pile and saying how behind he was, and I mentioned that one of mine was in there, and LARRY FREAKING CORREIA said "Put hers at the top!" He has read my stuff (I have no idea where) and likes it, and a rec from him to an editor is like gold.

I still haven't decided what I'm going to do with the novel. Someplace like TM that publishes both novels and shorts and thus has natural tie-in capabilities would be a good fit for it, but at the same time they have a "keep the graphic violence to a minimum" policy. And, well, what can I say, it is what it is and graphic violence is something I'm actually pretty good at writing in service to a story. So, IDEK. Brett said he was open to the whole "novel with short tie-ins" concept, but I'm just not sure the subject matter fits what he wants to publish. James Wymore at CuriosityQuills wants me to send him something too.

Part of my problem with a lot of these places is the fact that I'm still just a little stuck in Traditional Publishing Mode and I want an advance, dammit. I realize that startups frequently can't afford that, but at the same time I think the book is good enough that I should get one, you know? At the same same time, this may be the only novel I ever actually write (having become reconciled to the fact that I am not a natural novelist) and, as previously stated, no agent or publisher wants a one-hit wonder.

Now, my body of work is almost to the point where I could put out themed anthos (werewolves, angels, and my spaceship crew could all get an antho apiece, almost), so there's that. Meh, I dunno, the whole industry is in flux right now and it's both an exciting and scary time to be a writer. Five years ago, everyone was saying "self-pubbing is the kiss of death, don't do it," and now everyone is saying "eh, why not, what do you have to lose."

The fight scene in the New Janni story sucks less; I managed to fix most of the problems with it in the bar and now just need to polish it more. I've got a few more ideas for Angry Bitter Angel to flesh out my serial killer. Zombunnies is nearly ready for subbing and I have an actual Plan for that. I still haven't even looked at Unquiet Neighbors and have only briefly glanced at Eldtritch Plumbing.

All in all, chugging along.

So, I sent not!IronMan to one of the premier markets. They kindly said it "wasn't right" for them, but:

It's one of the best titles they've seen all year. (Clearly, its actual title is not "Not!IronMan.")

And they invited me to sub again.

So, that's... encouraging. I guess. Maybe I got someone's attention there, anyway. And I know exactly which story I'm sending them next. The timing is actually stellar on that, because I'll see the publisher where Won His Soul is during LTUE this weekend, and I can inquire about the status.

Today: More editing. I think I'll look over the new Janni story and see if I like it.

Last time was bad enough. There is no sense thwacking myself with a brick in the head again and I do not need to be sent into another frothing rage. Praying for my country, at this point, is all I can do.

So, I will write today. I will do something I enjoy, in blatant defiance of... well. Everything. As I have said before, my happiness is not dependent on who sits in the White House. My life will go serenely on, with perhaps a few hiccups along the way. As it does.

Which is not to say I will be avoiding TV tonight. After all, I have been looking forward to "The Following" for as long as I've been aware of it. Kevin Bacon hooked me in the first ad--and then when I found out James Purefoy was the villain, my squee-age knew no bounds. And there are Poe references. I'll reserve judgment until we're four eps in, but it looks amazing, from the previews. *bounces*

And, of course, Castle is also on tonight, and H50 (which we will DVR). So, really, there's no bad there.

Meanwhile, I write. I cracked 40,000 words in the Project o'Doom last night. Let's see if I can stick an END at the bottom of this story today and start the next one, shall we?