A reprieve

The anthology I was sure I was going to miss out on because the deadline is in ten days just extended its deadline by two months. All right! Like a stay of execution. What’s more, the guest speaker at the next MWA/SW luncheon is a specialist in the very topic that I want to write about for this story, so I might get to submit after all.

Received a rejection for the story I blogged about back in February (and wrote about at Storytellers Unplugged). I wasn’t surprised. The market provided the initial germ that sparked the story, but the story outgrew the market. As I wrote the day I submitted it: ” It didn’t turn out the way I intended—but I think it turned out better. My horror stories have an annoying tendency to wander off into reality, and never has that been more the case than with this one. For that reason, it might not meet the expectations of the editors for the market that inspired me to write it in the first place, but that’s okay. If they don’t want it, I’m pretty sure I can find some other home for it.” I remain confident that I can sell this somewhere else. It’s just a matter of finding the right home.

I submitted the story I wrote this weekend today. I know that sounds fast, but it’s a short one, hovering around 1800 words, and I revised it several times over the past couple of days. My first reader didn’t even find any typos. I did, but only one. I shuffled a few lines around this morning, and changed a few words, but I decided to get it off my desk. I didn’t know then about the deadline extension for the MWA anthology yet, but having a fairly clear desk makes me happy.

Is anyone out there still watching 24? People seem to have stopped talking about it. Last night’s episode was okay. Lots of high drama in the embassy and less melodrama in CTU. Glad to see that Tom did the right thing after being freed. How many episodes are left? We’re up to something like 6 pm as of last night.

I’ll have some exciting news once I get final confirmation. One of those interesting adventures that several years ago I could never have imagined. Road trip!

By the way, I have an interview with Tabitha King coming up in the April issue of Pensacola Magazine. I submitted it a looooong time ago, but the editor knew when she accepted it that she wouldn’t have space for it until this particular issue. I’m not sure where the magazine will be available outside of Pensacola. I chose that market because the book Burning Candles is set primarily in that area. The paperback edition comes out on May 1st, so the timing isn’t as bad as it seemed to me at the time.

The azaleas are in bloom here. They must be confused, if flora is capable of such a state. It was nearly 80 degrees for a week, then it dipped down to freezing for the past two nights.