I still don’t know what to say.
You know when that friend you love stops talking to you, or moves away? When you lose touch and can’t seem to get back in contact?
That’s how I feel about the Chronicles right now. Jo is MIA, and the only one talking to me is Priss. And she talks a lot! Elf is more than making up for the lack of attention from the others, but it just doesn’t help that much.
So, for now, there is no news on the Conn-Mann front. I REALLY hope that changes soon…I miss the gang.
Let’s face it. Last year I didn’t write ANYTHING but my Ladies of Horror flash pieces. I did do the bookmarks for my Etsy shop, and made a few sales there, but on the whole, it was a wasted year of binge-watching and take out.
THIS year, however, things are looking WAAAAAY better. For one thing, I was accepted into SFWA and HWA. (I know, I know–shut UP about that already!–but I can’t help it. Dream come true time.)
Also, an old friend got tired of not being an editor and started a new venture Gravestone Press as an offshoot of Fiction4All. She is paying decent money for short stories, exposure for flash, and has several anthologies looking for stories at the moment. This has proven inspirational for me as I have written several new things for her and sold her a couple of reprints.
Remember, horror is where you find it. I am toying with a collection of stories based on song lyrics, and when you really think about some of the stories those songs tell–there is definitely a chance for horror. Like Lyin’ Eyes — what lengths does she wind up going to to “hide her lyin’ eyes”? or Bitter Green — such a haunting story. What songs inspire you? I’d love to hear about them in the comments!
No apparently salacious bar graph this time, just the hard numbers. A bit crooked, but what can I say?
These are my stats as of yesterday for the year, and you can see I have been submitting like a hummingbird hits the flowers–here, there, and everywhere. Some results have been great, some have been not what I would have liked. I’ve got some good stories that can’t seem to find their forever home, and others that I didn’t think ever would now have. Several of those 184 rejections later became acceptances, as nothing gets to wallow in self-pity. Almost everything gets chucked out the door again within a week. Unless it’s been rejected so many times I finally let it rest for a while.
Last year, I was lucky to get my 12 Ladies of Horror flash pieces done. This year I’ve made 316 submissions before the year is half over. And while working on self at the same time. I’ve lost over 10 pounds since March through Noom and walked 26.5 miles of a 46.4 virtual challenge in 18 days.
It’s amazing to me what a good year this has been so far after the debacle of 2020. I feel like my work is improving on so many levels, even if the new stuff is getting rejected as much as the old homeless stuff.
Even looking at the list makes me tired! But in a fantastic way. I can’t believe how well the year is going. How about yours? Leave me a list in the comments so I can cheer on your successes!
It wasn’t really all that long ago, but I got out of the tidying habit when it seemed there wasn’t much point in caring (*cough* 2020) and then I got crazy busy trying to get out of that mindset and back to work.
Well, the work part is going really well at the moment, with great things happening around here–but the neatening has all gone out the window. We need to change that back again. So, I am going to be working on my desk for the next little while, and I will share the results when I make some headway. I am trying to get my big office set up again so I can do my Etsy stuff and the writing in there and put this desk back to paying bills and playing games. It’s gonna take a while, but we’ll see what I can get done between now and the end of the day and I will share the progress.
But first — I have to go do my 250 steps for this hour. Be back soon.
Did you miss me? I am loving my FitBit (Affiliate link) which gives me reminders to move a bit every hour as well as tracking steps and a bunch of other things I haven’t figured out yet. Between it and Noom, I have lost 12 pounds since March. But that won’t help get my desk cleaned up!
I don’t think I’ve shared my Lifebook with you. Here it is:
Don’t worry, I’m not going to show you every page, but I wanted to show the scope. As you can see, it can be a place to gather all sorts of memories–photographs, greeting cards, postcards, business cards, membership cards, funny jokes, ticket stubs, trading cards–pretty much anything (reasonably) flat you can think of. There are lots of page options out there. Sleeve protectors come in all shapes and sizes.
This book has memories from the baby picture my mom gave me through our trip to Ireland. Basically 60 years of memories. It’s starting to get totally full though, so I am thinking of splitting out the career achievements to a separate book. The point is, that this is a great way to keep treasured memories where they can be appreciated instead of all over the place like this.
You can see things peeking out that haven’t made their way into the book yet. Getting those items into their correct place will help clear a chunk of the desk for the next phase of sorting.
Any office supply store or local hobby store is a good place to look for page protectors if you want to start your own book. And the notebook itself can be anything. I think this big 4″ one came from my dad’s old office or somewhere like that, but with school potentially getting back to normal in the fall, anywhere with school supplies should have a selection.
I’m going in–wish me luck.
Okay. It doesn’t look like a big progress, but it is SOME progress, and I have put away many things in the book. That stack in the middle there is much shorter…but now I have to go make dinner. After my steps.
I will keep you updated. 😉
It’s been a couple of months since the last update, and I am still waiting on some of my feedback for Fred’s book. We were watching an episode of New Girl where Nick is looking for feedback on his manuscript and not getting any notes from anyone. I could relate.
But…last night, in my dreams, I felt the first stirrings of Jo’s presence in a LONG time. She may be ready to resume work on The Grieving Groom’s Gambit. I know I am. I am missing the little minx. She’s been silent way too long.
(Does anyone else talk about their favorite characters as if they really exist, or is that just me…?)
Ordered some more convention furniture and a few new books for the table this week. I am hoping we get to use them soon. I’ve had my first dose of vaccine. How about you?
The takeaway from this post is–don’t give up hope. The Chronicles are not dead, merely resting, and the nap may be nearly over!
Only a few minute to write today before the next thing on my To Do List must be done. Thought I would share a tip that really can spur the imagination and get the words flowing.
If you are staring at a blank page, and really have no clue what to write, go to one of the stock sites (Pixabay is free) and look through the images. Find one you like, and start telling its story. Even if the finished product has veered worlds away from the image you started with, you have the juices flowing again.
I first learned about this trick with the Ladies of Horror Flash project, where we are given a picture each month and asked to write about it.
I used it today for a flash fiction call.
Here’s an image to play with. Try it for yourself!
I always make these huge, sweeping goals. Like do a blog post every week on each of the four blogs… Yeah, that didn’t happen.
But another goal for the year I am DETERMINED to achieve, and that is at least one sub a day. And that’s going pretty well. In fact, in February, I upped my game to TWO subs a day. And this month, I am shooting for THREE subs a day. (But I have promised myself not to up it every month. That could get ridiculous…)
Anyway, I am proud of my progress, and though it isn’t quite the end of the quarter, I thought I would share the Year to Date totals:
Submissions: 157 (not counting today, because I am procrastinating and haven’t done any yet.)
Rejections: 70
Acceptances: 10
Publications: 5 — One of those being Startling Stories (Amazon link), which I’m particularly proud of…
Still working on moving the rejections and acceptances closer to center, but all and all, not too shabby. It’s barely halfway through March after all.
So far, a majority of my submissions have been old pieces looking for homes, but I have had several brand-new poems accepted, and there is a new short story making the rounds.
Plus, I’ve sent things to Analog, Apex Magazine and Rattle, so it’s not just For the Love markets this year.
I have submissions out to publications in Ireland, England, and Australia for sure, and maybe a couple of other countries. (Already had a flash piece accepted for a British market — $27 for 336 words.)
One thing I’ve found interesting is that most of the acceptances came after a few tweaks to the old piece I had submitted. Gives me hope that more of the unpublished stuff just needs a bit of polish here and there.
And now, I am off to make those submissions for the day so I can get back to the current edit for Horrified.
I have made a goal of getting back to consistent writing and submitting this year. I haven’t written anything longer than a short story yet, but I have penned numerous new poems and even had a couple of those accepted, so that portion of my life is going fairly well right now.
Doing daily submissions (up to three a day goal this month) has stifled my cleaning a bit. The one housewifely thing that I have done fairly consistently (though the last two or three weeks have been rough for one reason or another) is cook dinner.
We signed up for Hello Fresh and I have found that cooking can be fun if you are feeling top of your game and have the right utensils to hand. I was doing really well for awhile:
And then I didn’t feel well for a few days, and the kitchen started filling up with dirty dishes, and it became harder and harder to find the necessary implements…but I’m feeling better now, and we took a week off of deliveries to see if we can get caught up. A majority of the dishes have been washed, and I can see my counters again…
I am not a one-and-done housekeeper…I am a constant work in progress. But I will try not to be gone so long next time. 😉
Well, maybe not literally.
I’ve been given an opportunity to have the Chronicles for sale in a lovely little indie bookstore in Canada, Dragon’s Lair Artist Emporium. I just mailed off copies today for her to look at, and hopefully they will be onboard soon. (And I didn’t forget to send along tins of the teas to see if she’s interested in pairing those too, Tea Punk Teas.)
It will mean exposing a whole new market to Jo and friends, and I am quite excited about it. We’ll see how it goes.
Aside from that, things are still stalled here as we try to get Fred’s book whipped into shape. Don’t give up on us, though! You know Jo–you can’t keep her down forever!
Here’s a poetical venture from our heroine herself–
*If you ask me where I’m going
I might tell you where I’ve been
‘Cause my life’s so topsy-turvy
that my head is in a Spin!
I’m Josephine Mann
and I do what I can
to take care of myself
and my cat.
When all hope was gone,
I met Alistair Conn
and things turned around
just like that!
With a good deal of pluck
and a fair bit of luck
We manage to get
through the day…
On land or in air
We make quite a pair,
though he swears I will turn
his hair gray!
(Someday, I hope to make it her theme song…)
(My allergies were bad last night, so I am going to share something Bruce wrote for Roxanne instead of getting too creative. This was the toast he gave at their wedding…)
Bruce’s Wedding Toast to Roxanne
Flowers are pink.
Flowers are green,
Your eyes are the prettiest
I’ve ever seen.
You stand by my side
Through thick and through thin
Including that time that
The zombies broke in.
The way that you hit
That one guy with a pan—
I knew then and there
That I was your man.
And when we moved to the hill
To that rickety house
My heart said “C’mon, you fool,
And make her your spouse.”
When you said yes,
My heart it did sing,
Though you got pretty mad
When I bought that earring.
‘Course, our adventures—
They were not done yet.
We flew off to Ireland,
And leprechauns met.
The wedding got closer
But there was a hitch—
That pretty young thing
Who became a real—witch.
But today is the day—
So what if it’s raining?
The clouds hide the sun,
So the vamps ain’t complaining.
Yes, today is our wedding,
And I wrote down this verse.
Roxanne—you’re my lady—
For better or worse.
(if you’d like to know what the hell he’s talking about, you need to check out Bruce and Roxanne from Start to Finnish from Yard Dog Press!)
And since I can’t get to any conventions at the moment to pass them out for free…if you would like one of Bruce’s certification bumper stickers, we will slide on the actual examination and send you one for $1 to cover postage and handling. This may be the last batch ever printed, as Bruce is tired of working so hard…so don’t miss out. Just use paypal.me/RieSheridanRose and be sure to include your address in the note section so I can ship out the sticker!
Rie Sheridan Rose 