Do It Like Montresor

I've made a decision. It seems pretty insignificant considering everything that's been going on. You know, the world coming to an end. But, I feel it has to be done. And there's no talking me out of it either. It is like I've walked through a door, closed it behind me, and then bricked it up like Montresor. And, for the love of God, I don't even care if it blows up in my face.

I'm going to self-publish. I could go into a rant about the publishing industry but I would just sound like a jaded neckbeard. I've just come to my last breaking point with not being a published author. I know there's a good chance that only a hand full of people will read my book if I self-publish. And most of them will be my friends and family. But, fuck it, I have to try.

That's all I really have to say this month. I've been a daze for the last couple of months as Earth spirals down the uncaring universal drain. Just hoping there's a flipside of this. Humans, for all our faults, are crafty little shits. We'll probably be alright. 

All cynicism punctuated with vague optimism aside, the daze is why I've been silent the last couple of months. Still doing book reviews as I'm still reading. But it feels mostly out of habit and self-therapy than anything else. Step one to getting self-published is finding myself an editor to work with. It'll cost money and might take a few tries to find someone. Time and money always find a way to include themselves in any equation.

On the actual writing side of things, I've picked up my Colony Earth project again as I slowly comb over the tome. Just something to do as I wait for responses from the leads I'm chasing down. Once I finish editing and familiarizing myself with what I've already written, it'll finally be time to start new work. I've been trying to sell Variant War for so long hopefully I'll remember how it's done. Either way, it's been a long time coming.

 Until next time, and at all times, be kind.

My Life, The Fan

Well, it's all really hit the fan now, hasn't it? I could go into a detailed rant of what happens when the general public is poorly educated combined with the inherent failings of democracy, but I'll spare both of us. For those who care, the wife and I are doing well. We've canceled pretty much all our plans and only go out when we need to. Both being thankful because there are so many people who have it so much worse and we're doing what we can to pay it forward.

With everything that's happened in the past month alone, what has gone on with my writing seems almost petty. But it still happened and I'm going to talk about it. First off, the conference didn't really go as planned. The agent in question behaved as if she was interested, but didn't do much to follow up on it. Another dead end. To top things off, the event gave me a stomach bug that put me down for two days. It's bad enough that I get jerked around and my money taken, but it literally made me sick.
There are a number of things about the conference itself that I could comment on, but I'll reframe beyond broad outlines. Saying more would make me look vindictive and petty. And I'm not petty, just bitter.

In better news, I've once again joined a writing group. We're meeting via Zoom, like every meeting happening this month. The group seems to be doing well. Hopefully, it'll last and will be beneficial for all.

I've somewhat started working on Colony Earth again. Step one is to get reacquainted with it. I've set a daily task to work on a chapter. I've only done it twice this week, but I should do it more once I remember how much I enjoy writing. Once the twenty chapters that I've already written are edited and updated, I'll start working on new material. I'll keep trying to sell the first book, but I need something new under my belt before I go crazy.

Nothing else to report. I was going to say that I've been trying to keep busy, but that isn't true. It's not staying busy that's the problem, its staying committed. The beginning of March really took the wind out of me, and I've just started to get it back. Half of me wants to become a successful writer just so I can go down the list of people who didn't believe in me and taunt them. Okay, maybe I'm a little petty.

Until next time, and at all times, be kind.

I'm with Stupid

I did something stupid. Well, maybe stupid isn't the right word. It was dumb, don't get me wrong, but that's isn't the worst thing about my decision. The worst part is how I seem to enjoy this punishment. I don't, but anyone on the outside looking in might think I do.

So, what I do? I signed up for another writer's conference. I always get my hopes up, always thinking I have a shot. Then, months later, realizing I wasted my time and money. The bruise to my ego and general self-esteem being the worst of it. And people wonder why I'm a pessimist.

This time, at least, I have a half-decent reason for signing up. At the end of January, I entered a contest. You submit the first page of your novel and an agent reviews all the entries. The winner gets a more detailed review of the first ten pages of your manuscript. Maybe more if she likes it. It's a potential foot in the door. At the time after entering, I didn't think much about it. Writing it off as another wasted minute of my time. Then, about halfway into February, I received an email that I had won. I had to read the email a few times to make sure I wasn't imagining things. I wasn't and quickly submitted those ten pages. It'll be April before I hear back about that. But, the agent in question is doing a conference on March 6th, and I'm going to introduce myself. It might ruin my chances. It might put me on track to get an agent. Mostly I'm just hoping I don't make an ass of myself.

I'll be sure to let everyone know how it goes.

In other news, I submitted my book to ten publishers. At the time of writing, four have already rejected it. The sad thing is that many publishers are too low brow even more me, being even worse than self-publishing. Maybe I should do an article on how to spot a bad indie publisher. Like if their book covers look like they were made by someone who failed a remedial photoshoot class, you should probably pass. The funniest being a company called "Freebird Publishers" that caters exclusively to prisons. And here I thought they were just big Lynyrd Skynyrd fans.

I also submitted it to Baen Books. They have an open policy as if anyone has a chance to overcome the slush pile. They said it will literally be a year before I hear back from them. Needless to say, I won't hold my breath.

I was hoping to submit to Tor because they have the same policy. The thing is that they want a longer version of what is usually a criminally short synopsis. So I'm re-writing that before I submit. And they want it by snail mail. Because fuck trees.

I was hoping to do my first scheduled short-form writing today. It didn't happen. Long story. I've been doing Skillshare videos every Wednesday evening, but I doubt I'll continue it. Maybe I'll move that writing period to Wednesday instead of putting it in the middle of what is usually a busy Sunday. We'll see.

That's pretty much it for now.

Until next time, and at all times, be kind.

Dear Bubba Rick's Publishing

We're in the endgame now. The house is officially on the market and the large portion of work that needs to be done to it is finished. Now I just need to sell the damn thing. New problems will take its place. I know this. At least that's what my anxiety tells me. For example, last night the dishwasher stopped working. The pleasures of being a homeowner I suppose. But, the sooner I tackle the problems behind me, the sooner I can tackle the problems in front of me.

Speaking of problems, rejection season is here. I've sent out thirty-seven query letters this month and have already received six form rejections that are almost word for word the same. I don't mind. I'm just naturally bitter. I've gone through the entirety of the agent section in the writer's market book. There are still agencies that have multiple agents that deal in science fiction, and several that are simply closed currently, so I still have plenty of querying to go. For now, at least, it's on to publishers who actually take un-agented manuscripts. Which aren't many, especially ones that are a step above self-publishing. Dear Bubba Rick's Publishing.

I have written into the short form notebook I purchased this month. It's mostly reworking some previously written work, but at least it's something. I should have a regular work schedule sometime this month. With the old house pretty much done outside cleaning out the garage, it's no longer taking up so much of my time. I'm currently thinking of a mid-afternoon break on Sunday with coffee and a snack. Coffee and food are the best motivators outside of whiskey.

Will I get any real writing done soon? I hope so. Querying is taking point at the moment, and that won't last forever. I'll give that until June before I start rethinking my plan for the first book. Self-publishing is looking better all the time. Once all the letters are sent out, I'll work on Colony Earth until summer arrives. At least that's the plan.

The wife and I have taken up dancing lessons. With her being Puerto Rican and me being Irish, it's like watching a ballerina dance with a golem. If you keep up with the book reviews, I've also been reading the Witcher book series. It's something I've been wanting to do for several years, but a mix of lack of time and most of them not being translated got in the way. So I'm finally getting that done. That's been more than enough to keep me busy, so I'll stop boring you for this month.

Until next time, and at all times, be kind.

Getting Back To It, Whatever 'It' Is

For the two people who read this blog, you might have noticed that I didn't do an entry for December. I also neglected to do book reviews for the couple of novels I read towards the end of the year. To be fair, I was busy. Holidays and getting my old house ready for sale has taken up all my time. Not that I didn't have time to make an entry into a blog no one reads, but more to the effect that I didn't have anything to say. At least in regards to writing. Still kind of don't, but I felt the need to check in with my plans for the future.

The house is ready to sell. More or less. Some productive people I know, stay productive by following the 80% rule. Basically, you work on something until you complete 80% of it because the remaining 20% isn't really worth it. I stop working on the house around 95%, but that's just how I am. Hopefully, it won't take too long to sell. Or, to be more actuate, it won't take long to sell it at the price I want.

NaNoWriMo was a failure. I shot out of the gate and landed on my face. I had some friends who needed my help and it completely threw me off my game. Don't get me wrong, helping my friends was more important. I was just hit with situation after situation that ate up all my free time to write. I was hoping to get a good start on the new book and work on it first thing in January. My biggest problem was that I still couldn't decide on a narrative voice. Plus, what I did write didn't make me feel like I was writing at my best. So, in light of this, I decided to go back to the Colony Earth project. God help me.

I should also start querying agents next week. I've been putting it off for the holidays, but I can't use that for an excuse anymore. I did query an agent in early December, but that was more a matter of timing than anything. According to her twitter, she plans to be caught up on most queries by February. So I should be getting that rejection letter any day now.

I've gotten a slow start to the new year, if you can't tell by the date stamp on this entry, but it's back to the grindstone for me. Writing goals being to finish the draft for CE by the end of the year, query everyone, and get back to my short form work. I know I know. There's enough bad poetry in the world without me adding to it. But, if it wasn't for my shitty prose, how would you tell what is good?

Progress with a Side of Failure

Pitmad was a failure. I'll just start off there. It's also probably my last attempt to follow through with that event. I've found that it's heavily skewed towards YA, which shouldn't be that much of a surprise since the event takes place on Twitter. I personally wasn't expecting much, but what bothered me was that I saw people with really good pitches gain almost no traction because their stuff was adult. It's also a breeding ground for "publishing" companies that don't do much better than if you just put it out there yourself. If their only releases are anthologies with a book cover that is just a stock photo overlaid with some text, they aren't a real publishing firm. I know this sounds like a rant (because it kind of is), but the whole thing left me sour. If you couldn't tell.

In better news, I turned in the samples for the writing conference. I suppose I should get used to deadlines if I want to succeed in this writing thing. I won't know what the editors think until the conference in May, but I think I've put my best foot forward. I'm not likely to do another blog entry until after the event, so I should be able to at least give my first impressions of how things went next time you hear from me.

I should really keep notes on what happened during the month so I can reflect more easily. All of this is just off the top of my head and that's not a good way to maintain a blog. I know I'm screaming into the void, but that's no reason to be terrible at it.

After I turned in the sample, I resumed editing my first book. It's mostly just small changes, but it has to be done. I'm also re-working a short story for a contest. The contest isn't science fiction-centric, but I'll try anyway. If anything, if I get rejected, I can always try the Writers of the Future contest. Speaking of which, they still haven't announced the winners for the first quarter. There's a whole heap of drama around that, but I won't get into it. I just hate refreshing my email for rejection letters.

And then there's poetry. I entered a random piece of work in a contest of its own. Didn't win. Not that I'm surprised. My poetry is trash. It's slowly getting to the point of readability, but it's not there yet. A good friend of mine introduced me to a poetry/spoken word weekly event, but there is no way I'm reading my garbage in there. I might try to do some spoken word stuff. I have a few pieces I could dust off. But it'll have to wait until after the conference. Everything is waiting until after the conference.

I know I said last month that I needed to get started on my newer projects. No real progress was made on that front. I just don't have the time while things that could actually be published within a year take precedent. My goal for Thermal Kings is to have the narrative, setting, and outline fully planned out by the end of October. I should probably work on that first thing after the conference. After I get the short story turned in, I need to work on my actual pitch for the agents/editors. Talking to people has never been my strong suit, which might explain why I write.

End of line.