Bitten by the writing bug

So what to do about NaNoWriMo? Well, at writing group we discussed whether or not to join in. And I think we all kind of decided that even if it gets us started on something but we don't make the official goal (none of us did last year), well it's better to do something than nothing at all.
Yes, I'm in but clearly I must be insane. Why? Because I just took a seasonal holiday position at a department store so that I could make some extra cash for various reasons. I know. What the heck was I thinking?

In other news, I started a new story today. Yes, I have the comedy/sci-fi story I want to finish but I haven't felt super motivated in regards to it. Maybe because I started it months ago, or because I have no idea where it's going/how to end it, or because I don't feel confident that there's anywhere that would publish it when it's done.
Anyway, I just started this new story. I've had the idea for a few and today the writing bug just bit me. That last line was a pun regarding the story and that's the only info I'm giving for now. I'll share more about it later on.

Until next time...

...and the sign says?

...well it was more like an e-mail and not an actual sign. It went a little something like this

"Faith In The Moonlight is scheduled for publication in the July 2011 issue of CONCEIT MAGAZINE."

That's right! I'm getting a short story published. If that's not sign to keep going I don't know what is!

Sorry to keep everyone waiting. I'm a writer. I need to build suspense! I debated about punking everyone by saying that the sign was that I was pregnant and that it meant I should give up writing to focus on my family. But some things should just not be joked about.

Anyway, the story is not getting published until next year but I'm asking everyone to considering supporting CONCEIT MAGAZINE now. They had faith in me and my story. They've helped me realize that I still want to write and that it's worth the effort because someone out there is reading.

CONCEIT MAGAZINE is on myspace and on facebook. Stop by and check them out. Consider ordering an issue to support writers and literary magazines!

Back at it

I'm still thinking about what I am going to do. The cool weather with the cloudy skies has me thinking Fall and that time of year always puts me in a writing mood.
I did some writing today. I did a little work on a story I had started a while ago, back when I was trying to write a funny science fiction story. Although, I never found a strong market for funny sci-fi, I do think it would work in just sci-fi.
Of course, I haven't found a lot of markets for just humorous short stories, which sucks because it's the direction I always felt pulled in.
Anyway, the short story is about a guy who can't figure out where six weeks of his life went and the only person he has to help him figure it out is his not too intelligent best friend. They compile a list of possible explanations of what could have happened and try to rule out the possibilities one by one.
I don't have strong feelings about this story. I don't love it but I don't hate it. It just feels good to be writing again. I think it's a good place to start off.
Lets see if I can keep up the pace this time.

Christmas is near!!!

It's here and in a few hours I will start participating in events with friends and family that will keep me running until next Monday.
I'm having my Christmas Eve party tonight. Then tomorrow morning Christmas breakfast with my family. After that Christmas dinner with my boyfriend's family. Saturday I drive to West Bloomfield to see my best bud, Jenni. Then Sunday we have lunch with my boyfriend's dad's family and then dinner with his siblings for his sister's birthday.

It should be fun and festive!

On the writing side, I've submitted my short story to Apex Magazine and am brainstorming my next story. We're trying to write for a magazine called the First Line. They give a first line and then let writers run with it. I have a few ideas but I'm not sure what to write about yet. My boyfriend is routing for warrior nuns. Something to think about but for now I'm off to enjoy the time I get to spend with family and friends. That's the best part of the year. I hope that everyone else is able to do the same. Stay safe and enjoy!

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays,
Ashley

Good tidings to you!

Happy Holidays! So where have I been since falling off the NaBloPoMo wagon? I've been around. The holiday season has started and unfortunately for me holiday cheer doesn't fall from the sky. There are select people, or a person, in every family that make the holidays happen. Sure everyone pitches in to some extent. They buy a few gifts, bring a dish to pass or sometimes they just show up. But, there are those special people who make everything come together.

About ten years ago my grandma stepped down from that job and it was passed onto me. So at this time my life is consumed with shopping, decorating, baking, cooking, cleaning, wrapping, Christmas cards, organizing, planning, and doing my absolute best to make everyone as happy as they possibly can. It's almost like managing a business.

Is it worth putting my entire life on hold to make sure that everyone else enjoys themselves while I run around exhausted only to end up with generic gifts, a messy house and a fridge full of leftovers? It must be. Why else do I keep doing it?


Well I have made a few minutes for writing among all of this chaos. I met with my writing group Sunday. Sure I printed out the wrong parts of their stories so my critiques were formed in ten minutes but I guess it's better than nothing.


By the end of the week I should have the final touches done on the story that I was suppose to submit at the beginning of December. Then I'm starting my next story and that has to be ready by February 1st. No exceptions.

Another day wasted.

I just got back from a mandatory meeting at work. As if I'm not there enough. Tonight I had to go back just a few hours after leaving and sit there while I could have been home watching The Office or 30 Rock. By the time I got home from my day shift and ate dinner it was time to head out again. I just got in about ten minutes ago and I have to work in the morning also.
After my day shift tomorrow, I'm off for the weekend so here's everything I need to get done.
-Finish my short story, send it out to be critiqued.
-Finish making comments on friend's short story.
-Finish scene for writing group, read others stuff for writing group and then go to writing group.
-Catch up on NaNoWriMo, if that's possible.
-Post once daily.
Simple enough, right?

Just too nice outside

It was 60 degrees here today, which is pretty awesome for November in Michigan. I've been getting a headache from staring at the computer screen too much this past week and it was too gorgeous to be inside. So I took my notebook outside, sat on the porch next to my dog and wrote part of my short story. It's always hard to say how much I got done since long hand and computer typing is quite different when you're counting pages but I got something done. Now I just have to take the time to type what I wrote.
I just got done reading a short story that my friend wrote and now I'm thinking over what I read. I'll probably reread it again tomorrow and then write down my thoughts.
Right now, I'm getting ready to watch Castle. The awesome TV show about a murder mystery writer.
Then it will probably be off to bed. I'll read first and I think tonight I'll finish the book I'm reading.

Week one ends; week two begins

Today was my day off and it was a busy day. We had breakfast with my dad and my dad's dad. Then I got the yard raked. After that, I went to an exhibition game for the MSU women's basketball team. (They won by 35 points!) and I actually got some writing done too. Not as much as I'd like considering that tomorrow I go back to work for five days in a row. Two of those days will be closing shifts. My goal is to write, even if it's not a lot, every little bit helps me from falling behind.
This week my plan is to finish my first draft of my short story. Try to catch up on my NaNo novel and finish a section for writing group, which should meet next Sunday. And of course, make a post everyday.
And I'd like to finish the book I'm reading. It's been a hard book for me to read. The more I read it the more I understand what's going on but still it's taking me a really long time to get through it. Once again, I can't give up.
So that's the plan for the week. I think the first week of November went pretty well. I have over 11,000 words on my NaNo novel. That's not right on track but much closer than 0. I've posted everyday. I've started another story that at first I wasn't sure I could do anything with and now I have a lot of ideas. It's all progress, even if it's slight.

Delayed

Oh man. It's the day I was talking about when I close tonight and then open tomorrow. So the words that I'm writing right now are about all that I will be writing today.
Today is the first day that I feel I'm falling behind on my goals. I'm not getting any NaNoWriMo written and I'm not getting any of my short story written. I almost forgot to write this post.
Also today we decided that our writing group, which is suppose to meet on Sunday, will probably have to wait until next Sunday. That's almost a good thing as much as it is a bad thing. I wasn't quite finished with my section of Incognito, my comic turned prose, that I had intended on sending. I had put off rewriting that because I've been so focused on my NaNo and short story goal.
Well I open at work tomorrow, so the plan is to come home from work and write. I have to go to the laundromat sometime this weekend but that's what notebooks are for. So instead of watching my clothes whirl around in the dryer, I'm going to be productive.

A new way

The next project that's on my list is a little different from my usual thing. I don't really have a title for it and the idea was not my own.
It all started when I bought a Writer's Market. Yes, last Sunday I went out and bought the new Writer's Market. I didn't buy one in 2009 but I bought one in 2006, 2007 and 2008. And in those years I took all the short stories that I had completed at the time and went through every magazine listed to see if it was a match. I then sent each story to every place it seemed to fit. Obviously, this didn't have a lot of success.
So I took this new Writer's Market with my when I went to meet a friend and he had an idea. What if, instead of trying to find a magazine to fit the story, we each write a story to fit a magazine. And that is the plan.
We went through the Writer's Market and found a magazine that we both were interested in and decided that would be our first goal. We are giving ourselves a month to write a short story that fits all the guidelines of the magazine. Then we're going to send it in and start another story for another magazine. If we get a rejection letter than we'll send the story somewhere else that it might fit but the idea is to write it with a specific place in mind.
My old way never worked so I'm hoping this goes better. It's also good because it makes me have to write. I have a deadline and a general idea of what I need to write. I know the genre and how long it has to be. It's kind of like being back in class with a writing assignment.
For this month I have to write a dark science fiction story that's around 4,000 words. Right now I have an idea. It's more dark than science fiction and I'm trying to think of a way to make it more science fiction otherwise I might need a new idea.

While I took a breather between meeting my daily word count on NaNoWriMo and working on my sub story, I added my NaNoWriMo profile link to the sidebar. I'm at 3680 in case anyone is wondering and is too lazy to click the link.



I get the next two days off from work so I'm going to be a writing machine. Bam!

Starting a project

Right now I'm in a debate about what to work on next. I could start a story that I've had outlined for a few years or I could work with something I already have.

The first story, I got the idea from a song and shortly after wrote up some story outlines and summaries. I had thought it would be a comic book or movie script, but now I'm thinking I could make it into a novel. It's a horror story, I think. It kind of walks a fine line but I really have no other idea what category I would put it in.

My other option is turning my comic script for Incognito, into a prose story. I'm not sure if I could make a whole book out of it. I wrote it as a comic book script many years ago but was never able to find any success with it being published comic book style. It's a satiric look at female superheroes and it's funny.

Either way, both stories are not literary, which is good, because I'm giving up on that. And no matter what I decide I better do it fast because I need to have something done before writing group next week! Eek!

A new game plan

I wrote a little last night. It's not really a story more just some thoughts about my current employment situation. It's me venting about the bad things in life. It borderlines on that literary fiction that I said I was done with. I need to be done with all of those stories I wrote while my life was at an all time low. I'm there anymore.

What to do next? Should I edit and send out one of my short fantasy stories that I had intended on submitting until I realized I had lost my latest versions?
I think that's what I'll do, then I need to start a new story. I'm thinking of a novel. It's a story I originally wanted to be a comic book. It's kind of a horror story. Once I get some thoughts down I'll share them.

Right now, I really need an FM transmitter for my iPod. The headphones give me a headache after awhile. Of course, I would also need a computer that's not next to a t.v. that's always in use. I miss my office. Four months and, hopefully, I'll get that back, maybe.

I've started update my livejournal again. If it felt like I've neglected this blog. I've hardly posted there at all, but I miss it.

Let someone else decide.

I bought the latest issue of Epoch. I actually think it's a bit old but it's the most current. Their new one is probably on the way.
Epoch is a literary magazine for short stories and poetry. One of the few I can actually find at the book store.
The last few weeks I've been thinking a lot about literary fiction, what it is, and if I can write it well.
In the past, I thought I wrote literary fiction like a champ but rejection after rejection got me thinking. So I picked up this magazine and I realized I have no clue what literary fiction is. All the work I had qualified as literary was emotional and usually depressing, with a message in it.
Not that the stories I read in the magazine lacked those elements but they were different. They were vague. They left more for the reader to decide. In the end I had given all of my stories an unhappily ever after ending because that's what I thought literary was, the cold hard truth. Now I'm rethinking this. Maybe literary stories are just suppose to make the reader think and not tell the reader what to think about, but to let them decide for themselves.
Or maybe I'm completely off base.
Either way, I tried to apply this new strategy to what I was working on. I was struggling to find the end of Worth Something. It has two strong characters who have different values. It's almost a new take on the dilemma of whether or not it is right to steal bread for your starving children. One character says 'yes', the other says 'no'. And in the end I couldn't decide which way I wanted the story to lean. I wanted to show both sides of the story evenly. So I just left it hanging and then took it to my writing group. I asked what they thought. And after much discussion I think I'm going to let it end with no conclusion. I'll let the reader decide for themselves.

Planning ahead

It hit me a few days ago that the month was almost over. How time flies. That means that the first Sunday in May is almost here, which means writing group. So I spent today working on the last part of Worth Something. I have it to a point where it could be the end or I could add a little more and I'm not really sure what to do. Maybe I'll add a little more then ask the writing group where they think it should end.

For the first time in a while I got out the Writer's Market. I know I mentioned a few months back that I think humor might be my thing. It's the only thing that I've had much luck with and I hadn't really gotten anywhere with literary stories, which was mostly what I had been submitting. So I've been trying to find places to send a few of my humorous stories, including the one that started my funny revelation, Secret Identity Crisis.
What I've come to find is that, when it comes to short stories, there are a lot less places for humor than there are for literary stories. Of course, in the past, I found the same problem with action, adventure, fantasy and sci-fi.

I finished the Lord of the Flies, but I read it kind of half-heartedly before bed every night. And I feel like a bad reader/writer because I didn't catch the big flaw that D.B. Echo mentioned.
Now I'm on to Bone Crossed, the fourth book in the Mercy Thomas series, by Patricia Briggs. I'm actually almost done. I'll probably finish it tonight.

Just watched: Marley and Me (again)
Currently watching: Reno! 911

Bands and books

I started my short story that I mentioned in the last post. I think I'm going to call it Helping Hand, so that's how I'll I refer to it for now. I have really gotten much done but the day is young.

Last Thursday I went to see a band called Brena and they were awesome. They have a very cool mainstream rock style going on. I liked them so much that I just uploaded their new album on my iPod.
Yes, that's right. I now have an iPod. After years of saying that I want one, but not buying one for various reasons, an iPod nano has managed to fall into my hands. So now I can create all kinds of awesome playlists for all my writing endeavors.

I started reading Lord of the Flies and I just bought the 38 Most Common Fiction Writing Mistakes. Both are pretty short books. I like to envision me having them both done by the end of the week, but I hate to get ahead of myself.

Finally, something to write about

Okay, I'm back to work. I've spent this week writing an article about resale shops. Of course, I've been through a few computers lately, and I'm typing on a new one (well new to me) right now. And because I forgot to e-mail it to myself, that article is now saved on a computer that is not hooked up. So I would have to unhook this monitor, mouse and keyboard, hook them back up to the other computer and then undo all of that just to get the article. How's that for complicated?
I finished typing in part three of my short story Worth Something. I have writing group tomorrow right after work so I need to get my other group members' work read and make some comments. Eventually, I'll have to finish the end of the story and type it up for next month. After that I'll need to have started a new piece of fiction or else I'll have nothing to take.
It feels good to be writing again. I didn't realize how much I missed the release and the feeling of accomplishment. I don't know how I ever stopped.

Getting organized

Over the last week I’ve been attempting to pack or toss everything I own. One of the things that I started going through was my writing stuff.
I’m not sure how other writer’s function but here is my set up. I have a two-drawer filing cabinet that’s filled with files and notebooks. Most of my short stories have their own file. All of the novels have a notebook and a few files. Then there are other files with story ideas and other writing like old articles and reviews. I also have a few folders full of research. Oh and I can’t forge the folder full of rejection notices.
On my desk is my “current” pile, which is stuff I’m supposedly working on.
That’s my system. The other day I figured it would be easier to move if it was organized. So I started off attempting to file away my current pile only to realize that the two drawers had become terribly unorganized. I decided it would be best to pull everything out and do something with it.
I have to say after all the computer crashes and file losses, seeing all of these print copies and hand-written stories gave me the feeling of not being completely lost. It was nice to be able to hold my work in my hands. Although, I still had the worry that it would suddenly burst into flames.
As I sorted through everything, I found quite a few things I had started long ago and forgotten about. When I first started seriously writing, I had started a short story about a journalist who is trying to get a story about the mafia and somehow ends up in the mafia.
There was a nother story that I started a while ago about a mysterious hotel that seems like it’s paradise but is the exact opposite.
Obviuosly, the notes and thoughts I had about each of these stories are much more detailed and hopefully more interesting. I was really excited about both of these stories when I first came up with the ideas for them. I have started both of the stories just never finished them for some reason or another. I’m going to put them on my to do list not that I’ve really been making a dent in that lately.

Good news for a change

I realize my last post was a bit depressing. Well all my post of late have been a bit depressing. So here’s a post filled with nothing but goodness.

The first news is that I wrote a short story. Well, a very short story. Flash fiction. I think I mentioned the idea before. It’s kind of a Romeo and Juliet of one-night stands. That’s mostly why I kept it very short, and didn’t give any of the characters names. I wanted it to be short and anonymous, just like a one-night stand. I think it worked well.

And so did the people in my writing group. Yeah, that’s right, I said writing group. It’s not a new one. It’s the old one. I took a chance once the school year was over, and assumed that maybe my writing group members might be less busy now that they weren’t teaching for the summer. And they weren’t. We met last Monday and we all had work.
It felt very productive and I was excited to show my new story.
I think I’m going to edit my holiday story, Christmas Bells, for our next meeting, or at least part of it.
We’re trying to meet every other week. Hopefully, all goes well.

I'm sleepy, I smell like taco meat and I want to go home.

Okay, I didn't really have anything important to say but I felt I must post because I haven't in a while. Also, the title of this post was seriously my slogan at work today and I felt that it was so awesome that I needed to share it with others.
I stayed up way too late the other night reading My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult. It was a good book, a tear jerker really. I know many debate about whether her writing style is the best but for me I couldn't put the book down because I was so anxious to find out what happened to the characters. And I felt a bit personally connected to them in ways. Anyway, in short, I stayed up way too late. I have yet to recover from all this because I haven't had a chance to properly sleep.
So I'm tired and then in my hurried state I somehow thought Taco Bell sounded good for lunch. I hadn't been drinking, which is about the only time I really crave Taco Bell, so I'm not sure what brought this on. My stomach, my breath, the after taste and the grease I drizzled all over my sweater, all made me regret this lunch decision before I even got to work. That's why I smell like taco meat. And it's pretty cold here today so going without the sweater was not an option.
Plus we're in the middle of our SAS sale, which brings out all the wackos and they are not wackos that can help themselves. Well, they won't help themselves. They need EVERYTHING done for them regardless of how many people you are trying to wait on at once.
All of this is why I wanted to go home. And here I am. I'm getting ready to edit a short story and send it to a contest that's deadline is tomorrow. Then I'm sleeping. I'm not even going to read before bed tonight because I'm so tired, plus I have no book to read.

Just watched: The Mist
Just read: Batman: The Long Halloween
Currently listening to: Refuge-Tom Petty

Another long day

I spent eight hours at work yesterday with a total of three customers all day. Needless to say I got a lot of writing done on my story. I also went through my Writer's Market trying to figure some things out.
And to top it all off I started a new book. It's called Poison Study by Maria Snyder. It's published by Luna the fantasy branch of Harlequin. I didn't know that when I started reading it. Not that I have anything against romance novels, they're just not usually what I read. Anyway, I started reading it with optimism. It was recommended to me by a friend with similar reading interest and it has four and a quarter stars on Goodreads.com. So far it's a good book but no romance yet. I can see very slight potential for a romance but I'm nearly half way through. I guess we shall see.
It's also got a sequel as well, Magic Study so if this one is good I'll have something to read next.