A girl can dream.

J.K. Rowling, Stephen King and John Irving will be doing a reading together at Radio City Music Hall on Aug. 1st and 2nd. I would just love to go. The cheapest tickets are $12 and going to New York would be so cool. Sadly, right now I can't even afford the $12 and some how I have a feeling the tickets won't be there long.

I can't even describe how exciting it would be to be in the same building with such awesome authors and listen to them read their work. Not to mention going to New York.

Finally moved in!

I am back! I am finally moved into my new house and while I haven't even come close to having everything unpacked, I do have my computer and most of my office up and running (pictures to come soon I promise).
I have also started back into my writing!

In way cooler news....Jenni and I have a near finished query letter. So it might not be long before were sending out proposals for a novel!

Fan letters

I was reading a book about getting into comic writing. One of the writer's giving advice, who's name escapes me right now (I can't look it up because the book is packed and waiting for transport), said that he had never written any comics before getting his first job writing Green Lantern for DC. They gave him the job because they had come to know him through the 100 or so letters he had published in the back of their comics. I haven't seen any readers letters in the back of DC lately but I have seen they are in Marvel. So once I get through this crazy, hectic thing called relocation, maybe I should start my letter writing.

Out of old, into new, starting my...space!

I'm still in the process of packing and the big move will begin on Monday. I'm excited, nervous, anxious, and just ready to get it over with.
I haven't really been working much on writing, mostly because my office is a room full of boxes. It's a little hard to find the room or the time. I'm hoping to get unpacked and set up as soon as possible. I don't want to waste anytime.
I did apply for a comic writing job today. Since I have no experience with an actual published comic book, I probably won't get it. Trying never hurt though.
My new house also has a pretty nice garage that I plan on using more for a creative space. My office will still be in the extra bedroom but the garage will be excellent for my giant project. So I plan on decking it out.

In hopes of networking with more writers, artist, editors, and cool people in general, I have started a myspace page. I know it's horrible but it might be beneficial.
Ashley's myspace page . I haven't decided on a URL yet so right now it's just the generic one. I'll link to it on my side bar too. Right now it's not too exciting but I hope to add to it little by little.

On a complete non-writing note, I'm participating in the Race for the Cure, to help the fight against breast cancer, on Sunday. My family and I will be walking in memory of my Aunt Jackie. If anyone would like to sponsor me or join me in the walk please visit my page on the fundraising website. Don't worry if you can't donate, I'll still love you. Thanks!
BTW sorry to everyone who has already read this message from me.

Good from the bad

A few months back I went to the theater to see the latest Zorro movie. As I watched the movie I got a brilliant idea for a character. A hero who, like Zorro, who is a real person and doesn't have crazy super powers. It's been done before but I had my own little twist to this character. It's the character's motivation that truly makes him stand out. And of course I'm not going to tell you what my secret weapon is because I love to be vague in fear of someone stealing my phenomenal idea.
I've got this great character. I'm really excited. I'm thinking of notes faster than I can write them down. Then I go to write the story. The introduction to the character was boring. I just said this is the character rather than introduce him gradually throughout the story. Oh well, I'll work it out later. Then I continued to write the story, eventually forcing myself 'cuz it ain't happening. It sucks. I just keep repeating the same stuff and that stuff is the character, his motivation and his plan. There's no story.
I demand that I come up with a story for this guy and I do but it's the same old thing. This awesome character isn't going to cut it alone. He can't have the same lame downfall to bounce back from then triumph. He can't just get stabbed, pull the knife out and continue to take down his enemy. It's just too predictable, boring, cliche, over done. Call it what you want.
So I promise myself I will come up with something. Every night when I am trying to sleep I think about the story I'm currently writing and develop the story or just keep going over it. Still nothing.
Then inspiration struck. Yesterday, a situation occurred in life that was unjust. There was betrayal of friendship, accusations made and a person who lost many things very dear to them. It made me angry, sad, frustrated and(insert various other negative emotions here). But out of every crappy situation comes something good. Tonight as I dwelled on the situation I thought of how an over elaborate version of these events would make my story whole. It's beautiful. My excitement for the story has returned.

I know sometimes I write things about projects and I give no detail of the project. I apologize for this but I hate to give the story away . If someone were to love the idea and I never developed it, it would be disappointing. Or maybe someone would write it first and better. Since I don't have good writing skills all I got are my ideas. But really the reason that I write about projects is to share my frustration and joy. If I was going to give the whole story plot and character away in my blog, well then there would be little point in writing it. I'm sure there would be some point but whatever. Anyway, I hope the few people who actually read this aren't incredibly bored and annoyed by my stupid stories about writing. Sorry. Hopefully, one day I'll get something published and there will be something more entertaining to read than my crazy blog entries.

Bye

Well since I will soon be leaving my house I thought I would post pictures of my first office. This is where most of my writing has been done for the last three years. Sorry, Batman fell down:(

On the move.

I've slacked off on the blogging lately for one good reason. I'm moving.
Last week my slumlord called and told me to get out because he wants his house back. So I spent last week in a panicked search. Thankfully I found a new place in a timely fashion. I'm moving in on May 1st. Now I'm on to packing, which if you've ever been to my house, you know I have a lot of stuff. I'm a collector of many things. Action figures, comic books, books, statues, comic art, shot glasses, DVD's, CD's. Each of the categories I named means I own well over a hundred of each category. I'm certain the comics go into the thousands. I also have an office with about four file drawers full of writing in some state of completion.

The funny thing is I never realized how much moving affects my writing. First off I have have submissions out that will be coming to this address. Yes I know there is forwarding but I've noticed things can slip through the postal service cracks. And we all know if there is one person that wants to publish me, it will be the one whose response letter doesn't get forwarded. Second, I couldn't start my big project because it's just too huge to move mid-project. So it's on delay. Also I'll need to make new business cards. Plus moving all my junk and the time that I waste packing, moving and unpacking in which I could be writing. Hopefully things go well and the transition is smooth and fast. We'll see.

One song

After my writing class pretty much made me hate the idea of writing short-fiction stories, I've been thinking a lot about what I want to write. I have a ton of ideas that would make great stories and I'm sure I'll get to write most of them one day if the fates allow.
In my down time I've been watching a lot of movies and two got me really thinking.
The first was "Walk the Line". When Johnny Cash is at an audition, in hopes to record his music, the producer he's playing for tells him to stop. The producer ask him if he got hit by a truck and you only had enough time to play one song before you go, one chance to tell people what you really feel about life, is that what you would sing? That's not an exact quote but you get the idea.
Then I was watching a favorite of mine, Rent. Roger, a song writer, is trying to write one song before he dies. But if you only get to write one song, what do you write about?
This all got me thinking. If I only have time to write one thing in my life, do I want it to be some lame vampire story that I only wrote because it met the requirements for my class? Do I want my one story to be written how my professor instructed so I can get an A? I want it to be written the way I feel it, I want it to say what I want it to say?
I just don't know what that is.

Experimenting

I haven't abandoned my blog. I'm still alive and I'm still writing.
Not to say that my creative writing class isn't good but it's kind of made me sick of writing conventional short stories, at least for now. So lately I've been trying some experimental things. One is a cartoon strip that works around my lack of talent in the art department. Another is a really huge project and by huge I mean actual size of the finished product. I haven't started yet because, due to it's large size, it needs quite a bit of preparation. Mostly because it's quite costly so there is no room for mistakes.
It's probably real annoying that I never give more detail but that's just me. Sorry!
Well these projects keep me away from my computer. That is why there's been a lack of "I've got writer's block" blogs.

Wasting time?

For several reasons, I skipped class tonight. Shameful, I know. Lately I have been discouraged about class anyway. I feel like I can't do anything right. The professor is trying to help and I am well aware that I am not a good writer. My trouble is that I am just not sure that great writing can be taught. Am I wasting my time?

Kreeg:Writer's Best Fan

It's a dark and stormy night. The perfect weather to write my terrifying story for class. The perfect time to write it since it's due on Friday. Yet as I sit down and try to type I find myself too preoccupied with things today. Last night I felt the same way and managed to type a few pages after posting on this blog. Maybe tonight will be a repeat.

I realized that I have never posted a picture on my blog. There are pictures on my live journal about my everyday life but there really aren't pictures about my writing. Tonight I realized that there are pictures of my biggest fan. While he may not be fond of my work, he watches every word I type.

Sorry he kind of blends. I could have taken the picture in a better light but I took it from my seat at my desk where I write, or pretend to anyway. He watches me the whole time. I can't close my office door, even to block out the real world and get into writer's mode. He won't whine he just bangs at the door handle as if he is trying to get in. He's not happy being locked in the office with me. Although sometimes he sits next to the desk. One thing's for sure, I never worry that he's going to tell me my work sucks. So bloggers let me be the first to introduce you to Kreeg!

Spring Break!

Since it is spring break I should be getting lots done but that is not the case. I've picked up extra hours at work because I need the money. I have been looking for a new car which is actually a lot more time consuming and a lot less fun than I had imagined.
I had been keeping up with my page a day but it has dropped off again. I keep promising myself that I am going to sit down and catch up. That has yet to happen. My professor did send me comments on my first half. That made me realize I had yet to read my comments from my first assignment in that class. I also haven't read the comments from my last workshop but I'm pretty certain I don't want to.
The rejection notices have started to flow a little more steadily because I've been getting my work sent out more steadily. Just nothing recently.
While November is national novel writing month March is NaNoEdiMo (National novel editing month). My plan was to edit my NaNoWriMo novel but that hasn't happened.
There are still a few days left, right?

Oxford 2007?

Today my professor has started his idea of e-mailing me everyday to make sure I write at least a page a day. For good measure, today I wrote two.

I recently found out there is a three week summer writing program that I would very much like to attend. It has an application fee of over $500 and the tuition, including room and board, is over $3000. Why the heck would I want to pay that much for a creative writing program? It's at Oxford University! The trip alone would be awesome and I could say I attended Oxford. I doubt it for 2006 but maybe 2007.

Not looking!

Class was cancelled tonight. I did get on a roll writing my story and managed to get a good chunk finished and turned in. I actually like it. I also think since class was cancelled that perhaps my deadline for workshop would be pushed back. Giving me even more time to push out a decent story to redeem myself for the crap I've been turning in. Of course if this is the case I can not wait until the last minute.

Here is a little crazy bit of information. When I was middle school I took typing class but I was in my newly rebellious stage where I wore old band t-shirts, wanted to be in a band and stopped caring about doing well in school. So I paid no attention in this class and the teacher never tested us to see if we didn't actually look at the keys. I talked with my friends about the latest rock music( I was obsessed) and just typed looking at the keys; it was quicker. Then through high school I barely touched a computer. My family didn't have one and I was too busy working to ever do homework anyway. Besides, whoever wrote songs of angst on a computer?
When I got out of high school and got serious about writing I finally bought my very own computer. The one I still use today, parts of it anyway. And I type slow and poorly. I look at the keys and often mix my letters up. I've thought of taking typing classes to help me get my thoughts out of my head faster but as with every thing else it just gets lower on the to do list.
Having no idea how to train myself on not looking at the keyboard I decided to work on mixing up letters. So now instead of noticing I misspelled something and figuring I'll fix it with spell check later, I now back up and fix it. As I was doing this on my paper today I noticed something.
I don't look at the keyboard. I don't know when it happened. Until this morning I thought I still did. I glance down occasionally but this whole entry I haven't looked. How wicked cool is that?
I know it's a common skill but I'm really excited I've accomplished something. And to think I could have paid money to learn to do it. It's so awesome!

Clue me in

Still don't have much time to squeeze in writing. Although I am considering dropping one of my classes because the teacher is nuts. I do all the reading and take extensive notes during her crazy lectures yet I get low test scores. Why? Because the questions on the test are not covered in the reading or the lectures. Of course I probably won't drop because it's a waste of money and it's just one more class I need to take to get my degree.

I'm trying to get my 5-7 pages that I alone need to have for my professor by tomorrow. This is part of my procrastination prevention plan that he has developed. Guess what? Haven't started. Nothing less is to be expected of me. I do think I'm going to write the vampire story I thought up a long while ago. I think I even promised to post it on this very blog if it didn't get published. For now I would just like to finish or start rather.
To "give me ideas" I started reading 'Salem's Lot by Stephen King. Ever since finishing his Gunslinger series this summer I have been meaning to start reading all the books connected to it. Those were most of the Stephen King books that I hadn't read. I know, it's horrible, I should be reading small, up and coming writers or those who didn't "sell out" but the reason all the well known authors are commonly read is because their stuff is good. Mostly.

I've been doing extensive research on marketing due to the fact that some companies ask for a marketing plan for your book. I'm confused. Do they mean I have to go to stores and ask them to carry the book or do they want me to suggest places I think would sell it? Does anything I'm asking about have to do with marketing? Is there anyone out there with a clue?

Faaa-talllll Ammonia and Rejection. They both Suck!

One employee is on vacation for two months, another quit, then one goes into the hospital. Needless to say I was at work a bit more than expected this week.
Yesterday was my one day off from school and work this week. It was my day to do all my writing.
My dad asked me to go to the doctor with him. The rather dramatic physician, who kept saying
"this could be faaa-talllll", sent him to the emergency room. A few weeks ago he fell and hurt his ribs really bad and now that he couldn't breathe he decided to go to the hospital. After a long and rather unpleasant stay that included nine hours without being offered food, a bed in the hall and my mom threatening to use the stamp in her purse for an angry letter as she insisted my dad had "ammonia?", he was sent home. He's doing well.
The down side is that I got no writing done but I did do a lot of reading!
I still have to work on the start of my story to turn into my professor on Tuesday.
Not to mention I am really trying to make some kind of progress on the book my friend and I are working on. I would like it to be a co-project. She's incredibly busy and I feel like I'm sticking her with all the work. Although I did get research done on publishing companies to submit to.
Today I got another rejection notice for a short story. It wasn't as nice as the last one. In fact I couldn't really read the editor's writing but I think they were suggesting I buy their magazine to get a better feel for what to send as my next story. As if I write stories for the lone purpose of getting published in their magazine. Of course I could have their intentions wrong since I couldn't read the flipping note. Their letter head was pleasant though. It read "Rejection Sucks".

Another workshop over

Another workshop over.
The class didn't have anything particularly good to say but I expected and deserved a lot worse. I did get a chance to talk to my professor about my class worries. I explained that I feel rushed to create a story that is a certain length. I also put things off to the last minute. I don't find writing for the class particularly fun, mostly because I feel my work is forced. It all goes in circles really.
My professor had some good ideas to help me. He is also going to give me special deadlines and told me to stop worrying about writing for the class. I pushed my self through this story because everyone was wondering how the last one would end. I feel like I let people down. I think the talk was good and I'm no longer pondering the idea of dropping the class.

Crazy little fact: I misspelled the word writing by switching the ng to gn (writign) and the only alternative the spell check came up with was 'artisan'. Pretty close, huh?

Mad writer

Okay, I'm putting off my homework once again. I have to have my half-finished story finished by tomorrow.
Once again I'm nervous about workshop. I really rushed and stressed to finish it so I wouldn't be the only one with a 4 page-incomplete story and sure enough the longest story of my fellow classmates is six pages. I'm not sure if they are finished since I've put off reading those as well. I don't know why I'm nervous about workshop. I've been through so many and no one has ever yelled "your work sucks, quit writing!" (although they should). Everyone usually has helpful and nice things to say. They are probably just as nervous as I am. If I ever have a successful writing project, and I have to face critiques and the fact that at least one person in the world isn't going to like it, I'll flip out. I need writer's therapy. Well I need some kind of help anyway.

Speaking of my mad writing skills, I'm taking mythology which counts as a humanities class, for my global views requirements. Today our professor gave us a mid-term and we had an essay question. We had to fill three pages and I had no idea what to write but I filled the pages by repeating this sentence in various forms. The model of a mythological hero is a child born with divine heritage, but is not a god themselves, who goes on an adventurous journey to perform heroic acts in hopes of becoming immortal. In other words I failed that portion of the test.

Today into the mail I got a rejection letter but it was very nice. The editor wrote a long reply, in hand writing I could barley read. It said that the story was good but not what they were looking for. Then the editor went into writing about things it made him think of about his life. He also gave me suggestions of where to send it and how to make it better. I actually liked getting a rejection letter for a change.

Our crazy book about selling shoes is underway. My partner (Jenni) in crime, writing the shoe story and in assistant managing a shoe store has been hard at work. I've been slacking off per usual. But we've got a good start and I think it's going to be a lot of fun.

Memoirs of the Man Sandal

Once again I wrote my workshop story last minute. It wasn't even finished by five. It was late. And once I again I rushed it. It made no sense. The plot was weak and the title was stupid. I learned my lesson. I'm starting my next workshop story as soon as I get done with my assignment one story that is due Tuesday.

My friend and I have started working on a novel based on our shoe store experiences. Why would anyone want to read a stupid book about a shoe store? Because it's funny. We don't just say we sold a pair of shoes. We wait on rude customers who want you to open the store early or stay open late for them. Then there's the sales associate who steals shopping carts. Not to mention the joy of selling the men's leather dress sandal (The Man Sandal!). And we don't just sell shoes. We go "Office Space" on our broken vacuum in the parking lot and do dramatic reenactments of our bosses most stupid moments. This description is not doing it justice but I'm excited.

Due dates, and the true cost of submissions.

I'm not feeling so hot this week. Not that I'm ill. I just feel like all things writing are not great, but not bad either.
The first thing is I had creative writing again tonight. I have to finish my story I started for the last workshop. Plus make major edits from the revisions. I'm also up for workshop again next week which means another story by 5:00 p.m. Friday. The good news is I work better under pressure and it is practice for meeting deadlines. I think I can!
On Friday I got a sad letter saying I did not in fact place in the state finals of the LAND writing contest but "can be proud that my story was chosen to be one of two in my category to represent my school".
For brighter news I sent out a bunch of submission letters yesterday. The not so bright part of that news is directed at publications.
I get that you want people to buy your sample copies before submitting. It gets people to buy your stuff and hopefully gives you less junk submissions to look through when writers realize you're a children's magazine and they pen erotica. I also understand that each company is particular about submission guidelines such as margins, font, overly detailed or one line cover letters and so forth. Whatever makes it easy for you. What I don't understand is why they can't take e-mail submissions. Actually I do understand that it would probably flood their mail box and if their computer is anything like mine it would probably just stop working. It probably even makes some seem more professional and serious if they are willing to go through the whole mailing process. I just think it is such a waste of paper. I honestly feel guilty doing it and often struggle with sending out the things. Not to mention the ink, stamps, paper and other mailing materials get to be expensive for poor writers.

They didn't hate it(I think).

Okay I'm all right. My class didn't hate the story. They were all debating whether or not the character is crazy or has an incredibly cool power. They wanted me to tell them, but I'm not even sure yet. That's what happens when you don't finish a story. Maybe I can find some way to make it both or to leave it for the reader to interpret and debate. Either way the class not absolutely ripping the story apart was a bit reassuring. I was a little worried at first when the professor asked what people liked about it and no one said anything. Then someone yelled out that they needed time to switch from the last story to the current one. So there was no need for me to pass out. Generally it went well. Of course my professor is always looking for the deeper meaning of things and it's crazy but it's interesting. Sometimes I have no idea what he is talking about and I think he can tell that. Now all I have to do is finish it and edit what I already have.
The other thing is that there might soon be some news about my comic book. Don't worry it's not a huge deal but for me even small progress is exciting. I'm just that easy to please.

More boring stuff.

I'm preparing for class and having to face my stupid story that I don't like.
Now I actually have to get some work done. Hopefully I'll have an important update soon. I don't mean to keep posting boring stuff all the time.

It's just not good.

Today was the first day I worked on the story for my creative writing class. I had the idea and a few notes down, but today was the first day I actually wrote any of it. I worked on it all day. I hate it! But I couldn't think of anything else to send to my classmates and I barley made the deadline.
I really liked the idea. It sounded great to me. But once I started writing it, I just couldn't make it work. I'm not just saying this because it's not a genre my deep, thoughtful classmates don't usually enjoy. I have had lots of stories that I have had doubts about other people liking but I loved them. I enjoyed writing them. I was excited about them. I really just don't like this story. Maybe it's because I didn't have enough time to go over it over and over again. Maybe I felt pressured into writing it. I'm not sure but I really don't like it. I didn't even finish it. It has no ending. I barley finished the first part. Who knows maybe as I finish it I'll find a way to like it. I know it sounds weird but I would not read this story. It's a really frustrating feeling to have. I often wonder how I could possibly not like something I wrote.

Poetry Rant

As I sit here procrastinating from writing my story for class, I am annoyed. Not because I can't figure out how to start my story or because I have this urge to clean my office and can't because I must finish this. The reason I am so annoyed is that I think there is something unfair about writing. I looked at my fellow students posting to see if I was the only one who had waited until the last minute, I wasn't. There was one posting though and it was by one of the students who had chosen to do poetry. He wrote two poems that together barley make a page. I on the other hand have to write in the area of 10 pages. I checked the paper that told us what we must have by the end of the semester. I must have over 40 pages of short fiction, poets on the other hand must have 8-10 poems. Now I know poems aren't always as short as the ones posted but still they are generally under a page. Also I'm not criticizing poetry but they don't have to have a plot, characters or dialogue. They can just write whatever and even if it doesn't make sense it's called interpretive or experimental.
Maybe I should switch to poetry so I can do less work. Of course the class wouldn't benefit me then because I don't really have an interest in it.
Okay I'm done complaining. Now I have to get back to work.

*This is not me bashing poetry. I like poetry. There are many pieces that I love. I'm just not good at writing it.

Boring!

I haven't gotten a lot of work done lately. I feel like class work has taken over my spare time.
Last week our homework for creative writing was to read three short stories and answer a series of questions, read three poems and write observations, write a story using a metaphor about how I feel about writing, write four poems where every line of the poem ends in a word that can be spelled using the letters in the one word title, read two fellow students works and make comments, and read 48 pages of the intro to our text. I did all of this and I guess I should have taken in to account what the professor had said last week. That the text and assignments didn't matter, the class is about writing and getting feedback. We didn't discuss any of the work and we didn't have to turn any of it in.
Once again I find myself in the situation where I will be required to participate in class. I have been holding back and then regretting not speaking up because I had the right answer. Yesterday I asserted myself and answered the question. Guess who was completely wrong? ME! Err.. No wonder I never say anything.
I have to have a rough draft of a short story posted on line for my class by 5:00 p.m. Friday. I have an idea. Once again I'm not sure my untraditional, sci-fi/fantasy style will be appreciated by these deep, thoughtful writers that search for the inner meaning of everything.
Aside from class my time this week was consumed by a consequence of my stupidity. I wrote a story a while back and saved it only in e-mail and on disk. My disk drive is shot. Then I saved my e-mail to my computer. When I erased AOL from my computer, my e-mail was saved into a file that has crazy symbols and I can't find a program anywhere in the world to open it in English. So I had to scan in a rough draft of the story. With all the marks and highlighting on the pages it didn't scan too well. The margins were off, nothing was spelt right and so many other problems. With all the editing I had to do I might as well have just retyped it.
I started another sonnet but have yet to finish and am still reading novels for research on the new novel. So far though nothing important has been accomplished.
Wasn't this the most interesting and entertaining post you have ever read?

Bye bye structure. Hello creativity

I wrote this all earlier and then my internet service decided not to work. So this is copy is probably missing some of the enthusiasm the first one did.
Today was the first day of classes for me this semester. I had Creative Writing II. I was worried that it would be exactly the same as CW I but I figured I would try it for the first week. If it didn't work out I could still get my money back.
This class is so different. I didn't like how CW I was just a bunch of rules about how to be creative which defeats the purpose of being creative. Also you got graded on whether or not the teacher liked your work so you were writing for them. Not to mention I had to write poetry.
In this class there is no structure. There are no due dates for your assignments. There is little to no text reading. There is no topic you have to write on or point of view or tense or must be realistic or sci-fi guidelines. You can do poetry or prose for each of the four assignments. He doesn't grade, collect or even check to see if in class assignments are done. The main focus of the class is to write and get feedback from everybody. That's it. You bring in your work and everyone discusses it.
It's different for sure. Of course I usually do well in classes because I follow the assignment guidelines exactly and always turn things in on time. So I'll actually have to do more in this class. That is a good thing. The only other thing is that this class is pretty much like a writing group except instead of being free I have to pay tuition. Hmm....

BTW: I finally learned how to put links in my post without writing out the whole long and ugly web address. I also learned how to add things to my sidebar. I put links to my live journal which is my life outside of writing. The other links are to Pandora's Gate archives, which has some of my work published. The next thing I hope to add is other blogs to my side bar. I'll work on it.

Dear Wizard

I finally finished "And the Band Played On". It's a book that I had been reading not only for enjoyment but as research for my next novel. I never thought I would finish. It was over 600 pages long and the pages were huge with the tiniest print. I read at least an hour a day and it took me 13 days to finish. It was worth it though. And yes I know I could have just watched the movie but I don't like doing that. It's not the same.
I have a basic plan for the novel but I still need some more statistics and such. It will be a while before I'm ready to roll.
Today I finished another sonnet. That's number four. It's about Daredevil. I also started the fifth.
Over the weekend I busted open my new Writer's Market 2006 and started finding places to send stories. I sent out submissions for "Sworn" which is the final story for my creative writing class last semester. It's the one that I was so worried about. I'm not sure there is really a market for it, just like I was unsure my class would like it. The problem is that it's a fantasy story written from the point-of-view of a high school girl trying to impress the guy she likes. It's not necessarily going to appeal to typical fantasy readers because it's from a young and female perspective. That would make it to appeal to young females but they don't generally read fantasy. I think it could be a good way to reach two different audiences. I just don't know of a publication that is trying to do that. They usually stick with one crowd. It would make sense to try to appeal to more people but then the current readers might not like it.
Anyway as far as other submissions go, I'm having a little trouble placing short short's. They probably work best in contest but I hate paying to enter. I don't have the money and you never know when it's a scam.

Now onto the exciting stuff!

In case no one's been reading the comments, I am writing a letter to Wizard magazine about the lack of females in their publication. This idea was not mine. It was D.B.Echo who commented and gave me the idea.Thanks!
Now I'm going to post my letter here and send it to Wizard. I'm also going to put the e-mail address to Wizard and encourage others to write similar letters as well. A word of caution for those of you unfamiliar with Wizard magazine. They are not a magazine with a conservative and formal style. When they answer letters to the editor they make fun of the writer so make sure that your letter is not something they can rip apart. I would hate to see a letter, promoting women, being made fun. Not only do I not want anyone's feelings hurt but it wouldn't really look good for what we are trying to accomplish.

Dear Wizard,

As a long time reader I have always noticed the lack of females in your publication. When women are featured in your publication they usually have nothing to do with comics except that they are starring in a comic book movie.
I realize there are very few women creators that work for the major comic book publishing companies, but why not give some space to up and coming female artist and writers? It might give them the recognition they need to reach the major publishers. Or you could devote some pages to fan girls. After all, in an anniversary issue the magazine mentioned once having "Look Familiar?", a section dedicated to readers pets. So why not give a page to female readers? Featuring fan girls would only give hope to your male readers that they could marry a woman who wouldn't make them throw out their comic collections.
Maybe more women would read Wizard if they thought they weren't being left out.


I think this letter doesn't provoke any rude comments or sarcastic remarks. I could be wrong. If anyone else wants to send a letter write to magicwords@wizarduniverse.com . If somebody else writes it might not make it seem like I'm only suggesting this to get myself in the magazine. And it will help get the point across. Please write!

Being Committed?

It's happened. I woke up in the middle of the night. The clock read 4:33. I think the reason I woke up was mostly panic that I was going to sleep through my alarm and miss jury duty. Then of course, I would get arrested or fined, so I kept waking up periodically. Just as I was about to fall back asleep, I realized that I had a really good idea for a story. Forgetting about leaving the comfort and warmth of my bed, and that I was incredibly tired and needed to be up rather early, I headed to my desk. I jotted it all down and actually got on quite a role. I was just so worried, if I didn't get out of bed to write it down, I would forget it and it could have been the best story ever. Looking at the great idea now it doesn't seem that great. Then today I went out to lunch and I couldn't help it. I started writing again on my placemat, because I didn't have enough paper in my little notebook. The point is that I have become slightly obsessed. It's okay though, at least to me. It just makes me feel committed to my love of writing.

The only other thing to say is that I have completed sonnet three and started sonnet four. I have to admit I started cheating and bought a rhyming dictionary. It's tough. Do you know how many heroes end with woman/man? I didn't want to write the same thing every time.

Edit first!

My goal for today was to write a query letter and send some submissions to agents. Of course they want a synopsis of the book you are trying to get them to read. It makes sense to me so this is not a complaint. My trouble is that I realize I should edit the book first. I guess I should have figured that in the first place. Now I'll just have to send out different submissions for a while. I'm thinking my final story for creative writing.
Also, I'm a little sad I just found out they were raising postage and I have a lot of stamps that I have previously purchased. Now I have to get those crazy 2 cent stamps.
For the record, in case there is anyone but probably not, my blog is not blocked from anonymous comments. If you are not a member of blogspot you can still tell me I suck by clicking on 'comment'. Of course I'm being presumptuous that someone actually reads this. I'd make the joke "that someone other than my mom might actually reads this", but she doesn't either. That's how bad my writing is.

NOT another bill!

Now that the Christmas season is over I no longer run to the mailbox when I hear the carrier drop off my mail. Since there are no more cards coming there is no reason to get excited. Bills are not exciting. They are quite the opposite. So today when I heard the clank of the mailbox I took a nap.
When I finally decided I should get the mail I was not disappointed. There was the telephone bill, the garbage bill and a Lansing community College envelope. Since I'm behind on paying tuition, I was quite certain it was just to yell "YOU OWE MONEY!", or perhaps to even tell me I had been dropped from the class. All in all, the mail wasn't happy! Boo!
I threw it on my desk and eventually opened it later in the day. SURPRISE!
I won second place for short fiction in the LCC portion of the L.A.N.D. writing contest!
I don't know how many people entered so it could be that I was one of two people who submitted, but I don't care. I'm excited. I've never won anything in my life. It's so cool. I'm sure it's not that big of a deal but oh well.
The story I won with is called "Papa's Little Angel". It's a story I wrote for a writing sample when I first started my attempt to find an artist to collaborate with. I didn't really think it would win but it was one of two stories I had that met length requirements so I sent it along. It's a story about a young girl who can teleport and her troubled life after she teleports her dad out of prison. That's probably not a good description. I'd post the story but it had to be unpublished and I'm not certain if posting it here disqualifies it from the state portion of the contest that all 1st and 2nd place winners are entered in. Seeing as how I'm pretty new to the publishing rights and stuff, I'll leave it off for now but once the state part is over I'll post it.

In other news I wrote another sonnet. I"m not going to post it until I decide what my true intentions are for my superhero sonnets. Sorry I keep teasing but never posting.
I also started research for my next novel. I don't want to give too much away but it's a fictional book that revolves around the AIDS pandemic. I'm really excited about this idea, I just hope I can write it well.
The other thing is I got my Writer's Market 2006 today. Now I can start my new submissions for the year. Then the mail will get interesting again as I wait for not only bills but rejection notices.