Well, I’m still putting words together on a daily basis. I finally finished one of my more ambitious* stories Tuesday.  If it gets received well by the Wordslingers, I want to put it into my Clarion West application bundle. My other stories for that are an epic fantasy piece and some military sci-fi, so a contemporary magical realism (? If that’s what this is) piece would fit in nicely.  But who knows what they’re looking for. As I’ve said before, I intend to keep learning as best I can but I think a lot of the lessons Clarion West would teach me, I already know. I just need to DO them.

Speaking of, I’m having ambitions again.  I don’t want to jinx anything but I might be writing a heck of a lot this year, starting with the Rainforest Retreat in March.  I plan to begin writing the sequel to Angel Odyssey there and finish it off in March.  If that goes well, I plan to re-write half of Smooth Vengeance and then edit and submit them.  I just need to decide if I should submit them to Amazon or the New York houses.

In that vein, I’m going to shift gears a bit and do more fantasy writing and reading until the Retreat.  I’ve been writing contemporary fantasy and sci-fi pretty much non-stop for a few months. I need to shake some rust off.  Writing stories set in the Angel Odyssey world strikes me as a good way to do that.

Finally, I intend to submit more stuff. I’m embarrassed that I don’t have any short stories out for submission (well, one but it’s for WOTF, so it doesn’t count).  April is going to be my submission month, with a little March holdover.**

Anyway, that’s what’s up so far this month.  Back to the grindstone. Need to get sharp.

*Ambitious for me means: no sex or violence on the page but still trying for compelling conflict.

**there’s a semi-pro market that might be a great fit for my “Body as a Ship” story.

Ugh.  Stomach flu.

I got hit hard on Tuesday and got almost nothing written for like two days straight.  So much for the Wordslinger’s  competition for February. (you get more points for sustained writing than bursts of wordcount. ) But I will say that lying in bed does wonders for the imagination.  I got a really solid short story idea* and I got the first act written last night.  If it gets critiqued well, I think I’ll put that into my Clarion West application.**

Despite everything, I was somewhat productive this week.  I pounded out a short story on Friday. One of those ideas that gets you up out of bed on 5am (on a day when I SHOULD be sleeping in) and just burns through you.  It’s mostly an exercise in voice but it has a nice twist to it. I think.  Of course, it plays around with some taboos, so it may not be salable but I’m proud of it.

I’ve also got another short story idea on deck for this weekend.  This is another of my dark superhero stories, set in a world where you…just can’t get rid of the damn ‘heroes’. Not a nice place to live but those kind of places seem to make for the best drama.

That’s it for now.  We may be getting some new Wordslinger applicants. I hope that goes well.  We have a few members on a break due to work or life and I’m going to sincerely miss them.  Life happens and then you write about it.

*It’s probably been done, almost everything has been but still…

**Yeah, I was going to send it in early but I ran out of time and health.  I still have until March 1st.

Several fellow Wordslingers and I are engaged in a writing contest for this month. The point isn’t really about winning wordcount but about getting us writing every day with an incentive plan. The more days consecutively we write, the more points we earn.

I’ll be blunt, it’s been hard. I’ve had a few days when I could really churn out the words (about half of them worth keeping). But work has also been a butt, making it hard to get anything done. Not to mentions critiques I owe for tomorrow’s Wordslinger meeting.  But I’m not posting to complain, just the opposite.

This is helping remind me how much I enjoy writing.  Just writing can be an act of mental release.*  The challenge to write GOOD fiction is still there, though. What I enjoy writing isn’t really the most salable. But this challenge is helping to keep me focused on writing stories that matter. That have more than just sex and violence for its own sake in it.  Heck, one of my challenges for myself is to write more stories with absolutely  no sex or violence but still chock-full of conflict.  Now that’s a challenge.  For me, at least.

I also have to put together my Clarion West application package.  I’m not sure which stories I’ll submit, which are my best.  I’ve had some stories get close to publication but they didn’t quite make the cut. Maybe I’ll send in those.   Gah. More stress.  Or maybe not.  All I can do is send out my stuff, write up an amusing bio and…roll the dice. I really feel that Clarion West is a big risk, if I get in, an even bigger risk. But I want to try one more time.  I don’t know if I need the validation and I don’t know if I need the training as much as I did a couple years ago,** but I do want to learn everything I can.  I know I can make it, maybe even make it professionally but I don’t know if I need to now.  The book market seems to be cratering, at least as far as the NY houses.

On the other hand, I still fully intend to write a novel that will make the cut at PYR.  I’ve got three years left on that goal.

Well, big mountains are scaled one step at a time. First February, tomorrow the world.

Who DOESN’T love a head-to head competition against your friends?  The Cloud City Wordslingers have decided to have a wordcount writing contest.  Basically, you get 1 point per 250 words you write. As long as you keep writing every day, the points add up cumulatively. If you miss a day, it resets back to 1, so the incentive is to keep writing day after day. Just what I needed since I hope to kick a lot of butt at the Rainforest Writer’s Retreat in March.  So this should get me into writing shape.  Or at least get me back into good habits again.

In honor of this, I am also going to be abstaining from video games during the weekdays.  Videogames are the biggest time thief in my life that I have control over. Work, commute, dog….can’t do much about them (or at least, I’m not willing to). But I can control how much time I spend playing frelling CIV 5.  Rabble.

I also want to get some outlining and brainstorming work done for my Angel Odyssey sequel…task #1 there, coming up with a better title.  Add in the sudden early appearance of Seattle spring (subject to revocation at any time) and February is looking to be a pretty damn good month.