Bric-a-brackish

I sent "Spare Tire" to WEIRD TALES. We'll see how quickly they reject it. I also sent "Living With Syn" to the NEW YORKER. That's a total longshot, sure to be rejected, but I wanted to at least give it a try. It may be useful for me to note submissions in this blog, so I can keep track of them. I have a database at home, but with the computer migration thing (e.g., moving from a PC to a Mac), I haven't moved things over -- many things, including all of my writing, are on the old PC, including the database, etc. Soooo, we'll see. As long as I have my jump drive, I'm good. Have jump drive, will travel.

Had an idea this morning for a new story:

• Deuce

That's the title for it. Not going to say anything else about it at the moment.

If WEIRD TALES rejects "Spare Tire," I'm going to send them "The Atomic Baby" and see how they handle that, assuming it falls beneath their word requirements (<10,000 words for unqueried fiction). And if that falls, I'll send them "Living with Syn." And so on. They don't like multiple submissions, so I have to wait for responses before sending another. The usual dance.

I want to wrap up "Wash, Spin, Rinse, Shoot, Repeat" this weekend, if at all possible.

Make Your Own Luck, Inc.

I have got my feet under me again, and am going to spring at the publishing industry and sink my teeth into its leg, and hold on until the end of my days. Just been doing some research, and it got me all fired up. It's hard to wrestle with the ardent apathy of the industry and not have it sink into you a bit, but I'm back on my feet, and am swan-diving back into the fray. I always get extra-busy in the Fall and Winter, anyway.

One great thing about Chicago is the long winters -- people complain about them, but to me, long winters = Good Writing Weather. It's why there are far more great Russian writers versus great Hawaiian writers. Bad weather makes for great writing, because: a) you're indoors, and b) you need something to get your mind off the bad weather. Both situations are extraordinarily conducive to writing a lot, and the more you write, the better you become (ideally).

So, the descent into the short Fall and the long Winter that is Chicago ignites my spirit, gets me in full writerly mode -- I write year 'round, of course, but in terms of the business of writing, that kicks up for me during this time, since I need to find homes for things I've written in the Spring and Summer.

It's all very cyclical. ; )