Research, Coffee & a Visit with an Academic Advisor

Tomorrow morning I might head out for some breakfast, at least go someplace where I can get a decent cup of joe, and go over some of the research I've been needing to continue for my upcoming NaNoWriMo project.

I've just finished printing off some Internet research on extra-solar planets and terraforming. I'd like to start a general creation of the world my protagonists' in-laws come from, the terraformed planet with the strange "love plants." I don't need to spend a whole lot of time on creating this world, since most of the action in the book will still take place on Earth.

I'm also taking a copy of a book I found at the PARC thrift store awhile back called "Lonely Planets: The Natural Philosophy of Alien Life" by David Grinspoon. It will form part of my research for the novel. It is a look at the possibility of extraterrestrial life.

After doing this, I've decided I need to go see an Academic Advisor and possibly someone in Financial Aid at St. Petersburg College so that I can get more information on my options for changing my college status to degree-seeking and what I need to do to get started on my A.A. Also, how do I pay for it since I am now without a job? I'm hoping to get an answer to a few of the questions that I have concerning my quest for a B.A. in English.

I finished and submitted a flash fiction piece to an e-zine sponsoring a monthly flash fiction writing contest based on a picture. The story is a fantasy with religious overtones called "The Archangel of Downward Spiral."

The same e-zine has a Valentine Horror flash fic or poetry contest. I have started a Lovecraftian love story called "With Teeth that Tear Flesh," but like most of Lovecraft's own work, I'm afraid it won't be confined to a thousand words. I'm having way too much fun with it.

And I thought that "Medicine Makes You Sicker" was going to be my first foray into the Cthulhu Mythos. :)

Slice of Life Tonight

I'm looking forward to attending my second FWA meeting tonight.

The guest speaker is Margo Hammond, the former book editor for The St. Petersburg Times. She is going to talk about "Slice of Life" writing.

What might a writer of speculative fiction hope to learn from this particular talk?

Every piece of writing has some "real life" attributes. Even science fiction, fantasy and horror.

I hope to learn a great deal about how to incorporate the elements of everyday living into my writing.

Awesome Cat

Bear Writer by Inkygirl

Inkygirl: Daily Diversions for Writers

Submitted First Piece of Work for 2010

I managed to keep one of my New Years Resolutions and I was able to do it within two weeks of the start of 2010.

One of my goals was to start submitting my writing for publishing consideration. It's one of the major reasons I signed up with Duotrope's Digest. They have amazing tools for keeping track of the work you have submitted. And they have an amazing search engine of publishing markets. Plus, it is FREE! No monthly subscription fees. They do solicit for donations, though. They have to have money to do this and I'm going to chuck them some greenbacks as soon as I can. I highly recommend this website.

They send a weekly email newsletter about which markets have closed and which are new. I started poking around and found a e-zine that just re-opened its doors for business that looked very interesting. They want both poetry and short stories. They are a non-paying market, but the idea right now is just to break into print. Then I can begin to build a writing "resume."

Yesterday I submitted a poem to them called "painting the sky."

They also have a monthly short story contest where they post a picture and the writers job is to write a 1000 word story based on the photo. I downloaded this months picture and finished writing the story yesterday, although I'm still tweaking it. I hope to submit it later this week, as the deadline on it is the 25th. My story is called "The Archangel of Downward Spiral."

Posting a Serial Story Online

As I look toward the horizon, to a future so bright that I must squint even while wearing sunglasses, I've made a major decision about posting my work on this little 'ol blog.

As I writer, if I post my work online anywhere, it usually takes that piece out of contention for any print or electronic publication from other sources. Print publishing houses and e-zine sites view this as a "reprint," and many of them are against it. I learned this after I submitted a piece to a forum I belong to and then submitted the same piece for an anthology contest. I had to have the anthology people pull my story. After all, you can't give a publisher the "First North American" rights to a story if they're not "first" to publish it, and publishing on forums and posting on blogs are considered the same as publishing in their eyes.

It makes sense, really.

So, in light of that, the decision I had to make was whether or not to go ahead and post certain pieces of my work online.

I made the decision last week, that in order to get a following of readers (or even, dare I dream it?--fans) I'd post some of my work, beginning with a children's fantasy tale, "The Reluctant Prince." I posted Chapter 1 on Friday.

Doing this serves several purpose for me.

First, it gets my work the exposure it needs. This might not be the greatest frog story ever written, but it allows me to grow as a writer. Especially if my friends and wise readers comment on it and let me know their feelings about it. They can hit the email post button (the little envelope at the bottom of each post) if they wish their comments to be private. But by all means, I want your opinions. Even if you hate it and you think I ought to be burned at the stake for writing such stupid crap.

Secondly, this is an incomplete story at present. Meaning, I'm not finished with it, yet. I know...I know...I'm taking a hell of a risk posting a story that I've not even finished writing, but I believe that by posting it now and serializing it, it gives me the motivation to get my ass moving and complete it. It also gives me time to do so, since I'll only upload a chapter when it is ready to be read.

So, I will continue to post some of my work on here. Once I get a story or two published out there in the real world, though, I should be able to post snippets of those and maybe even whole stories or poems.

I really need to learn a whole lot more about the legal side of writing.

The Reluctant Prince, Chapter 1: Story Time

1. Story Time

"Once upon a time..." Grandfather began.

"No! No! No! NO! NO!" Grandmother interrupted, shaking her dishtowel at Grandfather in a somewhat violent manner. "You NEVER begin a story with 'Once Upon a Time.'" She heaved a loud sigh. She had entered the living room from the kitchen moments earlier, having just finished washing up the breakfast dishes. “That's been done to death."

Grandfather merely rolled his eyes and the children--Kenny (the older) and Kaitlyn (the younger) laughed until they were fit to burst. Nothing was funnier in the whole world than their grandparents phony bickering for their amusement.

"That's not the way to tell a proper fairy tale at all," Grandmother continued. "Don't you know how to do anything except sit in that chair and snore like a gibbering groundhog all day?" This provoked more guffaws from the children, who were now rolling about on the floor, suffering from their own separate but equally wild cases of hysterics.

"A man needs his rest, woman!" Grandfather griped. He reached up a spindly hand, dotted in a random pattern of age spots, and pulled at his wrinkled chin. Kenny sat up alertly, adjusting the thin circlet of gold across his forehead, which had started to slip down over his eyes -- it being of a slightly larger size than his head. He was expecting Grandfather to spout off another ripe retort. But all that he said was:

"If you think you're such a hot horsefly, YOU can tell the story." Grandfather threw up his arms in exasperation, then leaning back in his chair he reached for his pipe on the end table next to him. Grandmother hurriedly hobbled over and smacked his hand away.

"No smoking when the kids are over, dear," she said, rather softly. "You know the rule about that."

"Hmmph...what? Oh...yeah. I'm sorry, love. I forgot." They looked at each other for a second, and for that one fleeting moment their true feelings for one another rose to the surface of their crinkled faces. Kenny saw it and stuck out his tongue in disgust. Kaitlyn saw it and smiled, hugging herself as she too, sat up and looked at each of her grandparents in turn. She could see so much of her father's compassion in her grandmother's eyes and a great deal more of his tomfoolery in her grandfather.

Grandfather reached out and patted Grandmother's hip affectionately.

"Do you want to tell the story then, my love?" he asked.

She smiled and blushed, just like the young damsel she used to be. "No, dear. You really are much better at telling stories than I am. Just leave off with that 'Once Upon a Time' rubbish." She threw the dishtowel over her shoulder and sat down in the comfortably over-stuffed chair next to Grandfather.

"Oh yes," said Kenny. "Tell us the tale about King Grondo and the Giants!"

"No!" Kaitlyn cried, "the one about The Lady Darla, please. Or The Shaman's Curse. Those are my favorites."

Grandfather raised a hand for silence. "All right now, younglets. There's no need to fight. We have all day long to sit here and waste time. I'll tell you all the Grondo stories I know. Starting with the tale of the Trespassers."

"Ooh. That's a good one, Grandfather," said Kenny.

"Very well...ahem. Begin at the beginning, I always say. Right, then. Here is the story of Grondo and the Trespassers," said the old man. Leaning forward, he bewitched the youngsters with his most serious story-telling face.

The children ceased fidgeting at once. They crossed their legs and folded their hands on their laps, getting comfortable. They angled their heads in Grandfather's direction, rapt attention stamped across their small, freckled faces.

End of Chapter One.  

Go to Chapter Two. 
(a link for Chapter Two will be provided once it has been posted)