Another Best Of!

In spite of me not being able to write for months, my work is still moving on without me!

Girl Power has been selected to appear in Arcane Whispers 2: The Best of Sorcerous Signals 2008!

Oh, I also got a commendation in the last AHWA short fic competition with The Biting of Nails. Still haven't found a market for it though.

On Hold

I have stacks of short stories half written. I've planned out a novel and was gonna rip into it in NaNoWriMo, but now I've been hit with crippling arm pain. I'm talking can't lift a chocolate bar or use my left arm kind of pain.

Factor in that I've got a full time job that's the only income for my family of five, then factor in that I have three small boys.

Writing is, by neccessity, on hold. And I've already heard of voice recognition software, okay? I just don't write that way, though if this persists I'll be forced to try.

Vote for Girl Power!

Sorcerous Signals has a voting page where you can vote for Girl Power. It already seems to have eight votes, so if everyone who reads this blog goes there and votes for it too, it might even reach double digits!

PMCT Conclusion Published.

Part 5 of Pardon Me, Coming Through has now been released to the wild by Infinitas. After a tantalising five months, I hope the ending has the punch to meet your expectations.

I origially envisioned the story as the start to a novel, but I'm so busy with the three other novels I'm chipping away at (and the tyranny of Normal Life) that it'll never happen. Maybe a novella sometime...

AHWA Commendation

The Australian Horror Writers Association has just judged their 2008 Flash & Short fiction competition, and my Pacific Highway themed story The Biting of Nails came up for a commendation! I didn't think it had the layers or resonation to win, so I didn't have high hopes for it. This is a pleasant surprise.

I should also point out that fellow writer Christian Girard came up with an er.. killer title for the story: Speed Demon, but I moved this title into the story instead, for two reasons. One, the story starts out realistic and then punches into speculative, and the title would have clued the reader in, and two, it made the protag's final revelations that much stronger.

While it was great getting a commendation (ie being in the top 5 out of 100 or so), it means that the story hasn't actually been accepted for publication, and now I have to send it out. Psst! Wanna buy a story?

Girl Power (finally) published!

Well, it's been a long road but my comic fantasy Girl Power finally found its way into a publication at Sorcerous Signals.

The story of the story:

I wrote it.
It was critiqued by my colleagues in the Prose Nest at AuthorsByDesign.com.
Then I submitted it.
Then it was rejected.
Then I submitted it.
Then it was rejected again.
Then I submitted it.
Then it was accepted by ShadowSword Magazine!
Then months went by (which is normal, to inform non-writers)
Then a notice appeared on the ShadowSword Magazine web site that they'd gone out of business.
Then I submitted it.
Then it was rejected again.
Then it appeared on an honourable mentions list in Allegory Magazine (who had rejected it. WTF?)
Then I submitted it.
Then it was rejected again.
Then the rejection was rejected- they'd made a mistake!
Then came the usual rewrites, etc.
Then TODAY it's finally been published!

So after a lead up like that, what are you waiting for? Click on the pic of Noelene and Shaz, and go read it!

PMCT part 4 Published

Part 4 of Pardon Me, Coming Through is now online at the Infinitas site.