Nose clog, no blog

Our entire family of 4 is now sick. Rumour has it that it's one of those ones that drag on, too.
Reboot needed some work- the crit brought to light that I gave the readers the wrong idea.
A short chapter 2 of Ante Body is now finished (first draft).
Blgeh.

Warning! Warning 47!

I've set myself an acheivable goal of 400 words a day, aiming to get a first draft of Ante Body complete in six months. I've been able to keep it the last few days, and even though it's short (1k words), Chapter 2 is done! Now I have to keep up. I feel a little like Garratty in Bachman (Stephen King)'s chilling story The Long Walk. Can't lag behind...

My arms are healing nicely, so I'll be able to write more.

Using my pocket PC, I've also put together a 500 word sf story to submit to Infinitas, that I've called Reboot. I tried to create a dystopian future too terrible to comprehend. In a manner of speaking. Once I sync my PCs tonight I'll get it critiqued and sent.

My brother (whose birthday was yesterday) got around to reading Moving Dad. He said it was "Good. Wierd, but good". He's the only other person capable of seeing my Dad in it, and he certainly did.

My good friend Christian Girard has started writing again. We co wrote some just-for-fun fantasy fic in the early 90's, and it's great to see him putting words down again.

Listful linking

Chris Hore (uni friend, chaotic roleplayer, systems developer and alpaca owner at http://www.royalla.net/main.asp) suggested that maybe a list of links to my published fiction would be useful to visitors.
After the idea that this blog would HAVE visitors was accepted, I used my sik code skilz to add the "published stories" and "coming soon" links on the left.

Chapter 1 of "Ante Body" (working title) received a positive response, using a sample size of one (so far). Now all I have to do is hold the readers attention for another 65,000 words or so. Perhaps SEX I SEX should SEX think SEX of SEX lateral SEX ways SEX to SEX do SEX that.

Chapter 1 of 1st novel complete.

...for sufficiently small values of "complete". A first cut is done and sent to my critique group, but it'll change quite a bit. Still, I feel like I've pushed off from the shore.

My award certificate (and cheque) for "Moving Dad" turned up in the mail today. My wife made sure it went "straight to the pool room". It's on our wall next to Ben's finger painting.

Left foot, right foot...

My novel is dolly-stepping along. I'm at 1500 words and not too far from the end of chapter one. Yay. The journey of a thousand miles begins with realising it's one hell of a long way.

LitHaven.com reviewed "Moving Dad" (http://www.lithaven.com/main/index.php) . Beware of story SPOILERS:

Steven Cavanagh’s “Moving Dad” was another favorite of mine. The main character packs up his car and drives his father to what we first assume to be a nursing home. The reader also assumes that the father has Alzheimer’s, but you quickly realize that instead he is taking him to a resting place for the dead. Corpses inexplicably have started to keep their souls, so now our character is in this alien place filled with the dead, and he must part with a father he’s always admired and loved. Using a magic-realism style, Cavanagh manages to capture a strange sense of grief and remorse, and it transfers through to the reader.

Glad to hear that. I put a lot into that story: my step-grandfather dying the day he was to go into the nursing home, the angst of a close friend as his father went into a home, and of course watching my immortal, indestructible dad getting older and not being able to run the farm anymore. It's the first time I've poured something of myself onto the page.

Writing unplugged.

Just got my Pocket PC on ebay, an HP Jornada somethingorother that I've called Jordy. My wife thinks a notepad and diary is cheaper, but a) I won't have to write everthing twice, and b) a diary doesn't yell at you when you forget something. I'll now be able to convert commuting time to writing time. Yay!

I also got the contract today for "Cream of the Cop", my story in Daikaiju!2: Giant Monster e-Tales. Feels so good to make another sale.

I'll never talk! Never!

The tendonitis in my arms has flared up badly (work + big baby = overload) and I'm in almost constant pain, so writing is limited to a paragraph or 2 per day. At this rate my present day thriller will be an historical drama by the time it's finished.
Aurealis have acknowledged receipt of my submission, at least. They didn't reject it outright, that's something :)

Inside the box, I'm thinking

The Shadow Box anthology just accepted my story! http://www.shadowedrealms.com.au/shadowbox/

An e-anthology of macabre flash fiction lashed together with dark art - designed, edited, and crafted by Shane Jiraiya Cummings and Angela Challis.
The majority of profits from Shadow Box will be donated to Mission Australia to help continue their selfless work assisting the drug dependent, the marginalised and the homeless. A donation will also be made to the Australian Horror Writers Association to further the craft of dark fiction in Australia

The antho had a 120 word limit! My story, from a nightmare I had a few years back, weighed in at 107 words. This makes it my first story able to be enjoyed by goldfish!