Back to submitting

It's been a while, but I've got something out on submission again. This one is a 680-worder that's in the hands of the editors at Shotgun Honey. Hope they like it, but, if they don't, I do. It's a piece that I wrote and edited over a couple of days. It got a bit of a revision in the writing. The initial idea was a good one, but a little too dark. I changed the end about halfway through. It's similar to what I had originally conceived, but this one seems truer to the characters I created.

I'll keep you posted on whether or not the Shotgun Honey folks say yes.

Submitting, in general, is something I intend to do more of as we spill on into the future. I read something on a blog that said the best thing a writer can do if he's wanting to build his audience is give them something to read. Made sense to me. That means I need to be doing more than writing novels/novellas for the e-bookstores. I need to be submitting short fiction. So that's what I'm going to try and do. Besides, submitting is kind of fun. Getting that email that your story has been accepted is very validating. Even rejection can be validating if the editor does it right.

Also wrote the beginning of something today that I like. Not sure where it's going, but I have an idea. Could be fun. Here's the start.

The corn spread out beyond the Ferris wheel, and when you were out a hundred yards deep in it all the sound from the carnival just faded away.

We’d been warned, once when we got into the fair gounds and once, again, when we asked to go off on our own to the midway, to be careful.

“I don’t want you getting into trouble,” mom said.

“Yes, ma’am,” we’d both shouted as we ran away.

The stalks now were tall and dry and they rustled in the wind that was beginning to pick up. We were both on our backs, Jake struggling for breath. We’d run hard and far, trying everything not to get caught. A long run in a straight line out into the corn was our last resort.

“Follow me,” Jake shouted and I ran after him, my feet falling just exactly where his had been.

That's it for today. Or for now. Who knows if I'll check in later. I could surprise you.