Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
It’s a beautiful day in my neighborhood…
You may notice that I finally bit the bullet and have installed Google Friend Connect on my sidebar. So far I have two friends, and one of them is me, so if you’re feeling inclined to make things feel a little less lonely around here, I’d sure appreciate it. I’m not really even sure what it’s supposed to do, but I guess we’ll see.
In other news, after two unsuccessful attempts to eat fish, I have finally succeeded. My 78-day vegetarian streak has ended. Also, I don’t have the time or motivation to write a screenplay, and I have all but given up on learning Japanese. So that’s three Nonsensical Challenges broken, and it feels kind of good. We’ll see how long the others last.
In April, I’m planning to release a collection of my previously published short stories in ebook form. I figure it’s worth a shot to see how such things work, and it’s probably easier than looking for reprint markets. Here’s the cover I’ve come up with. Let me know what you think!
This last week brought a couple of second round rejections. They really stung. One was from a pro-mag that had the story for almost six months and the slush reader had practically foamed at the mouth telling me how much they enjoyed it. I was a little hopeful, I admit it. Form rejection from the editor. Ouch. I know that means I’m getting closer, or so I keep telling myself.
I’ve gotten very little done writing wise this week, but I’m almost caught up with all of my W1S1 stories. The week was pretty crazy…I had something going on almost every night, but I’ve got nothing on the plate this week, so we’ll see if I can’t knock out some serious wordage. April, on the other hand, is going to be CRAZY! Hosting book club at my house, visiting family, writer’s retreat, chicken and waffle party at my place, birthday madness, manuscript critiques, finishing my novel for critique, bah!
Book cover looks great! I understand that reprint markets can be tough, so a lot of people do go for collections instead. It’ll be a fun experiment, I imagine! Maybe you had too many challenges if it felt so good to let go of a few. I overbook myself a lot and sometimes it’s just a relief to give something up.
Sucks on the form reject from the editor. But it doensn’t mean anything more than no. The slush reader’s enthusiasm will be shared by others, no doubt!
Nice cover, Nicky. Are you going to pub it in the usual places (smashwords, amazon, etc)?
And *hugs* re the second round rejections. Those really suck. But yes, you’re getting closer. Story by story 🙂
Go wordage, and go busy April!
Thanks! I’m glad y’all like it. Yes, Sam, I’m planning on doing Smashwords and Amazon to start. I don’t want too much to keep up with.
And thanks Shelly for joining! Three is much better than two! 🙂 Also, if anyone knows what Google Friend Connect is good for, I’d really like to know.
i think it adds blogs you’ve joined to your google reader. Not really sure it has many other uses. 😀
You’ve got 14 short stories published with 5 more forthcoming (according to your bibliography). You’re doing fine. Don’t sweat it.
The cover is cute. But make sure you can use it. A couple of posts ago you had a similar photo credited to a Sebastian Lund a la Creative Commons. Maybe you already checked the license specs, but be sure you can legally re-purpose it.
Thanks, DED!
The CC license is just the basic attribution one, no limits on modifications or commercial uses, so I think as long as I stick a credit in there I’ll be okay.
I enjoyed reading about your garden. I just started an herb garden, which is really just two pots on my front porch, but it was really nice going out there to pick some for dinner tonight. Maybe I’ll venture out into veggies soon!
I like the cover art a lot! Good luck with it..and be sure to let us all know when it’s available!