A Short Commercial Break
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"It was my Grandma that told me about them first. Stay away from the dark hollers where things smell bad, Skeeter; that’s where the haints hide and wait for little boys and wayward souls. There were plenty of dark hollers that smelled bad around Heber Springs, Arkansas, and trailers on sequestered hills where the county cops wouldn’t venture unless accompanied by the state police."
excerpted from "Haints," by Ferrel D. Moore
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Before I get to my next Dragon post, an editor friend of mine told me that it's a good to take a moment from time to time to let your readers know what you've sold recently and what you're working on. He's usually (okay, always) right about these things. But I'm only doing this in hopes that all of you will tell me what you're working on, too!! So I'll go first. Then you. Here's what I've had published recently and what I'm working on:
Anthologies
Cover of Darkness November 2008 includes "Haints."
Tales Out of Miskatonic University is just coming out and includes "A Horrified Mind."
Cover of Darkness 2009 (May Edition) includes "Counter Creatures."
Cover of Darkness 2009 (November Edition) includes "Ricci's Last Night."
Magazines- Fiction
I have three stories out for considerations at present:
"Hemingway's Chair" is out to The Strand Magazine
"Pillow Talk" is out to Brutarian
"Evil Eye" is out to Weird Tales
NonFiction Books
I'm currently halfway through a book on Practical Masonic Symbolism, and another on Reiki Empowerment.
Novels
Halfway through my werewolf novel and loving every minute of it.
I've also been re-writing five novels I wrote while I was learning to write. Kind of a penance. Three are done, two in progress. Wish me luck.
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Next Posting: The Dark Night of the Writer's Soul
34 comments:
Congratulations Rick.
Working on the Motor City Burning Press launch. Looking for the first issue to be up and off by the fourth quarter ff the year. While Detroit centric it is not Detroit centered. We want to tell the story and flavor and attitude that is uniquely Detroit's. Everyone the world over knows of Detroit...now we want to see what they think of her.
Personally: I am working on assembling my second book of Poetry. This one too will be Detroit in my view. I swear after this one I am changing the subject material for the third one. I expect it will be ready in two or three weeks depending on my editors speed.
I've been peddling a story titled "Animus" to various literary magazines. I probably just set a record for the fastest rejection (Gargoyle Magazine - one day). I'm volunteering my time at Motor City Burning Press (a new venture) and as usual teaching convicted felons for the Michigan Department of Corrections.
One day, JR! These people either know no mercy or they've been taken over by Macdonald's. I should count my blessings that I have three stories out for two and a half months, now!
I'm glad you told me that, walking man- I didn't know it hadn't launched yet. And it's great that you and JR are involved in this. Is there an office they have anywhere?
And having two books of poetry on Detroit will make you the evil Robert Frost! But I'll buy it. Also, I'm with you on the concept of Detroit as a city of powerful poetic images (even though the Red Wings lost)
Congrats Rick and thanks for the visit.
I finished my first book - a chronicle of my life and times and was thrilled when I found an agent who wanted to take me on. I made up my mind I wouldn't write about the next stage until something happened and I am presently on a roller coaster which veers from blind panic to gung ho-ness!
That's great, PI! I love hearing about what you're writing. And to get an agent right out of the gate is outstanding. May I ask how you went about getting your first agent? Networking or blind contact? Kind of like dating, isn't it?
I'm working pertty hard on a new novel and am probably a third done. Congrats on your sales. I'll be in Miskatonic with you.
Hey, Charles! I'm really looking forward to being in the same book with you. We'll have to do that again. My best to you and Lana.
I'm working on Charles' novel and I'm a third of the way through. Wait, no, that ain't right. I'm a third of the way through draft zero of my own novel (not the one I want to be writing, but the one that is coming out). Just received an email about being in the Tales out of MU (boy, I hope he edits it, because I reread my entries and OMG is my spelling full of teh suck). Have poem that will be published by Chizine next year. "Daddy's Little Girl" has been at Doorways Magazine for longer than I can remember, and I should probably query. OSC IGMS has had my flash "Prince Wanted" for a few months now. And I just sent "A History of Lightning" off to Ann at Weird Tales to see if she likes it.
Oh, and I sent the first four chapters of the novel (tentatively entitled, "Bladesman") to Viable Paradise to see if I get accepted.
I started Bladesman as a project to get a novel finished (doesn't need to be good, it just needs to be done, then I can finish the other novels). Now I'm finding I kind of like my story and the characters. So hopefully I'll find it'll have a good reception.
You've been busy, Steve! And with you and Charles in Tales Out of Miskatonic University, I know I'm in good company. Regarding editing and proofing, a writer can rest easy with William Jones at the helm.
Great to hear you have poetry being published- poetry is way hard to sell these days. Which means, of course, that your quality must be great!
I've heard that Doorways takes forever to respond.
Also, I'm crossing my fingers for your novel to get published!
Thanks for stopping by my place! You have a lot going on - congrats! I'm working on book2 - just had my first novel published in april of this year *smiling*
I love the title "the writer and the white cat ..." :)
How wonderful! Big Kudos to you, my friend...that's a lot of work!
I am working on a poetry book and a YA fiction, a ghost story with a real twist. Have worked closely with an editor from Writer's Digest.
All I need is five weeks with no interuptions! Know where I can get that???
Oh no, Kathryn!! You forgot to tell me the title so I could buy a copy. And while we're at it, what're you thinking of titling book number two?
And I want to buy an autographed copy of both your poetry volume and your ghost story. Seriously. Signed editions, each of them.
As for 5 weeks of uninterrupted peace and quiet, I know where to find it. Not Detroit, though, it's a little noisy here!
The idea would be to rent a cabin on an island off Quebec in the St. James River. Stock up, kick back, and write you're the last, great writer in the world. some of us might even come join you for a writing retreat.
I liked the excerpt of the companion a lot, although I am not familiar with the books and readings you mention at all. But that was a good piece of text.
Thanks, Mariana. By the way, I love the depth of discussion you develop on your blog.
A writer's colony sounds good, my friend. But, remember what happened to Vincent when he wanted to start an art colony in the south of France!
The working title of the YA is "Letter Rock" and the book of poetry, "With Faces All the Same." You will be among the first to receive the copies. I too am interested in your (autographed) books and will be happy to know how to purchase them.
Purchase? No way. I'll email you offline and get an address to send them to you.
And I'm calling my brother to check on Vincen't artistic colony. Can't wait to hear the details!
Glad to hear you're busy writing and publishing. I cannot say the same for myself, but I'm content with my non-writing status. I'm enjoying things that make me happy, and that's a good thing.
You're darn right it is, Travis!
Rick! I'm so proud of you!
I've been possessed by Joan of Arc and am trying to motivate the masses through digital means to take to the streets to demand National Health Care and Clean Energy with a huge tax on polluters. Now I'm Cat of Arc.
Beyond that, I think I may have just found the main character for the novel I have dreamed of writing forever and a day. You'll meet her next week when I introduce her via Jason's contest.
Cat of Arc... I really like that. In fact, Minx, my white Turkish Angora, plans on voting for you in the next National Elections.
And if you're getting ready to write your novel, I'll be sitting on the edge of my seat waiting for it to be finished.
Good post.
I agree that every now and then we should take stock of what we've acheived; give ourselves a pat on the back. Afterall, this writing malarkey can be a lonely business.
I am currently working on the fourth, and hopefully final, draft of my novel 'Bathory'. I have sent off a short story submission for an anthology of the supernatural, and this weekend I am going to rework another of my stories before sending it off to Shock Totem, a new quarterly US horror magazine.
Busy...busy...busy...
Wow, Akasha- your a one-woman writing machine! I'm really interested in your short story submission to the supernatural anthology. Can you let us know who you submitted to for that one? Either way, here's expecting you to make it in!
way to go, rick!
i'm doing a 3rd addition to a tale i began as a birthday gift for a friend... unsure whether to go beyond that
Hey, laughingwolf! Sounds to me as though you have a potential novel on your hands. Have you asked your friend about whether they would have an objection to you finishing it as a work for sale? It could be dedicated to that friend. Email me sometime if you would and let me know how you feel about the story, because I've been in the same situation and would love to see how you handle it in the end.
So, we have to be able to rediscover and reinvent ourselves through the purification process. I hadn't thought about writing that way. I guess, I always had a more utilitarian view. However, framing it as you have, I understand it is a more transformative experience.
I am looking forward to your completion of this and being able to read it as a whole. You know, I think this might become your magnum opus, this could be an important literary achievement. Seriously.
What astonishes me is your ability to reframe the abstract to make it personal for each of us. It's like looking at writing and seeing it real for the first time.
Thank you.
Oh, and by the way, I've started working on poetry, too. I think what I've never understood is that poetry is shorthand for the writer, its immediacy in touching the reader should be celebrated. Thanks for helping me see that, too.
Stewart, this means, of course that you'll have to let the great poetry editor Chuck read it at some point. I'll be there to stick up for you. ;)
But I have thought for a while that you have gift for poetry. What solidified it for me was your story about the buried gold. Some of the phrasing in that story lends itself so well to the sense of immediacy important to powerful, lasting imagery.
The ability you displayed in your story of the faerie cratures as seen through the eyes of a father and son showed the other force I believe you bring to poetic work- that of being able evoke an overpowering sense of mood.
As for the Dragon series, it has kept me thinking for many nights when I should have been sleeping, and by the time it is through I really do hope it results in something worth reading in the whole (after the requisite 50 or so revisions and extensive copyediting). Thanks for the encouragement!
Rick, this is a nice start at self-promotion, but don't forget to do an actual bibliography. List everything you have printed, with all the relevant info a fan would need to track it down. Don't forget to tag it "bibliography" at the bottom so it's easy to find. Check out mine if you need an example. You're starting to make some positive moves, might as well make this thing look like a pro runs it. hehehe
You're going to help me with this Sunday, right, Chuck? :)
I live to serve.
Great, can you be in charge of my Facebook account? :)
Rick, I’m so incredibly glad you’re back!
Halfway through my werewolf novel and loving every minute of it. - Your creativity and your drive are a huge inspiration to me.
And your so beautiful writings have been an ongoing inspiration for me Vesper. Nice to both be back in the blogosphere.
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