Hello, out there! It’s been pretty quiet here, I know, but that’s just because my head has been in a real funk ever since the weather started to get cold. In my “old” age, I’m starting to firmly believe that those of us in Northern climes were truly meant to start hibernating this time of year, so my productivity has basically been in the crappy. My motivation seems to have hightailed it elsewhere for the winter, so I’m trying to muster myself back on track again to fight the spiral I’m threatening to disappear into. As such, I figured a numerated post of a few details of interest might be called for.
1. I have chosen eleven fantastic stories for the first edition of World Unknown Review, and I’m stoked to start the formatting and editing to get it up and running. I’m shooting for December 15th as a publication date, so that they’ll be out by Christmas, but we shall see. My computer has been giving me trouble when I try to run Sigil, which has been a big headache, but I’m determined to spend the train ride to Michigan tomorrow in mega format mode.
2. Speaking of train rides to Michigan, I somehow managed to get Tuesday through Thursday off, and I don’t work until later on Friday, which meant I was able to schedule in a trip home for Thanksgiving! I’m really stoked to get to see everyone, especially since I didn’t imagine it was going to be a possibility. Now I just have to decide what vegan dish to bring with me so that I don’t starve, since my family is pretty much the opposite of vegan. I’m leaning toward chili, since I doubt I’ll be able to track down some Daiya in BFE Michigan.
3. I’ve had a story accepted somewhere! Wha-hoo! It’s kind of funny, because it was for New Wave and the Art’s Second Chances for Rejected Stories contest, and I also received a rejection letter for a different story this morning, too. Either way, I was one of 10 finalists, and my story will be published on their website sometime in December, so keep an eye out for me to squeal about it later and bombard you all with links. It’s a story that has been rejected multiple times, though my rejection letters thus far have mentioned that they still like the story. It’s called “Shadow Wolves,” about a young woman in peril for her life when she starts to see these mysterious black wolves that only she can see. It’s not a paying market, but, hey, it’s something!
4. NaNoWriMo is…going. It’s not going well. I’m way behind and there’s no way I’ll “win” this year, but I’ve got a good chunk of Heartless started, and it will definitely be finished and ready for transcribing by January. Then it’s off to find betas and edit, edit, edit until August!
5. As pleasant as it’s been these last few months to not live by the alarm clock and wake up “naturally,” I think I might need to go back to getting up earlier. Sigh. It was lovely, but I’ve realized that most of my work truly does get done in between six and nine am. After nine, my attention drifts, people wake up, etc, etc, etc. Problem is that I’ve been waking naturally around eight, only giving me an hour of work time, and that’s just not enough. So it might be back to the alarm clock for me. SIGH.
6. I need to get back into “professional writing mindset.” It’s kind of left me these last few months, and then I threw away a really cool opportunity because I was too damn lazy, and I’m really regretting it. I might have missed out on something there, and I can’t let that happen again. So I’m really going to keep my ears and eyes open and, when I see an opportunity, I’m not going to chicken out or be too lazy to pull something together again. I can’t let myself go like this. I’m at a point in my life where I need to seize every opportunity available. That being said, if you know of any cool projects or contests or calls for submissions you can share, please do! I want to get back to making a list, checking it twice, and busting out some more work.
That covers most of it, I think. How’s everyone else doing? I’m going to try to squeeze out a little more work because work now. Happy writing!
L.S. Engler 
I’m glad you got enough stories for World Unknown Review! It’s also great that you had a story accepted. I wouldn’t worry about NaNo. Most people don’t win, but if you give it your best shot, you did what you could. And YAY for getting to go home for Thanksgiving!
I even had to reject some! I wasn’t expecting that. The response was pretty great and really encouraging for my first time. It blows my mind to think that, maybe, if it takes off, the response might be even bigger next year. Be still my heart!
One year, I’m sure I’ll win NaNo. Maybe. Who knows? I’ll always participate, though. Even though I don’t usually hit 50K, I still get a lot of work in, so it’s worth it.
Did you have a certain amount of stories you wanted to include in WUR? I was wondering if you rejected them because they weren’t what you wanted or if you had too many.
I originally wanted seventeen (including my own), to match the number in Bowlful of Bunnies, but that was a bit ambitious. I realized that, with the limited funding I had, I could only reasonably afford ten. But there was one story I couldn’t quite give up, so I pulled for eleven. There were a few stories that weren’t quite what I was looking for, some that I saw potential but weren’t quite ready in my opinion, and a few authors sent multiple stories that I considered publishing, but I decided to go with just one story per author. So a little bit of a few different factors.
Just so you know…. Greentree carries Daiya products and if we go there it will be so much less hectic than Meijer ~ 🙂
I forgot about Greentree! Hmmmm, I might have to make lasagna after all! And I was thinking Target, just because Target carried Gardien, and I want to get a roast for Wednesday evening. But Greentree might have it, too?
yay on having a story accepted!! I can’t wait to read the other stories in World Unknown Review. And even though you won’t win NaNo, you’ve made great progress.
Hope you have a great Thanksgiving. It’s great that you are able to go home for it.
I hope you enjoy them! I tried to go for a good variety, so there’s a little something for everyone.
And it really is great to go home; I don’t get to do it often, so it’s always nice when it happens.
Great to hear from you! I need to put on my professional writer hat too. I’ve gotten into this lazy slump. It’s hard to climb out of!
Congrats on the World Unknown Review and on getting your story accepted to a mag. Yay!
I started using the alarm today myself. I try to put in at least 6 hrs (shooting for 8). When I get stuck, I study grammar and usage until something happens. What a life I’m living. I hope spring gets here soon.