A Week of Writing: 10/18/21 to 10/24/18
One more week with my nose to the writerly grindstone. Here’s how that looks.
Words to Write By
This week’s quote is comes from Richard Bach
“A professional writer is an amateur who didn’t quit.”
– Richard Bach
Yeah, I know I’ve used this one before, but it’s been a tough year, and these words of wisdom resonate with me more than ever. I can’t deny I’ve had some success in writing, and though I often feel like Sisyphus pushing that boulder up a hill, I need to sometimes look back at what I have accomplished and take heart. Take heart and heed Richard Bach’s words. Any success I’ve managed in writing is in some part due to the fact that I didn’t stop, that I didn’t let rejections or just plain old fear of failing keep me from writing. I’m still not where I want to be (find me a writer who is), but I’m certain the only way to get there is to keep writing, keep pushing, and most of all not quit.
Short Story Submissions
A very quiet week in submission land.
- Submissions Sent: 1
- Rejections: 0
- Acceptances: 0
- Publications: 0
- Shortlist: 0
- Withdrawn: 0
- Pending: 16
- 2021 Total Subs: 94
Virtually no movement with submission last week. I sent one out, but there were no responses from publishers in any form. I think that’ll change this week, as some of the markets where I have stories shortlisted are starting to respond to submissions. I also entered The Molotov Cocktail’s Monster Flash contest, so I’ll definitely have an acceptance or a rejection in a few days. Ultimately, October could turn out to be a very good month or a really disappointing one. Tune in next week to find out which. I have 94 submissions for the year, and, admittedly, I’ve slowed down a little in October. That’s mostly due to needing some new material to submit, but that’s on the way, and I’ll pick up the pace in November. As I said last week, 100 submissions for the year is pretty much a lock at this point, and my guess is I’ll end up with 110 or so.
Night Walk
If you haven’t had a chance to check out my flash fiction collection Night Walk & Other Dark Paths, will now’s your chance. Through Halloween, you can pick up an eBook copy of the collection for just .99 cents. Yep, that’s 40 tales of weird horror for under a buck. So, click the cover below and grab your copy, and if you do, be a pal and leave a review to help me with the algorithms. 🙂
Freelance Work
For the last week and change, I’ve been working on an Iron Kingdoms Roleplaying Game (IKRPG) adventure using the popular 5the edition roleplaying rules. My adventure is a stretch goal (now unlocked) for the Kickstarter campaign for an IKRPG expansion called Borderlands and Beyond. You can find out more about that campaign by clicking the graphic below. Anyway, I turned in the draft of the adventure last week, and though I expect there to be some edits here and there, I like the shape of the adventure. I hope you will too. 🙂
With the adventure put to bed (for the most part), I’m moving on to another Privateer Press gig. More fiction for Warcaster: Neo-Mechanika. Very much looking forward to starting that this week.
Goals
This week, I want to dove into my next freelance gig, send out more submissions, and finish up a short story or two.
That was my weeks. How was yours?
Effectively Wild – A Baseball Horror Story
Night Walk & Other Dark Paths
Acts of War: Flashpoint
Acts of War: Aftershock
Acts of War: Stormbreak
Aeryn Rudel's Rejectomancy 