Chantal Boudreau's Blog, page 35

Submission Blitz – Day 6

It’s done – “Stitches in Time” has been tweaked and submitted for the Witch, Stitch and Bitch anthology. It came in at just over 3,500 words. I now have two horror flash fiction pieces on my roster. One is “The Maw”, one I’ve had somewhere on my to-do list for a long time. The other was suggested by my hubby, a nifty little story I’m going to call “Flash” (he gave me permission to use his idea.) That should cover me for the next couple of days, but I still have a few more short stories sitting on the shelf, and if I run out of those I have three novels that came back from the Harper Voyager lottery with their “rejected” stamp. I’m also expecting to hear back soon on a few older submissions, so any rejections will provide stories for resubmission.

As far as responses go after six submissions, I’ve had one rejection and two receipt confirmations. I appreciate the receipt confirmations, because you can be sure your submission was received. You never know when a smaller press’s e-mail might decide to filter your submission as junk. The submission I sent today was through an online submission form, so I’m fairly certain it will be received properly.

On to writing my flash fiction so I can meet my goal for the month.

Submission Blitz – Day 5

I did finish “Stitches in Time” but it still needs tweaking, so I won’t be submitting it until tomorrow. Instead I submitted a zombie short story, “Dead to Write” to Source Point Press for an anthology. There were scant details in the submission request so I’m hoping it comes together properly. This poor story sat with a publisher for a year – one who had actually asked me to submit it for a charity anthology. There was no follow through on the anthology and I eventually chose to retract my submission.

Sometimes things work that way. I look at my list of submissions awaiting decision and some are closing in on nine months without a response. That’s disappointing for a publisher with a reputation for being professional. I give them a year, though, before sending a retraction of my submission. I know of established authors who won’t wait longer than 6 months on a short story submission. Since I don’t have a recognizable name, I give them more leeway.

Anyway – I’m off to work on those tweaks – more tomorrow.

Featured Author Chantal Boudreau

Reblogged from Lucy Pireel:

The wonderful Chantal Boudreau joins me today. Welcome Chantal, glad you could make it. Now, before we get started with your interview first let me post a picture of you. You know people want to know how the author looks like. :-)

Wheeeeeheeeee! I can tell, you're a fun person. Well, let's see what you have to say when I ask you stuff.

Read more… 1,123 more words

An interview by Lucy Pireel:

Submission Blitz – Day 4

Who would have thought I’d be submitting a Christmas story in April, but when a submission request notice popped up on my screen today looking for Christmas horror stories for a charity anthology, I knew this was a great opportunity for my “never before submitted elsewhere” story, “Deck the Halls.” The story still needed a bit of tweaking before I could send it out, but it only took a couple of hours and it now meets the submission requirements. I hadn’t even been contemplating this story as a possible submission option this month, so it made for a pleasant surprise. Only 26 more submissions to go.

I made some more progress on “Stitches in Time” today, with hopes that I’ll have it finished for tomorrow. I would have gotten even more done if the sun hadn’t been glaring off my netbook screen during my bus commute – it made for difficult writing. I have a three day weekend, and I’m aiming to get in two or three flash fiction stories during this time.

Anyway, back to other business for now – more tomorrow.

Submission Blitz – Day 3

So I got back a rejection for my last submission, “The Storyteller’s Affliction,” in less than 24 hours. No tears – this is how it works. Good point? She said she enjoyed my story. Bad point? She said it wasn’t quite what she was looking for. So what am I going to do about it? I repackaged it according to another submission request and sent it right out again as today’s submission.

It’s weird to think if I reach my goal this month, I’ll have actually made 30 submissions – probably comparable to what I submit in a typical year. At the same time, setting this crazy objective means that I’ve stopped dragging my feet and I’m sending out things that have been sitting around gathering dust.

However, I’m not sure if I’ll have “Stitches in Time” done for tomorrow. I’ve been busily baking away for a bake sale and working while inspired to prep my Guild of Dreams posting. I’m not even half done the story, so I think Friday might be more likely for a completion date. I’ll follow after that with a couple of flash fiction pieces to catch up a little on my writing goals for the month.

And I did get to enjoy some of the rewards of the odd acceptance I get today, cashing a cheque from a story sale and receiving a contributor copy of MDP’s Zombie Lockdown anthology.

Time to get back to my story.

Submission Blitz – Day 2

So I’m holding to my goal of a submission a day in April. Today I’m submitting “The Storyteller’s Affliction” for the umpteenth time (actually, I think it’s only the fifth or sixth time, but I don’t feel inclined to count.) This anthology offers a really good fit for it, so I’m very hopeful. The payment is three hardcover contributor copies, no cash, but that kind of excites me nevertheless. I don’t have anything published in hardcover yet, and I’m itching to see that happen.

I also started work on my story for the “writing to a submission request” goal – tentatively called “Stitches in Time.” Considering the amount of distraction in my life right now, short stories seem the way to go. I hope to have this finished and ready for Thursday’s submission, at which point I’ll have to pick out my next project. I’m still open for challenges. I’m even willing to take on something I’d never normally tackle…steampunk western or leprechaun romance – whatever. If you’re feeling sadistic, throw something like that my way, but it has to be a legitimate request for submissions – somewhere I can submit the story when I’m done.

My record for getting acceptances for stories I write to a specific submission request is abysmal, “The Storyteller’s Affliction” being a prime example. I hardly ever get accepted when I do this, although it has happened on occasion, and I have at least three stories of this type that have been rejected multiple times. But I also have a strange number that were accepted upon second or third submission. “Orbs,” “Octavia,” and “Life and Undeath on the Chain Gang” are just a few examples.

I spent a chunk of the day saving my content from my website and it saved quite effectively as a series of Word documents. That gives me hope that it might transfer well to an alternate website host with less rebuilding required then I thought. I’ll tackle the hunt for a suitable host this weekend.

I also baked cupcakes with my daughter for a bake sale. Little things like that, time well spent with family, makes me happy even when everything else isn’t so wonderful.

‘Til tomorrow’s submission.

Submission Blitz – Day 1

Right now, I have about as much drive as an old beater with a dead battery and an empty gas tank. 2013 has not been a kind year, for me or the people I care about. To add inconvenience to misery, I’ve just found out the webserver hosting my website is shutting down, so I’m going to have to completely redo my website elsewhere (and order new business cards.) I’m forcing myself to work on things, but I can’t say I have much in the way of feedback or encouragement to urge me onwards. Am I wasting my time? Would my energy be better invested elsewhere? It’s something I’m going to have to figure out before making the effort to rebuild my website somewhere new.

I’m still going to do my April submission blitz. If I end up with encouraging results, I’ll steel myself to cope with everything disheartening 2013 has thrown at me. If it doesn’t go well, maybe it’s time I heed the signs and figure out something more valuable to do with my time. I have twenty novels written and dozens of stories – more than some writers manage in a lifetime. Considering how things have stalled out for me, maybe that’s enough.

For now, I’ve submitted my short story “The Lesson” to a publisher for an anthology as my day one effort in the blitz, and since I haven’t received any challenges, I going to write to this one: Witches, Stitches, and Bitches – What if you had the power to sew up the mouth of the evil bitch who called you fat in 10th grade? How would you deal with a curse that caused you to be infertile because you stole the heart of someone else’s love? Would you choose love or the ability to have children? We are looking for 13 stories involving a witch, a stitch, and a bitch.

I’ll be sending out my next submission tomorrow – ’til then.

The Blurb on Other People’s Words – Masked Mosaic

Masked Mosaic: Canadian Super Stories from Tyche Books

I’m getting this review in a day late, thanks to the last two stories in this anthology. Wading in to an all superhero anthology, and an all Canadian one at that, I wasn’t sure what to expect. The cover is a beautiful montage tacked together to offer the shape of a maple leaf. The first thing I was pleased to see was that there was a fairly even split between male and female contributors. The intro was solid too, from someone who can be considered an expert with regards to Canadian superheroes. But truly, what blew me away about this anthology was the diversity and complexity of the stories. All were lush with historical and/or cultural references. Some were set in the past with unusual alternative histories, others took place in current times and there was even one with a futuristic tone. The tales had focuses on heroes, villains and those falling in between, formats ranging from comic book character descriptions to poetry, myth-style storytelling to modern literary narrative. You can find a little of everything in the anthology from the whimsically quirky to the dark and soulful, with protagonists varying from potheads to senior citizens. I feel it is a well-polished, well-explored compilation and here are a few of my favourites – keep in mind that it’s the darker fiction that appeals to me most:

The Creep – Michael S. Chong: Possibly the darkest story in the anthology and certainly the most chilling. While not wanting to spoil the tale, I will say that it hinges on a disconnect between perspective and reality. It had my mind spinning off into just how far the “hero” might go with his powers.

Circe and the Gunboat – Kevin Cockle: I loved the illusion of the relationship between the protector in this story and his ward. The implications of how a less tangible super power could change the world and the extremes people might go to to preserve the new world order were very thought-provoking.

Sea and Sky – Rhonda and Jonathan Parrish: A terrific myth-based tale with old world ambiance, it captured my heart with its charm.

Lonesome Charlie Johnstone’s Strange Boon – Jason Sharp: A tragic story demonstrating the corruptive powers of wealth and power that is both sad and frightening with moments of dark humour. I enjoyed its quirky flavour.

My only minor disappointment with the anthology is that my favourite story by far, and the only one that made me cry, was the opening tale to the anthology, Nocturne by E. L. Chen – an angst-ridden, sympathy-driven story about one downtrodden man craving significance in a fickle world. I’m the type who likes to save the best for last, so I would have preferred to see it placed towards the end of the anthology.

I applaud this excellent anthology with such a strong and obvious Canadian influences. It definitely rates amongst the top of my recent reads.

Offering up the Underdog

Reblogged from Guild Of Dreams:

by Chantal Boudreau

I'm in the middle of working on a post-apocalyptic novel at the moment, Sifting the Ashes, and one of the main characters has me thinking about just how much I enjoy writing underdog characters. Shannon is the type of woman you wouldn't necessarily expect to survive a calamity. She's the quiet, studious sort, socially awkward and happy to throw herself into work, a little underdeveloped on the physical side.

Read more… 550 more words

My latest posting at the Guild of Dreams:

The Blurb on Other People’s Words – Deep Cuts

It’s great to see a horror anthology dedicated to female horror writers, and the recommendations of stories written by these women. The premise was an interesting one and the anthology contained a diverse collection of tales with some well presented recommendations. Typical of any anthology, there were some stories I really enjoyed and others I wasn’t so keen on. In my opinion, the most enjoyable tales were gripping and straight to the point – as Chuck Wendig says:”Plain Stakes, Stabbed Hard Through Breastbone”. I believe a writer can hone in on the terrifying in either an obvious, visceral way or a more subtle, invasive way, and some of the stories achieved that. The stories that didn’t work for me were the ones that were too metaphorical, in some instances chaotically so, with endings that didn’t make much sense to me or seemed unnecessarily abrupt. Other readers may love these stories, but I didn’t. I think the editors may have been looking for a more “artistic” approach to horror with these, but I found them less engaging and less frightening as a result.

Overall, this was an entertaining anthology, but there were a couple of things that disappointed me – first was the number of stories written by men in an anthology dedicated to female horror writers. Submissions were open to all writers, so it didn’t come as a big surprise, and I understand the editors wanted to show female horror writers have influenced both male and female writers alike but I feel the best way to honour females in the genre is to showcase their work, not just praise it. I also didn’t like certain parts of the format. What I consider the best story in the anthology was first in the line-up, lending to a bit of a let-down after that. I also think that the extra recommendations included in the anthology should have been interspersed amongst the stories, rather than all lumped together at the end.

Here are the highlights of the anthology:

The introduction by Lisa Morton was superb, noting discrimination women writers face in the genre and stating examples she has encountered. She also pointed out, in a very passionate way, that successful female horror writers need to be recognized and celebrated or risk being forgotten.

The opening story, “Crash Cart” by Nancy Holder was both disturbing and frightening on many levels. It was a no holds barred story where the horror exists in the villain, the victim and the protagonist alike. This was my favourite story in the anthology.

Other stories I really enjoyed included “Hollow Moments” by R.S. Belcher- a chilling tale bent on striking fear in those of us who spend much of our lives thoughtlessly plodding through the routine and not really living, “Red Is the Colour of my True Love’s Blood” by Colleen Anderson – a vividly frightening story that blends colours and associated emotions and states of mind with unpleasant events, “Beavers” by Rachel Karyo – a disturbing tale that delves into how becoming a new mother without the proper supports in place can lead to mental instability, and “Pinprick” by Scathe meic Beorh – a story I appreciated in particular because of its dark humour.

The story recommendations were real gems and introduced me to writers that are now on my “to-read” list – a proper bonus to the anthology.

While I might have changed a few things about it if I could, I did enjoy this anthology and I’m including it on my recommended reading list.