Chantal Boudreau's Blog, page 8

Let’s Blitz Again – October 2016 #10

After a week of turmoil at my day job, the seriously stressful kind, it’s a relief to come home to my writing and family. I’m still poking away at my garden, but it’s almost at an end.

My submission yesterday was one from my pseudonym and today’s was a reprint.  I’m getting creative because I’ve had so few responses during this blitz and no rejections to date, which means I’m starting to dig pretty deep into my shrinking “available for submission pile”.  Not counting available novels, I only have a dozen shorts left that aren’t reprints (I have oodles of those), and a third of the remaining originals are flash or micro fiction.  I’m still making progress on “Smiles All Around”, which will hopefully be ready for submission early next week, but I’m going to be reaching to get all 32 subs in (since I’m extending this blitz to November 1.)  I will have to fill in the gaps with reprint submissions and novel queries.

Time to chill and to shake off some of the negative energy still clinging to me from the day.

Have a great weekend!

Let’s Blitz Again – October 2016 #9

Yesterday’s submission, a query to an agent, took longer than I had anticipated so I didn’t get around to blogging, but today’s is done with time to spare.  It’s the second time out for this newer story, rejected once only by a pro-rate venue.  A cheeky tale with a chilling ending, I’m quite fond of it –  which often is a mark of doom for my stories because I have quirky, eclectic tastes, so the ones I don’t like as much often fare better.  If I find them a little dry or ordinary, they tend to find a home quite quickly.

I’m working on a story, “Smiles All Around,” I hope to have finished by the end of the week.  I’m writing it for a specific call.  It is flowing nicely and ties in some of my work experiences.  I also managed to squeeze in a bit of gardening, while the nice weather lasts.  Frost will clear things out soon enough.

In the meantime, things keep growing and I keep picking.

 

Let’s Blitz Again – October 2016 #8

I managed to squeeze in today’s submission, a dark fantasy story to a podcast, in the middle of cooking Thanksgiving dinner and cleaning up the aftermath. Aside from the turkey, potatoes, and stuffing, everything for supper came from our garden and our front lawn (cranberry sauce from scratch – yay!)  I did spend the day catching up on a few chores I didn’t get done yesterday, and deciding on the next story I plan to start tomorrow.  I also spent the day hoping the power wasn’t going to go out on us while the rains poured and the winds thrashed, and thankfully it didn’t.

A happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends out there.  Wishing you pleasant company and good eats.

Let’s Blitz Again – October 2016 #7

Another day, another first time submission. I actually wrote this one for a different submission call, but it was a second attempt after the first one was rejected, and I didn’t quite get it done in time.  I have mixed feelings about it, but the same thing can be said about some of my greatest successes so I’m not about to toss it away without giving it a try.  It could surprise me.

I didn’t get to the review I want to write, but today was a busy day and tomorrow promises to be just as busy.  Jugger, swimming, shopping, cooking, veggie prep, and working on the blitz doesn’t leave much time for anything else.  I meant to bake some bread and freeze some greens today, but that didn’t happen.  Instead I ended up experimenting with quinoa, broccoli and cheese.

Back to more hunting out submission calls.  Maybe I can find a couple looking for reprints.

Let’s Blitz Again – October 2016 #6

I skipped a post because I spent last night cleaning vegetables I had harvested from the garden, but I dd get submissions off for yesterday and today and organized my “What I have available for submission” list.  Yesterday’s submission went out to a writing competition and today’s was another new venue for me, semi-pro pay looking for weird tales.

I’m still sitting at two responses so far, both positive, and I’m contemplating some ideas for flash fiction.  I also have a rewrite I’m looking at based on feedback from the last two rejections I got for that particular story.  They suggested my protagonist comes across as cruel, so I have to change it up so it’s clear the character was acting out of panic and not being intentionally negligent or just plain selfish.  Self-preservation can be a strong instinct – strong enough to override any sense of duty or loyalty – and one that can be hard to ignore.

I finished up the latest book I’ve been reading and need to write up a review.  I loved the final battle scene, with lots of action and great twists and turns.

Tomorrow’s busy, so we’ll see what I can squeeze in.  For now, the search for the next submission call continues.

Let’s Blitz Again – October 2016 #5

So far, I’ve had two responses to my submissions. The first was an invitation as a result of my author query on day one (although it may not apply until 2018 – I don’t mind the wait.) and the second was for Tuesday’s submission. Apparently, my daughter is a valid critic. The acceptance came with a request for a title change. I didn’t mind. I’ve had that request for one other story and I didn’t hesitate to change it. I’m never that attached to a given title.

I did start work on another call for submissions yesterday until I realize the call doesn’t open until November 1, so I’m setting that one aside. Maybe I’ll extend the blitz by a day to include that one. I have enough material to spare, especially if any rejections come back during the month.

I may end up skipping a post or two to do garden-y things in the next week. We’ve had a couple of frosts which could end up with a need for some quick harvesting. I won’t skip any submissions though.

Today’s submission, a “multi-maybe but never yes” story that has been through one requested rewrite and therefore now exists in two versions, one with a more optimistic ending than the other. I like them both. I sent off the darker version to yet another pro-rate venue with a fitting theme. We’ll see how it fares this time.

More later…

Let’s Blitz Again – October 2016 #4

I like to run my stories past others before I send them out. Sometimes I send them out to friends willing to test read them and other times I force family members to listen to them, especially the flash pieces. Reading them out loud allows me to catch small errors I might otherwise miss. One error out of 5000 words doesn’t seem so bad – one error in 500 is ten times worse.

Now that my daughter is mature enough to appreciate my horror, she’s a great captive audience and as a sarcastic, tell-it-like-it-is teenager, she’s also a blunt critic. I know if she says she likes something, she means it. If she has a problem with any of it, she’ll let me know. Granted, what a teen girl likes vs a venue editor can vary greatly, but it’s still great to have an honest opinion about a story – one based solely on reader taste and not what somebody else thinks your writing approach or style should be because that’s how they would write it.

So it’s further forward on the hunt for submission calls. The next story out is one I love, but it has been rejected eight times. It did have one pro-rate “maybe” though and another editor described it as a “high quality submission”, so maybe number nine will be the charm.

Fingers crossed…

Let’s Blitz Again – October 2016 #3

It’s interesting that, despite my many unpublished stories and available reprints, so far my blitz has included one non-story specific anthology query and two originals I’ve never submitted elsewhere. I guess a part of me feels I’ll have better chances with material that hasn’t encountered rejection before.

I realize that is silly. I know of established authors who have struck gold with a story only after multiple rejections and I managed to hit one of my “acceptance by a particular venue” writer goals with a story that had already been rejected a few times – in some cases with feedback I chose not to use because I didn’t like the way it would have changed the story.

But that’s how unpredictable the publishing industry can be. It doesn’t matter what other writers or editors say about your work and how much of that feedback you choose to use (and I’m always surprised how completely contradictory some of that feedback can be). In the end, you have to go with your gut and present the story the way you feel it needs to be. If it’s meant to have a home, it will find one the way it is.

Today’s submission is a flash fiction horror story I’ve submitted a couple of times in the past. We’ll see if it can manage to generate a few jitters (my teenage daughter gave it the thumbs up.)

More later…

Let’s Blitz Again – October 2016 #2

I normally try to work in a fair amount of writing during the summer and by the time December rolls around I’m feeling a little burnt out. This year, after my trip to France, I just couldn’t seem to make the time. I had enough backlog stories looking for homes and potential reprints that I decided to let things go until October, only completing a couple of short stories from the point when I got home until now. I want to change up my blitz format next year, adding a new one in January to bring my annual submission numbers up over 100 (92 during the blitzes and a few more during the rest of the year) and I want to go into that fresh, not burnt out.

I’m also not being as selective about where I submit. I have no plans to submit to any “for the love” venues, but otherwise, anything goes. Most of my between-blitz submissions are for pro-rate calls so I’m going to loosen up a little when it comes to my older unpublished originals that have already suffered through a few rejections. I might really like one of my stories, but my tastes are eclectic. Once it had been turned down more than ten times, maybe it’s meant for a more niche venue.

Today’s submission was a newer weird tale to a venue I’ve only submitted to once before. It’s worth a second try.

Wish me luck – more submissions to follow.

Let’s Blitz Again – October 2016

After a lengthy hiatus thanks to an insanely busy post-vacation summer, I’m back to blogging my usual October submission blitz. My first submission was a query for a horror-themed charity anthology. I’ve already received a positive response. Today was a submission for a contemporary horror anthology.

I’m still dealing with my busy time at work and harvesting my garden, as well as fall/Thanksgiving/Halloween family activities, so I’ll be keeping my posts short. That and I’ve been wading through galleys for soon to be released anthologies. One is now available for pre-order, Killing It Softly, which contains a reprint of my horror story “Orbs”.

There are still many submissions ahead of me, so I’ll be blogging again soon. Enjoy the warm fall weather.