Agenda and Thoughts

Two years slipped away from me, and I’m only now planning my projects for 2012, now for 2013, which is to say, December. I spent two years at work in constant catch-up mode, working all day most days, and I nearly caught up only to find my brain didn’t keep up—and shutdown on me. Madness.

I have new goals now.

Guns and Romances and Music

Dark Continents Publishing put out a “Call for Submissions: Guns and Romances” short stories between 3,000 and 9,000 words in length due by end of February 2014. Two Kandy Fangs episodes I just finished writing fit perfectly; guns, girls, vampires and rock-n-roll. This poses a problem.

I’m working on a story for this topic, but I may not submit it. The most challenging part will be writing a story that isn’t Kandy Fangs or Draco Torre since I’m immersed in Torre’s world and Kandy has me by the balls. Kandy belongs at www.KandyFangs.com, or in her ebooks—nowhere else. If the story turns out good, I may submit it, but if the story turns out to be my best then I’ll have to give it further consideration.

The Submission Game

I don’t normally submit stories anywhere. In the past, I’ve sent three stories for fun, and those three stories are out there somewhere. One problem with sending stories for publication is the long wait. By the time the story is published I’ve lost interest, or I’ve forgotten about it. Writing is hard work, and I’m not good enough to make a career out of it. What do I get in return for submitting a story?

Kandy Fangs

As of today, I have the rough draft for every episode that will post until the end of the year (schedule). This will make it simple to keep up by refining an episode each week, and writing new episodes at an easy pace. The web isn’t great for long works, so I have already cut a few scenes saving them for an ebook version.

I’m not as good at drawing as I was twenty years ago, but drawing is therapeutic. I’ll continue to include art in the episodes.

FridayFlash

The FridayFlash crew isn’t as active or supportive as three years ago, so I find less incentive to participate. This is a degenerative path. Perhaps if more writers participated, even if only with comments, more would participate.

Writing flash is very difficult for me, sometimes consuming many hours. “Purgatory Pain” took me an estimated 20-30 hours over many revisions—one after posting. I’ve written other flash stories in as little as ten minutes, but they stink. At least “Purgatory Pain” pulled double-duty as an episode for Venom.

In order to work on the other projects, I will try to avoid writing flash in December. If one presents itself, and doesn’t stink, I may post it.

Health

My primary goal this year is to get my brain back in working order. This is a fuzzy process. Peak physical fitness is great for the brain. Reading and writing is good, but in doses smaller than sixteen hours. I’ve delayed my software projects while I tackle the two fiction projects. Running, biking, reading, and switching up my diet is the plan.