Mid April 2015 updates....

I finished my third draft of Kepler Falling the end of March 2015.  It's now about 97,000 words (or 482 double spaced pages).  I'd like to submit it to a local group critique over the next year and half before reediting for a fourth time.  I'd then like to get the revised Kepler Falling to WUTA Big Books in 2017.

My current project are sci-fi short stories.  I'd like to get them critiqued by July 1, 2015.  I have markets to submit my short stories.  Some are overseas.  It'll be awhile before I hear back from them.

I've heard back from most of the poetry I submitted.  They have been rejected without comment.  A local literary magazine wanted more of my work.  I have some poetry available for critique.  I'll have to wait until the fourth Tuesday of the month before I can submit those.

I'm trying to work on a rough draft of a Mongol invasion story of Russia in 1223.  That has about 10.000 words.  I need to work on it some more this coming week.  I also have my ancient Egyptian lessons to complete, too....

Throwing myself into editing Kepler Falling....

I've spent my free time editing Kepler Falling.  I've got about 162 pages rewritten,  This novel is going to be about 100,000 words/560 pages double spaced.  I decided to focus all my free time rewriting/revising the novel.  It was hard for me to work on editing Kepler Falling and then try and write a page in Ganbaatar.

The goal now is to have Kepler Falling edited by the end of April 2015.  I go back and continue writing Ganbaatar once I have the second rewrite of Kepler Falling done.  I'm also working on short stories I'd like to get through WUTA in the next six months, revised, and then submitted to various presses.

Those are my goals...

I've also vowed to catch up on my reading this year and get the hard copies I own read.  I'm also reading speculative fiction stories from Analog Magazine.  I need to catch up on them this weekend.  M-F are for writing.  Monday evening and Saturdays are for reading!

Writing Resolutions for 2015

I started the New Year with good intentions.  I remind myself the way to hell is paved with good intentions.

The first thing was to write a page a day in the rough draft of a new historical/fantasy novel.  The second part was to revise a page a day in my first novel, Kepler Falling.

That project has taken over my free time.  I changed the POV from third person to first person.  I thought I'd take both stories and make them one long novels.  I'm now in the process of doing that.  But I've stopped work on my historical/fantasy novel.  I think I can get Kepler Falling rewritten in relatively short order.  I'll then be able to focus my full energy writing something once I get the second editing/revision done.

I'm also working on short stories.  I'm only attending WUTA once every two weeks.  So, my editing.revising of short stories will probably take the rest of the year.  That's fine, I can bring my revised version of Kepler Fallling to WUTA in 2016 and then submit it to Big Books the following year.  By that time I'll have Ganbaatar completed....

End of year update....

I haven't done much with this blog.  I've been busy with my father, who's now in hospice due to stomach cancer.  I submitted a short story to a sci-fi magazine in October 2014.  I heard from The Iowa Review this month.  One of my submissions for a short story got rejected without comment.  That's the only thing I've heard from since August.

I have poetry submissions I've been waiting on for seven months.  Given my luck, it'll be closer to twelve or eighteen months before I hear anything.  Because of family commitments, I've cut back my revising and editing to just short stories.  I'd like to have my short stories read and critiqued this coming year.  I also have the weekly goal of writing five pages in the rough draft of a new historical fantasy novel called Ganbaatar.  It's set during the Mongol invasion of Russia in 1223.  I already have thirty pages written.  I'd like 280-300 pages by the end of 2015.

2015 would end with a completed Ganbaatar rough draft.  I'd then read and have that critiqued at WUTA in 2016 while I rewrote Kepler Falling using a first person POV.  Those are my goals for 2015 and beyond.  Though I want to submit my remaining short stories to different magazines and presses, too.

Submissions...

I have been working with my poetry.  I am in the process of submitting my better works to different literary journals.  I started back in March 2014.  I heard from the first place I submitted.  They were all rejections without comment.

The next set of submissions went out in May 2014 and July 2014.  I still have yet to hear from the presses.  I am hopeful, but guarded.  I have gotten many of my earlier works published.  I am not sure about my later works.

And then there is today's round of submissions.  Most journal don't open until September and then close in December or May.  Especially if they are academic.  I sent out some more poetry.  But I also submitted two short stories.  I also spent the evening editing a short story that had been critiqued.

I have not been able to go to my local writers' group on a regular basis because of my father's health.  I went tonight and got some work done.  I would like to get another short story critiqued this month.  I have lots of short stories in need of constructive criticism.  That is one of the advantages of being active in a local writers' group.

I have also looked for new markets to submit works.  I will hold off on my poetry.  I want to focus on my short stories and get more of them submitted to different publishers.  But that will take time.

And the poetry will take time.  In eight to ten months, I would like to put together a chapbook of my published and unpublished work.  I already have eighteen different poems for it.  I think I will pay someone to put the chapbooks together for me.  Instead of trying to do it myself...    

Coming to terms with things...

My father is dying.  He has cancer.  He isn't a candidate for surgery.  He's supposed to get some tests that will reveal the extent of his illness.  Hopefully, it's confined to the esophagus/stomach.  His doctor wants to treat him with radiation/chemotherapy.  I won't know anymore until the middle of next week....

My brother is shaken up by things.  I'm not.  I've already come to terms with my father.  I'm tired of his tirades and temper tantrums about not having grandchildren.  My father has always been selfish and self-centered.  Everything revolves about him.  What he doesn't understand or want to deal with, he denies.

When my father dies, I feel a terrible burden will have been lifted from my shoulders.  There are certain things I've never told my father in order to simplify my life.  I never let him read any of my stories.  I went to an unbiased audience for constructive critiques and objective criticism.  I've never let him read any of my poetry.  I haven't let any of my family read my writings.

I find my voice in the written word.  I don't feel like apologizing for it.  I don't want to hurt their feelings.  I don't want to deal with my brother's egotism or his jealousy.  So my family has a limited view of who I really am as a writer.  I can write poetry and it'll have enough force to get a message across, whether in love or anguish.

The older I've gotten, the more writing has meant.  I don't holding back when I write.  It's different when I'm with family.  I don't say things to offend people and smile.  But all the while I'm counting down the days when I no longer have to.

How do I tell my father I'm no longer a Christian when he invokes Jesus to save him from the grave?
How do I tell him I've been attending a Reform Temple for four years and now am active in a Torah study?
How do I tell my father Jesus of Nazareth means nothing to me?

I've lived with these secrets for a long time.  I'm tired of being burdened by them.  My father's passing will ease things.  But they say even the newly converted are the worst when it comes to their former faiths...

Sending out submissions

I sent submissions for short stories and poetry this past week.  I need to attend more WUTA meetings and have my other short stories critiqued.  I also need to go back to Big Books and attend the month critiques for various novels.

I won't be able to that until January 2015.  I'd like to get back to WUTA next Tuesday evening at the Focal Point.  I have lots of material to read.  I finished a final edit of a novella.  I also got revision of Kepler Falling done.  I'll review it one more time before sending it out for a copy editor.

My next project is rewriting short stories and revising Redemption of Eden.  Those are some of my late summer/early fall writing goals....