Revising my poetry

I'd originally got my poetry published in the late 1990s.  I spent yesterday and today reorganizing my poetry for submissions.  I refile and reprinted my older poems.  I then put them into file folders by date.  I found out organizing the individual poems by date is the easiest way to deal with them.

I have lots of poetry.  I weeded out the ones I thought were too weak.  I also organized files for poems being submitted for publication and poems that have been published.

My poetry has been my best work.  Alas, poetry pays in copies.  The press I used to submit, The Sunday Suitor Poetry Review, no longer exists.  I spent last night combing through Poet's Market 2012 looking for new places to submit poetry.  I'd look them up and then go to their website for submission guidelines.

Some of the addresses for websites didn't work.  One of the problems I found is that most academic presses only take submissions from September 1st to May 15th.  I'll have to wait to submit until the fall for several presses.  Fortunately, I have more poetry than I thought available for submission.  But part of the problem is that presses on want material that hasn't been submitted to other publishers.  In other words, they won't take simultaneous submissions.  Alas, small presses usually take months to respond.  Some case it could be as long as 18 months.

So I'm starting out small with my submissions.  I hope to hear back from the first place I submit to by August.  That way, I can reuse any poems that are rejected for submissions to other presses.  Speaking of rejections, I used to keep track of the places that rejected me.  The last time I submitted poetry was winter 2008.  So it's about time I submitted something...

Regards and good writing,
Blake

BETA Versions of my novels

As part of a larger effort to get my work published, I revised Kepler Falling to 54,000 words.  The second part of the Kepler cycle, Redemption of Eden, is now 54,000 words.  Each novel could be published individually or collectively as one work (about 108,000 words).

I now in the process of editing Redemption of Eden.  I think it should take about a month.  I'm also working on another Desmon Singh story.  I don't know if this one will be a novella or just a short story.

Now, I'll be waiting for feedback on Kepler Falling.  Though I've been busy with other things.  I'm supposed to take Finding an Agent seminar at St. Louis Community College later next week.  I put together summaries for Price of Command, Kepler Falling, and Redemption of Eden.  I'm also thinking about taking several short writing courses through STLCC Continuing Ed this summer.  One course is called "Reading Like a Writer."  The other is a "Writer's Workshop - Editing and Revising."

Those two courses looking interesting.  But I also have a backlog of reading to do.  I'm in the process of reading The Faded Sun Trilogy by C.J. Cherryh.  I'm about halfway through the novel.  I don't know when I'll get done with it.  I have a backlog of 10 other books to read.  I haven't managed my time as well I as should.  That's something I want to dedicate more time to do...

Until then, good writing,
Blake

Rough draft of Redemption of Eden completed.

My rough draft for the novella, Redemption of Eden, is complete.  I finished it this morning.  I'm disappointed it's only a novella, instead of a novel.  But I can start revising it tomorrow morning.  I just want to veg out this evening and do nothing.  I spent 8.5 hours writing and editing yesterday.  That's enough to fry my brain for one evening...

Regards and good writing,
Blake

First Revision of Kepler Falling completed

I spent the past several weeks revising my first novel.  I went through it and did the first revisions since I completed it.  I also put together a new character and chapter outline for a sequel.  I spent this week writing the first two chapters of the new novel.

I also revised my second short story for WUTA's peer review sessions next month.  That's it for now.
Regards and good writing,
Blake

Completed rough draft of Straits of Magellan/Kepler Falling

I wrote about 50 pages of the space of two days and completed the rough draft of Straits of Magellan.  It was only 200 pages/32,000 words.  Instead of writing anymore, I merged it onto my existing novel, Kepler Falling.  That work is now 86,900 words/558 pages long.

I'm in the process of making all my character names end in their proper surname.  I'm also correcting misspellings as I go.  I'm about 200 pages/20 chapters into the novel.  There are 82 chapters total.  I'd like to revise/edit the rest of Kepler Falling by the beginning of March 2014.  Once that's complete, I can then submit Kepler Falling to WUTA Bigbooks Group for a critique and review.

I don't plan writing a second novel.  Kepler Falling is a stand alone work.  I want to rewrite "Matter of Honor" this spring once I get back all the Kepler Falling critiques.  I'll wait three months before I go through them one by one.

There are things I had to do with Kepler Falling.  I had to make all the character references ended in surnames.  I also had to change POV from first person to third person in the last part of the novel.  There are other things I need to do.  But I'll work on that when I get around to reediting Kepler Falling this summer.

I want to get "Matter of Honor" rewritten into a short story/novella format.  I also have another idea for a one off short story using the evil empire of Texarkana motif.  That I can explore later on when I get feedback on my current cycle of Martian future history short stories at WUTA this year....

Regards and good writing,
Blake

"I'm sorry, sir. But your references are too old..."

Problem:  My employment history and references are too old.  Several of the places where I've worked have either folded and no longer in business.  Or my supervisors have retired.

Overview:  I've tried looking for part-time work the past several years.  But I keep running into the above problems.  With the folding of my most recent employer, I no longer have a verifiable employment history.  

People have suggested several options.   One was trying to contact my former supervisors to see if they'd be willing to give a reference.  Another option is going to Social Security and get a detailed work history to show when I was employed...

You ask what type of jobs have I looked for?  

I did look for a chemist/research tech last year.  Nothing came of that.  I also looked at a bagger/courtesy clerk at a local grocery store.  I've tried going for that job over the past five years with no luck.  I've also tried at Barnes and Noble as a bookseller.  And working at Lowes.  Or stocking at Toys R' Us.

Still, nothing. 

Now, I write because I know it'll be probably be the only way I ever make money.  I also have a desire to learn the French horn again and eventually teach.  But that requires money.  I'll just have to wait until I have enough of it saved up before I can continue with that...

Still, having people question your references for a menial job because they are too old is discouraging, especially in this economy.  

Editing Short Stories

I spent the evening editing a couple of short stories.  They are based a future history of Mars.  There are about five or six stories that are interrelated.  I read the first one  at a Writers Under the Arch meeting last Tuesday evening.

The second short is an actual Martian Free Companies tale called "Just Another Paycheck."  That will be read for the next WUTA Big Books Group in February 2014.

The third story, The Scorpio Affair,  I'll start reading tomorrow evening at WUTA.  It'll take me about month to complete it.  It's one of my longer short stories.

But I took some advice from last week's WUTA meeting and rewrote my first story with a new ending.  I think it makes for a better short story.  The main complaint I had from readers it took too long to set up things.  It felt more like the beginning of a novel than a short story.  So I hacked and rewrote the ending.  Polar Landing is a page shorter.  But it fits in with the rest of the tales of the Red Planet better.

I edited the fourth tale, Raid on the Hellaspontes, tonight.  It's now in the queue to be read at WUTA later this year.  The fifth story, Professionals Need Only Apply, I'll work on tomorrow.

Regards,
Blake