February Already?

Crap, I was just getting used to January. Now it's gone.

Last month held more writing than submitting for me, and definitely more rejecting than accepting.

Wrote a big chunk of D1 of Mojave, which currently sits in the experienced critical hands of Mari Adkins.

I took a week off of Mojave to knock out a couple of short stories and polish one that was rejected; by ten minutes before midnight last night (in between voyeur sessions of peering out the window watching my neighbor get dragged away for drunk driving by six patrol cars chock full-o Vegas' finest), I submitted a new story, Oilrag, and a redux of Filtered White Light, both to different semi-pro literary mags. My second new story may never see the light of day, unless I work it over for a flash market...just no ending for it yet. Tonight, back on Mojave after dinner.

50 Books in 2009: I finished the audiobook for American Gods, started Faulkner's The Sound and the Fury, decided I was too impatient for Faulkner this month (I am commited to trying again, but I feel like my reading time is so limited right now that if I have to put that much work into understanding a book, I need to devote one big block of time to it), and put it aside to read Straub's Ghost Story, which I am enjoying very much.

And I'm 0 and 1 for the year, with five in the field.

Slashdot, the geek temple of the world, has an article today on the death of Realms of Fantasy, and Fantasy and Science Fiction moving from monthly to quarterly. I don't recall if either announcement is new information, but, keeping mind that Slashdot has millions of readers, many (or most) of whom are intellegent and literate and enjoy various forms of genre fiction: if you sub to scifi or fantasy markets, it may be of use to browse through the 183 comments to see if there is anything in that little impromptu focus group for you. Keep in mind, it is Slashdot, and, as such, the comments are a handful of insightful comments surrounded by offtopic musings and troll shit.

Next in the chute

First order of business: Catherine J Gardner was kind enough to give me a "I Love Your Blog" award! Which, per process, entails me now nominating seven blogs in turn (except Cate...against the rules)...so...I don't spend a lot of time reading blogs so this might be tough; but there are a few that I do like and read regularly, including a few that I've picked up since I started blogging on this site (including CJG's):

1. Felicity Dowker, Jamie Eyberg, and Aaron Polson all have great blogs that I enjoy reading; it's very motivating to read other struggling authors' notes on writing and life. I'm sure I'll find more once I dig deeper into blogger.com, it's a struggle to find the time right now, though.
2. My wife Amy Brooks, a Government Relations professional and Econ grad student has a nifty blog called What I Read Today, featuring interesting things she reads throughout the week and some things of note from her schoolwork.
3. Neil Gaiman has a swell blog...man, I want his life.
4. As much as I fucking hate MySpace, I check up on Roman Dirge periodically.
5. Everything else I just kind of read ad hoc looking for info or chasing something interesting down a rabbit hole...I'm not a regular anywhere, except Slashdot, but that strains the concept of "blog" a bit.

So, thanks again, Cate!

Secondly, I took another look at Singsong Friday night, and then again Saturday, and again today. Made some very minor tweaks, and it's off to the mercies of Potter's Field 3. I need to start working on something new in the next couple of days...hate losing momentum.

I've been sick all week, and the Nyquil just kicked in...time for bed.