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2/2/12: Nothing to report. All of the short stories have been revised and been sent out to various slush piles. The long wait begins. Now I'm free to work on Gateway to Empire.12/21/11: The writers workshop wrapped up last month. I brought in the first four chapters of the Armistice Day sequel (working title: Gateway to Empire). It was very well received, even by my fellow writers who hadn't read the first book. I'm now in the process of squeezing in edits to the short stories based on the group's feedback between bouts of the annual end-of-year madness. Once theyre done and sent out, I'll finish writing the novel.
In sales notes, my two free short stories have been downloaded over 2000 times on the Nook. Reviews are mixed. Still no book sales on the Nook. Sales at the iStore have finally materialized. I'm hoping that's the start of an up trend. I won't be holding my breath though.
11/9/11: The pre-Halloween snowstorm that crushed us with 17 inches of snow, smashed trees and knocked out power for millions of Connecticut residents has abated. We lost power for six days. When I get caught up, I'll blog about it and throw in some pictures. Fortunately, no one was hurt and the house escaped damage. Can't say the same about many trees in my yard.
Anyway, on with the workshop update:
- "She Cries at Midnight" received favorable reviews but needs some tweaking.
- The group really enjoyed "Neptune's Diamonds". It needs some tightening in spots but nothing major.
10/4/11: The writers workshop is underway. It's a small group of four, including the instructor and me. Two no shows for three weeks. I don't understand that. They're throwing their money away. It works to my benefit as I've been guaranteed to have my work read during each class. And the feedback from this group has been quite helpful.
A summary so far:
- "The Recruiter" would appear to be unpublishable in its current format due
to an assumption of Islamophobia in editorial circles (according to the group).
This confirms my suspicions which arose from past feedback which indicated that
at least some readers were misinterpreting the story's message: that deceivers
will go to any lengths to achieve their ends, including perverting a religion to
fool the innocent. Since I have failed in making this clear, it makes the story
too dangerous to touch in these volatile times. My only recourses are to
self-publish it "as is" or channel Herbert and Hubbard and create a fake
religion for the protagonist and see if that fairs any better.
- "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow" was deemed publishable, though I have to
make a few small edits. The question becomes, "Where?" As this short story
doesn't easily fit into genre markets, I need to go into unexplored territory.
- "We'll Watch the Sunrise from the Bottom of the Sea" still proves to be problematic. While I've improved Stephanie and the ending, there are sections in the middle that need tweaking. This is the one story I still have out in a slush pile so I'll wait to hear back from them before I edit it. Maybe they'll like it just the way it is, as one member of the group stated.
8/14/11: Not much to report. "Neptune's Diamonds" is done but I don't have anyone to proofread it as my little writers' group dissolved. Of the two critique forums I know of online, one would require me to review stories for a month before I could put my story in the queue (which is already a month deep) and the other, which I've used before, leaves me cold. While a couple of its reviewers were ok, too many of the others had the intellect of cardboard. Is it my fault if the reader doesn't know American political history? Pull that PDA out of your ass and look it up! People! You've got these wondrous electronic gadgets and you use them in ways that would make Narcissus blush.
So I will wait until the local writers' workshop opens in the Fall, pay the fee, and get my feedback then.
Oh and I've finally joined Goodreads. Mmmmmmm, social media. Sigh. At least it isn't Facebook.
6/9/11:
Hooray!! "Emily's Star" has been accepted
and published by Spinetinglers! You can read the story
here.It's funny how when things are looking down and hopeless some good news comes from out of nowhere.
I've been trying to get Emily published for over 4 1/2 years. A year and a half ago I'd thought I found a home for her but the zine went belly up before the story was published. Speaking of going belly up, six zines that I sent Emily to over this time frame have closed their doors. That's by no means and all-inclusive list of zines that have shut down. Those are just the ones on the list I sent Emily to.
But it doesn't matter. Emily has a home and I'm very, very happy about that.
5/26/11: No news. Still splashing from one slush pile to another. A couple of stories have almost reached their limit so I anticipate putting them on Smashwords. Sorry, fresh out of optimism.
4/20/11: Not much to report. I have several short stories submitted to various zines in hopes of getting published. Haven't had time to write lately as I've been busy renovating my kitchen.
| "Drazul has delivered a debut novel that anybody should be proud
of, and something that’s an example of the good that can be self-publishing."
-POD People Read the full review here. "Armistice Day is not just an excuse for action, the story is informed by a surprisingly sophisticated appreciation of conquest politics, revealing it to be a world of secret games played by the Empire in order to subdue the conquered for their own good." - The New PODler Review of Books Read the full review here. Read a FREE preview of the first three chapters here. Available at Amazon and Lulu in trade paperback and eBook. It's on the Kindle and the Nook but if you want a different eBook format go to Smashwords. Check Apple's iBook Store for the iPad version. |
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2/8/11: I know. It's been nearly three months since I last posted anything here. Sorry. Between the holidays, the brutal winter and a new freelance job, I haven't had much time to do anything. Nothing newsworthy to report. I think "She Cries At Midnight" is done. Still working on "Neptune's Diamonds." That's about it.
11/12/10: "Collection Notice" is now available for FREE from Smashwords.
Senator Bartleby gets a visit from a man demanding restitution. The odd thing is the fellow claims to be from the future.
While I received positive feedback for it, the story's message was deemed too "heavy-handed" and political to print by sci-fi zines. So rather than have it languish in obscurity on my hard drive, I've put it online for others to judge.
10/19/10: Amazon discontinued their blog app but offers RSS feed sync up. I wanted to keep my old blog for ranting and reviews so I started a new one, dubbed Launchpad. Basically, it'll serve as my Public Announcements page. It'll have the newsworthy chunks on releases but none of the story status updates.
Speaking of which, the second draft of "She Cries At Midnight" is complete and scheduled for review. Work continues on "Neptune's Diamonds".
9/26/10: My interview with The Indie Spotlight is now posted. If you were the least bit curious about how Armistice Day came to be written, check it out.
9/4/10: Guest blogged over at Sarah Cypher's blog about the costs of self-publishing. Turns out I'm not paying that much compared to what others could pay.
8/18/10: "Tile" is now available for FREE over at Smashwords. I figured that it was more visible there than at The Harrow, especially now that they've closed their doors (sorry, guys).
7/28/10: I've been unhappy with my eBook sales on Smashwords. Visibility might be a problem so I've gone directly to Amazon to create the Kindle version. You can find it here.
7/2/10: June's list of bullet points:
- Finished the first draft of "She Cries At Midnight."
- Worked on the Armistice Day sequel. The working title is Gateway To Empire.
- Commissioned posters for Armistice Day. Travis, the cover artist for said book, will have a booth at GenCon where he'll be selling his wares as well as those from others he's done work for (like me). I'll be using the other copies for local promotional activity. Marketing, ugh.
Well, Arkham Tales decided there was no room for "Emily's Star" at their new place. Yet strangely enough they're open for new submissions. Irregardless, I'm back to shopping Emily around.
Finished the re-write for "We'll Watch the Sunrise from the Bottom of the Sea."
Almost done with the first draft of "She Cries At Midnight." I hope to have it finished soon and submitted for editing shortly thereafter. Once this one's off my plate I can get back to the Armistice Day sequel and "Neptune's Diamonds."
4/4/10: The New PODler Review of Books has reviewed Armistice Day. "Armistice Day is not just an excuse for action, the story is informed by a surprisingly sophisticated appreciation of conquest politics, revealing it to be a world of secret games played by the Empire in order to subdue the conquered for their own good."
3/30/10: I have to be real quick. So here it is bullet style:
- Worked on "She Cries At Midnight" and "Neptune's Diamonds"
- Corrected a mistake a reader found in Armistice Day
- Started a writing group with a local writer
- Joined The New PODler Review of Books, with hopes of helping out fellow indie authors with book reviews.
- Converted the ebook version of Armistice Day over to raw feed for Smashwords. They've got a better ebook distribution package so I need to take advantage of that.
2/25/10: Armistice Day is now available at the Bethel Public Library.
Been busy working on new stories: "She Cries At Midnight", "Neptune's Diamonds", and Gateway To Empire, the working title for the Armistice Day sequel. I also began work on a new novel based on the concept of seasteading.
1/29/10: The first review of Armistice Day is in. An 8 out of 10 from Pod People!
A couple excerpts from the review: "Armistice Day is a fast-paced action adventure, but one with solid character development." "With Armistice Day, Drazul has delivered a debut novel that anybody should be proud of, and something that’s an example of the good that can be self-publishing."
Read the full review here.
1/18/10: Arkham Tales has been resurrected by Leucrota Press. No word yet which, if any, of the old contracts will be honored. I'll keep my fingers crossed.
Got my first royalty check today for Armistice Day sales! :)
1/3/10: Armistice Day is now available on Amazon. I've even got an author page so that I can keep Amazon visitors up-to-date with my work. Of course, if you're reading this, you already know that the best place to stay informed about me is here at my website.
12/3/09: It's here!!
Back Cover Copy:
D.C. nuked.
Manhattan quarantined after a bioterrorist attack.
The world in the throes of World War Three.
And then they showed up.
The Krendorian Empire told us they were compelled to stage an intervention for our own good. Whether we wanted their help or not, they were here to stay.
Armistice Day is at hand. With the signing of the treaty, Earth will be welcomed into the Empire to reap the benefits of Imperial investment, interstellar trade and advanced technology.
But not everyone wants Earth to join the Empire.
Aaron Osborne, a consultant hired to provide security at the Armistice Day Ceremony, stumbles upon a plot to wreck the peace and rekindle the war. As he fights to prevent the worst from happening, Aaron is forced to accept help from anyone he can, including the alien responsible for his best friend's death.
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Available in print and eBook from Lulu. No word yet when it will appear on Amazon.
I understand the desire to "try before you buy." Therefore, I'm offering the first three chapters for free (PDF). I'd rather lose sales than have disgruntled buyers.
I've got my galley copy and I'm very happy with how it all came out. The text is clean, neat and level. The font size is perfectly legible. The binding is solid. And I love the cover. All in all, it looks professional.
I think the best part is that I can finally move on. And once the holidays are done I can devote good chunks of time to writing the next book.
11/24/09: Just learned that Arkham Tales has released their fifth issue... and that they're closing up shop. Not only does it suck that another great zine is closing down (147 since '08 according to one commenter), "Emily's Star" is now without a home.
11/18/09: I'm still shopping some stories around. The market is brutal. Shock Totem recently announced that they accepted two stories out of 400 submissions. Not very good odds.
One story, "Collection Notice," has garnered a nibble. If it turns into a full-fledged bite, I'll let you know.
The good news is that Armistice Day will be seeing the light of day really soon. I've selected a POD company with good distribution and no upfront costs. It'll be available in both dead tree and e-book formats. And I've even got someone working on the cover!
Travis Leichssenring is the man! I've seen the rough drafts. He's taken a scene from the book and rendered it out in fantastic detail. It's great! I can't wait for the rest of the world to see it!
8/24/09: Well, it's been 6 months since the last update. Honestly, I expected to have more news for you and a whole lot sooner. I'm sorry to report I don't have much to say.
Still no word from Arkham Tales when "Emily's Star" will appear in print. Considering how late it was accepted before the Closed For Submissions sign went up, I'd say that we're looking at 2010. I heartily recommend checking them out if you haven't done so already.
I'm still trying to find a home for four other stories. With the shrinking zine market (due to the tough economic climate), competition has become even more fierce than it was before.
I've started three new stories over this time span. I haven't made a lot of progress on them due to time constraints and a desire to get the existing stories submitted. I really like them though and look forward to the time when I can flesh them out.
I'd intended to get three short stories accepted/published before querying agents again about Armistice Day, but with the slow rate of acceptance (either I suck and my writing workshop cohorts lied to me or competition really is that fierce) and the economy's toll on traditional publishing so high, I've decided to bite the bullet and self-publish. I've waited long enough, possibly too long.
I contacted an illustrator to do the cover, rather than rely on a POD assembly line artist. He's interested but is away on vacation. In the meantime, I'll have to start reviewing AD to see if it needs freshening up.
2/19/09: Arkham Tales has agreed to purchase "Emily's Star." YAY!!! No word yet on when it will appear. I just got the acceptance letter last night. They're a quarterly zine specializing in "weird fiction." They describe themselves as "supernatural suspense and adventure stories informed by (though not imitative of) the pulp fiction of the early 20th century." It's free to readers as they get their revenue through advertizing.
It's been a long time coming, but Emily finally has a home. After a promising start, she dealt with repeated rejections (and reviews that dragged on for months) because she didn't fit in with either the horror or sci-fi crowds. After reading the first issue of Arkham Tales, I thought that maybe this would be the place she could call home. And she will. No more pleading with those sad puppy dog-from-the-fifth-dimension eyes, "Have you found a home for me yet?" Now she can go out and play with the world, and maybe strangle an unfortunate passerby who gets suckered in by her sweetness. Oh, Daddy is so proud.
2/10/09: Finally got all of those short story edits finished and the revised works submitted to various zines. The last one went out five minutes ago. Maybe it's needless to say that there's nothing new to report on the writing front. Life has been keeping me busy and these stories had to get out the door before I could permit myself to start something new. So now I'd better get to work.
12/10/08: The writer's workshop is done. In addition to what I mentioned in the previous entry (11/6/08), I finished "We'll Watch the Sunrise From The Bottom of the Sea" and "Collection Notice," a story about a time traveling bill collector. Normally, I wouldn't consider doing a time travel story as it's so easy to get caught up in a paradox. However, this one, inspired by the fiscal shenanigans up on Capitol Hill was too tempting to pass up.
Once the holidays wrap up, I'll get to work (sooner, time permitting) on the edits and start submitting them 1Q-09.
Until then, have a Happy Chanukah! Merry Christmas! and a prosperous New Year!
11/6/08: I'm in the middle of a writer's workshop right now so I'm focused on writing material; saving submissions for 1Q-09. So far the new 1st chapter of Armistice Day, a rewrite of "Emily's Star", "The Recruiter", and "The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow. Maybe." (formerly "Snowbound"), have been brought to class and been well received. Suggested edits were minimal so these stories will just need a tweak or two before sending out. I'm still working on "Watch the Sunrise From The Bottom of the Sea," the story involving the undersea hotel I mentioned back in March. I'm trying to finish that one in time for the next class.
9/1/08: "Tile" is published!!! Check it out in this month's issue of The Harrow!
In other news, I may have found a new artist for the Armistice Day cover. I'll know for sure later this month or early next month. In the meantime, I've tossed the old first chapter in favor of a more "action packed" intro. With any luck, this one will provide enough bite to hook people.
Other short stories in the works: "The Recruiter" (initial draft complete), "Snowbound" (still writing), "Beneath The Ice" (still writing).
Back to work!
6/18/08: The Harrow liked "Tile"!!! I'm going to be published in their September issue! Wooo hooo! I have to admit some surprise. I'd become so accustomed to rejection that any and all correspondence I receive is automatically assumed to be negative. But my hunch was correct. They wanted that style of story. Despite its familiar theme, "excellent characterization and the good structure of the piece elevates this out of the norm." =D I'm thrilled beyond words. Ok, maybe I've a few. It's vindication for all the hard work I've put in over the last few years. Sure, it's just one short story, but it's the proverbial foot in the door. It's a lifeline to escape the slush pile. It's a renewed sense of hope that I have a future in this.
3/16/08: Spinward States Sourcebook, the Traveller RPG supplement written by my friend, Mike West, has been published. I provided editorial assistance, but the excellent material is all his. Congratulations, Mike!
Started writing the first chapter to a potential novella/novel that ties in with the undersea hotel concept and the character I wrote about in October. I can see the relationship between the three, but I have to decide how far it will go.
2/7/08: Edward Morris, who wrote the fantastic "Jihad Over Innsmouth", was kind enough to critique "Emily's Star". He only had a couple suggestions, but overall thought it was "good." So, that was encouraging.
Pseudopod lost "Tile" again. I contacted them after three months had elapsed. The editor apologized and insisted I submit it to him directly for immediate review. He kept his word. Unfortunately, he confirmed what everyone else who's read the story has said: it's predictable. No sale.
I've got "The Recruiter", a short story, waiting to be written. It's been bouncing around my head for months. I've also had some ideas for an Armistice Day prequel, chapter 1 in particular. And then there's this Lovecraftian tale I have in mind concerning this undersea hotel concept that I saw in Popular Science. No title yet.
Now if only I had the time to write.
12/28/07: Haven't had any time to hunt for an illustrator for Armistice Day. Hopefully, I'll post the job on elance.com, or something like it, next month. If I take any longer, I'll be compelled to start editing the book to reflect two years of change.
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