Killing me softly with kind rejection

Bleargh. The last few days were crappy writing days. I did make a bunch of notes for my next Lust Bites article, and get caught up (mostly) on e-mail, so that’s something. After I went to bed Tuesday night, the characters and setting and background of another upcoming antho story unfolded before my eyes, so I thought I’d just dive into that one Wednesday.

Then, curses! Thwarted! I opened some antho guidelines to check wordcount requirements, and discovered the story I started really won’t fit the tone of the antho.

I stomped around a bit, then remembered a scene from an unfinished novel that might fit really, really well. Then I just had to figure out how to frame it.

Unfortunately, the first story doesn’t fit any of the calls for submissions I’m currently shooting for. I may just write it anyway, because it’s all right there in my head and I’d hate to waste it…

I’ve been reading a bunch, which is nice. Tuesday night we met Lev and Gayle for dinner and stuffed ourselves silly with sushi, and came back to their place and hot tubbed until we were all mellow. Wednesday night we went to a different McMenamin’s and had, amongst other things, marionberry cobbler with vanilla bean ice cream, and then we waddled back to the apartment and watched TV in a stupor.

Last night we met the not-shy-even-though-she-thinks-she-is Shanna Germain at the Swagat in Beaverton (less driving for her, and I think their shrimp biryani is better than the Hillsboro Swagath version), and we talked and laughed and ate for hours. It’s so much fun to hang out with other writers, especially funny, intelligent, gorgeous ones.

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I’ve added a post for Monday, 29 October, that somehow failed to get uploaded earlier. Enjoy!

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So Tuesday or Wednesday I got an e-mail that begins with “This is one of the moments in which I do not enjoy being an editor. After much consideration, [magazine] will not be using [story]…” And I thought, Holy crap, did they think it was that bad?!

But the e-mail went on to say they had no helpful comments, because it was “thoughtful” and “well-written” and “fantastic” and one of the characters was “tremendously well done,” among other things, and that it was only a matter of space, and they’d love to see something else from me in the future. One of the nicest rejections I’ve ever had.

This particular story either gets no comment, or positive comments, upon rejection. Its biggest detraction is that it’s 10,000 words long. And dammit, I’m running out of markets for it!

Also got a rejection yesterday from Clockwork Phoenix for “Queen of Hearts, Hand of Fate.” Shot it back out to Fantasy Magazine. Oddly enough, Clockwork Phoenix is where I’d just sent the aforementioned story after its lovely rejection….

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A word to the wise: If you’re going to see Beowulf on opening night (or even on opening weekend, I suspect), especially if you’re going to see it in IMAX 3D, get there early. Getting there last-minute will require you to sit in the fourth row, and that’s just too close. I’m still a little queasy (and not from the gore, which was pretty gooey).

Although Angelina Jolie… raowr!

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Currently Reading: Anyone But You, Jennifer Crusie; Shrink Rap, Robert B. Parker (finished both of those yesterday); Touch the Dark, Karen Chance
Lately Listened To: Banba, Clannad
Recently Watched: Beowulf

Thursday 13: Thirteen Publications I’ve Had This Year

1. A Little Night Music, an erotic romance novel written as Sarah Dale (with Sarah Husch), to be published by Cheek Books (Virgin Books UK), June 2007 (my second novel.)

2. “Proof of Devotion,” Fabulous Whitby anthology, Shrew Press (UK) (the editors swear it’ll be out by the end of December!)

3. “The Queen of Xmas,” Naughty or Nice anthology (ISBN 978-1573442947), Cleis Press, October 28, 2007

4. “In Flight,” Best Lesbian Love Stories: Summer Flings anthology (ISBN 978-1593500351), Alyson Press, October 2007

5. “Undoing the Laces,” Hide and Seek anthology, (ISBN: 978-1573442916), Cleis Press, September 2007

6. “I Need a Man,” Crossdressing: Erotic Stories anthology (ISBN 978-1573442886), Cleis Press, August 28, 2007

7. “Just Be,” Iridescence: Sensuous Shades of Lesbian Erotica anthology (ISBN 978-1593500047), Alyson Publications, June 2007

8. “When the Rancher Needs a Loan,” Cowboy Lover: Erotic Stories of the Wild West anthology (ISBN 978-1568583303), Thunder's Mouth Press, May 2007

9. “From Bitter to Sweet,” Got a Minute? Sixty Second Erotica anthology (ISBN1573442712), Cleis Press, March 2007

10. “College Reunion,” C is for Co-Eds anthology (ISBN 1573442658), Cleis Press, February 2007

11. “Working Late,” She's On Top anthology (ISBN 1573442690), Cleis Press, February 2007

12. “On the Twelfth Day,” He's On Top anthology (ISBN 1573442704), Cleis Press, February 2007

13. “Finding Perspective,” Ultimate Lesbian Erotica 2007 anthology (ISBN 1555839703), Alyson Press, January 2007

Except for the first two, all are written as Andrea Dale. A Little Night Music is by Sophie Mouette and “Proof of Devotion” is by Dayle A. Dermatis.

This list doesn’t even inclue all the Sophie Mouette sales! You can find a complete list of my publications at my website.

Buy now!

Just a quick note to point out that Blowfish is having a 20% off all books sale. They sell a number of anthologies containing Andrea Dale or Sophie Mouette stories, including Alison Tyler's alphabet series, various Best...Erotica series (American, Lesbian, etc.), Caught Looking, Got a Minute... The list goes on. I've been a busy girl, as you can tell from my bibliography!

Already have the books? Remember, the holidays are coming, and books always make great stocking stuffers!

Back with a vengeance

After a lovely couple of days, it’s time to get back to work—with a vengeance, since I’m currently behind. I thought I could hit at least my minimum word count while traveling, but there were a couple nights where I was too frakking exhausted to crack open the computer, even for 100 words.

My goals for this week, while I’m up in Oregon, are a minimum of 10K on High Spirits, two short stories, and one Lust Bites essay.

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My oldest friend—we met when we were in first grade—just became a grandmother.

Somebody pass me the smelling salts…

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Gah! Just had a minor meltdown when my Palm keyboard refused to work, but I think now the batteries are dead. Given that it’s been so long since I put the batteries in that I managed to forget that there were batteries, much less where the battery compartment was, I’d say it’s a strong likelihood.

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Blech. It’s taking me forever to get motivated today. Then I’ll write a little bit, and get distracted, and have to start all over again with the motivation. Phooey. Part of the problem is that I don’t know exactly what’s going to happen next, so I’m sort of dragging out the current scene. Which I suspect means I should type “and then they went out for pizza and came home and she went to bed,” and just pick the next scene and start writing it.

That sounds weird, doesn’t it? I feel like I’ve got all these little threads, so every so often I’ll brainstorm a bunch of scenes, but I don’t know where they go, because they don’t all lead directly from the main action. When I’m stuck, I just pick one and go for it, because if it doesn’t fit there, it’ll fit somewhere else. Or, in the end, there’s always the chance it doesn’t fit anywhere at all, but at least I’ll have been writing and it’ll spark more ideas.

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Oh, you know how much of a geek I am? I brought three big bags of books up here to trade it at Powells, that’s how much There are no good used bookstores in Ventura County (for mainstream fiction, anyway. Bart’s is fabulous beyond belief for rare and funky books, but not for paperback fiction.) and I figured the car would be mostly empty on the way up and maybe this way I can pick up a few more books because I’ll have a little credit.

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Eargh! New batteries didn’t fix the Palm keyboard! Wail!

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We went out to McMenamin’s for Ruby Ale, and shared a salad and chicken/pesto/garlic calzone, then swung by the funky local market and got, among other things, Green & Black’s ice cream, and that means pretty much all is right with the world.

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Currently Reading: Welcome to Temptation, Jennifer Crusie
Lately Listened To: tappity tappity tappity
Recently Watched: How I Met Your Mother