Wednesday's Writing Update: May Stats, June goals, and an acceptance

First off, please welcome Raquel Byrnes to the blog. Her guest post about the inspiration of her novel Purple Knot is here.

Yesterday marked the end of May, and thus I now have May's stats.

Submissions: 3
Rejections: 4
Acceptances: 1
Words Written: 3273

My word count for May was very, very bad. Ugh. I need to find a way to fix it this month.

And look, I have an acceptance. I'm very proud of this acceptance. My story "Folding Hope" will be published in Stories for Sendai. This is a charity anthology geared toward raising money for Japan. I have posts planned that are related to the anthology, including possibly my first vlog. So be on the look out for that coming later in June.

As for June, I do have some goals. I have a few short stories I would like to write. I need to get back to rewriting Virtuoso and continue with edits. Plus I am going to start keeping track of how many pages I edit a month. It'll give me an idea on what I'm doing on that front.

As for Virtuoso, chapters 1-5 are back from my critique partners. Everyone is loving the story, thinks the pace is good, and has remarked on its professional quality. There are things I need to change/tweak here and there, but so far, so good. I hope to edit chapters 6-10 within the next couple weeks and get them to my CPs and rewrite chapters 11-15. I think the five chapters at a time thing is working pretty well. My goal is to query agents by October, but that means I need to have the rewrite, critiques back, and edits finished by September, so I can do a last proofread/polish.

In other words, I need to get back to writing, rewriting, and editing. *laughs*

So, what news do you have?

Wednesday's Writing Update

My short story “Three Wishes” is at Raven and the Writing Desk today.

Over the past week, I’ve gotten a lot of reading done. Check out my reviews of K.J. Larsen’s Liar Liar, Talli Roland’s The Hating Game, Nicole Zoltack’s Seeing for the First Time, and Beth Revis’ Across the Universe on my book reviews blog here.

Last Wednesday, I submitted my space fantasy romance novelette Defying Gravity and my paranormal erotic short story “Phantom Kisses.” On Thursday, I received an acceptance for “Phantom Kisses.” It’ll be published in Daily Flashes of Erotica Quarterly. I don’t know which one yet, but it will also be published under my pen name Cherie Wolfe.

I’ve been working on writing blog posts, flash fiction pieces, and short stories this month. It’s going pretty well, and I still hope plan to have almost everything finished so I can continue rewriting Virtuoso in April and May.

I may be getting really ahead of myself, but I did brief outlines for five other possible novelettes to go in the Gravity series. I don’t know what will happen with Defying Gravity, but I do see the series potential in it.

I began writing a secret novel on Saturday. I won’t say anything more than that. It’s my “writing for myself” book.

Now, I really should work on this week’s short story called “Ereshkigal’s Revenge” and finish my critique for my PWP assignment.

I haven’t spoken about the tragedy that happened in Japan on this blog yet. Although I haven’t traveled to Japan before, I’m fascinated by Japanese culture and my heart breaks for them. There are many places where you can help out, but I wanted to mention Write Hope. Some fellow blogger friends created it and are planning to auction off donated items. Check out the Write Hope blog at http://write-hope.blogspot.com/.

Wednesday's Writing Update

Happy Wednesday! And, it's even better that the groundhog didn't see his shadow. Early spring here we come, I hope.

We had winners for my 50 Blog Followers Contest. Congrats to Rachel, Angie, Jessica, Misha, and Nicole!

First off, if you missed my dream-inspired flash fiction piece "Midtown Horror," you can read it here.

We're kicking off a month of Romance: the good and bad on Raven and the Writing Desk. My paranormal romance "Melek Katili" is up. You can read it here. Also, last Friday, I finished up our three-part unicorn story "The Price of a Horn" here.

Last week, I signed up for the A to Z Blogfest in April. It should be fun, and I'm already coming up with ideas for flash fiction pieces, things on writing, and even a poem. You can read more about that here.

Monday was the last day of January, so I have my January stats.

Submissions: 2 ("Sweet Vengeance" and "Lady Death")

Acceptances: 1 ("Silver Hand Sam")

Rejections: 0

Dejections: 1 ("Defying Gravity")

Stories still in submission world: "Sweet Vengeance" and "Lady Death"

January's Word Count: 17,644

Yesterday, I submitted my flash fiction piece "Snow Storm" to Daily Flash Productions' Daily Flash 2012. Less than five hours later, it was accepted. I sent the contract in today.

When I'm not editing for PWP, I've been rewriting my YA Paranormal novel Virtuoso and my Science Fiction Romance novelette Defying Gravity. I'm about halfway finished with Defying Gravity, so I should be able to finish it up this month and send it to my CPs before I submit it to an epublisher. Virtuoso, on the other hand, is taking much longer than I hoped. I'm averaging about a chapter a week. Originally I wanted to have it finished by the end of this month. It's so not going to happen. Now, I'm thinking the end of May would be good. If I write a chapter and a half a week from now on, I can have it finished by then. It'll give me the summer to hear back from my CPs and do my own edits, polish it up, and start submitting it to agents in September.

Besides working on those two, I plan to write two short stories this month, and of course, I'll have flash fiction to write and whatever I need to do for Raven and the Writing Desk. It'll be a busy yet short month, so I better get working.

What do you have going on for this month?

Wednesday's Writing Update

Oh, where to begin with my Wednesday's Writing Update?

For starters, I finished the first draft of Missing on Sunday, November 28th. It came in at 51,669 words. You can read more about it here. And, the last installment of the flash fiction related to Missing can be read here. By finishing this first draft, I now have three completed first drafts of novels in two years.

I received an acceptance from Abandoned Towers for "Soul Survivor." It'll be for their online edition. I wrote "Soul Survivor" in 2005, and it was the first short story I've ever written. Since then, it's gone through different revisions, including a complete rewrite in January 2010 at the request of the Abandoned Towers' staff. I'm so pleased it was accepted, and I'll let everyone know when it is up and they can read it.

Back in October, I entered Hannah Kincade's Halloween contest. I didn't win, but she put up all the entries on her blog. You can read "Shadow" here. By the way, there are some other great entries she put up during November, so if you have a spare moment, be sure to read them. As a side note, "Shadow" was inspired by a dream I had.

Now, since it is December 1st, here is November's stats.

Submissions: 0

Rejections: 0

Acceptances: 1 ("Soul Survivor")

Word Count: 52,335 words

Submissions Still Out There: 1

Of course, my NaNoWriMo novel took up the majority of the word count for November. *winks*

Now, on to December's goals, and I have quite a few of them. There are five Fridays in December, so I decided to divide the items in the song "The Twelve Days of Christmas." Then, I'm writing in one or more items into a flash fiction piece for each Friday throughout the month. The first one is already written, so look for it on Friday. I hope to write the other four this week and set them to go up on their respective Fridays.

Also, for Raven and the Writing Desk, our theme is Christmas elves. I'll be writing my short story next week and the first part of our three-part story next week too.

Aubrie Dionne mentioned to me about a very awesome pirate anthology from Wicked East Press. I have a neat idea for it, so I hope to write it either next week or the next.

Then, I need to write my Fangtales entry after that.

And, probably most of all, I plan to do my research, character sketches, new blurbs, outline, a synopsis, and world building exercises for Virtuoso. Starting in January, I'll be rewriting the entire novel to some extent from scratch.

So even though I wrote an entire first draft of a novel last month, I plan to do quite a bit of writing this month too (although not as much in word count!). I'm really looking forward to beginning new projects and working on some old ones.

I still can't believe it is December already, though! Seriously, where did the time go?

I've been interviewed!

Yes, two posts in one day. Go me! *laughs*

I just wanted to say that the talented Nicole Zoltack interviewed me today on her blog. You can read the interview here.

Also, on Saturday, my story "Tradition" was accepted into LL-Publications' Oil and Water...and Other Things That Don't Mix anthology. I'm really excited to be in this anthology because all the proceeds will go to help the Gulf Oil Spill victims. This anthology should be published in September.

Acceptance: Freak Show

I mentioned before that I submitted my 1800-word horror story "Freak Show" to Pill Hill Press's Bloody Carnival. Well, today I received my acceptance email! *squeals* This will be my second story with Pill Hill Press and my fifth acceptance this year.

I'm so surprised by this acceptance. For one, I tried months before to get into Pill Hill Press, and now I have two stories in two anthologies by them. This one I'll even get paid!

Either my writing has gotten much better, I figured out what Pill Hill Press wants in a story, or less people are submitting to them and they had to take my story. I prefer the first two. *laughs*

Anyways, I'm just excited. Yay!

Acceptance!

On Thursday, I mentioned writing a zombie flash fiction piece. I sent it to several critique buddies, and on Friday, I submitted it to Pill Hill Press's Daily Bites of Flesh 2011: 365 Days of Flash Fiction. By Friday evening, I received my acceptance for "Zombies Don't Exist." I'm so excited about this acceptance for a few reasons. For one, "Zombies Don't Exist" is the first thing I've written in a couple months that I submitted. For two, I've been trying for several months and several of Pill Hill Press's anthologies to no avail. I've been short listed twice by Pill Hill Press, and I have one more story still with them, but this is my first acceptance. True, it's only for exposure, but I'm excited about it.

In other news, I've been thinking a lot about my novel Virtuoso. I've edited the first couple chapters, and I'm thinking about where to place such a story. It could probably easily be an e-book, I think, but at the same time I would like to try more. But, there I have the problem. It has a vampire (vampires actually but one main vampire) in it, and vampires are a little overdone. I don't know what to do with it. Do I change Marcus into a zombie? Do I change him into someone who is still alive but gone from Nadia's life for another reason (like being disfigured)? Or do I make Virtuoso into a more serious novel and take out the paranormal stuff? Do I make it into a novel about grief, coping, and finding a way to move on after a tragedy? It is about that, but the paranormal stuff adds more fun and whimsy to the story, I suppose. I just don't know.

Well, I have to go. My cousin's graduation is in forty-five minutes.

Cats and Sorceresses

I've received my third acceptance this month. I'm shocked! Yesterday, my detective story "Hounded" was accepted into Hazard Cat, which is a webzine created by my friend Lisa Rusczyk. It is a free webzine, so anyone can go and read my story. It should be on the website next week. I wrote "Hounded" back in September 2009, so here is the blurb for it: Toby Hound is not only a private investigator, but he is also a were-hound. When the lovely and mysterious Catherine "Cat" Reynolds comes to his office, Toby is intrigued. The woman is certain her sister is missing, and Toby believes that she may be on to something when he discovers that four other women have disappeared from the area. His investigation takes him to a bar called the Wolf's Den, which is run by a werewolf. Amanda "Kitten" Reynolds' scent is there, and Toby knows he is on the right trail. When Cat comes into the picture, she screws up the investigation by being kidnapped. Toby must race against time and the full moon to find Cat and Kitten before it is too late.

I also finished writing the first draft of my fantasy, sword and sorcery story "Magna's Plea." I plan to submit the story in April to the Sword and Sorceress 25. The story is based off my fantasy world in my Phoenix trilogy. Although "Magna's Plea" takes place around 1700 years before Yssa. Here is the blurb for the story: When the kingdom of Amora is besieged by their neighboring kingdom, Princess Magna knows taht something msut be done to save them both. They capture Prince Cyrun of Apentha, and he'll be beheaded at dawn, unless the Apenthans relent. Yet, the Prince has more up his sleeve than he lets on. As the enemy storms the city, Magna must do whatever she can to save her kingdom.

I still have one more short story I want to write for this month. It is called "Soul Drinker," and it is loosely based off the Yanomamo tribe in South America. I plan to submit it to The Way of the Wizard anthology.

I have five submissions still out there in the publishing world.

I hope everyone has a wonderful St. Patrick's Day!

"Grave Mistakes" Accepted

Today my thriller short story "Grave Mistakes" was accepted into Emerald Tales Vol. 2. No. 2 "It was a bright and sunny day" issue. It should be out on April 15, 2010. This is my second story accepted into Emerald Tales. My historical horror short story "Io Saturnalia" is in Emerald Tales Vol 1. No. 3 "Winter Solstice" issue. It can still be purchased here.

I'm really excited about "Grave Mistakes" being accepted. I was driving myself crazy waiting to find out. I would check my gmail account about every five minutes. All last night, I had strange dreams about my email account as well. It was definitely crazy.

"Grave Mistakes" is my second acceptance for the year. I previously won third place in the Big Read writing competition. "A Lesson Learned" will be published in the next issue of the Virginia English Bulletin. I don't have all the details for it yet, though.

As for other writing news, I have five submissions out there. One is in revisions, and I'm waiting to hear back. The other has been short listed. Then, I have three more that I haven't heard anything yet.

I'm currently working on a short story titled "Magna's Plea." I have a little over 1800 words written. The plan is to finish it this weekend. *crosses fingers*

I know it may seem a bit early, but I'm already thinking about NaNoWriMo 2010. I have a wonderful idea for a novel, and I plan to begin the outline as soon as possible. It's a horror/mystery novel based off some childhood nightmares of mine. Here is a blurb for Sarah's Nightmare:  Only the lights can keep the wall monsters at bay, or so Sarah thinks. These creatures plagued her childhood nightmares, but with the help of psychiatrists and medicine, Sarah has grown up past these delusions. As a college history professor trying to obtain her doctorate, thirty-year-old Sarah is moving on with her life. She has a live-in boyfriend, and she's just pages away from finishing her doctoral thesis. She's happy with her life. Yet when she agrees to teach a history of criminology course for a fellow professor, she learns some shocking facts. Every ten to fifteen years, five preschoolers go missing in the area. They are taken from their beds without a trace, and it is happening again. The only anomaly was in 1984 when only four children vanished. As Sarah and grad student, Marc Bishop, delve into the past, she realizes that sometimes nightmares really do come true.

Of course, my plans could change, but this novel is forming all on its own, so I think it wouldn't be too hard to write for NaNo. We'll have to see.

Well, I'm off to finish playing on Facebook and trying to get back to my short story "Magna's Plea."

Twenty-Eight

Yesterday on March 8, I turned twenty-eight. Yes, that's right. Yesterday was my birthday. It's hard to believe that I'm twenty-eight already. Ten years ago, I was eighteen and in my last year of high school. So much has changed in ten years. The most major change was my career goals.

In high school and part of college, I wanted to be an opera singer. I imagined myself singing on the great stages, like La Scala and the Met. I wanted to be on Broadway. The funny thing about dreams like that is that they don't always come true. I was a fair singer with some talent, but I lacked the drive to practice the way I should have. When I went to Missouri State University, I started out in Vocal Performance, had a horrible and unsupportive voice teacher, and learned that it would take five years to complete my degree. I didn't have the money nor the nerves to continue with vocal performance as my major.

Flipping through the course catalog, my dad mentioned the Antiquities degree. No, it doesn't mean I studied antiques. I changed my major to Classics with a minor in the Ancient Near East. I didn't know what I wanted to do with this degree, but I enjoyed the classes and professors too much to care what would happen when I graduated. Of course, when I graduated, I felt like a feather in the wind. I didn't know what to do with my life.

Things have changed a lot from even the five years (December 2010) since I graduated with my B.A. from MSU. I am a library assistant and am an aspiring writer. If you would have told me ten years ago that I would be an aspiring writer with published works, I would have said you were crazy. It's not anything I ever dreamed of, but as I said before, dreams are funny like that.

For the next ten years, I hope to continue with writing and being a librarian, including eventually getting my Masters in Library Science. The last twenty-eight years were pretty good, but I hope the next twenty-eight are even better.

And, speaking of good news and such, I had my first acceptance of 2010. I won third place in the Big Read. My short story "A Lesson Learned" will be published in the upcoming issue of the Virginia English Bulletin. I'm so excited about this, since it is a literary magazine. I don't know all the details yet, but I'll keep everyone updated.

I currently have six stories out there in submission world. I should know about one in the next day or so. The first three days of March were difficult (three rejections in three days), but with an acceptance like winning a contest, it makes it all worth it.

Acceptance: Hell Has No Fury

Yesterday, I received an email about my fantasy/mythology short story "Hell Has No Fury." It was finally accepted into the anthology All About Eve, which will be published by Wolfsinger Publications. Here is a link to view more about the anthology: http://www.wolfsingerpubs.com/AllAboutEve.html. It has my name as Charlie Reich right now. The poor editor has been going through a very hard time, so I figure it'll be fixed up because it was correct on my contract.

It has been almost six months since I sent "Hell Has No Fury" to the anthology. Here is what my story is about:     The lovely earth goddess Anesidora fell in love and married the titan god Prometheus. When she realizes that his love for her is overshadowed by his love for the hairless apes, she knows she has to do something. The goddess speaks to Zeus about how Prometheus stole the sacred fire from Mount Olympus and gave it to the humans. Zeus not only plans to punish Prometheus, but he also punishes Anesidora. The goddess is now the mortal Pandora. Can this woman scorned regain her immoratality or will she open the jar and curse Prometheus and mankind forever?

At this time, I do not know when the anthology will be published. If all goes well, I am figuring Spring 2010. It'll be in print and electronic forms. "Hell Has No Fury" is the sixth story acceptance that I've had for the 2009 year.

In other writing news, I finished the first draft of "Defying Gravity" and received my edits from my critique buddies (Thanks, Christine and Aubrie). Unfortunately, I realized that the anthology that I plan to submit it to does not have the deadline as December 31, 2009 but December 31, 2010. I still have another year to submit the story there. *sighs* I'm going to try to finish up my Carnival story for Emerald Tales first, and then, I'll go back and do the edits and submit "Defying Gravity" to Fire and Ice anthology.

By the way, don't forget to buy your copy of Emerald Tales, Vol. 1 No. 3 "Winter Solstice" issue that has my short story "Io Saturnalia" in it. You can find a link to the information here: http://www.scribblersandinkspillers.com/emeraldtales.html. The special edition of "Winter Solstice" will be available soon as well, so be sure to buy it too, since my good friend Aubrie Dionne has a story in it. Her story "Darken" is about the Ancient Mesopotamian Winter Solstice rituals.

If I don't get a chance to blog again, I hope everyone has a fantastic and safe holidays!

Acceptance and Rejection

Today I received a message from Diana Lyles, who is a multi-talented person, who runs Scribblers and Ink Spillers. My historical horror short story "Io Saturnalia" was accepted into the third issue of Emerald Tales, and it will be published on December 1, 2009. I am so excited that "Io Saturnalia" was accepted. For one, after receiving a rejection letter yesterday, it is always nice to receive an acceptance letter the next day. For two, I really loved writing "Io Saturnalia." It is most likely my best short story to date. For three, the "Winter Solstice" edition of Emerald Tales comes out on December 1 of this year. It means that people can buy and read one of my stories before 2010 when my ebook and YA fantasy short story are published. Here is the link to Emerald Tales: http://www.scribblersandinkspillers.com/emeraldtales.html. I'll put up another blog post and everything to remind people when it comes out. "Io Saturnalia" will be in print and electronic versions, and it'll only cost $5 for the magazine. It's definitely worth it!

Unfortunately, I had to mention my rejection letter. My horror story "Wishes" was rejected from the Dead Bells anthology. I had made it until the end of the final, final cuts. Here is what was said:

Good morning, Cherie,

I want to thank you again for your submission of "Wishes" to the Dead Bells Anthology, and for the work you put into the story. It has certainly been a hard decision making process for this anthology.

Unfortunately, we won't be including "Wishes" among the those in Dead Bells. The story was definitely close and I enjoyed reading it both times, but when it came down to it, it just didn't fit with what we are working towards.

Best of luck with your future endeavors.

Sincerely,
--
Jodi Lee
Belfire Press - http://www.belfirepress.com
The New Bedlam Project - http://www.newbedlam.com
Dead Bells - http://www.jodilee.ca/deadbells


I wasn't quite as disappointed as I originally thought I would be, and I wish the anthology success, even though my story wasn't accepted. "Wishes" is a great story though, and I hope to find another place for it elsewhere.

I currently only have a few stories out there that I'm waiting to hear back from, including the Eve anthology, Sorcerous Signals, and Abandoned Towers. I should have already heard back about "Hell Has No Fury" and "Eclipse," but the editor of the Eve anthology and Sorcerous Signals seems to have disappeared from the earth, since I've heard nothing from her since June. I need to send out my stories elsewhere, but it'll have to wait until after NaNoWriMo.

As for NaNoWriMo, I am still doing very well, I think. I am part way through finishing chapter nine, and I have around 21500 words written in nine days. I haven't done my writing for day 10 yet, but I'll keep everyone updated on the status of my novel.

Acceptance, Rejection, and NaNoWriMo...oh, my!

Yes, I do have a lot to update today, and I wanted to get it all out of the way before my life becomes devoted to NaNoWriMo.

Today, I heard back from Wild Child Publishing about my 10,100-word horror story titled "Once Upon a December Nightmare." My story was accepted, and I am working on sending the contract to the editor-in-chief. I do not know when it will be out though. Although based on what I think I can do with revisions and such, it could be out as soon as late March, early April. I will have to discuss things with the editor to know more.

Here is the blurb about ONCE UPON A DECEMBER NIGHTMARE:

After their night of a movie and dinner is a bust, Cassie, her best friend Mary, Mary’s sister Denise,and Denise’s boyfriend James all decide to go joyriding on an old mountain road. A tree blocks their path back to the main road, so the four turn the truck around in an eerie clearing where four deer carcasses are placed. Thoroughly spooked, the four begin the seven-mile journey back to civilization. When the old truck’s lights go out, they decide to brace the cold December night and walk back to the mainroad. Their cell phones don’t work, the truck is broken down, and they aren’t the only ones out there in the forest. Something or someone is hunting them. Will they get out alive or will the ominous message of the dead deer happen to them too in their December nightmare?

The story is loosely based off an event that happened to me and my friends when we decided to go joyriding one December night. Fortunately, our nightmare did not end as tragically and horrifically.

On to the rejection, I submitted "Hounded" to The Nautilus Engine on Tuesday. On Wednesday, I got my rejection. This is what the editor said:

Hello Cherie

Thanks for letting me read "Hounded".  Unfortunately, I see a few too many Philip Marlowe take-offs (I've even written one myself).  I'm going to pass on this one but I'd be happy to read any future efforts you'd care to toss our way.  Good luck! Thank You,

Ron Warren
www.thenautilusengine.com

I'm embarrassed to say, but I had to look up Philip Marlowe. I do suppose my story is in the same vein as his, but it is also quite different. I suppose I'll just have to find a place that takes those types of stories before I submit "Hounded" elsewhere.

Now, on to NaNoWriMo, for those of you that don't know what it means, it is National Novel Writing Month, which occurs in November. The brave writers out there attempt to write an entire novel (minimum 50,000 words) all in the month of November. I have decided to make my own attempts at NaNoWriMo this year. For those that are planning to participate, please add me. My username is bookworm0753. I have my laptop coming (hopefully by Halloween), and I have my outline set to write my novel VIRTUOSO.

Here is the blurb for VIRTUOSO:

Nadia Godunov is a violin virtuoso in her freshman year at Wyderly College in Ridgewood, VA. When her drummer boyfriend, Marcus Giovanni,and she have a terrible car accident, both will never be the same. A month after the accident, Nadia wakes up, finding that her left hand is broken and that her boyfriend is dead. While she copes with her grief, she finds that moving on is hard to do. When she dreams, she senses that her boyfriend is still with her. She tries to regain proper use ofher left hand, so she can continue being the violin virtuoso she once was. She even finds a new boyfriend, medical student Derek Smith. Yet, something isn't right with young Nadia. Lately, she has been having terrible headaches, and she has found she can move things with her mind. Best or worse of all, her former boyfriend just might not be as dead as she once thought, and he wants to win her back. What is a girl to do when all she wants to do is pick up the pieces and move on with her life?

VIRTUOSO is a YA Fantasy novel with a touch of romance. Honestly, I could see this book becoming a trilogy, but for now, I'm focusing on just starting and finishing it in November.

As for other writing news, I'm still waiting to hear back from several publishers. I will keep everyone updated as I can. November I'll mainly be focused on finishing VIRTUOSO though, so please don't expect quite as many updates, although I will keep updating where I'm at with NaNoWriMo. I'm getting excited about November.

Also, Happy Halloween!

Acceptance: Neptune's Treasure

I know that I have been a little frustrated and down the last few times I blogged, but today I am extremely happy. My short story "Neptune's Treasure" was accepted by Wyvern Publications for their Mertales anthology. Mertales is a print anthology that should be out in Fall 2010. I will let you know more details as I know them.

I had submitted "Neptune's Treasure" yesterday, so the response time was phenomenal. I did have to do some rewrites before the story was accepted.

Yesterday, I also submitted "Soul Survivor" to Abandoned Towers. They are a print (paying) and online (exposure) magazine. I wish that the story could be accepted in print, but they are already filled up through summer of next year, so I said it was fine to consider my story for the online magazine. I believe that exposure for "Soul Survivor" might be the best I can hope for concerning that story.

On Sunday, I received a rejection letter for "Hounded" that I sent to The Beast Within 2: The Beast Unleashed. The rejection email was quite short and your typical form letter:

Hi Cherie, Just finished up with Hounded.  I am going to pass though.  Thanks for your interest. Regards, Scott

Another friend submitted to them as well, so we obviously have no clue what they are looking for. I think "Hounded" can find another home though, so I'll be looking.

I still haven't heard from Wolfsinger Publications about my story "Hell Has No Fury" for their All About Eve anthology. Their deadline was August 31, so it has been well over a month. I'm not alone in not hearing back from them, so I'm going to email the editor today and see if I can get a response that way.

I haven't heard back from the few other things out there either, including Dead Bells anthology.

I would like to write some more short stories this month, if I get a chance. I am considering doing NaNoWriMo next month, if I get a laptop by November 1. NaNoWriMo is where you write a novel (50,000 words) in one month. I believe I could do it as long as I have a good idea and a laptop. I have the idea, but we'll have to see about the laptop. If I do it, then I'll have to push working on The Phoenix Prophetess rewrites and writing Moonlight Murders back. We'll have to see.

The main thing is that I finally have another story accepted. YAY!

UPDATE: I heard back from Dead Bells today as well. "Wishes" was short listed. I will know if it makes the final cut after October 15.