Yeah, I'm going to do Nanowrimo this year. Since I'm unemployed, hopefully I'll manage it. Even if I fail, if I break 5000 words and end up with something that I can so anything with it'll be my longest piece. My stuff keeps getting shorter and shorter, and while I like that, I want to see if I can push myself in the other direction, too.
I sent out everything that wasn't out already. Three postal and eight electronic submissions.
I sent "Protection From the Darkness" out for the first time this morning. It got its first rejection before noon--a personal one from Cat Tales. I also sent out a query to Les Bonnes Fees because it's day 150 since I sent them "Sleeping Beauty."
So, I got married and went on a 10 day honeymoon, and before that my best friend from college was in town for a week to help me get ready, and before that I got laid off. I have been stressed and busy and not reading or writing or submitting anything. O_o I read two Clarkesworld stories yesterday. Today, I should read some more, plus I have two stories to go over for WorD on Tuesday, plus I have a gazillion stories that need sent out, plus I haven't written a single word in like three weeks, which hasn't happened pretty much since I joing WorD. I also am hideously behind in my podcasts, I haven't even opened the latest Realms of Fantasy, and to top it all off, I still have a cold.
Also, I need to stop wasting time on Facebook. And get my house cleaned. And call about jobs and massage stuff and study for the NCBTMB and get up to my parents' house to get the stuff I left after the wedding and get the stuff for goodwill out of the hallway and oh shit my head is just going to explode. O_o
While I was gone, one of the other slush readers sent out an email and everyone started introducing themselves. ^_^ My reply was horribly short, but I have so much to do today--unpacking, getting the mail started back up, going through the fridge to throw out the bad food, hanging up our new art, finalizing the photopass stuff, and I'm sure more things that I'm not even thinking of right now.
I'm leaving for my honeymoon on Sunday, and I'm busy till then with parties, rehearsals, and ceremonies, so I emailed Neil Clarke about not being able to do much slush reading for the next two weeks, and he sent me back an email telling me to take as much time as I need, which is awesome of him.
Reading slush for Clarkesworld is going really well. I'm enjoying it, even though nothing I've read has been accepted yet. It's hard to come up with things to say about really terrible pieces. It's much easier to give details for near misses. I mean, I can't just say, "This is terrible and made my eyes bleed." That's terrible. And mean. So I try to find things to say about everything. And I've made it a point to read the whole story, which is sometimes pretty painful. I have to admit, I've skimmed once or twice, but I do get to the end.
Another rejection for "Seasons of Friendship," this one a form from Fantasy Magazine.
Personal rejection from Strange Horizons for "If You Weren't Murdering My Wife."
