Jamie's Writing Life tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2008-07-03:/jamie//5 2009-11-19T21:22:11Z Genre fiction for the win! Movable Type Personal 4.1 Yay! tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.326 2009-11-19T21:22:00Z 2009-11-19T21:22:11Z http://atomjackmagazine.com/2009/current.html... Jamie http://atomjackmagazine.com/2009/current.html More yay! tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.323 2009-10-06T18:21:34Z 2009-10-06T18:23:14Z My story "The Ghost Under the Ice" leads off this issue of Bards and Sages... Jamie issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly!   ]]> Woot! tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.318 2009-07-22T20:56:40Z 2009-07-22T20:57:50Z Also yay!... Jamie Also yay!

]]> Latest news tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.317 2009-07-18T15:15:24Z 2009-07-18T16:22:28Z Rejections from Shimmer, Bards and Sages Quarterly, Flash Fiction Online, Tweet the Meat, Brain Harvest,... Jamie
Acceptance from Whortleberry Press.  My story "Halloween Party" will be appearing in It was a Dark and Stormy Halloween, which is due out sometime in August. 

Also, I'm going to be teaching a session of a creative writing workshop tomorrow at the Pittsburgh Center for the Arts.  Here's the description. 

On the Trail with Your Pen: Creative Writing Adventures (new!)
CRW 102 - Level: All               
SUMMER SESSION: 4 Sundays, 2:00 - 5:00 pm, June 28 - August 2, no class July 5 and July 12
Join us as we hit the trail, walk by the river, visit the park, meander in the garden and stroll in a museum in this creative writing workshop surely to get you outside your known writing practice. Creative exercises that correspond to several fun activities will offer you new directions for your writing this summer. Fresh settings create opportunities for new ideas. A supportive atmosphere of discussion will guide our group experiences as we practice writing tools for fiction, poetry, creative nonfiction, journaling and memoir. Open to beginning through advanced writers.$125 members, $150 non-members
]]> Ugh tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.315 2009-06-29T01:56:42Z 2009-06-29T02:09:24Z Got a rejection the other day that was so vitriolic and mean spirited that it... Jamie
What I don't understand is if the editor hated my story so much (which is DEFINITELY the case) why bother reading the whole thing?  The rejection made it obvious that the editor not only spent time finishing my story, but also put time into crafting the response.  If I'd been reading a submission that I hated that much, I wouldn't have put myself through the whole thing. 
]]> Reward! tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.313 2009-06-23T17:24:37Z 2009-06-23T17:30:37Z I should also mention that Neil Clarke, the guy who runs Clarkesworld Magazine (where I... Jamie Clarkesworld Magazine (where I read slush, in case anyone out there doesn't know that) sent us slush readers a present.  It's a BOOK!  I like books.  ^_^  (If you hate links, it's Tides from the New Worlds by Tobias Buckell.  It's a beautiful hardcover copy, signed and lettered.  Even if you hate links you should click on that one because the cover art really is stunning.) So far I've read the first few stories, and I've enjoyed them immensely. If anyone is looking to pick up a new short story collection to add to their shelves, this is a good one.   ]]> News! tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.312 2009-06-23T17:22:28Z 2009-06-23T17:23:49Z Jamie The Drabblecast!  Yay!  It should be up sometime soonish, I'll post a link when that happens.   ]]> Rejections tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.311 2009-06-23T17:17:57Z 2009-06-23T17:22:04Z Jamie Shimmer, Tweet the Meat, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. 

Shimmer and Beneath Ceaseless Skies both do a really great job on personal rejections.  They get characters names right, they encourage future submissions and I feel like they mean it, they give actual reasons why they're passing.   

]]> Rejections tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.309 2009-06-14T00:43:01Z 2009-06-14T00:46:32Z Jamie Shimmer and one from Tweet the Meat. 

]]> So FRUSTRATING. tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.308 2009-06-01T02:15:40Z 2009-06-01T02:20:21Z Jamie Rejection Slip:

Thank you for sending "The Other Side," but we've decided to pass.
 
I liked this one a lot, and kept it for several rounds of reading.  Thanks again for letting me consider it.

Me: GAH!  What made you decide against it?  Also, you're welcome?  I guess? 

I know that the editor that wrote this to me was being nice, and a part of me really appreciates that, but mostly, I'm disgusted by the uselessness.  And this is a better paying market than I've ever broken into (if it had been an acceptance it would be my first step to actually qualifying for SWFA) and I feel like I missed it by just a tiny bit, and I don't know WHY.  It's frustrating. 
]]> Another acceptance! tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.307 2009-05-28T17:06:04Z 2009-05-28T17:06:45Z Jamie
This week is awesome!
]]> One day turn around. tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.306 2009-05-27T19:32:41Z 2009-05-27T19:33:21Z Jamie Things to do. tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.305 2009-05-27T17:20:16Z 2009-05-27T17:30:01Z I'm so far behind on the podcasts that I listen to that it isn't even... Jamie Fantasy Magazine today at work.  Enjoyed both.  I'm going to make it a goal to get caught up.  I should be able to read online stories at work.  I could probably even listen to podcasts at work, but the idea makes me uneasy.   ]]> Submitting! tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.304 2009-05-26T21:25:54Z 2009-05-26T21:32:22Z Jamie
I vastly prefer markets that take electronic submissions.  I can't even send postal ones right now because I'm out of paper.  Also it's raining and who wants to walk to the post office in the rain. 

I also like places that want manuscripts in standard manuscript format.  I hate when I have to go through a story and change something little, like denoting section breaks  with *** instead of # or not indenting paragraphs and double spacing between them.  I understand why editors ask for stuff like that--at least I think I do.  It's probably mostly because they don't want to have to do it themselves.  It might also be something of a test to see if submitters can follow directions.  I can follow directions, but if there are too many silly changes I give up and look for someplace else to send my story to.  Of course that also might be what the editors are going for. 
]]> An acceptance! Yay! And rejections. tag:www.nothingventuredgames.com,2009:/jamie//5.303 2009-05-26T17:02:29Z 2009-05-26T17:16:13Z Jamie Silver Blade sometime soon!  Like the end of May soon.  Very exciting. 

Also, my super hero story "If You Weren't Murdering My Wife" has been passed up the ladder at Neo-Opsis Science Fiction. 

Since my last update, I have been rejected by Fantasy Magazine, Shimmer, Electric Spec, and A Fly in the Amber. 
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