Jamie's Writing Life http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/ Genre fiction for the win! en Copyright 2009 Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:22:00 -0500 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Yay! http://atomjackmagazine.com/2009/current.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/11/yay-1.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/11/yay-1.html Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:22:00 -0500 More yay! issue of Bards and Sages Quarterly!   ]]> http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/10/more-yay.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/10/more-yay.html Tue, 06 Oct 2009 14:21:34 -0500 Woot! Also yay!

]]> http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/07/woot.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/07/woot.html Wed, 22 Jul 2009 16:56:40 -0500 Latest news
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
]]> http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/07/latest-news.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/07/latest-news.html Sat, 18 Jul 2009 11:15:24 -0500 Ugh
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. 
]]> http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/06/ugh.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/06/ugh.html Sun, 28 Jun 2009 21:56:42 -0500 Reward! 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.   ]]> http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/06/reward.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/06/reward.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:24:37 -0500 News! The Drabblecast!  Yay!  It should be up sometime soonish, I'll post a link when that happens.   ]]> http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/06/news.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/06/news.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:22:28 -0500 Rejections 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.   

]]> http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/06/rejections-1.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/06/rejections-1.html Tue, 23 Jun 2009 13:17:57 -0500 Rejections Shimmer and one from Tweet the Meat. 

]]> http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/06/rejections.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/06/rejections.html Sat, 13 Jun 2009 20:43:01 -0500 So FRUSTRATING. 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. 
]]> http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/05/so-frustrating.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/05/so-frustrating.html Sun, 31 May 2009 22:15:40 -0500 Another acceptance!
This week is awesome!
]]> http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/05/another-acceptance.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/05/another-acceptance.html Thu, 28 May 2009 13:06:04 -0500 One day turn around. http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/05/one-day-turn-around.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/05/one-day-turn-around.html Wed, 27 May 2009 15:32:41 -0500 Things to do. 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.   ]]> http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/05/things-to-do.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/05/things-to-do.html Wed, 27 May 2009 13:20:16 -0500 Submitting!
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. 
]]> http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/05/submitting.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/05/submitting.html Tue, 26 May 2009 17:25:54 -0500 An acceptance! Yay! And rejections. 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. 
]]> http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/05/an-acceptance-yay-and-rejectio.html http://www.nothingventuredgames.com/jamie/2009/05/an-acceptance-yay-and-rejectio.html Tue, 26 May 2009 13:02:29 -0500