Whiskey Tango Foxtrot!?

Twoson and I just got back from our morning run. It was a short one today, only twenty minutes. He's having a bit of slump, and I was pretty unmotivated when we started. Nonetheless, we ran.

Yesterday we spent a couple of hours trimming the rhododendrons and the camillia plants in front of the house. I started with the electric hedge trimmer, but quickly had to resort to the long-handled loppers. The branches were mostly too thick for the trimmer; it could trim only the thinnest and lightest branches. Since we wanted to hack the bushes down far enough that they were below window level...that meant some serious pruning.

I filled the yard debris bin with trimmings from the first plant. After we'd finished trimming we spent a while carrying the resulting debris into the back yard to throw on the large, out-of-control yard debris pile. Which will also have to be dealt with eventually. But the bushes in front a lot better. On the gripping hand, now we can see just how unruly the undergrowth beneath them has gotten, and we'll have to clean that up too.

In writing news, as I mentioned before, I ditched the Iron Maiden novel. Maybe I'll resurrect it at some point, maybe not. I began work on another novel. I already had 10,000 words written on it. Monday I added 3,000 and yesterday another 2,000. I'm aiming for anywhere between 45-60,000 words for this puppy. Not long enough for a NYC publisher, but more than adequate for a number of epublishers. I should, if all goes according to plan, have it done before the end of October. Which will leave me in a position to write another novel in November, for NaNoWriMo--and accomplish my goal of writing four novels this year.

I also got a rejection on Repossessor from Penguin yesterday. Just a form rejection, but at least I know someone looked at it. It's the first response I've gotten since I mailed out the submission packages quite a while ago.

I think today may be a "go write at the mall foodcourt" day. I want to get out of the house.

Stories in Circulation: 11
Rejections: 58
Stories Accepted: SEVEN
Stories to Resubmit: 2

Novel Queries
Strange Attractors (urban fantasy): 4 queries out, 9 rejections
Repossessor (science fiction): 4 queries out, 1 rejection

Happy Independence Day Weekend to everyone!

I didn't write a damn thing today. I did chores (and wrestled with what project to tackle for my next novel). I ran out to the bank, opened up the house and aired it out a bit, dusted and vacuumed the bedroom, changed the bedsheets, ran the comforters through the dryer, and a few other things. Oh, and went running this morning--in the rain, no less--with Twoson. (We've embarked on the Couch to 5K program together, him for the first time, me for the mumble-tieth time. Just finished our first week.)

I also got a rejection on my story "Reunion". So I sent it out again. (Wow, after not hearing anything on any of my circulating stories, or the novel, for weeks on end, all of a sudden they're all getting responses. Odd.) My lovely and talented wife finished reading my second novel and had some useful observations. I'll be taking them into account as I fine tune it a little before sending it out.

On the non-writing front, I've been watching a new show today. My lovely and talented wife discovered it this morning, and set up a season pass on the Tivo. So we got six episodes today--they were doing a marathon, I guess. Anyhow, she discovered--after watching a couple of episodes this evening that she didn't care for it after all. But I've been enjoying it.

MANTRACKER, it's called. It's a Canadian reality show that's been airing since 2006 (according to the wiki article about it). The MANTRACKER (he has a name, but that's all they ever call him) is, well, a tracker (and a cowboy, but for entertainment purposes, his tracking skill is the real draw).

So the gag is: Each episode we watch as two contestants (generally but not always outdoorsman types) try to elude the MANTRACKER while they travel cross-country on foot to reach their destination within 36 hours while not being caught. It's got the typically overwrought narration and oh-so-dramatic editing common to all reality shows (and frankly, I'd like it better if it was more matter of fact--which is also why my lovely and talented wife lost interest). But it's still entertaining enough for me.

Alas, they don't really tell you much in any given show. They drop bits and pieces in different episodes, but I had to read the wiki to get a lot of this.

The MANTRACKER and his guide (the show is filmed in different areas each week, so he has a local guide) are mounted. The MANTRACKER rides a horse provided for him at each location, not his own. The two "prey" are on foot, navigating with compass and map. The distance they have to cover varies depending on the terrain (and probably their experience level). They get a two kilometer head start; a flare is fired from their starting position to give the MANTRACKER some idea of where to start looking, and they're off! There's no prize involved for the "prey" other than bragging rights if they manage to elude the MANTRACKER and reach the finish line.

Cameramen follow both the "prey" and the MANTRACKER. I thought upon initially seeing the show that the cameramen would be a problem. But apparently not. The cameramen employed are experienced woodsmen, and pretty good at going unseen. Plus, they also send decoy runners and cameramen into the area sometimes so the MANTRACKER can't just look for the camera crew.... And some of the shots on the show are recreations, so what looked initially like shots that would give the game away aren't.

Anyhow, it's been interesting. Avoiding capture boils down to basically two approaches. You try to leave as little sign of your passing as possible, or you simply try to go where the mounted MANTRACKER can't follow, even if he can see you. Aside from very occasionally dismounting to lead the horse or to examine the ground, he apparently must remain mounted while in pursuit of the "prey". Which means: heavy brush, cliffs or steep inclines, anywhere they can't take the horses. Since catching the runners consists basically of maneuvering the horses to cut off their escape, being seen--even being close enough to taunt one another (as sometimes happens)--doesn't count.

I'm no tracker, but I know some of the theory and he seems to be pretty good. He's quite adept at finding and following the tracks, and working out what they're doing. Oh--he doesn't meet the "prey" prior to the hunt, so he has no idea who he's tracking until he gets a glimpse of them. Nor does he know their destination; he can get some idea of the direction they're traveling when he tracks them, but that's it. I've watched three episodes now, and the MANTRACKER has caught four out of six "prey" (which is about average, according to the wiki).

It's not great tv, but I'm finding it entertaining enough.


Stories in Circulation: 11
Rejections: 45
Stories Accepted: SEVEN
Stories to Resubmit: 0

Novel Queries: 1 Novel, 3 queries out
Novel Rejections: 7

Well, the first stage is finished. I did the final cutting (and pasting--moving some sections around), as well spell-checking. Then I converted it to a PDF format and emailed it to my lovely and talented wife. She has downloaded it onto her Nook so she can read it. We'll see what she has to say about it.

I also two stories back into the mail (well, the email, to be exact) to new markets: Sniplits and Strange Horizons, to be precise.

Keen observers may note that my first novel is now out at only three publishers instead of four. That's right, I got another rejection. But as rejections go, it's a pretty good one, I think. But I'm going to save the details on that til tomorrow. I'm meeting my fellow pixel-stained technopeasant wretches (the INK writing collaborative) tomorrow night, and I want to see what they say about it first.

And now, to go start reading Kitty Goes To War, the latest Carrie Vaughn novel. Hurrah!

Stories in Circulation: 11
Rejections: 44
Stories Accepted: SEVEN
Stories to Resubmit: 0

Novel Queries: 1 Novel, 3 queries out
Novel Rejections: 7

Or, an update for my lovely and talented wife. No writing Monday. In the immortal words of Holland Manners (and later, Angel), "I just couldn't bring myself to care." And thus endeth the geekery for today.

Only an hour or two after my last post, in which I mentioned an absence of rejection letters...I got a rejection letter. On the other hand, it was a nice rejection. The editor said that the story was well written (yay!) but that it felt like the opening to a much longer story, or a novel. Which I suppose it could become, though that was not my intent. And I sent it out again as is,

Tuesday I produced just over 4,000 words on the novel. Today I hit the wall at a little under 4,000, though I then went on to write a few hundred words on a story opening, for a total of 4,425 words today. This puts me at the halfway mark on my 90,000 word novel, which is a nice milestone.

And right on schedule, according to Kris and Dean, I'm struggling with the fear that it's no good, that it's not working, that maybe it should be set aside in favor of starting something else. Something different. I know not to let these fears stop me. They say that every writer they know has to work through this every time, and I believe it. I'm continuing to plug away at it, but damn--it's hard sometimes.

They also say that when you're done with the book, you won't be able to tell by reading it which parts you felt good about and which parts you were sure were crap. And it's true--I know this from personal experience with the first novel. It was (when I finally dug it out of durance vile and reread it a couple of months after burying it, swearing never to unearth it again) better than I remembered/feared, and pretty much all of a piece. I know it's the same thing this time.

But dammit, I feel like I'm wasting my time. I feel a little depressed. I've been at this writing thing for a while now (about a year!*) and I'm not selling anything.** My lovely and talented wife encourages and supports me, and I appreciate it greatly. But I know she also worries about money, and so far I'm not making much at this gig. Which we knew would be the case when I started, and might be the case for quite a long time. Years, even. The end result, we hope, will be that I can make a living at this. Ideally, a very good living, enough money that my lovely and talented wife can retire from her job and live in the manner to which she would like to become accustomed. But even just making as much as she does now, so that we're doing better than we were when we were both working would be great.

Ah well. Unlike many human institutions, the universe doesn't run on credit. You puts in the work first, and THEN you gets your payday. Right now I'm gonna go read some short stories. Tomorrow I'll get back to work on the novel.

* Yeah, yeah, I know. A whole year. Wow. I should be Stephen King by now. Or Nora Roberts. Or some other household name with ridiculous amounts of money and fame from their overnight success. Except, of course, I know that it wasn't overnight. It took many years of practice and work. I like to think that I've done some of that work already--I've been writing for a long time, but doing it with this kind of consistent, organized effort is new. And on my good days, I'm sure I can succeed eventually. But at times, like right now, in the middle of a book I'm convinced is no good, I wonder if I'm wasting my time and should just give up. I won't. But the thought is there.

** I've got six stories published, and a seventh goes live this month. That's nothing to sneeze at. But they're all royalty-based epublished shorts, with no upfront money. And I'm not making much from them. So I suspect I have a tendency to discount that achievement. I try not to, but...selling something else to another publisher, especially something for which I get paid up front would be really nice. And it will happen eventually, dammit. But not today.



Stories in Circulation: 11
Rejections: 36
Stories Accepted: SEVEN
Stories to Resubmit: 0

Novel Queries: 1 Novel, 5 queries out
Novel Rejections: 5

Project 1: Space Opera (Title TBD)
Words Written: 45,575




Project 2: Urban Fantasy (Title TBD)
Words Written: 0

I mean manuscript submissions. Geez. Get yer minds out of the gutter.

I wrote a novel in November. Then spent February expanding and revising it to publishable length. Then I sent it off to five publishers. I did not send it to an agent. Agents don't buy novels. Editors buy novels. Thus, sending a novel to an agent would violate Heinlein's Rule # 4 for writers (You must send your story to someone who will buy it.)

But...what about the requirement that you have agent before a publisher will look at it? Forget it. It's not true. I've been told this repeatedly by writers who ought to know, and now I have first-hand experience.

I got a rejection letter yesterday. It said:


Yes, they suggested I get an agent. But look what they told me first. My manuscript does not meet their current editorial needs. Or, in other words, they're not interested. How do they know this? Because they looked at it. They can't not look at it.

"Get an agent" is just boilerplate. An obstacle put in place to weed out the unmotivated and unknowledgeable. Editors have to look at the manuscripts that come in. Why? Suppose the next Stephen King or Nora Roberts (or Stephanie Meyers) sends them a manuscript, and it gets rejected sight unseen, unread and unconsidered, because of the "no unagented manuscripts" policy. Suppose the novel does eventually find a home and becomes the Next Big Thing. The author becomes a household word, rich and successful beyond the dreams of avarice...and mentions publicly that, "Oh yeah, Publisher X rejected me without looking at my manuscript."

The CEO of Publisher X is not going to be happy. And someone is going to lose his job. If he looked at the manuscript and rejected it (for any number of valid reasons), that's different. But turning away what amounts to a license to print money because you didn't go through an agent? To quote Donald Trump, "You're FIRED!"

So they look. They have to look. If they reject you, they'll tell you to get an agent...but if they'd thought your book was worth buying, don't doubt for a moment that they'd have made you an offer. And the lack of an agent would have been meaningless. They won't care. They'll still want to make money by publishing your novel.

Now, maybe you don't agree with me. Maybe you believe that you must have an agent to submit your novel to publishers. By all means, do what you think is best. But I know what I believe, and that's how I'm pursuing my novel sales. Here's some more evidence:

Jim Himes (jimhimes ) recently surveyed 246 published novelists. Of those, around 70 sold directly to a publisher without an agent. About twice that number went through an agent. Which might mean an agent increases your chances of selling. Or it might mean nothing except that twice that number used an agent. They might have sold without one. There might be many other salable novels being rejected by agents instead of accepted by editors. we can't know based on this survey. What we can know is that plenty of novels sell without an agent's intervention.


Stories in Circulation: 8
Rejections: 30
Stories Accepted: SEVEN
Stories to Resubmit: 3

Novel Queries: 1 Novel, 5 queries out
Novel Rejections: 3

My story "Ink", that is. It's been bounced from four markets in the last two weeks. Ah well. Quick responses are no worse than responses that take weeks--and in most ways are much better.

I've got two stories under way this week. The previously mentioned "Chicago Style" and a new one I started last night, tentatively entitled, "Reunion". It's an idea that's been kicking around in my brain for many years, and had its origin in an idea for a role-playing game plot that I never got around to using. So now I'm using it in a story.

Stories in Circulation: 12
Rejections: 14 <---Yes, still ANOTHER new one today
Stories Accepted: ONE!

I sent the story off yesterday evening. By the time I got home tonight from gaming, I had an email rejection waiting in my in-box. Oh well. That just means I can write another wizarding story and submit that for the anthology. They'll be taking submissions until sometime next year....

In the mean time--Rejectomancy! I looked at my market list for this story, then wrote and printed a cover letter, printed out a SASE and packaged up the story for submission to my next market, Fantasy & Science Fiction. Tomorrow morning, after I've driven my lovely and talented wife to work, I'll stop by the USPS and drop it in the mail.

I didn't do much writing today. I thought about possible story ideas and looked over some partials, but didn't get much accomplished, really. Tomorrow I'll have to sit down and write. While technically I have until Sunday to get my second story finished, I'm going to be busy with social engagements for large parts of both Saturday and Sunday, as well as the usual weekend chores, so...I need to get the bulk of the project done Friday.

Stories in Circulation: 11
Rejections: 10
Stories Accepted: ONE! (To be released by Cobblestone-Press.com next Friday, September 25th!)

Friday was a miserable day on the writing front. A rejection letter from Alfred Hitchcock's didn't help on top of having trouble trying to plot out a story. On the other hand, I got a couple of encouraging comments/emails about that, so that was nice. Still, the plotting & planning didn't go well.

I didn't do a damn thing with regard to writing over the weekend. Instead, I spent a lot of time with my lovely and talented wife. I picked her up early from work on Friday to drive her to an appointment. Afterward we went out dinner at local German restaurant. We ate, we read, we talked. We were serenaded by a man on an accordion who played such traditional German folk music as "How Much Is That Doggie In The Window" and the themes from "Spongebob Squarepants" and the 60s "Batman" series. It was entertaining and oddly surreal.

Saturday we went to lunch at Popeyes, then cruised through IKEA and bought some stuff for the house, came home and puttered around for hours, watched television and generally were homebodies. Sunday we went out to a matinee of "Julie & Julia," which was a nice film. Came home, frolicked together, went out again to get a (very) late lunch at the bakery, then hung out at home for a while. I worked on laundry, she did some sewing. I uncrated a new portable air conditioner we'd bought via Amazon, discovered that it did not in fact possess the "evaporative technology" it was supposed to have* and put it back into it's box--we'll be sending it back for a refund. We watched True Blood on HBO and then adjourned to frolic together a little more.

It was a good weekend.

I got another rejection today, this one via email from Apex. They said my story was insufficiently science fiction-y for their purposes, which I admit is probably true. The SF element is marginal at best. However, having recharged my morale over the weekend with a very enjoyable couple of days with my lovely and talented wife, I am undeterred by this one. I've already resubmitted both rejected stories this morning, and I'll be doing some considerable writing today. I'll work on the plotting a little more today, but I'll be concentrating more on getting back to the "seat of my pants" writing that has worked so far.


Words Written Today: None Yet (it's early yet)
Words Written YTD (since May 1): 107,981
Stories in Circulation: 9
Rejections: 9
Stories Accepted: ONE!


*We have one portable AC already with a removable tank for the condensed water. It has to be emptied periodically--at least once daily, more often if its particularly humid (by Portland standards, anyhow). The new one was supposed to not need emptying--and it doesn't...assuming you attach the included hose to the drain and run it to a drain in the floor! Which might work in a basement, I suppose.

But we don't HAVE a drain in the floor of our bedroom. Which means we'd have to empty the non-removable tank manually--by letting it drain into a container we'd have to place under the tank outlet. That's worse than the fairly convenient remove-to-drain tank in the current AC. So it's going back.

Yeah. Got two form rejections today. These are from the same market where the editor emailed me with a personal response to my first effort. Bummer.

Must. Practice. Rejectomancy!

Okay...form rejections, but the reason checked was "other" (i.e., not the quality of the writing or the other standard reasons) and there was handwritten explanation of what the other reason was. So I know where I failed with these stories. Which means I can try again with new stories. This isn't as encouraging as the previous rejection, but--well, rejections are just part of freelance writing.

I'll see if I can find some other markets to send these stories to. But later. Right now it's time to go sulk in my cave.

Words Written Today: None yet
Words Written YTD (since May 1): 96,751
Stories in Circulation: 6
Rejections: 7
Stories Accepted: ONE!