NERVES

Hallo there all.  I just wanted to take a moment to talk about submissions.  Of the writing kind.

Today I submitted a story to Writer's of the Future.  Now, when I was deciding I wanted to put my writing out in the great big world, the query-go-round was the first huge obstacle.  It didn't take me very long to decide that wasn't the type of career I wanted to have.  I wanted something that would seriously reward me as an author, not just my pride in being "in print".

Then along came these fancy e-reader things, and I knew I wanted one the day they were announced.  I lived in Japan and I begged and begged and begged my parents, "If you get me anything for Christmas - just get me this, and I will be THRILLED."  And, that's all I got that Christmas, and I was THRILLED.  (See how that works?)  The best part was that I could get English-language books to read while in Japan.  I have to say, there is a shortage of English texts in the land of the rising sun ;)

But somehow it didn't occur to me that I could get MY works on that fancy digital book.  And then, one day, like magic, it did.  I was busy working on another story that sits forlornly in the "Whoops, I abandoned you!" pile and I came across KDP.  Incidentally, I came across it on the internet because sometimes while writing, I go on brief research spurts to make sure I'm not talking out of my hat, and that I actually know what I am saying is true.

So anyway, then I started doing lots of investigating into KDP.  But the problem was - I hadn't written a novel.  I had come close a couple of times, lengthy, sometimes rambling manuscripts, but never anything concrete.

I moved home.  Stuff happened, and then I wrote a novel.  A complete one, my first one, "Shackled".  And let me tell you, by the end of it, I was thinking, "Why would anyone ever want to write one of these?"  Because I was brutal on myself and I forced my arse into the computer chair to write and write and write the freaking story until I was done.  It took me about three months total and looking back more effort was spent getting over myself than actually writing.  That's not to say it's not good - I think it's an awesome story - but I was quite melodramatic about it, to myself.

I got it all ready, and I put it up on Kindle and crossed my fingers and toes and eyes and... well, not much happened.  I sold a few copies and I got a couple 5 star reviews.  Luckily, that's more than some (so I've heard.)

Well now I've turned this into kind of a rambly backstory, sorry.  But the short of it is, I don't have a lot of experience with submissions.  I haven't received a hobojillion rejections like Konrath or others.  I actually haven't even received one.

Mostly because I haven't submitted anything :P

But I mean to be serious about this writing thing.  Remember the whole 52 Shades of Short Stories I want to participate in?  Well, I seem to do short stories well, and if I'm not writing novels, then they need to be submitted somewhere.  Today started my submissions journey - a 1,250 word short entitled "Moebied" and cast to the great dark waters of Writer's of the Future.  May they treat it gently.

And again, sorry for the rambly but... NERVES.

On the Twelfth Day...

So last time I posted, it was about finishing the short story, "Need".  Twelve days later, and I just wrote another short story, "Moebied."  It's 1,247 words long... about a thirdish the length of "Need".  I also have another unpublished short I wrote awhile back called "Singularity."  Now I'm puzzled as to which to submit for Writer's of the Future!  Obviously I'd like to submit my best work.  I'd like to get two or three beta readers for "Moebied", if anyone's interested?

Well, I'm happy to be writing again.  :)  Twelve days is a much shorter break than er... three months.

I was really interested in joining 52 Shades of Short Stories.  I still am, actually, even though I'm coming in mid-year (but it was really only started mid-year hehe).  I wrote "Need" on 7-8, a Sunday, which I could say started that week.  Now I wrote "Moebied" today (Friday), which is technically the next week.  That makes me two for two weeks ;)

Hmm, it might be pushing it next week to be three for three hehe, but we'll see!  Anyway, yay writing :)

3 Months~

Wow, I haven't posted in three months and I have no good excuse.  Truthfully, I haven't written pretty much since I stopped posting.  How's that half a million word challenge going, you ask?  Well, don't :P

The good news is that I broke the long drought and in a marathon writing session (I'm talking 6+ hours, with goofing around splattered in the middle) I wrote a complete short story called "Need".

The story begs the question, "What is the last thing a man will ever need and how far will he go to get it?"

At 4,136 words I wrote this a lot slower than usual.  Not merely the goofing around, I was incredibly picky about my phrasing.  How picky?

Final check of the documents shows ZERO PERCENT passive voice usage.

I know.  -I- didn't even realize it was so low, until I looked at the checker.  I know there were a few sentences I changed around to remove the was/were/to be.  I know the characters probably used some passive voice, but to register at zero percent?  I think that's pretty rocksome!

Also, I got to use the word "slattern".

Intrigued by this story?  I'm considering submitting it to Writer's of the Future... and if I do, it will be my first... EVER... actual submission.  I just haven't been interested in that part of publishing.  But I'm getting there.  In fact, with the way I write short stories, I'm becoming VERY interested in the short fiction market, in general.  I've been browsing submission guidelines.

So, that's what's new with me :)

Year-on-Year, March 2012

For the first two months of this year, my YoY looked pretty good, the numbers were higher than 2011, at least. I now have 13 published items: 1 novel, 6 novellas, 1 novelette, 1 omnibus, 4 short stories.

Here is my loverly chart:

As you may notice, my sales for March of this year were exactly the same for my sales in March of last year (2011). I was hoping for at least 1 more sale... it would be wonderful to have three months of growth... but I can settle for "same". For the year, I am still technically "up". I have high hopes for April, because I like to think with 13 titles I can beat a sales record of SIX! Starting in May is when I think I'll be really worried...

Another nice thing: my BBoS (Big Box of Shame, the brown box that Amazon puts across your sales chart when you have zero sales/the new month starts) is ALREADY gone for April! Yaysies :) A copy of "Shackled" moved, which I'll explain why that's interesting further on...

Also, 2 of the 3 months this year, I received royalty checks, which is of course, FANTASTIC ;)

Another thing of note (not pictured in this chart), 4 of my 9 sales (44%) were for my highest priced items at $3.99 and $4.99. In the end, sales are just a number until you can actually do something with the money you earn. I would have to sell 8.06 short stories to equal 1 copy of my $3.99 sold. 10.08 to match the $4.99. Ultimately, selling less was actually more for me (than if these had all be $0.99 shorts).

That really reinforces for me that I need to get one of these novels-in-progress finished! Not only for higher royalties, but because people really do seem to buy them at a better clip. It's a little sad, as I seem to be mastering short stories with every passing day :P

Speaking of which, a few days ago I finished up another short tentatively named, "Singularity". I'm considering turning it in for the Writer's of the Future contest, introduced to me by my good friend Kingswood but I haven't been able to grab him yet to question him about it. (Are you reading this? :P)

So I guess the only thing to do is get crackin' back at it!

Balance

I recently went to the doctor and discovered I was severely anemic. By severely, I mean - I already take a daily multivitamin containing 100% of my Daily Value (DV) of iron, as well as eating red meat and iron-rich vegetables, and I still fell into the "anemic" rating.

Now I'm on an iron supplement and I can't even begin to describe how much better I feel.

I originally went for fear of my family's personal genetic curse - hypothyroidism. It is not an exaggeration to tell you that it afflicts almost 100% of my female relatives on one parent's side. Luckily (for now, at least!) I've escaped that particular hurdle.

I am fat because I am fat!

Hypothyroidism and iron deficiency fatigue have strikingly similar characteristics. Joint pain, physical exhaustion, confusion, depression, lack of concentration/motivation. (And no wonder, with pain, exhaustion and depression would YOU be motivated??)

I am overweight, and not particularly proud of it. But since January I have been trying to do something about it. I even started a grueling diet and workout, in which I consumed 1,200-1,500 calories of strictly water, veggies and almost all lean proteins with a 3,000+ daily caloric burn. This would mean I would lose 1lb about every other day.

Well, actually I gained weight.

Mathematically, it doesn't make sense. Nutritionally... the fact is, while I wasn't "starving", my body thought it was (stupid body). So it held onto every tiny bit of every morsel of food that came into my body... so even though I was running/biking a combination of 6 miles a day, plus strength training and eating about half my output... I gained weight.

This is a symptom of hypothyroidism (which I mentioned I do not have). I read, for severe hypothyroidism, a person could need to burn NINETEEN THOUSAND calories a day to lose 1lb a week! How exhausting!

In fact, my doctor told me something I thought I'd never in a hobojillion years hear, "You need to exercise less and eat more." How funny! So now I range between 1,700 and 2,000 calories a day, and during my "exercise" portion of the day, I burn 600 instead of 1,000 calories. Throughout the day, I still end up burning around 3,000, because I walk the dog, and strength training benefits your metabolism for 24 hours afterward.

The good news is that I am now seeing progress. I had my 60-day fitness test today. In January I went to the gym, in February it was a big life upheaval and I didn't, and this month I've been really steady. I go three days and am off the fourth, so I end up there 5-6 days a week depending on how the "breaks" fit.

Soooo, for mostly this month's work, I've lost 6lbs of body fat! Yeah! I still have a lot to go (boo!). My 1-minute-do-as-many-sit-ups-as-you-can, went from 27 to 31 (4 increase!) My muscle endurance stayed the same - I can lift 100lbs once, but not 105 :( But the good news is, with the weight loss I had, that 100lbs I can STILL lift, is a greater percentage of my overall weight. At my "ideal" weight range, 100lbs is actually perfect (by that I mean average, because I am not a bodybuilder.) I lost a number of inches (enough to need both hands to count :D).

My heart is still strong and healthy and I lowered my resting heart rate by 2 beats a minute. (My heart doesn't need to work as hard to get oxygen to my body.)

Overall, I'm happy with my progress. I know the work I'm putting in (and how much easier EVERYTHING has gotten since I started taking iron supplements). As I jokingly say:

"When my books make it big and it's time for me to do the talk show tours and the interviews, I want to look goooooooood" ;)

But besides that, general health is important to me, and I want to take care of my body if I can. And as far as the changes since the iron supplement - I am so much more on the ball with writing! That's fantastic, seeing how it's my life :P

Any health stories anyone else would like to share?

Now Available: "Nightmare"

Been pretty busy lately, sorry I haven't been stopping in much! Just wanted y'all to know that I uploaded my newest novelette, "Nightmare" this week!

Lisa Maynard's son is every sort of problem child. When she receives a mysterious letter from someone called the "King of Nightmares", she thinks it's a prank by Joseph. But the promise is sweet - a child that will "never, never give you grief again." But how much is prank, and how much is promise fulfilled...

Clocking in at almost 11,000 words this is my 13th release! And, I've met my monthly release goal - I'm 3/3 so far this year! :D (Waaaaay behind on word count though haha.)

The Best Thing (Floppy Jowls, Floppy Ears)

Today was ridiculously beautiful outside. Some of that awful Midwestern winter sloughed off, and left us with clear blue skies and a shorts-worthy temperature that makes all the hearts of those cooped up all winter, sing with joy. So I did the right thing, and went over to my beau's parent's house, with their big country backyard, to let my dog chase his frisbee and be happy and free running his legs off.

But getting there, now that was the Best Thing. There is something especially gratifying about driving down those country roads, radio on, windows open and the dogs jowls and ears flapping in the breeze.

Very gratifying. (Also, HILARIOUS.)