Personal News:
September was a far quieter month, with the exception of the late month tropical system which passed close by and did some minor damage to the area. It could have been a lot worse, but we did have some flooding and lost power for a while, which meant our cellar grew a shallow pond because our sump pump was off during that time. We won’t be able to address the power issues until next year most likely, but we’ll keep our fingers crossed any nor’easters that hit this winter are all snow, not rain. Snow won’t flood the basement.
Onward, forward…
Writing Conferences/Workshops/Classes/Professional Activities:
We had our usual writing critique group this month. I ended up having two stories critiqued. One (Fox and Troll Bake a Cake) was already in great shape and needed only minor adjustments, but I got really solid and actionable ideas on the second one, which I knew was weak and needed … something. Now I have that something to work with.
I attended an online workshop called “The Art of Finishing,” with Marie Vibbert as the host. The workshop was created and sponsored by Apex magazine under their (new I think) Reach Your Apex workshop program. It was fantastic. She provided great ideas on how to help push past our perfectionist needs with various tools we could use to get us out of the rut and get that first draft done so we can move on. I highly recommend these craft workshops, they’re very affordable as well as helpful.
Finished:
Finished a first draft of a story about nuns hiding banned books; also finished two much older stories which had lingered for years in my “In progress” folder.
WIP:
Novel is close to 80k now. I’m taking October to get other work done and to brainstorm the final 1/3rd of the novel to the ending. I’ll use November’s NaNo period to finish the last 30k’ish.
Outstanding:
11 stories currently outstanding. Oldest is at 92 days, but they’re responding at 98 or more, so another week or more to go there. The rest are all under 60 days.
Submissions:
12 submissions made in September
Rejections:
10 rejections received; 2 were positive personal rejections.
Acceptances:
No acceptances
Publication Credits:
Inspector Willoughby and the Sneak Thief
Goals for October:
Finish one new story. Finished one old story. Edit one story.
Plan outline and draft for final third of WIP novel.