September happened, I know it did

September went both very quickly and very slowly. Which is just how time works, I suppose. It's always just a matter of perspective.

Are you ready for my Super! Special! September! News?

It's not another story acceptance, and I haven't finished my third werewolf book yet (though I did make it my official project for NaNoWriMo this afternoon. My handle over there is GingerGunlock  if you want to buddy up). I haven't even done the rewrites on books 1 and 2 yet.




No, my illustrious SFF writer Twitter buddy Nin Harris informed me that my story "Daddy's Girl" in Syntax & Salt is on the SFWA Nebula Reading List for short stories. I've gotten a lot of fantastic and positive response about that story, and just being on the reading list doesn't mean that I'm nominated for the Nebula ballot, and I might not end up on the Nebula ballot. But it's a fantastic feeling to have received that level of recognition, and I'm floored to see myself there. Would I like to win a Nebula? Hell yes. But nobody knows the future, so I just have to wait. So much waiting.

And now that of course makes me think of Tom Petty, recently departed. I quoted him, and will likely continue to frequently quote him, when I say "waiting is the hardest part" when it comes to Writing Things™ and story submissions.

And I'm working on a story where I'm trying to deal with those weird complicated feelings about the death of a famous person even when you have never met them, spoken to them, seen them in person, etc. I got the idea for it while driving out to Tractor Supply this morning to get Elka's dog food (it seems like I in general get a lot of ideas while driving, which I enjoy and think might be interesting to examine at some later date).

In my previous post, I linked to some resources for hurricane relief donations, and unfortunately have occasion to do it again. I mean, it's great that people are doing things, truly. But terrible that so many people are in apocalyptic conditions. Fireside Fiction Company has a Hurricane Relief Bookstore, and 100% of profits are going to relief and recovery.

I have 21 submissions out right now (one of which is a simultaneous sub) and I'm pretty hopeful about most of them. A few might be lost causes or on the brink of acceptance, judging from just how long they've been out. I have no way to gauge.

In September I finished three stories. One was a short  I had started last year and brought almost to completion, but not quite. I'll let it sit for awhile, read it over again before sending it anywhere. Another is an under 1000 words flash piece that I wrote for a contest. The last I wrote on Saturday during my writing workshop. I passed around a tarot deck and told everybody to pick three cards, and use them in whatever order they preferred as their Beginning, Middle, and End. Then I set a timer in twenty minute increments and we all wrote stories. Or tried. Mine is a fairly skeletal first draft, but also pretty solid.