Out of Mothballs

Just for fun (and because I think it'll be worth it) I'm pulling my short story "Sinking NeoVenice" out of mothballs, dusting it off and re-editing it for publication. I'll probably go over it, checking for overall character motivation, consistent theme, always with an eye to trim down if I can. Then I'll post it over at the CW forums and see what kind of feedback I get from it. My final step will be to see if there's an appropriate market out there for it. It's sort of an unusual story--kind of a cyberpunk thing, but I think it won't be too tough to find a market if I can make the story itself work well enough.

Encouraging meeting

I met this last week with the guy whose story a fellow author and I are ghostwriting, and it was a very encouraging meeting. We talked through his original manuscript and how we can cut it down to the most impacting stories, which I'll then fill out with description and other prose. I feel like we now have a definite direction for the project. It also looks like there's a decent chance that it'll get picked up by a major publishing house, which will be really nice. 

Of course, that last little tidbit sort of puts the pressure on, but that's okay. We can deal with that. 

Now all we need to know is how much time we've got left 'till deadline.  

Outlining

I'm currently engaged in a fairly new undertaking for me. Basically, I'm analyzing a lot of raw material, then outlining in preparation for distilling it down into an interesting and compelling non-fiction narrative which will form chapters of a future book. (another author is working on the other half of the book) In a sense, I will be writing it, but in another sense, it's someone else's work. I guess that's what ghostwriting's all about. It's an interesting learning experience. 

Done with the Devos

I'm finished with my first draft of the week's worth of devotionals from Philippians I was asked to work on about a month ago. 

I like how they turned out, but I'll be running them by the wife just to make sure I didn't write anything really heretical.

Feedback

I've recently joined an online writer's community called Christian Writers.com, and it's been really great so far. 

Many of the people who post there have similar vision and focus as me, and there's a fiction writing workshop area which allows you to post your work and receive feedback on it. It works on a point system where you get points if you post edits & suggestions to others' work. You can then use the points to post your own work. 

I posted "The Crimson Rod" and got some really valuable feedback, plus rave reviews. Highly encouraging. 

Finished

Well, after a week of frantic work when I could make the time, I'm done with the first draft of my story set in Palestine.  I've still got a portion of one scene I need to write, and some tightening and tweaking yet to do, but I'm about 98% there, I estimate. 

This is going to be a fairly busy writing week for me, since I also have five devos to write as well. I'm trying not to panic about those, but to apply my little "bird by bird" rule to them (courtesy of Ann Lamott). 

Anyway, I'll be very glad when these two projects are done with. 

Second round

My short story "In Plain Sight" has made it through the first round of readers over at Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. It's now in the second round, and within 2-3 weeks (or less) I should hear whether it's made it to the third round. I've never had a story make it all the way to publication with this magazine, but I have had a few make it to the third round, only to be eventually dropped. We'll see what happens with this one. I don't have tons of confidence that it'll make it all the way, but we'll see. 

Finished one, started another one

I wrapped up my short story "The Crimson Rod" this week, and right now, it's in second draft edit phase. I like how it came out, and after it undergoes some tweaking, I'll start looking for a market for it. 

Now I'm working on another one that I hope to finish over the next couple of days. This one's set in modern-day Palestine. I've already written about 1500 words into it, and it's still going strong. An essay that one of my students wrote served as inspiration (though the events that occur in the narrative are completely different than what she wrote in her essay). The rest of it is based on my own experiences in the West Bank, though again, the actual story is completely fictional. I'm frankly a little surprised but pleased how easily the story is writing itself. That's a good sign, as my most successful stories have come out that way. Anyway, we'll see how it all comes out. 

Sold another one

I just found out that I sold another story to a literary startup magazine called "Semaphore," based out of New Zealand. They should be publishing "Woman is Cipher is Woman" in their December 2007 issue. I'll post a link for it here once it gets published.

In addition, there's a possibility that the story will be included in a year-end anthology for the magazine, but whether that happens or not remains to be seen.

Anyway, I'm pumped.

Full Plate

Looks like things are ramping up a bit for me these days. 

• I've got a short story to finish for this lit mag I'm writing for right now (and as a followup to my last post, I rewrote the words that I lost and then kept going, so things are going alright there, aside from lost time). 

• I've got research data (mostly anecdotal stuff) to analyze, collate and edit for this book I'm ghost co-writing. 

• I've got other stories coming up that I'll be editing, a couple of my own and a bunch of others' that I promised a friend I'd help edit. 

• I'm also writing some devos as a freelance assignment as well as giving feedback on ones written by other authors. 

So I'm busy. But it's a good kind of busy. 

Aaagh!

I diverged from my usual practice of writing my fiction in longhand and then transferring it to the computer, and now I'm regretting that decision. 
My computer hiccupped (something to do with battery problems) and caused me to lose over 1,500 words from the story I'm working on right now. That means the work of an entire writing session (one I was very pleased with, by the way) lost. 
I'm pretty upset, to say the least, and a bit depressed by it all, but I'm trying to make the best of it. 
I'm recreating what I can remember from my notes and hopefully the scene I rewrite from memory will be even better than the one I originally wrote. 
I've learned my lesson, anyway. Backup any digital work. 

Mini writing marathon

I sat down Sunday night and banged out over 1,500 words for my latest story and am pleased with the results. Not only am I pleased with the word count itself, but also I'm happy with the way the story's going. I just need a couple more sessions like that and this story'll be finished. 
For those who are full time writers, I guess 1,500 words doesn't sound like a lot, but at least for the season I'm in, it's significant. I've learned from Mur Lafferty over at I Should Be Writing that she's recently downgraded her expected wordcount to 250 words per day, which was inspired in turn by the example of Cory Doctorow, who does this and still manages to produce published work regularly. 
So it looks like for me at this point I'll be aiming for around 250 words daily interspersed with occasional longer marathons. 

A sendoff and a failure of nerve...

Okay, I sent off my most recent detective story to Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine. All well and good, right? Well, when I was editing it about two in the morning, I decided to make a radical change to the title and also add in some stuff that changed the setting, as well as some internal character motivation. 
Then I sent it off.
Bad move.
In the harsh light of having a few more hours of sleep, I took another look at the title and the additions I'd made and realized with horror how maudlin and cheesy and trite they sounded. 
So it's another letter to Andromeda Spaceways asking for them to remove the first manuscript and reinsert the original one, with the original title, instead. 
I may just have ruined any chance I had of being published this time around by this magazine. 
Oh well. If it's meant to be, it'll happen. If not, there are other slush piles in the publishing world.  

Revolving Door...with complications

I always try to get back up on the horse right away, if possible. So tonight, I sat down and re-edited "Woman is Cipher is Woman." It's still a good story, and it improves with each editing, I think. Anyhow, I'm happy with how it got re-edited, so I fired it off to Semaphore Magazine, a literary mag out of New Zealand that I mentioned earlier. The story still fits with their desire for detective stories/fantasy, so we'll see how it's received. In some ways, "Woman is Cipher" is a more mature story, seeing how it's gone through more revisions.

But here's the tricky part--I'm also asking the editor of Semaphore to release "In Plain Sight" back to me. Reason: I want to clean it up, edit it some more, and then submit it to Andromeda Spaceways, since I feel that it's really a better match for their style, anyway.

So things have gotten a bit complicated, and at this point, I'm depending on the good will of the editor over at Semaphore. If she gets mad and rejects both, then I'm sort of back at square one, but at least I'll have achieved half of my objective.

Rejected...but encouraged

Well, my short story "Woman is Cipher is Woman" was rejected by Andromeda Spaceways. I'm not completely surprised, as it had been passed over a couple of times by different editors. I honestly was thinking that the story needed a bit more work, anyway, and I'll probably re-edit it and send it back out as a result of the generally encouraging comments I got from the readers at the magazine. Below are a couple of their comments:

"This isn't bad...a bit less of the kitschy detective stuff would make this
better, with a bit of a polish this has promise."

"Quite good."

So it goes...

Sense of Direction

After a couple of false starts, I'm fairly certain I've got a good handle on how I want this new story I'm working on to go. I've got my main characters, and I know their issues, particularly my protagonist. I don't know all of the plot details, and from experience, I probably need to at least know where they want to get to before I get much further. Still, I think I've got a good solid start on this story, for which I'm grateful.

Jumping the gun

I realize now that I may have jumped the gun a bit sending out my latest story ("In Plain Sight"). I went ahead and submitted it to a magazine in New Zealand without waiting to get some vital feedback from one of my readers. The feedback most likely would have immensely improved my story, and now I regret my impatience. At this point, I'm going to make my edits, and then contact the magazine and see about withdrawing my previous draft and substituting it for this one. Normally, I wouldn't do that, but since this magazine's a startup and this is their first issue, they may be more inclined than many to accept that arrangement. In any case, I've learned a little lesson about patience and its virtues.

Finished editing and sending it off...

I'm finished with my final edits on "In Plain Sight." I'm planning on sending it off either tonight or tomorrow to a new online mag I found. I may do some more research, though before I do that, though. 

A small rant...and a resolve

I realized once more last night why I am called to write.
My wife and I watched "God is in the Details," an episode of the otherwise enjoyable Sci-Fi channel series "Eureka." This particular episode was a travesty, however, depicting people of faith as ignorant medieval-minded bumpkins, ready to declare any unexplainable phenomenon as a miracle of God or something. (for more on how badly this episode was written, you can read my review of it here). Anyway, my comment to Cara as the episode ended and we were discussing it was: "This makes me want to sit down at my desk and write."
There is such a gap--especially in America, but elsewhere, too--between people of faith, particularly Christianity--and those who don't ascribe to a faith. Both sides often hold extremely ignorant views of the other, and the writing they do about each other reflects this. One of my aims in writing is to publish works written within my worldview into a publishing arena which is traditionally hostile to that worldview. There are many Christian writers who publish works that are read for the most part only by Christians, and that is wonderful. That is their calling. My calling and desire is to write things that will be read by those who do not claim Christianity, or perhaps any faith at all.
My aim is not to proselytize. As Samuel Goldwyn famously said: "If you have a message to send, use Western Union." My goal to is to simply write in an excellent way and let whatever is inside me come out through my writing and illuminate the world around me.

Buckling down

I did it. Made myself sit down last night and wrote 1,700 words into my new story in my Moleskine notebook.
It's amazing how good it always feels when I finally get to the writing process. http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.photo.gif

Recording story bits

When I'm developing a story, I've found it helpful to record "conversations" between characters. For some sections of the story, I can imagine interactions between different characters, sometimes quite vividly. I then act out their dialog, and if it's convenient, record it using my phone or another device. Sometimes, I'll write it down, but I've found that this tends to slow down the easy flow of the "conversation" my characters are having.

A little weird, I know, but it works for me and helps me to get to know them better. I may not actually end up using the conversation in the final narrative, but it definitely helps with story development.

The ol' Inbox is filling up

I've now got two stories about ready to send out for publication. Both of them still need some editing, though one is in a stronger place than the other, I think. Both have been read and commented on my one or more of my main readers, so I need to find the time to sit down with them and do the final edit on both to get them ready. Plus, I need to find the right place to publish them. I'll write more on that particular process--finding the right market--in another post. 

Jumping in

I'm pretty much done with my research at this point. It's all gathered together inside Scrivener. So now I've got to start writing. Actually, I already have--done about 500 words or so, but I don't know if I'll keep them. I'm trying to understand my main characters, and part of that involves writing scenes with them that probably won't end up in the final narrative. That's okay, though, because I want them to ring true. I've mainly got to find time now just to sit myself down in the chair (or somewhere else) and write. And that's the really hard part. 

Doing Research with Scrivener

I gotta say, I really love Scrivener, and here's why. It's not only a very decent word processor, but it also enables me to collect all of my research in one place. This is invaluable for almost any kind of story I write, but especially anything that requires lots of historical or scientific research. I can put everything that I gather, whether it be PDF, sound file, picture or a web page--all in one place. I can choose to view them all in a visual interface that resembles a corkboard with note cards tacked onto it. I can move the cards around like I want, and even color code the "tacks" to reflect different categories of research. When I'm ready to write, I can constantly reference my sources by opening them in another pane right below my draft. Or, if I choose, I can just open a full screen version of my draft and just let the creative juices flow. For all these reasons, I went ahead and sprung for the registration fee, and Scrivener is definitely proving its worth.

Quick Update on "Cipher is Woman..."

Anybody remember my story "Cipher is Woman is Cipher" that I submitted to Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine a while back? Well, as of today, it's still in their slush pile, albeit in the final round. They've published one issue since it made it there, so I imagine it's got one more go-around. If it gets passed over this time, I'm betting they'll fire it back to me. So, we can all hope it makes it, but it's got some competition, as there about 50 other stories at the same level are vying for publication right now too. We'll see, and I'll post here once I know one way or the other...

Brainstorming

I'm just at the beginning stages of this new story I'm working on. Unlike previous stories, which just kind of struck like lightning, I'm having to work at the inspiration part. This is sort of like my experience with the police procedural I just wrote, in that it was a request, not an idea that struck out of the blue. I'm using FreeMind, a free mind-mapping program, to help me with the brainstorming part. I'll just keep working through ideas and hopefully I'll spiral closer and closer until I get to the one that really works. At this point, it's kind of a hit-and-miss process. With my detective story, I actually wrote almost all of a complete story before I trashed it and started over with what I feel is a much better version. So it's messy, but hopefully, there'll be some good results.

Busy week

Two things I've assigned myself to get to this week:

• Final rewrites/revisions on "Sinking NeoVenice" and then submission for publication somewhere

• A new short story for the literary magazine startup I mentioned in an earlier post. 

Anybody's welcome to ask me about them--I'd love the accountability!

Of course, the big caveat to all this is that I need to stay focused and balance these projects with my other life callings and responsibilities and "to-do's." I could use prayer for that, as it's something that I find particularly challenging. 

Finished the Detective Story

I finally finished the detective story, so it's now at first draft stage. It's been retitled "In Plain Sight," and I have to say, I like it a lot. It definitely could use some tweaking in some areas, but I've got a solid first draft, at least. I'm sending it around to a few first readers to get some feedback. 

A couple of new projects on the docket

I can't give too many details at this point, but it looks like I'm going to be getting involved soon in a couple of larger projects in addition to my continued fiction writing.

One of the projects is writing for and contributing in other ways to a startup literary magazine. There are lots of details to be worked out on this one, of course, such as where it'll be published, how contributors will be solicited, etc. While I'm not the idea man behind it, I certainly like the concept, and am more than willing to be on board with it. I'll be working on a short story to contribute to the mag (which looks like it'll be issued quarterly, with each issue clustered around a particular theme) once I get my detective story done. The first ish will be out in December or January.

Also, I'm going to one of two editors (so far) working on ghostwriting/editing a book over the next year. The book, a non-fiction piece, which will end up being about 50,000-75,000 words long, will be an non-fiction historical account, told via linked biographical sketches. If that all sounds vague, it needs to be at this point. I may elaborate more on it in the future, if appropriate.

In any case, I've got my work cut out for me, but I'm definitely looking forward to it.

Burning the 2:00 am oil

Since my wife was staying up to work on a project, I decided to stay up, too. I parked myself on the futon, trusty Moleskine in hand, and wrote another scene for my detective story (yet to be titled). I'm still encouraged at how fast this thing is going and how easy it is to write. It's nearly like the characters are writing the narrative for me. As I said in a previous post, I think once I find the "voice" for a story, then it's generally not too difficult to always know where things are headed and how to write them. 

Every Spare Moment

I'm learning to discipline myself to write whenever I have a few minutes of time. I carry my little Moleskine notebook with me, usually in my back pocket, and when I have a few minutes to spare (like when I'm waiting in line at the bank or proctoring a test) out it comes. I generally try to jot down a few lines for whatever short story I'm working on at the time. The most difficult thing for me when I do this is getting my head back into the story, but I think it's getting easier with practice.  

Square One on the Detective Story

Okay, sports fans. It looks like once again, I'm scrapping most of the work I've done so far on the story I was tentatively entitling "Firewater." It was nearly done this time, too, but somehow, it still wasn't right. So after a few days of working through it, I decided to wipe the slate clean and start from the beginning. First, I did some research on the genre by dowloading actual detective stories from the 1920s and 30s and reading through them to get a feel for typical stories in the genre. Though this seems obvious, I hadn't actually done it up till that point. Then once I read a few, I started afresh. I was amazed how quickly I was able to get the voice of my character. I've found that with my best stories, once I have the "voice" of my character or characters, the story practically writes itself, as I always have a really good idea what they're going to do or say. I have a general idea of where the story is heading, but I let my characters take me there.

Anyway, I'm encouraged. The new story's clipping along nicely and it feels like a much better story, too.

Back in the Saddle

I have been on a kind of hiatus, due to trying to recover from jet lag and an extremely frenetic time in the States. Now that I'm starting to feel like a human being again, I'm getting back to work. My favorite editor (my wife) got "Sinking NeoVenice" back to me with her edits and suggestions. Fortunately, she liked it. I have yet to hear opinions from others in my circle of first readers, so I'll ask them for feedback and then wrap up my final edits on that story soon. I also worked quite a bit on editing my other story "Firewater" the other night and then sat and wrote towards the ending. I've been kind of stuck on how to proceed with the ending, but I think after a couple of false starts, I've finally got a direction to head towards. Once it's done, then it'll be off to my friend Jim for feedback and we can start working it up into a screenplay. 

Anyway, the rusty gears are grinding but the writing machine is starting up again. 

"Elbow Room" is Published

My short story "Elbow Room" has now been published in RayGun Revival Issue 27. You can download the complete issue as a PDF if you're interesting in reading the story.

Working on the fly...

On my plane flight over to the States, I got a lot done on my "Firewater" story. Overall, I wrote over 2,500 words and got within one scene or two of the end. Of course, this is just the zeroth draft, but it is encouraging. At least I'll have a ball of clay on the table to work with now. 

Slow going

I got a little bit of work done last night on "Firewater," but it was slogging work. Between packing and other housework, and a healthy bout of procrastination, I didn't get much done. I got one short scene written and some details worked out, but that's about it. Oh well. Maybe I can get more done when I'm at the car wash today.

On the Shortlist at ASIM

Just got an email from ASIM that my story "Woman is Cipher is Woman" has now made it to the third round, also known as the shortlist. At this point, it's in the hands of editors, who are trying to find a place for it in one of their upcoming issues. According to the email, about 1 in 3 submissions make it from this point to full publication, so it's not a sure thing, but it is encouraging. Also, they said that they'll contact me within two to three months, so it may be a while before I hear again on this. I'll post an update as soon as I know more. 

Sold!

Just got an email from RayGunRevival. They decided to buy my story "Elbow Room" for inclusion in an upcoming issue. Hooray!

I'm pretty pumped about this naturally. I don't know too many details, as they just sent the email, but I imagine I'll find out soon enough when it'll be published. At that point, I'll post with a link pointing to it online.

Working on a new story

I've now started work on a new story, tentatively entitled "Firewater." It's sort of a new way of doing things for me, because a close friend of mine requested it and gave me some parameters, since he wants to film it for a short film project. Since he doesn't have much of a budget, I'm suddenly restricted in what I can depict or have happen. It's still going to be a sci-fi piece, but I'm really going to need to work hard to keep it interesting and stay within the limits of what can be filmed.

Also, this is the first time I've written anything "on request." Usually, I generate an idea that excites me and go with it, or I run with something that popped into my head. The common denominator here is having an idea that excites me from the beginning. This kind of feels like I'm putting the cart before the horse in some ways, having to write fiction on demand. We'll see how it works out.

Flash Fiction Contest

In about two hours' time, I brainstormed a story (based on space monkeys no less), wrote my first draft, typed it, edited it and then sent it via the internet off to hopefully be published. It was for a flash fiction contest that RayGunRevival is running right now through the end of July. The contest winners will be published in their August 15th issue. I like the little story I wrote and was pleasantly surprised how quickly it fell together. Anyway, we'll see how it goes.

Spruced Up and Out the Door

I spent the last few days dusting off "Elbow Room," a likeable (at least in my view) little story that I originally submitted way back when to ASIM. It made it to the third round before being fired back to me. Anyway, I recently re-read it, saw a lot of good stuff there (again, IMO), and decided to give it a fresh go-over of editing and then send it on to a magazine I've discovered more recently: Ray Gun Revival,a golden-era sci-fi magazine that specializes in space opera and similar stories within that science fiction sub-genre. They also published my first published short story, so perhaps they'll be more amenable than many towards this effort. We'll see.

Anyway, it's on its way, and sometime soon, I'll hear what they think.

I'll keep you posted!

Edited "Sinking NeoVenice"

Before bed, I worked for around an hour or two on "Sinking NeoVenice," and got it to first draft stage. Now I just need to enter the changes into Scrivener and then I'll export the finished draft and send it around to my readers to get some feedback. 

Made it to Round Two

Just heard from ASIM. "Woman is Cipher is Woman" has now made it to Round Two of the three-round process. According to the email I received, I should expect to hear more from them in about 2-3 more weeks. 

Round One

Checked the slush pile tracking page on ASIM today, and my submission (#8240) is in round one. I expect it'll be there around a week or so, and then if it's not rejected, will go on to round two.

They got it

Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine (hereafter to be referred as ASIM) emailed me this morning to let me know that they got my submission ("Woman is Cipher is Woman"). I've been assigned a tracking number, so I'll see if and/or when it advances in the selection process. I'll keep updating here whenever I know more, which should be every week or so (depending on how far the story gets in their slush pile process)

"Elbow Room" re-edited

While I was at the airport today waiting for the plane containing my wife and kids to take off, I sat down at a café and re-edited "Elbow Room." Lots of good stuff there, but it definitely could use some work, mainly in the areas of characterization and believability of some scenes/events. Overall, the story itself is sound, and I think it'll definitely be publishable when all is said and done. I hope to work on rewrites and additions for it tomorrow. I'll either work on that or "Sinking NeoVenice" or both, depending on what other errands I need to run.

Fortunately, these are both things I can do on the run if I remember to take my notebook with me and printed-out drafts of the stories. I'm trying to develop the habit of working anywhere I am, or wherever I can grab a few spare moments. This helps make sure my workflow stays consistent. I'm not the best at this, but I think I am getting better.

"Sinking NeoVenice" Zeroth Draft done

The story's finally reached an end. My zeroth draft is done (otherwise known as the "down draft" where you just try to get everything down). 

Next: the first draft (otherwise known as the "Up" draft, where I try to fix everything up) (these terms courtesy of Anne Lamott in "Bird by Bird")

I'm pretty stoked that the story finally got wrapped up. I'll admit I was at a loss over how to end the thing, but I took some advice I read somewhere which essentially said that the beginning of a story will often tell you how it's going to end. So, I went back to the beginning of this story, read it through, and eventually figured out how it should end. Maybe a little weird, I know, but it worked for me. 

It's Off!

I just launched "Woman is Cipher is Woman" off into the void, to either be published or rejected (and then sent back out again). I sent it to a pulp sci-fi mag called "Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine," a publication I've admired for quite a while. This will be my fourth sub to them so far.

They have an interesting slush pile process, by the way. Three rounds of readers read each submission. If the first round of readers likes it, then the sub makes it to the next round, and so on. Something that makes it to the third round usually gets published, but not always. I've had a story make it to the third round before, but other stuff I've sent since hasn't cleared the first round.

I also like the nice helpful comments I get back from these guys. Very helpful and no form letters in sight. Last, and very important: they accept e-submissions--important for a guy who lives overseas.

I'll keep everyone informed as to the progress of this story.

Finished editing "Woman is Cipher"

After working last night 'till 1:00 a.m. and then this morning after I got up, I'm pretty much done with my final edits to 'Woman is Cipher" 

Now I've just got to make a decision where I want to send it for publication. More on that subject later. 

Editing "Woman is Cipher is Woman"

Okay, right now I've got Scrivener open and am working on my final edit for "Woman is Cipher is Woman." Wow, I've been working on this particular story now for around two years, but it's gone through a lot of iterations since the beginning. Also, I haven't been working on it steadily, either. I think I laid it aside for around a year or so after I initially finished it. One of my readers suggested that I drag it out of mothballs and so I did. It basically resembles the original, except with some major revisions. Anyway, after this last round of edits, I'll send it out and hopefully get it published!

This post courtesy of the cool Blogger Dashboard widget

I'm writing this post via the nifty Blogger Dashboard widget (available for the Mac OS X Dashboard app). It should make posting faster and more convenient in some ways. Anyway, we'll see

Busy, busy, busy...

Okay, I'm pretty busy right now. At the moment, I'm working on three different short stories in various stages. I've got "Woman is Cipher is Woman" in final draft phase after getting it back from my readers. I'm also trying to finish my first draft for "Sinking NeoVenice" and am working up the zero draft for a short story that I'm tenatively calling "Firewater."

My plan is submit the first two for publication and the last will be turned into a screenplay for a short film a friend of mine is doing.

So lots of stuff going on.