At the beginning of the week, I found out my second-most rejected story had been accepted for publication in a forthcoming issue of Nature Magazine. I am excited someone got this odd little story, which combines dichotomous keys, xenobiology and bad life decisions. I'll be offering updates on when it will be available to read....
This weekend, I was able to create a draft of a flash fiction story, using a series of prompts. It was interesting to see how my subconscious worked together three or four of the prompts offered into the draft. It was also interesting to keep at an idea which had eluded me for a while. The end result was a story I drafted a few more times until I liked the result and sent it out as soon as I thought it was done. I'm curious to see who will buy it. With this story, I broke ten submissions out at the same time, which is a first. I have heard of other authors who have upwards of 20 stories (or more!) out at the same time, but I don't have that many stories completed. I guess I know what my next goal is, then....
I usually hate having to write for a deadline. I've tried to write stories for certain submissions windows, and have often entertained the notion for a brief while before blowing it off. This weekend, I received a deadline to produce a very short piece. I amazed myself by coming up with three different ideas, with the last making it across the finish line first. I also finished early. Who knew I had it in me?...
I found out yesterday my most recent story, a flash fiction piece called, "Clown Car, Driven Once, Never Emptied" has a pre-order page available for Kindle at Amazon.com. This was a story I had submitted to the first call for the theme (Coulrophobia; fear of clowns) back in April 2015. It didn't make that cut, but made it onto their follow-up anthology. You can blame a former co-worker for it. At the time, she told me she had bought a car of a non-standard color. I imagined it to be bubble-gum pink with polka dots, which led me to ask her, "Did you buy a used clown car?" Well, you might guess how this turned into a short story....
The Wall Street Journal published a piece talking about how the island's population has decreased due to continued economic problems. I'm not sure if the author Nick Timiraos was avoiding any context for his reporting, not aware how several of his points are nonsensical given the situation, or if he is engaging in the type of glib misdirection that passes as journalism these days. Case in point: The island’s bondholders and the insurance companies that have guaranteed those bonds say Puerto Rico’s elected leaders have made the crisis worse by resisting deeper spending cuts and tax increases. When he refers to "resisting deeper spending cuts and tax increases," this means: closing more than 150 schools which have already been shuttered, cutting pension plan payments to retired public service people, which are used to pay for everyday things like groceries, rent or mortgage payments, and the insanely high electric bills. Add to these costs, the general...