The best laid plans...

Historically, April is a difficult month for me to accomplish much in the realm of writing and blogging.  It seems like every year, there are a large number of contests and calls for submissions with a deadline at or near the end of March.  So March tends to be a whirlwind of writing activity, which sometimes dries up the creativity for a bit.

April also brings with it major time-killers with regards to my coaching and planning duties at the Boys and Girls Club.  Playoffs and All-Star events take place for all four levels of the floor hockey league, and with preparation for the end of season awards banquets is always time-consuming.  At the same time, preparations are in full swing for the upcoming baseball season, including coaches meetings, schedule planning, rules revisions and umpire training.

Usually means virtually nothing occurs on the writing front for most of the month.

But this year was going to be different.  See, an odd quirk in the hockey schedule meant that I had two Saturdays off at the very beginning of the month.  Along with that, baseball planning had begun earlier than normal, and was running smoothly.  April 2018 would NOT be a writing wasteland after all!

Umm, yeah....so....

This is my first blog post since March ended, and I've written nothing of any real substance in that span either.  And I have no real idea why, other than perhaps lack of motivation.  Apparently the April slump has become too habitual. 

Curse you April.  Curse you.

It's here!

My "contributor copy" of the anthology has arrived.  It's still a little surreal, seeing my name in print.  I've read some of the stories, and I am humbled to be surrounded by the collection of talent.  There are playwrights, artists, and a large number of published and award-winning authors in this collection.

And little ol' me.  I sometimes wonder if they made a mistake.  :)

It will be available for purchase March 2 via Amazon.  I'll be promoting the link when it becomes active.  If you have any interest in fiction, please consider supporting the project - it's truly an amazing idea.

See?  In print.  Weird, right?

Publishing updates....

So, as previously noted, the release date for the flash fiction anthology in which I will be published is March 2nd.  Here are a few more details regarding the book:

- It will retail through Amazon at a price of $14.95
- The book contains over 40 short pieces (including my piece, "One Night Only"), along with some artwork and photography
- Front cover:

 

- Back cover:

I am honored and humbled to be a part of this project.  I hope everybody will check it out when it hits Amazon - it's a worthwhile endeavor.

In another update...I'm finally a paid writer as well!  A short story I've written is being included in a specialized niche anthology.  I have been paid a whopping $15.00!!!!  But hey, I'll take it.  Maybe it's the start of a trend.

Or maybe it's just a little extra beer money. 

And the point is...

So, as I alluded to in the post regarding writer's block, the only writing that is currently making real progress is a piece that I didn't really set out to write.  Well, at least not in the form it seems to be taking.

I began writing a piece directed at a contest where the theme was "body language".  I had this funny pair of lines in the writing journal that seemed like the perfect starting point, and began crafting a piece about two women on a video-chat date.  It allowed me to weave in different types of body language that would help tell the story and describe the women at the same time.

A minor problem soon appeared.  The contest had a strict limit of 1200 words - and there was no way this piece was going to wrap in that space.  So I put it aside to work on other things. 

Or so I thought.

Every time I tried to work on a different project, the video date story reared its head.  A thought would enter my mind, and I'd write a few more paragraphs.  Then came my trip to California.

I had a week-long trip to San Jose scheduled for some job training.  I'm not much of a traveler.  Not a huge fan of flying (as odd as that may be, given that I work in the aviation industry!), and mostly would just prefer to be at home.  So I make sure to have plenty of distractions when I fly in (usually fruitless) attempts to make the time pass a bit more quickly.

I brought a couple of books, and some of my writing work.  Including the video date story.

I started out the flight to California with a movie, but eventually pulled out my writing.  And the story just came pouring out.  With very minimal effort, I'd filled close to fifteen pages.  Throughout the trip and the return flight it continued.  And now I have this sprawling piece, and I have no earthly idea what the correct direction is.

It's too long for a short story.  Seems like a pretty limited concept for a novel, or even a novella.  The story is currently taking the shape of a real-time view of this date, which I think is approaching hour four or five.

Don't ask me what the point of this post is.  I don't have a clue on that direction either.

Note to self...

...don't publish blog posts at midnight after an 11 hour day at work.  You might get sidetracked and forget the primary reason for the post.

A few years back, I wrote a short piece entitled "One Night Only".  I was never really satisfied with the ending, but I also never really found the motivation or inspiration to fix it.  So the story sat in a folder on a flash drive, awaiting a future purpose.

Then the flash drive was lost.  It contained edits on one of my novel pieces, along with "final" versions of all of my short story work.  I was devastated - especially in the case of the novel work, where I had begun editing portions straight to the computer.  My hard copy backup didn't contain most of these edits, which were now gone forever.

Now, the losses weren't complete.  According to most people I know, I'm "old school".  I still actually write - by hand with a pen or pencil.  I typically don't hit the computer with a piece until it is completely written and has gone through a preliminary editing process.  So I had at least a preliminary paper version of almost all of the stories on the departed drive.

But apparently a funny thing happened on the way to complete backup safety.

See, a few months ago I began submitting pieces to contests and publishers again.  An opportunity caught my eye for an anthology being put together by a publishing outfit called Anchala Studios.  As I read it, I thought to myself that "One Night Only" was the perfect piece for submission, as long as I fixed the ending.  So, I dug out my folders and binders to find my paper copy.  Which somehow was missing a page.

The second page.  The original ending.

Thus forcing a complete re-write of the end of the piece.

As I type this, Anchala Studios is putting the finishing touches on the anthology, which will contain the updated version of "One Night Only".

I guess sometimes things just work out.

Help Me!!

No, it's not an S.O.S. - I just need readers.

I've entered a piece of my writing in a contest at a site called AuthorStand.  A portion of the contest factors in the ratings given to the story by those who read it.  The voting period runs through December 8th, and my story has had very few readers so far.

It's a piece entitled "Learning The Hard Way".  I can't say I've had an objective opinion on it so far, so it's entirely possible that it sucks.  But it's only a few pages long, so it won't waste too much time even if you hate it.  :-)

Here is the link - you have to click on "Download story" and it will bring it to you as a PDF file.
Learning The Hard Way

A really cool idea!

In my search for contests and markets, I ran across this amazing new site. Turns the literary e-zine genre on its head in my opinion.

Safety Pin Review

A totally cool new way of promoting writing pieces, along with a different take on flash fiction. I really hope the venture works out for the people behind it.

I've submitted a few pieces, so keep your fingers crossed - maybe this writer-in-progress will soon grace the back of a leather jacket!

Funk

I'm in a funk.

My "structure" plan isn't working either. Well, actually that's not quite accurate. I think the plan works very well and will make me a more disciplined and productive writer.

But it's not achieving the desired results because the plan doesn't kick me in the ass and get me moving. I lack motivation. I'm fatigued and feeling very down lately. And while writing will usually help me through times like that, I can't find the energy and motivation to put pen to paper or finger to keyboard.

I have plans and outlines for several articles, a short story and a few posts for my sports blog. Yet they sit in their respective folders, unfinished. Unwritten.

And I can't seem to find my way back to them.

However, perhaps you'll notice the box in the left hand column with recently published items - topped by a new sales article. The one thing I've finished lately. Now if I could just make my way to Parts 2 and 3 of it.

Or possibly I was wrong......

OK, so I kind of gave the fun plan a shot. Then my salesperson background kicked in.

Maybe the key is structure. As a salesperson, when I found my motivation flagging I'd lean on structure; a game plan - tracking my activities and setting goals for what I was going to accomplish that day or week.

So I've created a system to follow - a plan that requires a certain number of submissions, blog posts, etc. per week. A "kick in the ass" on a sheet of paper, so to speak.

We'll see how it works.

The non-fiction won. Kind of.

I guess I made a decision from the last post. Sort of, anyway.

I've launched my new sports opinion blog (which, fingers crossed, may be picked up by a local sports publication's website), entitled "Everybody's Got an Opinion".

It'll be an outlet for my non-creative writing.....I have a passion for writing, and a passion for sports. It only makes sense to combine them where possible - especially if it can pull some additional exposure for my words and name.

So, if you are a friend of mine....or a sports fan....or just a sympathetic soul, then please visit.

Let me rephrase that. Doesn't really matter who you are. Just visit. Please. :)

Everybody's Got an Opinion