You may not see it looking at my Submissions list, but it's been a crazy time for me as a writer since I last blogged.
The Ups: I received my first EVER payments as a writer, and they came at about the same time. First I won a prize for The Winsome Widow (not here, somewhere else), and then a reader commissioned me to write a sexy mystery/thriller story.
The offer was made on an open forum; I sent in a sample story prologue - which was a sexy little mini-story of its own - and he loved it. So that's my current major project. It will be called Heaven Can Wait, and if you want to read the Prologue, it's currently posted on my web page in the Members area (free - no advertising).
The Downs: I had a story called A Valentines Tradition in the Valentines contest. The good news is that I came in the top 10. The bad news is that there were 10 entries. The big eye-opener for me was the scoring. I usually get a nice bell-curve of scoring between 6 and 10, peaking at 8. Some stories get an occasional 4 or 5 too, but that happens; can't please all the people, right?
Well "A Valentines Tradition" must've really stunk like a skunk, because in addition to that bell curve, it copped two 1s, two 3s, three 4s and three 5s. Ouch. I tell myself it's part and parcel of publishing, but it still stings. I'm taking a concrete pill and hardening the f*ck up.
The Ins and Outs: In Progress and Out Now, that is. Goodbye, Miss Granger is finally completed and edited and the first five chapters are released on SoL. I'll be dropping the remainder (11 in all) over the course of the next week.
The Surprise: One of you wonderful people nominated me for Best New Author in The Clitoride Awards. I don't know who it was and none of my stories made nomination, but it's a thrill just the same. Thank you, kind stranger.
Click on the yellow link at the top of your browser and log in with your StoriesOnline userid to check out all the categories and nominees.
That's it from me. I need to get back to writing Heaven Can Wait. Hope you enjoy Goodbye, Miss Granger; write and let me know.
Belinda