Big IMPORTANT Blog Announcement

Those of you who've been following me and know something about the Peyton Progress Meter/Peytonometer should get the significance of the following.

I'm applying the Peytonometer to my book I, Crimsonstreak!

Do you know what that means? DO YOU KNOW WHAT THAT MEANS!!!??

Here's some help:

I, CRIMSONSTREAK

MAY 2012

CANDLEMARK & GLEAM

KINDLE * NOOK * IBOOKS

and

WHEREVER BOOKS ARE SOLD
You can find a blurb about this in Publishers Weekly (click here!).

New Stories Accepted!

After a steady string of "thanks, but no thanks" in the realm of short stories, I'm pleased to announce two acceptances this week.

But first: The Peytonometer...

The first story comes from Strange, Weird, and Wonderful Magazine (website HERE). It took a few tries before I found a story that fit the publication, but I eventually found one. I wrote it last year (May 2010) and titled it (blandly, I might add) "The Policeman." I dusted it off, did a few edits, and retitled it "Old-Fashioned Police Work."

A summary:

Old-Fashioned Police Work: After the police department hires a contingent of super-powered rookies, a veteran officer learns he'll soon be forced into early retirement. As he contemplates his career options, he and the rooks confront a string of robberies that only a little old-fashioned police work can solve.

Timid Pirate Publishing (website HERE) solicited submissions for its upcoming Cobalt City: Dark Carnival anthology. This is a unique one for me; it's part of a pre-established, shared superhero universe. I've submitted to two of these ventures before (one rejection, one still in limbo). So I was very happy to hear my short story "Harrigan the Magnificent" made the cut! I'd also like to point out that the anthology's editors are STILL ACCEPTING submissions until the end of June. So if you have an idea, you still have some time. The submissions page is HERE.

A summary:

Harrigan the Magnificent: Strange psychic messages draw Harrigan to a sinister circus where children disappear in the wake of the grand finale. Determined to save the victims, the luckless antihero confronts the dark mistress behind the behind the plot and stumbles across an unexpected, bittersweet destiny.

To anyone interested, my short stories page has now been updated. You'll find it HERE.

Also, my essential post "So, What Are You Working On?" underwent a massive update as well. Everything I've written now has a summary. You can find the ridiculousness HERE.

New story now in "Audibles" stage

Another Average Night on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum. I busted out about 2,000 words this afternoon to wrap up a short story. It hit slightly under the target of 6,500 words. I don't get too concerned with word count goals; it just felt by the pacing of this story that it would end up in the 6,500 to 7,000 word range. Finishing under that isn't a bad thing at all.

I'm going right into revisions on this short story, because I noticed a few misspellings and structural things I wanted to change. After the initial revisions are complete, I'll put the story aside for a week and work on finalizing the piece. The story may end up in flux on the Peytonometer...while I'm entering the "Audibles" stage, I may also go to the "Beta Reader Handoff" phase simultaneously.

But the best part is that I had a decent idea for a story, outlined and conceptualized it, and completed the first draft fairly quickly. I haven't settled on a title yet.

New Short Story Brings Back Reggie!

I started a new short story tonight...and am posting the first Reggie Miller Writing Continuum update in a while! I have 2,100 words...a very good "Average Night" by Reggie standards.

The short story is a tale about an immortal warrior who fights in different eras (Roman Empire, World War II, Gulf War, etc.). It's for an anthology looking for supernatural war stories. It's not exactly my bag, but I thought I had a decent concept and wanted to play with it. I think this will end up in the 6,500-7,000 word range.

And, heck...while I'm at it, let's bring out the Peytonometer:

Revisions, revisions, revisions

It's been a pretty quiet week on the writing front. I sent a manuscript into Angry Robot Books for their open submission month. I won't hear back about that for a long time, but I figured it was worth it. The worst they can say is "no thank you" and there's also the (admittedly minuscule) chance they'll take an interest in it.

Most of my writing time this week has been used to work on revisions for I, Crimsonstreak, my superhero story about a super-speedster who busts out of an insane asylum to stop his father from playing his own personal game of Risk with the entire world. I can tell a difference between the writing in that book and many of my more recent projects. I'm eliminating a lot of choppiness, beefing up the characters, and adding little vignettes to the book that reveal more about the protagonist. I'm about 3/4 into the main story from a revisions standpoint. So far, I've added 5,000 words to the narrative; my goal is to beef up the word count to about 70,000 for the main adventure. Once that's over, it's onto the meta-fiction part of the Crimsonstreak universe, which is nearly 25,000 words in its own right. That part of the text needs to be rearranged, reformatted, and rewritten.

I haven't used my precious writing meters lately, so, let me reiterate that I, Crimsonstreak is in its "Audibles" phase.

You know, because everybody needs a little Peyton (What's the Peytonometer? Find out here).

Quiet! Revisions Underway!

100th Comment on this post gets this logo on a t-shirt.
While I don't know where the rest of the week will take me, I'm committed to revising one of my earliest books, I, Crimsonstreak, a humorous, first-person take on the superhero genre.

This one's been sitting around for a couple of years. Let's put this in perspective: when I finished I, Crimsonstreak, I'd written a total of 120,000 words between that book and my very first. Since then, my writing output has been been much more impressive, with two other finished books and more than 35 short stories.

This isn't boasting; what I'm saying is that I've put a lot of words between I, Crimsonstreak and myself since originally "finishing" the novel (we all know, of course, that no creative endeavor is truly ever "finished"). When I was writing it, I had no idea what I was doing (in many ways, I still don't); I hadn't had anything published. While I'm not a big-time author by any stretch of the imagination, I now feel like I have a better grasp of writing in general. I can look back at this book, see its flaws, and grind them out.

After that, I'm going to need some beta readers to take a look at it and then go back for more revisions. But I can't do that until I feel the book has improved dramatically from its last draft.

The blog will probably remain relatively quiet this week (although that could ALWAYS change) because I'm working on revisions instead of coming up with something new. It's not that revisions aren't writing--writing is revising, point of fact--but it's not that exciting to do any kind of commentary on revisions...unless I find some extremely poorly-written sentence to share.

But wait...I can use the Peytonometer for this!

I, Crimsonstreak--now in the "Audibles" stage!

The Peytonometer: Not just for short stories!
My other project is a book review for someone who found this blog and thought I'd like to read his superhero novel. I'm about halfway through the book, which is about 600 pages. Either this week or next week, look for a review and an interview with the writer.

You can't win 'em all...

While one short story was accepted today, another was rejected.

Don't worry, I'm just fine. These things happen in publishing...when...you're *sob* told *sob sob* you're not *sob sob sob* good enough...

Poor "Baz Ramen and His Great Intergalactic Band." It's a fun story, just not the most marketable one in the world. This means I should give up, right? I'm a hack writer, right?

Oh, the humanity!

On the plus side...new graphic time!

What do we call it when a story gets rejected?

It's been Foxboroughed!

Writing Update, 2/25

With production around 1,500 words tonight, I had another "Average Night."

I finished my short story, "Capes." That means I have another update on the new Peytonometer! We've moved from "First Draft" to "Audibles!" What does this mean? The explanation is here.

Reggie Miller WC Latest and the Inaugural Peytonometer Update

With a shade over 1,500 words, I managed to have an "Average Night" on the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum. My current short story is a project called "Capes," which is about a legacy hero who absolutely hates wearing a cape, but is forced by circumstances to do so. I think this story will end up in the 4,000-4,500 word range.

It is unfinished, of course, which puts it in the "First Draft" category on the Peyton Progress Meter.

Introducing the Peyton Progress Meter

I'm stuck at a crossroads on a story I've been writing and decided it would be fun to come up with another "meter" to measure my progress. I already have the Reggie Miller Writing Continuum, a magical meter that keeps me honest on my word counts. Were I to update the RMWC (or simply "the Reg"), tonight I would've technically been blocked by Tayshaun Prince.

But there's no fun in posting that.

So now, I have a new meter. Don't worry, "The Reg" isn't going anywhere! The new progress meter features Peyton Manning and is intended to track the individual progress of a work. You'll find the Peyton Progress Meter (PPM or "Peytonometer") below:

A quick guide to the meaning:

First Draft: I probably should've called this "Reading the Defense" or "First Down," but I kind of like the idea of Peyton coming up to the line of scrimmage and getting his "first draft" of the defensive game plan. Obviously, this category means a story or book is in the process of being written.

Audibles: Step 2 on the Peytonometer is "Audibles," which translates into "Revisions." When a story/novel hits this stage, the first draft is complete and the story is being revised/reworked/rewritten.

Beta Reader Handoff: Once I've called my audibles, it's time to send my story off to my beta readers (I'm actually looking for some if anyone's interested). This stage includes getting comments back from readers and making changes based on their suggestions.

Going Deep: Once I've taken into account the suggestions from my beta readers, it's time to release the work into the wild! That means sending the short story out to a publication or directing a query letter toward an agent or publisher.

We Have a Winner: This is the triumphant moment that a work gets accepted for publication! Raise that Lombardi Trophy up high, Peyton! Congratulations...we have a winner!

Of course, not every story comes up big. Some are one-and-done, some advance to the AFC Championship Game before falling short, and others simply fade away. These stories have been rejected...or as the Peytonometer calls it, Foxboroughed!

The following tragic graphic reflects these unfortunate situations:

You can expect guest appearances from the Peytonometer as I continue to share my writing progress.