Celebrating Indepenence

What a great month June turned out to be! My horror story, Youthanasia, made it to the public voting round with Chilling Tales for Dark Nights' Short Story Horror Writing Contest. The story fought the good fight for the first few days, staying within the first three spots, but eventually I got knocked out. In the end, I came in somewhere in the middle. Thank you to everyone who voted for me.

Congratulations to the winners! I read everyone's stories and there were some very good ones I was up against. I am honored (and very proud of myself) to have been a part of it. In fact, I am looking forward to the next one. The way I see it, I have only been serious about my writing for the last six months and to get that far is a real treat.

After having written a horror story, I had a difficult time coming up with a sci-fi/fantasy story to submit to L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future contest. I tried and I tried but all the ideas I came up with had to do with ghosts and horror. Guess I was on a roll. And it may very well be that sci-fi/fantasy isn't for me. I enjoy reading the genre but I probably am just not cut out to write about it. And that's OK. That's what this project is all about; finding my limitations and finding myself.

For the seventh month, and seventh venture, I have decided to try to submit to a magazine. I have looked into several options and found quite a few that appeal to me. Am I going to submit to every single one of them? Probably not. Something I have learned is that I can't force myself to do something, i.e. the sci-fi story. So for this month, the month where we celebrate our independence, I am going to celebrate my own independence and not pin myself down with only one option.

Option 1: Mountain Tales Press is accepting cowboy poetry.

Option 2: The Chattahoochee Review is accepting submissions on the theme of "skin", either literal or figurative.

Option 3: Stoneboat Literary Journal is taking submissions of poetry, fiction and non-fiction works. But they are also accepting photo essays, which I am most interested in. They also accept comics and graphic fiction/non-fiction.

Option 4: Good Housekeeping is running a writing contest. Submit stories that are "All About Love."

Option 5: The Quotable will be accepting a variety of writing on the theme of "desire".

Most all of these magazines close their submissions on August 1, making my July goal perfect timing. I have some ideas for what I want to try to write for some of these and haven't figured anything out for others. I have decided that if I can submit to at least two of these magazines than I have made July a successful month.

Wish me luck and I'll do the same for you.

Six Month Check-Up

I started an experiment six months ago in order to force myself to expand my horizons and stretch my comfort zones. If I was going to try to be a serious writer than I wanted to prove that I didn't have to limit myself to just one genre. Sure, I had the most experience with play writing, but that was just because of my background doing theatre in the Houston area. Since my stroke I have had to seriously consider the fact that my amateur stage career, and any chances at a real career were over, giving me the rare opportunity to take my time and explore my options.

In January I taught myself how to write a radio play for BBC World Drama's International Play Writing Competition. The format is different from that of a stage play, which I still need to work on. In fact, I am currently in the market for some new software to help me with that very problem. The judging will likely take place in August.

In February I wrote a short piece for travel website, We Said Go Travel. I was really proud of this piece. The theme was to write about a place you were influenced to spend your time wisely. My Grandma and Paw Paw, both influential themselves, had just passed away and I couldn't think of a better place to write about than the time spent growing up on their property in the Big Thicket in East Texas. You can read my piece here, if you are interested. And a hearty congratulations to the winners. I hope one day I can be half the world traveler some of those lucky writers are.

In March I participated in Three Cheers and a Tiger's short story mystery writing challenge. You are given a prompt at Just the Place for a Snark, a writing forum, and in 48 hours required to write a short story. Twice a year, Three Cheers hosts this type of competition. In the Spring it's all about the mystery, in Fall they want your sci-fi/fantasy stories. You can win the winning entries in the June edition of Toasted Cheese.

April was a tough month for me. I was having some health issues that kept me from completing my personal challenge of writing a poem a day for National Poetry Month. I managed to do it about half the time, which only makes me determined to try again next year. I submitted my poems on poet Robert Lee Brewer's Poetic Asides Blog where he challenges writers to write a poem a day every day for the month of April.

In May, I wrote a short story about an object for Haunted Waters Press's Summer issue of From the Depths. It could be any object in the world, real or imagined, however tangible and what did I do? I missed the deadline. But the editors at Haunted Waters Press read my blog (how cool is that?) about learning my lesson, and gave me a chance to submit my story anyway. What a fantastic opportunity and thank you from the bottom of my heart. Also, check out their Penny Fiction. I haven't been able to think of any yet, but they get some fascinating entries.

And here we are, halfway through June. So far I have submitted my horror story to Chilling Tales for Dark Nights. I admit that I have yet to start on a sci-fi/fantasy story for L. Ron Hubbard's Writers of the Future Contest. I'm having a hard time thinking of something to write about. 

One more fun thing I have found to do is Flash! Fiction Friday hosted by Rebekah Postupak. As many Fridays as I am able, I participate in writing a flash fiction story (about 150 words) that has to do with the prompt given. I have had so much fun reading everyone's entries and trying to come up with something creative and original. It's a great writing exercise, if nothing else. Fiction Friday is on Twitter.

New things I have learned/done:

Written a radio play

Written a horror story

Missed a deadline

Been given a second chance

Been disappointed at what I have produced

Realized I do better with specific guidelines rather than being giving unlimited reign (my imagination goes into overdrive and then shuts down - for days)

I write terrible poetry 

I write pretty good poetry

Quit second guessing myself!

I hate writing author bios

Sci-fi/fantasy may not be my thing...

I need to be less fearful