The Month of Sorrows

So January is over. I now have two reasons to hate the month. First, it was in January that my dog Dusty unexpectedly fell ill and died two years ago. He was only five. Of course the second reason is my recent computer crash. So bring on February, even if it is the month in which I will turn forty. January's stats are a follows: six rejections and two acceptances. My micro piece Order Up is now online at Micro 100.

I worked on Deadliest Cachalot more last night and today. Again, I have kept to a rather languid pace. Still, this rewrite should be complete by tomorrow or Monday night. Then I'll let it sit a day or two before revising. Of course, I did the same thing last time and never got the chance to revise. This time I am prepared: all my important files are now on a flash drive.

Perusing Duotrope earlier today, I saw a new listing for the Hideous Evermore Anthology. Creature themed horror? Now this sounds like something I can really get into. I've already got numerous ideas bouncing around. As for existing stories, A Cause For Celebration, my twice rejected zombieless zombie story, got sent off again today. Here's hoping that the third time is the charm.

Back In The Saddle

Worked on Deadliest Cachalot some more tonight. I'm going slower with it this time around than the first version. Then I was in a hurry to get all my thoughts down before they vanished from my head. Now, knowing exactly where the story is going and what needs to be done, I'm taking my time with it. The first version ended up around 5,000 words. Tonight was my third night on this version and I've barely scratched 1,200. The story is remaining the same, but I've changed a few things this time. Stuff like names, certain bits of conversation and what not. One thing I was not happy with in the initial version was the name of the catamaran used to ferry passengers on a whale-watching tour. Does anyone have any suggestions for a boat name? My brain is fried and that is a sure sign that it is bedtime (either that or time to run for public office, but I'm going with sleep this time around), so I'm off to snoozeland.

PS. It feels good to be writing again. I was afraid the two weeks without a computer and the subsequent bad news would quell my enthusiasm, but I still feel the need to write.