Let's cover August.

Well, I am loathe to admit this, but I only finished a single complete work of fiction during the month of August. I had finished several things during July, got them sent out and such, but August was mostly work and pregnancy. So, as a result, only one piece of writing got finished. That was:

"Ain't Gonna Dig No More" - Submitted to Potter's Field 3

Outside of that, I started on several things only to have them fall by the wayside throughout the month, among them being:

"One Lump or Two, Balgaraog the Eviscerator" - a possible Dead Jesters story. This was started, and about halfway through set aside because I wasn't certain of the story's thread or where it was going. I had Balgarog, the demon from Hell forced to have a tea party with a little girl whose bed he slept under, down pat. As for the plot, the girl, her family...not so much past the first couple scenes. I'm working on this one still, and someday hope to read over what I have and churn out a definite story, but for now it's on hold.

"Mitchell Hill Road" - A calling from the world of Harvest Hill. I've started it, and have decided in a few hours of writing that it will be much longer than the simple one-shot I wanted to do as a work-up for my own amusement. This'll be on hold for definite development until I get the anthology in my hands and see what history has already been developed for the town outside of my own story. It may be a possible submission to some future anthology or project set in that tiny Tennessee town.

"The Coal Room" - Not really on hold, just having a few false starts. Everytime I found the thread, my wife (still pregnant then) needed something done, and by the time I was finished the story would have fled. The basics are still there, just waiting for me to sit down and type the story.

"Rex Storm, Large Vermin Exterminator" - A longtime project finally began, that saw a good amount of work on the outline for it over the month. Between this one and the babies, I have a decent excuse not to get many short stories done over August.

September will hopefully see a lot more work being done, both on "Rex Storm" (which may end up being that 'someday' novel I keep talking about, depending on how the outlines tickle my fancy) and on the short story scene. Now that the kids are here, believe it or not, I'll have a little more time to write because I'm going to be up half the night anyhow. Might as well make some use of those midnight hours. Plus, I tend to be prolific when I'm stressed out.

Well, back to the children, then back to the grindstone. By the way, remember to read Catherine Gardner's new story over at Allegory. It is, very simply, another wonderful piece from this talented writer.

Peace,
J.C. Tabler

So I've been absent

It doesn't matter. Nobody really reads this anyhow.

Alright, so we're on the cusp of me getting the rejection from Intergalactic Medicine Show, which should be showing up any day now. In addition, I have a crap story submitted to McSweeney's in a fit of drunken pride, a story out for consideration with Aberrant Dreams, and a fourth just sent out to garner a rejection from Modern Drunkard. Duotrope is the scourge of editors where I am concerned.

The writing has taken a back seat in the last week, primarily because we've been dealing with the baby stuff. Among this was today's experience, where I found out that we're having twins. As I stated to the doctor, I'm screwed. Seriously, I'm an underpaid, oddjob working writer who hasn't sold anything since a low low low paying piece in December. I have no job after June. I need to find something with health insurance and a good pay, as well as finding a new place to live after the kiddos are born.

In other words, I'm back to freaking out. Seriously freaking out. I mean like crying in the corner freaking out.

Short stories are on the backburner right now. I've started a second piece in the "A Question of Freedom" universe that may stretch out to become a novel. I don't know yet. All I know is I'm around 6,000 words in, and it hasn't yet gotten to the main portion of the plot that will serve as the catalyst for the characters and the climax. We'll see what happens, but until I get 50 pages in (if it lasts that long) I don't want to start on any stories that may distract me too much. Starting in March I'm going to work on a few short story ideas that are bumping around, but now isn't the best time to start them. Too much going on for me to stay concentrating on several balls at once.

I'll post more tomorrow after I get a little writing done. I'd like to, if this does go novel length, do a journal on my daily writing struggles. Because of my family, school, and work obligations, my target word count per day is 1,000 to 2,000. Sometimes less, sometimes more. We'll see, right?

So that's the news from Louisville. Now, I'm heading off to bed.

Peace,
J.C. Tabler