End of the Month Thing

Finished two stories in January, so I'm ahead of my own curve.

"And the Cotton is High" was finished in first draft for Dead Bait , and will be revised tomorrow for the second and final drafts.

"Cooking for One" was finished in first draft (and started) today, and finished in four hours, and will undergo revisions afer dinner and a visit by friends for Devil's Food .

"Ain't Gonna Dig No More" was rejected by Apex for "lovely writing, no a tight story, and too horrorific for our tastes". It has since been re-subbed to Allegory for their consideration after a review and tightening of certain parts I missed during revision.

"No Deductible" is still a lady in waiting over at Weird Tales with no word.

I'm looking for markets still on "Rock A Bye Baby", "Fragile Obsession", and "No Tell Hotel". The first made the first cut and was then rejected by The World Is Dead and most recently by Necrotic Tissue, the second was a submission to Ghost in the Machine , which I have since given up as a dead market, and the third made the short list for Morrigan Books' Voices anthology. If you know of any markets, let me know.

Also, stoked that I finally got Rex Storm, Large Vermin Exterminator in a story.

Stories that have seen print this year are "Many Comforting Words", "Winter Wonderland", and "Big Jim Can Wait", all of which are in the Northern Haunts anthology from Shroud. My copy shipped yesterday. I'll be one pins and needles all week.

Stories to see print are a singleton, "Crib Death", slated to appear in the next issue of Sand from Strange Publications.

A few ideas bouncing around my head thanks to some weird dreams I had last night. I have to eat more popcorn before going to bed.

Other things to happen this month:

Got Promoted
Qualified for the loan to buy the ranch house
Discovered exactly how large the tax refund is going to be (let's say I'm getting rid of some debt this winter)

On the baby front, they've started to roll over, teeth, and crawl. Plus, Maggie has me wrapped completely around her finger. Des, my wife, has started painting again, which is good. In case I've never mentioned it, my wife had a little reputation as an indie filmmaker for her horror and weird movies, and is a wonderful painter. When we first started dating (I had a mustache) she made a painting of me as a confederate soldier under a tree, staring over a blood-stained battlefield in sunset. Don't tell her, I have no idea where it is. Recently she's started doing some other art.

Speaking of art, there was an artist out there that stays in my memory. I had a friend named Kelly who went to Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. I forget her name, but she said she painted her nightmares. There was one painting that hung above their couch everytime I visited, a monster of some sort. I just remember it freaked me the hell out. I wish I had offered to buy it at that point.

Oh well.

That's the news from the homefront, where I now have more time because I have an 8-5 shift again.

Peace,
J.C. Tabler