Story Number Nine

Ninth story accepted for publication. "Heart Case" will appear in The Absent Willow Review on May 19. It's one of my weirder stories, and also one of my personal favorite. I don't know if it will be anyone else's favorite. It's quite strange. The editor of Absent Willow said, "another great story," so there you go.

Publication History

Thus far this year:


Tinni and the Chain -- Absent Willow Review (appeared in January)
Grandfather’s Room -- The Nautilus Engine (appeared in February)
Seeing Through Doors - Absent Willow Review (appears in March)
Leaping -- Bewildering Stories (appears in April)
Planet Feast -- Big Pulp (appears May 19, 2010)
Companion -- Dark Fire (appears in #47)
Panorama of Failure - Realms Magazine (appears later this year)
Cakey and the Rubes -- Sideshow Fables (2/4/10) (appears in July)

Cakey Is Legit

Cakey the Clown just became a bona fide literary character. The story "Cakey and the Rubes" will appear in print in July or August in a magazine called Sideshow Fables. Here is what the editor had to say about the story:

"You did a great job of incorporating the theme of the magazine. I was drawn into the lives of these performers through Daniel, and the individual personalities were fun to experience. A very sympathetic story from the entertainment side of a circus. Very well done."

So there you go.

Eating the Sickness

"Walking Home" is completed and submitted. The next short story will be called "Eating the Sickness," and it will be weird enough to rival "Planet Feast." Also Lisa will find it delightfully bleak. My weirdest stories both have to do with eating. What does it all mean, Franklin? What does it all mean?

Walking Home

The first story I ever had published was a short story called "Fading Man." It appeared in a now-defunct magazine called "Starblade" in the Spring of 1995. I still have a few copies of that issue in a plastic tub in my bedroom. I remember being so excited to see it in print, then embarrassed at some of the crappy prose, then unwilling to show it to anyone at Christ on Campus (for fear that these church-type people would judge me).

So I took the basic ideas from that story, rescued them from the worst prose imaginable, and wrote a new story called "Walking Home." Lisa liked it but said it was "sad." Then again, she has said almost all of my stories lately are sad. What can you do?

Anyway, I've decided to start aiming a little higher in the publishing world. From now on, it's paying gigs only, if I can manage it. So I submitted this story to Clarkesworld Magazine. They pay ten cents per word. I just sent them 4900 words. You do the math. Now, my chances of getting in that magazine are slim, honestly, but if I don't aim higher, I'll never hit the juicier targets. So there you go. At least I now have a somewhat impressive list of credits to include in the cover letter. That can only help.

Signing off,

Mr. McNard (aka Jeffrey Miller)

The Latest

Just another Submission History Update. Only big news here is that Ink-Filled Pages, a young adult magazine, received my story, "Mindy of the Light," but won't make a decision on it until June. Oh well. Better than a rejection.

Story Title -- Submitted To (Response):


Tinni and the Chain -- Absent Willow Review (accepted, appears January 16, 2010)
Stick Boys -- Intergalactic Medicine Show (rejected)
Feeding the Grong -- Silver Thought
Robo and the Little Door -- Weird Tales
Leaping -- Intergalactic Medicine Show (rejected) THEN Bewildering Stories (accepted)
Planet Feast -- Big Pulp (accepted, appears May 19, 2010)
Grandfather’s Room -- M-Brane SF (rejected) THEN The Nautilus Engine (accepted, appears February)
Profaning the Leistra -- Anotherealm
Heart Case -- Twisted Tongue (rejected) THEN Absent Willow Review
Companion -- Absent Willow Review (rejected) THEN Black Ink Horror (rejected) THEN Dark Fire (accepted, appears in Issue 47)
Panorama of Failure - Realms Magazine (accepted)
Seeing Through Doors - Absent Willow Review (accepted, appears March 16, 2010)
Stone Breaker -- Intergalactic Medicine Show (1/29/10)
Cakey and the Rubes -- Sideshow Fables (2/4/10)
Dogs and Open Doors - Weird Tales (2/12/20)
Mindy of the Light -- Ink-Filled Page (2/17/10) (received, not yet accepted or rejected)

Updated Submission History

The "Get Published A Thousand Times" project of Winter 2010 continues. Here is my updated submission history. I don't know why I keep putting this one here.

Story Title -- Submitted To (Response):


Tinni and the Chain -- Absent Willow Review (accepted, appears January 16, 2010)
Stick Boys -- Intergalactic Medicine Show (rejected)
Feeding the Grong -- Silver Thought
Robo and the Little Door -- Weird Tales
Leaping -- Intergalactic Medicine Show (rejected) THEN Bewildering Stories (accepted)
Planet Feast -- Big Pulp (accepted, appears May 19, 2010)
Grandfather’s Room -- M-Brane SF (rejected) THEN The Nautilus Engine (accepted, appears February)
Profaning the Leistra -- Anotherealm
Heart Case -- Twisted Tongue
Attached -- Absent Willow Review (rejected) THEN Black Ink Horror (rejected) THEN Dark Fire (accepted, appears in Issue 47)
Panorama of Failure - Realms Magazine (accepted)
Seeing Through Doors - Absent Willow Review (accepted, appears March 16, 2010)
Stone Breaker -- Intergalactic Medicine Show (1/29/10)
Cakey and the Rubes -- Sideshow Fables (2/4/10)
Dogs and Open Doors - Weird Tales (2/12/20)
Mindy of the Light -- Ink-Filled Page (2/17/10)

Next Up

Next up will be a new version of the very first story I ever had published. It was called "Fading Man" and appeared in a now-defunct magazine called "Starblade" way back in, I believe, 1995. Not well written. Man, alive, is it not well written. But it has a germ of an idea that could be good. So I will work on that next and make "Fading Man" rise from the ashes of time like the Everhorse of Asgard.

'Nother Story

Okay, finished the Mindy short story. It's called "Mindy of the Light." I think it turned out not-half-bad. Managed to encapsulate a somewhat convoluted set-up into 3350 words. Just need a revision and then it's off to someone somewhere in magicland, hopefully for publication.

Score

For the record, since I began this little writing endeavor back in late November, I have submitted 16 stories, gotten 5 rejections and 7 acceptances.

Panorama of Failure

Just had another story accepted for publication. Yes, two in one day. "Panorama of Failure" will be appearing in a future edition of Realms magazine. I actually have to print, sign, scan and return a contract.

Mindy Idea

Taking a page from the "Book of Ideas" by Orson Scott Card, my next short story will be based on the novel I wrote last year. Card's "Ender's Game" originally appeared as a short story in a science fiction magazine. So I figure I could adapt an idea from "Mindy Lightbearer" into a short story and get that published. Then I could tell a publisher at some later date, "Here is a novel I wrote, based on a short story that appeared in Clarence McFranklin's Magazine of Tremendous Nostril Stories" or whatever.

So thank you, Mr. Card, for your ideas and your fabulous new cologne fragrance (available at finer Macy's and Piggly Wiggly stores near you).

Also, the term "Lightbearer" will be going the way of the dodo. I'm not sure what to replace it with, as of yet, but it will be something based on the Greek word for light, "phos." We shall see.

Another Story!

"Companion" a creepy story about a guy who buys a strange pet at a pet store just got accepted for publication by a British horror magazine called "Dark Fire." It will appear in issue 47. That's six stories accepted for publication this year. Crazy.

Story Title -- Submitted To (Response):


Tinni and the Chain -- Absent Willow Review (accepted, appears January 16, 2010)
Leaping -- Bewildering Stories (accepted)
Planet Feast -- Big Pulp (accepted, appears May 19, 2010)
Grandfather’s Room -- The Nautilus Engine (accepted, appears February)
Companion (formerly "Attached") -- Dark Fire (accepted, appears in Issue 47)
Seeing Through Doors - Absent Willow Review (accepted, appears March 16, 2010)

Links to Stories

Derek thought I should put links to stories as they get published, so I will do that on this blog, even though almost nobody knows about this blog.

Tinni and the Chain -- http://absentwillowreview.com/archives/tinni-and-the-chain

Grandfather's Room -- http://rnwrrn.googlepages.com/grandfather%27sroom

More to follow, as stories appear.

Planet Feast

One of the weirdest stories I have written, "Planet Feast," was just accepted for publication by the website bigpulp.com. The story will appear online on May 19, and then later (sometime in the winter) in a quarterly compilation that they put out. It pays $25. So there you go. Five stories now that have been accepted for publication in the last two and half month.

Mo' Special

Really struggled with the last story. It was originally titled, "Nuffy and the Egg," but "Nuffy Noe" became "Mark Moyer," and the title of the story changed to "Dogs and Open Doors." I'm still not entirely convinced the story works, but Lisa thinks it does. So there you go. Anywho, here is the updated submission report:

Story Title -- Submitted To (Response):


Tinni and the Chain -- Absent Willow Review (accepted, appeared January 16, 2010)
Stick Boys -- Intergalactic Medicine Show (rejected)
Feeding the Grong -- Silver Thought
Robo and the Little Door -- Weird Tales
Leaping -- Intergalactic Medicine Show (rejected) THEN Bewildering Stories (accepted)
Planet Feast -- Big Pulp (received, not yet accepted or rejected)
Grandfather’s Room -- M-Brane SF (rejected) THEN The Nautilus Engine (accepted, appeared February)
Profaning the Leistra -- Anotherealm
Heart Case -- Twisted Tongue
Attached -- Absent Willow Review (rejected) THEN Black Ink Horror (rejected) THEN Dark Fire
Panorama of Failure - Realms Magazine
Seeing Through Doors - Absent Willow Review (accepted, appears March 16, 2010)
Stone Breaker -- Intergalactic Medicine Show (1/29/10)
Cakey and the Rubes -- Sideshow Fables (2/4/10)
Dogs and Open Doors - Weird Tales (2/12/20)

If anyone is keeping score, that is four stories accepted for publication thus far. Not too shabby for two and half months' work.

Current Submission History

Story Title -- Submitted To (Response):


Tinni and the Chain -- Absent Willow Review (accepted, appears January 16, 2010)
Stick Boys -- Intergalactic Medicine Show (rejected)
Feeding the Grong -- Silver Thought
Robo and the Little Door -- Weird Tales
Leaping -- Intergalactic Medicine Show (rejected) THEN Bewildering Stories (accepted)
Planet Feast -- Big Pulp (received, not yet accepted or rejected)
Grandfather’s Room -- M-Brane SF (rejected) THEN The Nautilus Engine (accepted, appears February)
Profaning the Leistra -- Anotherealm
Heart Case -- Twisted Tongue
Attached -- Absent Willow Review (rejected) THEN Black Ink Horror (rejected) THEN Dark Fire
Panorama of Failure - Realms Magazine
Seeing Through Doors - Absent Willow Review (accepted, appears March 16, 2010)
Stone Breaker -- Intergalactic Medicine Show (1/29/10)
Cakey and the Rubes -- Sideshow Fables (2/4/10)
Nuffy and the Egg - unfinished

Another Story Published

My short story "Leaping" was just accepted for publication by a web magazine called Bewildering Stories. Not sure when it will appear, sometime from mid March on. We shall see. So that is four stories accept for publication in the last two and half months. Not too shabby.

Cakey and the Rubes

It's time for Cakey the Jacked-Up Clown and the All-American Klown Kroo Revue to somehow become literary characters, so I just finished a short story adaptation. Obviously, some changes were in order. Now the Clown Crew is a troop of clowns traveling from town to town in a post-apocalyptic America where people are disease-ridden freaks.

As it turns out, there just happens to be a magazine devoted to circus-themed stories. Weird. So we'll see if they want it. As Lisa said, "If they don't want it, nobody will!" And she might be right. Anywho, it's called Sideshow Fables. It is a print magazine, but they also have an online gallery of flash fiction (and, man alive, is it jacked-up stuff).

So hopefully "Cakey and the Rubes" will be coming to a nerd store near you someday.