Archive Dump from Website
28/03/26 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I got
to 309 of 444 on the Star Treasure edit. The page numbers are going up,
but the word count is going down; the reason for this is that I'm inserting
page-breaks between chapters. I'm well into Book 3 and wondering if I should
try to sell them individually, or do what I did with Punch the Devil and
trim some fat. I'm sure I could bring it down, but the story follows one POV
character, meaning they are much more tightly interlocked than the 3 POV of PTD.
I sent
out two new submissions. On April 1st, there will be a few more magazines
opening for submissions, which will see some of my sim subs. One magazine is
open for a day, the other for a week, so I must move quickly.
21/03/26 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I made
it to 289 of 442 on the Star Treasure edit--that gets me to the
two-thirds mark! Some quick math tells me, at 20 pages of edits per weekend, I
will have it licked in 7-8 more weeks. I might try to squeeze in some more
edits on Sundays to bring that down a little, but the end is nigh!
Finally
heard from the publisher of Big Smoke Pulp, Vol. 2, and we should see
the book published next week. The original timeline, although an estimate, is
overdue by a month. I need that book on my shelf!
14/03/26 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I got
up to page 270 on the Star Treasure edit. I also spackled on a few plot
points in the early chapters to help out the ones I'm reading now. The
two-thirds mark is inches away, taunting me to edit more but my brain is mush
now.
I
wrote a page of my new short story. I titled it "Energy," as a
working title. I like it, but I still don't know exactly where to go with
it--which is half the fun, mind you.
I also
figured out how to create an apple-touch-icon for this site. I have been trying
to figure that out for some time, so I'm pleased with myself. It ended up being
rather simple compared to what I had to go through with my last site.
07/03/26 (From ‘Upcoming’)
Knocked
out 20 pages of revisions today, taking me to 245 of Star Treasure. I
know I said I would start writing a short story, but I really want this novel
wrapped. Prolonging the edit will just irritate me.
I also
singed up for another writing site called Chill Subs. It's like a combination
between Writing.com and The Submission Grinder, only with less of both. I don't
know if I will check it as much as I do the others, but there is also a writing
community there, so the more toes I dip the better.
A new
book review is live on Goodreads.
01/03/26 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I'm
sitting at 225 edited on Star Treasure now. I'm playing with the idea of
taking a break to write a short story. I'm approaching a year's worth of
straight editing, not including the break I took to draft "Taming
Beasts," and I'm ready for a breather. My dilemma is that every day I don't
edit pushes the finish date another day.
21/02/26 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I
managed to knock out an additional 20ish pages of Star Treasure last Sunday to
bring me to 203. I've only polished 5 today, so I intend to hit it again
tomorrow.
I
mostly focused on more simsubs of "Paradise Burned." Simsubs is fun
to say. Simsub simsub simsub. Three submissions for it this time, with one
being an anthology (I've had good luck with those in the past). More info over
on Published.
14/02/26 (From ‘Upcoming’)
New
logo! So, I was talking with a
friend at work about her business venture and she revealed she had played
around with AI images to create a professional-looking logo. I thought,
"Oh Damn! How was that not my next logical step after asking AI to conjure
Brekabup?" So, after a little monkeying around, I got a cool book
cover-like logo and a little widget. I made my first widget from scratch, and
although I still like it, an image of an actual hallway suits me much better
than two letters over a sunrise on the ocean. None of this helped my polishing
goals, of course. Logos are live now!
Polished
12 pages of Star Treasure today. The first chapter read really ugly at
first, but sounds better now. There's some good writing in there, though. 182
of 433.
07/02/26 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I got
20 pages polished for Star Treasure, so I'm rather pleased with that
even though I should be doing more. It's still better than last week!
I
polished a passage that tidied up a description of an alien race and thought to
myself: this sounds much better than before; I bet AI images can make this. I
tried to make an image of this alien race before and AI didn't get it. But it
did this time! I just needed to be more vivid. This tells me my edits are going
in the right direction if I can explain to AI to create something like that for
me. (So damn cool to see those aliens realized.) I almost caught myself in my
own trap by doing this, though. There are a few more aliens I would like to
see, but managed to convince myself to get back to work...
31/01/26 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I
played around with book reviews on Goodreads for probably longer than I should
have today, so only managed 10 pages of Star Treasure edits. I'll do
some more tomorrow, I think. Check out the new review, though. I'm partial to
the On Writing Well review (obviously I've got to make that one sound pretty).
24/01/26 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I am
officially at the 1/3 mark of my Star Treasure polish. It is not going
as quickly as I wanted. I seem to only be able to tweak about 15 pages before
tapping out. Maybe I will put in an extra day during the Family Day holiday in
February so I can get it licked before April.
Writers
of the Future
hasn't sent me a Dear Clint letter yet, so here's hoping I've made it to a
higher judging category.
I
expect to hear back from one, if not both, of the magazines reading
"Paradise Burned" next week. I'm quite proud of that one, but there
are aspects of it that may not be publishable in today's world. I won't change
it, though, so it might end up on WattPad.
17/01/26 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I
wanted to do 30 pages of polishing on Star Treasure, but I just couldn't manage
and tapped out at 17. I gave myself a goal of 30 pages per week so I could get
this done by April, but geez these edits are taking a long time. I might burn
through another chapter or two on Sunday.
I
pulled "Paradise Burned" from a magazine that was ghosting me. Rude.
I'm not even sure if this magazine is still running at this point. Their latest
issue was winter of '24, so maybe they are toast. "Paradise Burned"
is still under consideration at a few other mags and I will hear back from them
hopefully within the next 20 days.
10/01/26 (From ‘Upcoming’)
Potential
oopsie! I received a letter from Writers of the Future contest in
December telling me the winners were announced for 4th quarter. I searched for
my name, didn't find it, so resent my story to a magazine. Problem is ... I
entered the 1st quarter (in October, which may have led to my confusion). WoF
does not allow simultaneous submissions and won't give me a response until
April. The first mag I sent to should get back to me by next weekend, while the
other mag won't give me a response for 4-6 months, which is no big deal because
I can withdraw from them. But, if by some miracle, the first magazine wants it
and WoF wants it ... well, now, aren't I the optimist?
A good
30-page edit of Star Treasure brought me to page 99 of 426. I'm quite
happy that the word count hasn't changed all that much even though there are
plenty of adjustments happening.
03/01/26 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I
managed to knock out 20 pages of polishing for Star Treasure today. I
even did a chapter yesterday. I'd really like to accelerate this time table so
I can start writing again. If I take a break from editing, that just pushes the
finish date farther and farther away. Which also pushes my submission date
farther and farther away. I read somewhere that the beginning of the year is
when people are most likely looking for new novels. I miss the good ol' days of
just sitting on a completed novel.
I'm
also getting into the simsub spirit by sending "Taming Beasts" out to
someone else before getting a reponse from the last place. I don't think it
should blow up in my face, but you never know. It's a new age we live in. I am
no longer shackled by the post office. Should be fine.
31/12/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I got
paid for my short story! Paypal took their pound of flesh and I couldn't help
but thinking ... "Damn, I didn't get paid for 129 of my words..."
Don't get me wrong, this story won't make me rich, so I am just laughing about
it.
27/12/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
Unfortunately,
Star Treasure is proving to be as messy, if not messier than Punch the Devil. I
polished only 15 pages today, but it took about five hours. This is only the
second draft, so at least I haven't bragged about polishing a prior draft in a
week. At 20 pages per weekend, I'm looking at about 20 weeks for the completion
of this draft. I was hoping to wrap it up by March at the latest, but it's not
looking plausible. We shall see.
In the
meanwhile, I'm going to strip 400 words from "Taming Beasts" to
increase the opportunities for submission. Stories over 5,000 are very
difficult to market.
20/12/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I
decided to double-down on simultaneous submissions and throw out "Paradise
Burned" to another magazine.
After
some Google searches, I found an indie book publisher that might give Punch
the Devil a good look. The founder seems like a fun guy I would like to get
a drink with, so hopefully my novel resonates with him and his staff. The
turnaround is a bit lengthy, but I am sending a 100,000-word manuscript along
with the rest of the world, so patience is key.
13/12/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I did
a polish on my query letter and synopsis for PTD.
29/11/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
Tada!
I finished my 3rd pass of PTD. I then immediately went through and cut
the weaker chapters (which makes me sad, because I still liked the weak ones)
to bring the novel to 98,000 words. I kept track of the weaker chapters as I
went through on the 3rd pass, then renamed the file "4th," so the
polished, weaker chapters still existed in a prior draft. I then went straight
to the contest which spurred this latest draft and sent it off! Cross your
fingers for me! April of next year for the results.
I sent
off "Otherworldly" again. I read the guidelines of this website
thoroughly, as I always do, and, after some format tweaks, thought I was okay
to send. Then I sent and went back to their main page...which said they were
looking for Dark Ages Pagan stories. Huh? That wasn't on the guideline page! I
expect a very quick rejection. Update your guideline pages people!
22/11/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
So, in
a world of instantaneous reactions, I've noticed some magazines allow for
simultaneous submissions. Back when I first started submitting, this was a big
no-no. Simultaneous submitting means sending the same story out to multiple
publishers to save the writer time in hopes that someone may bite. Otherwise,
the story is tied up on only one publisher's slush pile while I wait 3-6 months
for a rejection to eventually float in. If they want it though, they don't want
to be in competition with another publisher. Understandable, but I can cover
more ground with a little overlap in submissions when they allow for
simultaneous submitting. After 4 months of no response, I sent "Paradise
Burned" to someone else. After another month or so of waiting, I will send
to yet another. Makes me happy that I can submit in that manner now.
Another
thirty pages of editing out of the way on PTD. Twenty pages remain until
I'm through with this 3rd pass and can move onto some cuts. I will be sending PTD's
complete manuscript within the next two weeks. After that, I may take a break
and write a short story before editing Star Treasure.
15/11/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I
signed my first contract for my first published story on Wednesday! Seems a
step closer to reality. There is still a part of me that thinks something will
go sideways and the publication won't happen, not because I'm negative but
because it just still feels so surreal that it actually happened after all
these years. My goal of getting another story published seems much more urgent
to me now since I don't want this one publication to be a fluke.
I
polished 30 pages of PTD. I wanted to do another ten, but my brain is
mush. I'm still due to finish before my deadline, so I'm in good shape. Only a
couple more weekends to go, then I start chopping and polish my pitch a little.
Another
interesting note: I have 5 followers on Medium now! Makes me think I should
step up my non-fiction article posts.
01/11/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
Not
much new to report. 130 pages of editing is still needed before I start
chopping chapters in PTD. There's a lot that can go away, so reaching
that 80,000-word mark should be no problem at all. Another 40 pages of hard-cut
polishing done!
25/10/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
Now,
at the two-thirds mark of editing PTD, I find myself wondering why my
initial polishing was so poor. I'm mostly just adjusting language right now,
but I've come across a few errors in the plot that needed to be corrected. This
being my 3rd pass of the story, I ask you, how does this much of the novel need
to be adjusted? Did I just phone-in those first few polishes? I must have. I
still have another third to go and I've removed 3,000 words just in language
adjustments. Could I have grown so much in the past few years? Maybe
Scribophile helped me more than I was willing to admit.
I'm a
little antsy waiting for Space & Time to give me an answer to
"Paradise Burned." I was thinking about sending it off to another
magazine prematurely, but took a breath and decided to wait another month.
Also,
"Taming Beasts" is now with Writers of the Future. Here's
hoping I get another Honourable Mention, or better!
18/10/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
Got
another 35 pages edited on PTD. Still on schedule for my deadline!
I also
sent "Taming Beasts" back out. I might send that to Writers of the
Future if this latest magazine rejects. I had hoped I figured out the recipe. I
refuse to believe my first publication was a fluke.
11/10/25 (From ‘Home’)
After
27 long years of submitting my stories, I finally hit pay-dirt! So far, my
publication history is one short story. However, I see this as only a
beginning -- a prologue that took a quarter century. I will eat more vegetables
and produce a good ending.
11/10/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I got
published! It deserves a Writing Ruminations, of course, but I will ...
ruminate on it some more before posting. Naturally, I spent a little bit of
time tweaking the site after that news.
I find
polishing (editing) quite tedious. After about twenty pages, I start to go
cross-eyed. However, procrastinating is no longer an option, as you know from
my previous post below. I much prefer creating over fixing. But I managed to
polish 40 pages of PTD today, so *pat on back.*
I also
submitted "Otherworldly" to another magazine. 'Twas a hectic
Thanksgiving weekend for my writing, but one I'm thankful for, that's for sure!
11/10/25 (From ‘Home’)
After
27 long years of submitting my stories, I finally hit pay-dirt! So far, my
publication history is one short story. However, I see this as only a
beginning--a prologue that took a quarter century. I will eat more vegetables
and produce a good ending.
28/09/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
This
weekend was a PTD editing weekend. I burned through about 4 chapters and
realized September was almost over. I did some quick math and realized if I
want to submit PTD to the contest I intend to submit to, I will need to
edit about 35 pages every weekend. Hopefully, that will leave me with enough
time to make my cuts to bring the story down under 100,000 words by December
14th. Time to crack the whip!
20/09/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I
uploaded "Won't Die Old" to WattPad. I also edited another chapter of
PTD.
31/08/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I
decided to double-down on contests and sent off the first page of PTD to
a couple more contests. I quite like how I started the novel and think I might
find someone else who also likes it. The novel isn't doing any good just
sitting on my computer, so I might as well get eyes on it. It felt pretty good
to get an honourable mention on one of my stories recently and I need to
achieve some sort of visibility with my writing. Might bring nothing, or it
might bring everything. You miss every shot you don't take.
30/08/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
As so
often can happen--I got distracted. I decided, for the first time, to play
around with AI image generation. Wow, it is so cool to see ideas from my head
realized in a computer-generated picture. I inputted my description of Brekabup
from Punch the Devil and got a fairly accurate representation of what I
saw in my head. The main reason AI images interested me was because I could
create my own story or book covers for Wattpad! I made one for
"Otherworldly" that looks … out of this world.
And
yes, I got a chapter of PTD edited (the first one on the chopping block,
I might add).
23/08/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I
signed up for Medium a little while ago and got no traction for my posted short
story. Since it is more of a hub for essays and non-fiction articles, I
realized I could post my ClinTalks there. During my multiple ClinTalks
posts, the site asked me if I had a 'tip jar.' I didn't. I thought about
something like that before, but never pulled the trigger thinking it was
beneath me to ask for hand-outs. That being said, my writing has been available
for free throughout all my writing endeavours, so why not create a tip jar? My
writing takes time, so if someone wants to throw me a few dimes for it, who am
I to say no? If your barista can spell your name wrong and still ask for tips on
a ten-dollar latte, I think I can ask for some change too.
Side
note: I'm back to combing through Punch the Devil.
16/08/25
(From ‘Upcoming’)
After
languishing in limbo for almost a year, I'm finally doing something with my
second novel, Star Treasure! I've spent the last three weekends
polishing its first 6,000 words, and the accompanying synopsis, so I could send
it to a writing contest. This contest isn't just about bragging rights if you
win, it's about getting publisher eyes on your story--even if you are the
runner-up. I sent it out today.
09/08/25
(From ‘Upcoming’)
I was
about to retire "Otherworldly" from the submission circuit after
rejection number 11, but decided I wasn't done sending it out yet. It doesn't
cost anything to send an email, after all. I think the magic number will be 20
before it goes up on Wattpad. I also had an epiphany for the spy novel, but I'm
still tied up in editing my previous novels at the moment. To be continued ...
26/07/25
(From ‘Upcoming’)
I've
switched gears to polish my sci-fi novel, Star Treasure. There is a
contest that closes August 20th that requires the first 5,000 words and a
synopsis--I can definitely get that done in the time prescribed.
14/07/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I'm
running another comb through Punch the Devil. I also intend to chop it down
from 117,000 words to something more along the line of 80,000. From there, I
will submit to a 'contest' for publication with a reputable publisher.
10/05/25 (From ‘Upcoming’)
I
turned my attempt at a Twilight Zone episode into a short story. It was a
little grueling, but I spent a lot of time on that when I first wrote it and
still think it's fun. Now available on Wattpad.
04/01/25 (From ‘Published’)
Punch
The Devil
Crime
- Novel ~> Jericho Writers
A
couple quick rejections from agents stoked my anxiety. When my short stories
get rejected by every magazine, I turf it and move on to the next story.
117,000 words is difficult to turf. So, I've sent my complete manuscript to a
professional editing company who will provide me with some grammar tips, as
well as structure and character advice. They even go so far as to comment on
the marketability of the story. As you might imagine, I had to pay for this
service. It will be nice to hear a thorough breakdown instead of a form
rejection. Four weeks away.
08/09/24 (From ‘Completed’)
Punch
the Devil ~ 2nd Draft
The
second draft is polished and ready for publishers' eyes. This polish ended up
taking me a total of four days. All I had to do was fix a word here, remove a
word there, make sure the prose is clear. The novel reads pretty
good---especially the last 30 pages or so. I'm quite proud of how exciting that
climax reads.
Star Treasure - SF - Novel (From ‘Upcoming’)
First
Draft: 20/07/24 ~ First draft
complete! I removed the last 1,500 words, replaced them with a further 1,500
bringing the total to 127,689 @ 305 pages. The first three chapters need some
TLC, in fact the whole novel could use another pass, but I feel it is all how
it should be now.
Current
Editing Status:
16/07/24 ~ The last couple days I have been at it; a little here, a little more
there. The big difference between this novel's edit and the last has been plot
holes. I can't just plug the holes; I have to carve the plot around the holes
like I'm lathing a table leg. I still think I need to rewrite those last two
chapters--they feel rushed. 304 pages @ 127,621 words. I have
also written a synopsis and query letter to get a head start on my pitch.
Current
Editing Status:
08/07/24 ~ A few more tweaks. I think I need to let this one simmer for a bit.
303 pages @ 126,878. 08/07/24 ~ A few more tweaks. I think
I need to let this one simmer for a bit. 303 pages @ 126,878.
Current
Editing Status:
06/07/24 ~ Added another chapter to Act One, tweaked here and there, but still
have some work to do. Those last 2 chapters need to be reworked as well. New
total: 301 pages @ 126,213.
Current
Editing Status:
22/06/24 ~ 296 pages edited, at 123,782 words. The initial polish is done! I
will be correcting a few plot holes either today or next week, then back onto
PTD.
Current
Editing Status:
25/05/24 ~ 22 pages have been tweaked. 224 of 293 pages edited, thus far. I
must maintain 20 pages of editing per week to meet my birthday deadline.
Words
for Star Treasure:
17/02/24 ~ Star Treasure is complete and being edited! 118,185 Words, 284
pages.
Current
Progress: 17/02/24 ~ 2,500 Words
Written (Star Treasure is done!)
Words
for Star Treasure Written in 2024:
9,100; 2023: 39,400; In 2022: 42,100; In 2021: 27,600
Date
Started: 19/06/21
Adjusted
Goal: 3 - 40,000-word novellas
[Part One: 33,000 / Part Two: 73,000 / Part Three: 118,185]
Perceived
Goal: 100,000 Words
A
young adult, sci-fi adventure!
Vicious
Vizz, a starship repairman, is rescued by a strange ship that everyone wants to
know more about. But finding that ship again sends Vizz on the adventure of a
lifetime.
(Below is from my previous ‘About’ page before the ’23
retooling)
June
19th, 2021. My
peer reviews are taking a while to come in, which is no big deal as I knew they
would. The pitch is written, the synopsis is written, I'm doing a little bit of
editing on the first three chapters (as those are the ones reviewers are going
to be looking at the most), but I'm getting a little antsy and don't want to
stop my weekend writing escapades. So, after scribbling out a little background
information on the universe in which it's set last weekend, ... I've started
writing another novel! The working title is Star Treasure. With this
one, I want it to be completely different from the previous novel. A young
adult, science fiction, coming-of-age story is very different than the
no-holds-barred, '70s-set crime novel that was Punch the Devil. I also
intend to stay on only one POV, instead of the three I used for PTD.
The
first draft of my first novel is complete, ahead of schedule on April 24th,
2021. My goals going forward are to create a submission package, hopefully
hear back from a couple peer editors, then start my next novel.
December
26th, 2020 is
the day I finished writing my novel, Punch the Devil. By my
calculations, if I edit 10 pages per week, I will have a rough draft by my
birthday.
Sometime
in the winter of 2018, I started my first novel based upon characters I created
in the short story "Won't Die Old". After about a year, I'm only a
third of the way through, but I figure if I write 1,500 words per week, I will
have it licked before 2021. In 2021 I intend to do all the editing on that
novel, create a pitch, then start my next novel. I still intend to write a
movie-length screenplay at some point, but my new interest is now novel-length.
I'm having a lot of fun writing for the sake of writing, instead of trying to
make every word fit into a set limit.
#
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