New theme!

It’s got purple clouds, and stars, and moons and creepy houses. Anyway, it was time for a change. Like a haircut, but for your blog…which reminds me I have a hair appointment today. Coincidence? I think not.

In other news, the heat wave seems to have found its way over to the west coast and my house is very hot and very messy and it is much to hot to vacuum, or clean or do anything other than watch episode after episode of “Tattoo Nightmare” until it’s midnight and cool enough to sleep.

We’ve also been watching some of IGN‘s live coverage of San Diego Comic Con. I was excited about the X-Files panel, and was hoping that they would have had some sort of big news, and subconsciously knew that, of course they would not. Not surprisingly there is no news of future projects for the franchise. And based on the last movie (which I will not even begin to get into, because it just makes me upset to think about it) maybe that’s a good thing.

On a related topic, my new fan-art project is (like the comic con panel) a tribute to X-Files 20 year anniversary. Will post when done!

Ramblings and writers block…

…or is it writer’s block…yeah, I think it is.

I have this theory that the more I write, the easier it will be to write.

…okay, it’s not my theory, but it’s someone’s theory and I agree with it.

I have 3 short stories that I am working on that I am at the point where I can’t even get words on the page, even random nonsense words that will more than likely be edited out in the near future. Hence the writer’s block. So, when to give up? I would say now, except that I can’t even think of something new to focus on, while I move those three stories to the “probably garbage but maybe not” folder to be reviewed, revamped or deleted at some time in the future.

When ever I feel bad about something I set a goal. It gives me the sense that I’m aspiring to something better, even if I’m really just procrastinating, or ignoring the problem and hoping it will go away.

So, goal number 1 is to stick with the random nonsense words on a page, which, in my experience, rarely end of as stories, but occasionally make for decent poem foundations. Goal number 2 is to come up with story prompts and force myself to write something coherent from start to finish with no editing no matter how bad it is.

When these goals will be accomplished or even attempted is not really a priority at this exact moment. Mostly I just feel better knowing I have a goal. In a couple of weeks, when I realize I’ve spent no time writing and 52 hours watching Merlin on Netflix, then I can feel bad again and reassess.

In other news, I have received 2 hold requests for poems, sent one query for a story that has been pending a reply for an unreasonably long period of time (like 8 and a half months) and received about a 100 (okay 7) rejections, 2 of which had very nice and constructive feedback.

I am working on 2 fan-art type pieces that I’ll post when they are done. I’ve always been a huge fan of fan art (man, that sounds dumb), and I’ve posted some of my favourites here in the past, however I’ve never done much of it myself.

Unless you count when I was in the 4th grade and I wrote a bunch of Get Smart fan fiction stories. One was about a giant mutant vine that took over the whole city and Max and 99 had to fight it, or kill it, or something. Turns out Chaos was behind the whole thing. Go figure.

Writing update and poetry sale

I’ve started a few draft posts in the last couple of months, but just haven’t managed to get anything actually completed. There’s just been a lot of life stuff going on I suppose (both good and bad)…trip to Ottawa, funeral, wedding, MRI, doctor’s appointments, road trip to the apple orchard, unexpected snow, Thanksgiving, season 2 of Justified on Netflix…

Anyway, I’ve actually managed to get quite a bit done in the way of writing and drawing. I’ve sent out a few submissions, sold one poem and received more than a few rejections. Currently, I have six poems and one short story pending responses. I’ve also done more drawing than I’ve done in months…I’ll post something new in the next few days.

In June, I wrote a poem about a conflicted mother whose child comes back from the dead. I submitted “Zombie Baby” to Elektrik Milk Bath Press for consideration in their charity anthology, Zombies for a Cure.

I wrote the poem as a sort of somber nursery rhyme and thought it might be a good fit for an anthology focused on unconventional zombie tales. Also, I really liked the idea that the authors had the option to donate their pieces and that the proceeds from the anthology are to support cancer research.

The editor/publisher (Angela Charmaine Craig) didn’t accept “Zombie Baby” for the anthology, but enjoyed it enough to offer to purchase it for their magazine, Paper Crow, so I’m really thrilled.

I know that rhyming poetry is a hard sell, so I’m so pleased that this little poem has found a home. Recent issues of Paper Crow have included some really amazing and accomplished poets that I personally enjoy (I can think of Marge Simon, Bruce Boston, and Alexandra Seidel off the top of my head) so it’s an honour to be included in such a great publication.

No details on publication dates for Paper Crow or Zombies for a Cure, but updates on Elektrik Milk Bath Press can be found here.