Writing Update

Hi, all!

I've been busy editing and writing and more editing and more writing. Seriously  it's a wonder my fingers haven't fallen off! And son #1 spilled oil on my keyboard recently so some of the keys still or have to be pressed really hard. I just bought this keyboard so I'm hoping the keys will eventually work right again and deal.

Oh, and speaking of son #1, we registered him for kindergarten yesterday at the school's open house. Yeah, I'm a complete mess over that. I have a feeling that the first day he might be a little apprehensive, but the second, he won't even look back and that will be both a blessing and yet another reason to cry. :/

Anyhow, I'm part of a group of writers writing a novel with Cupid. That novel is a MG fantasy about a sister and brother who are trapped in a land ruled by the four seasons and they have to save Christmas when spring comes too early. It's the first in a five-book series. Right now, its called Winter Magic, but that might change. I definitely want to include either winter or snow or something like that in the title.

I'm also almost finished with my superhero romance! I really enjoyed writing this one. It's going to be published through Desert Breeze Publishing later on this year and will be the first in another trilogy. Still not sure of the titles of the three books but once they're finalized, I'll let you know.

I promise to start blogging more often again!

So tell me, what have you been working on?

Anthologies and Writing Update

If you look under my list of short stories, it's slowly growing. I sold another flash piece for Pill Hill Press' Daily Bites of Flesh anthology called Deadly Flat Tire. I also sold Dead Roses to Gone with the Dirt: Undead Dixie. This anthology contains stories about the south, during the Civil War, about zombies. I adore Gone with the Wind, so I really wanted to be included in this anthology. Don't you just love the cover? I love all of PHP's covers.

I also sold a short Christmas sweet romance story to Night Wolf Publications called My Christmas Luck in A Yuletide Wish anthology.

I use duotrope.com to find most of the anthologies. Duotrope is such a wonderful resource. You should check it out, if you haven't already.

I love writing short stories for anthologies. However, I'm going to stop writing them for the time being so I can clear my plate and gear up for Nano. November is almost here! I'm getting excited (while hubby is groaning, lol)

Do you write short stories? Have you ever tried to get into an anthology?

Writing Update

I'm finally getting back into writing somewhat consistently after giving birth to son #2. Yay!

I had a flash piece that I tried to sell to different magazines. No one wanted it so I chopped it up, changed the bad guy to a paranormal creature and submitted it to Pill Hill Press' Daily Flesh Anthology. A day later, I received a contract for it. Another yay! So now I will have two stories in it: Deadly Flat Tire and Zombies Don't Bite.

I also received contracts for a short sweet Christmas romance story called My Christmas Luck which will be in A Yuletide Wish from Night Wolf Publications.

I submitted a short story to Pill Hill Press' Gone with the Dirt anthology. Since Gone with the Wind is one of my all-time favorite movies, I had to submit a piece to this anthology. My story is called Black Roses and I should be hearing about it soon.

The Prideful Knight had been shortlisted for Pill Hill Press' Shadows and Light II anthology but when the editor looked over their slush pile, rejected it. So I sent them another story which is now on the shortlist.

I started to write a prequel to Hidden in Shadows to submit for an assassin anthology, forgetting that the market wants sword-and-sorcery type stories set before 1700's. So I started another story, with a FMC that I have a couple of other stories about, and submitted that. The editor liked it and asked for the rest of the story so I finished it and submitted it. This story is called Collecting Hearts.

I had written a paranormal romance short for ARe's contest but it wasn't picked as a semi-finalist so I submitted Never Shall We Part to More Scary Kisses. I really like this story. It's different than most paranormal romances.... no vampires or werewolves. But I'm gonna be a tease and not say what creatures. :P

I still have several other short stories currently on submissions to different magazines. One magazine, I've been waiting over 470 days on. It would be worth it though, I receive an acceptance. It's a pro market so that means 5 cents a word. Would definitely make my day to crack that market.

As for novels, a publisher and an agent both have the full MS of Hidden in Shadows. My stomach flip-flops each time I check my email. I also just about ready to start querying Alexia's Pen.

I'm also working hard on Champion of Valor. I've been slowly piecing together an outline and trying to make certain that there aren't any loose ends. I really want this book to satisfy my readers.

So that's my writing update. How's your writing going? What step are you at ? Querying? Submitting? Revising?