Progress Report –First Quarter 2019
So, I spent first quarter 2019 finishing The Real Hope of the Universe. Then everything just sort of fell into place. And how awesome was that?
Posted Works
First of all, I worked to finish The Real Hope of the Universe. But the book got really long! As in over 185,000 words! It is now the longest piece I have ever written.
Then there will be a lot of time was spent on editing it. Also, I worked on submitting to various magazines and anthologies. January seemed to be a month of rejections. Maybe people were back from vacation. February definitely was better. And March was an improvement on that.
Then on Wattpad I posted some fan fiction as I am not posting wholly original work there these days. That is, unless it’s for the WattNaNo profile. However, if some of the shorter pieces never find a home after 10 or so tries, some of them will be reworked. But others just might end up there. I am not sure.
Then on Fanfiction.net, you guessed it, I posted fan fiction, and I even wound down. So except for two incomplete stories, which I may never finish, everything is there. So, no more Fanfiction.net, except for stats!
Milestones
Also, I have written over two and a half million words (fan fiction and wholly original fiction combined). So right now, my stats on Wattpad for wholly original works are as follows:
• How to NaNoWriMo – 12,407 reads, 137 comments
† My Favorite Things (like kibble) – 971 reads, 133 comments
• Revved Up – 58,858 reads, 526 comments
† Social Media Guide for Wattpad – 12,351 reads, 587 comments
• The Canadian Caper – 455 reads, 37 comments
† The Dish – 249 reads, 24 comments
• There is a Road – 188 reads, 28 comments
† WattNaNo’s Top Picks 2018 – 1,307 reads, 43 comments
• What Now? – 149 reads, 6 comments
More Published Works
Also, I am amassing quite the collection of published works!
Untrustworthy, my first published novel.
Surprises, a story in Book One of the 42 and Beyond Anthology set. So this one got to #3 in its Amazon category!
The Last Patient, a story in the Stardust, Always anthology.
The Interview, the featured story in the December 14, 2018 edition of Theme of Absence. So they even interviewed me!
Canaries, also to be published by Theme of Absence, on March 29, 2019.
Almost Shipwrecked, a story in the January 2019 edition of Empyreome, a site which unfortunately is no more.
This is My Child, a short story published in the April 8, 2019 edition of Asymmetry Fiction, another site which is no more.
The Resurrection of Ditte, a story in the Unrealpolitik anthology.
Complications, a story in the Queer Sci Fi Discovery anthology (so this book is only available from resellers).
Props, a story in the Longest Night Watch I anthology.
The Boy in the Band, a story in the Pride Park anthology.
Cynthia and Wilder Bloom, stories in the Longest Night Watch II anthology.
All My Aliens, a story in the 72 Hours of Insanity anthology (so this book is no longer available – anywhere!).
Three Minutes Back in Time, to be published by Mythic Magazine.
WIP Corner
So my current WIPs are as follows:
The Obolonk Murders Trilogy – so this one is all about a tripartite society where a Boston cop is investigating mass murders. But who’s killing the aliens? So how do humans and robots fit in?
The Enigman Cave – can we find life on another planet and not screw it up? You know, like we do everything else?
The Real Hub of the Universe Trilogy – so the aliens who live among us in the 1870s and 1880s are at war. But why? So how can a plucky Irish scullery maid, her closeted employer, and a secret society in Boston save the world?
Mettle – all about how society goes to hell in a hand basket when the metals of the periodic table start to disappear. Then what happens in near-future Boston?
So if you noticed the Boston trend everywhere, give yourself a cookie. That is because it’s one of my Easter eggs.
Prep Work
So currently, I have been working on some writing prompts to keep me sharp and keep the words flowing. Yet my intention, for this year’s NaNoWriMo, is that I will probably start a new piece. So this may even be a series in the Obolonks universe. But I need a plot! So a lot of this year will be spent on that.
However right now I am still working on The Real Hope of the Universe so it is on the back burner for now.
Queries and Submissions
So here’s how that’s been going during first quarter 2019.
In Progress
As of first quarter 2019, the following are still in the running for publishing:
This list is the name of the story and then the name of the potential publisher.
† A Kitten – Wee Tales (as of 8/14/18)
• Blue Card – Gods Among Men podcast (as of 2/28/19)
† Darkness Into Light – Polychrome Ink (as of 1/27/19)
• Dinosaurs – Bards and Sages Quarterly (as of 1/17/19)
† Gentrification – Hecate (as of 3/10/19)
• Killing Us Softly – Future Visions (as of 1/27/19)
† None of This is Real – Andromeda Spaceways Magazine (as of 3/10/19)
• Nothing Good Ever Happens at 3 AM – Luna Station Quarterly (as of 1/24/19)
† Side by Side – Leading Edge Magazine (as of 1/18/19)
• Soul Rentals ‘R’ Us – Weekly Humorist (as of 2/17/19)
† Who Do We Blame for This? – Perpetual Motion Machine Publishing Newsletter (as of 12/12/18)
I had to resubmit some of the older ones and declare them ghosted. There’s a lot of mental energy that goes into submitting, I feel. So sometimes I need to work my way up to it.
But aside from new submissions for some works which were rejected, no news can often feel like goodish news.
All Other Statuses
Also see the Stats section for some details on any query statuses for first quarter 2019 which were not in progress.
Stats
So in 2018, my querying stats were:
68 submissions of 19 stories
† Acceptances: 4, 5.88%
• In Progress-Under Consideration: 3, 4.41%
† In Progress: 10, 14.71%
• Rejected-Personal: 14, 20.59%
† Rejected-Form: 24, 35.29%
• and Ghosted: 13, 19.12%
And in 2019, my querying stats so far are:
18 submissions of 12 stories
• Acceptances: 3, 11.11%
† In Progress: 9, 50.00%
• Rejected (any type): 6, 33.33%
† Withdrew Voluntarily: 1, 5.56%
This Quarter’s Productivity Killers
Work, what else? And first quarter 2019 will not be the end of that!
Hence keeping up with this blog remains difficult. But I’m trying! Thank you for hanging in there, and sticking with me, first quarter 2019 and beyond.
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