Category: Writing

If you’re not into any kind of writing, then this is highly likely to not be the blog for you.

Ya think???

How and Why Does Writing Speak to Us?

The written word is something that we have in common with the ancient Egyptians, with people on the other side of the planet, and with celebrities who we will never meet.

Fiction writing, in particular, bridges gaps in the world, and through time. Have you ever read something written by an author who is long dead?

Whether it’s Jane Eyre or The Art of War, we can hear the author’s voice as we read (and yes, I am well aware that The Art of War isn’t fiction. I’m kind of tired, okay?).

But I digress.

Independent Writers Do It All

When we do it well, and we do it right, the indie author wears many hats. Researcher. Editor. Planner. Marketer. Cover artist (or at least hirer of the cover artist). Bookkeeper. Advertiser. Tax Preparer.

Indy writing is a small business. So, like it or not, you’ve got to know these things, or be able to hire someone who does.

Past, Present, and Future Authoring

One of the best things about authoring is the concept of eternity. Now, I don’t honestly expect anything I write to end up being studied in college or becoming movie fodder. But it is still there, and it can be there forever if you can (and are willing to) preserve it.

This is why I encourage publishing, by the way, even if you never make a dime.

Eternity.

Self-Review – Surprises

Surprises 42 and Beyond Self-Review Adventures in Career Changing

Self-Review – Surprises

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 21, 2023

Review – Surprises

Surprises was one of those weird little stories which I did not expect to write. I thought The Enigman Cave was done and dusted.

So it’s a sequel of sorts to The Enigman Cave.

Background to Surprises

The background is that Marnie and company are on their way back to Earth. So it is not going to be easy going. Marnie is well aware the reception they get might not be such a great one. In fact, it could even be a death trap.

The Plot of Surprises

And the plot is, well, there isn’t too much of one. Essentially, Marnie and her pals get drunk, much like at the start of The Enigman Cave. But in this instance, they are worried about how the Earth is. And so Marnie ends up an emotional mess.

But keep in mind, it was a requirement of this anthology to add two specific elements. I had to add a towel and the number 42. So this was in keeping with the anthology’s Douglas Adams theme. For this space opera, it did not lend itself too well to either Easter egg.

Characters

The characters are Captain Marnie Shapiro and her first officer, Trixie LaRue, and the chief medical officer, Jazminder Parikh. Assistant Veterinarian Lex Feldman shows up. But it’s botanist Ben Chase who gets the most time – and he isn’t even “on screen”.

Memorable Quotes from Surprises

“We got ourselves a gol-darned party here,” LaRue said, her accent betraying every moment of a rural Kentucky upbringing. “Booze ‘n dancing girls.”

“Just the one dancing girl,” Parikh said, doing a little swishing step and then a twirl which made her lab coat fly out a little bit, like the barest approximation of a whirling dervish. Her accent, in marked contrast to LaRue’s, was the posh product of a fine education in Leeds and a childhood in a wealthy suburb of Hyderabad.

“Jazzie, you sound plummier than usual,” Marnie said. “How much of that have you had so far?” She waved a bit at the bottle.

“I’ve had just enough to make me all right with it being chardonnay and not merlot. It’s alcohol for the damned hoi polloi, even worse than that white zinfandel rubbish. It’s a sorry sop for the masses.” She stabbed the air with a finger. “But at least it’s posher than that six.”

Rating

The story has a K+ rating. While no hanky panky occurs “on screen”, there are certainly references to it. Plus, there is a bit of bad language and a brief bit of nudity at the end. However, I don’t describe the nudity in any way. So it’s just … there.

Upshot

It was great when 42 and Beyond published Surprises. But the anthology is no more. It only lives on in memory and in a few scattered books and Amazon Kindle files. A pity, as that one did extremely well on Amazon, hitting #3 in its Amazon category.

The biggest surprises for me was the chance to write this story at all. #amwriting

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Self-Review – The Interview

Short Stories, Road, My Aliens, Last Patient, interview, Surprises, Props, shipwrecked, child, Killing Us Softly, Ditte, Band, three minutes, Longest Night Watch, Nothing Good Ever Happens, Complications, Your Call, Darkness into Light, canaries, gentrification, Cynthia, True Believer, Short Stories, Wilder Bloom, Dish, Mitalisque, kitten, Last Try, Minnesota Wish, Dominick and Angela, Alix, Alix’s Apocalypse, A Chance Encounter in Time, A Crime in Time, A Show for the Galaxy, Alien Justice, And the Band Played the Apocalypse, Babel 2.0, Side Pages, Frozen Assets, Julie's Dollar, Mandy Goes to Aspen, Martin's Choice, Mike’s Grades, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, Sarah’s Invention, Small Acts of Defiance, The Future Has No Foundation, Unexpected Help, You Will Drink Your Coffee and Like It, Unreliable, East Side of the Universe, Eros vs Thanatos, Dust Between Our Stars, A Show for the Galaxy, A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults, A School for Scavengers, Frozen Assets, Out of the Work Camp Frying Pan, 1960s Temporal Crimes, Lizzie Borden is Vital to the Timeline, Walls Came Tumbling Down Again, The End, Will's Dog, Building Trust, Message in an Odd Bottle, The New Kid, What's an Animal, A Touch of Gray Hair, Guilty of Imperfection, Jared's World Turned Upside Down, Caring for Carole, Nuremberg Redux, Art Has All Sorts of Effects, When Russia Invaded Texas, Failure, Tumble in a Tomb, Beauty is Only Earth Deep, Peddler, Escape Violinist, Shimmering Wasteland, Cave Canem and Cave, Skating, Uninformed, Stellar Stowaway, dinosaurs, fragments, none of this is real, buzz, quartz, water, verity, quarrel, rivalry, breakout,

Self-Review – The Interview

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 19, 2023

My Review of My Short Story – The Interview

The Interview came about because I conjured up a kicker of an opening line. So then it immediately started to fall into place.

Background

Since I have been on countless job interviews, this one was rather easy to write. So I brought forth a memory I have of an interview being conducted over lunch. It was an odd situation. Two guys met with me and neither of them ate anytime. I ate Caesar salad by myself.

Also, as I recall, they were supposed to take me to some swanky-ish place. But instead, we went to Pizzeria Uno. At that moment, I should have known damned well it was not going to go well.

Plot of The Interview

The narrator meets a woman who runs an agency which hunts demons. And then things go a little haywire from there. In particular, during their meeting, the narrator gives away how she can sense demons. So this is vital information. But not when the story ends, it isn’t. Then it turns into an albatross around her neck.

As for the restaurant, it is a combination of a number of places I have been to. The parking lot, in particular, is from Jasper White’s Summer Shack in Cambridge, Massachusetts. But with the wine steward and all, the pretend restaurant in The Interview is a lot more hoity-toity.

Characters

The characters are the narrator and the head of the agency. The narrator is the interviewee.

Memorable Quotes from The Interview

“So, how long have you wanted to hunt demons?” The question hung in the air for a second.

The job interview was being conducted over lunch and I had just taken in a big forkful of Fettuccine Alfredo. I washed it down with iced tea, swallowed, wiped my mouth, and tried not to look stupid. “It’s since I was just out of school. My classmates didn’t see them. But I did.”

Rating

The Interview has a K rating. While there is some menace behind it, nothing violent happens “on screen”.

Upshot

I was so happy when The Interview was the featured story in the December 14, 2018 edition of Theme of Absence. So they even interviewed me! Canaries is another story in Theme of Absence. So I guess they like me.

Fortunately I have never had an interview quite like this. #amediting

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Self-Review – Mettle

Self-Review – Mettle

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 14, 2023

Review – Mettle

Mettle is a punny title. And it just may be one of the best things I have ever written. Yes, really.

The story sprung out of a dream I had where my wedding ring dissolved while still on my hand. Amateur psychologists, take note!

It also came from reading about the 1816 ‘Year Without a Summer‘.

I had the basic plot sketched out in an afternoon. I don’t believe I have ever gotten a book together that fast. And I probably won’t ever again, although The Duck in the Seat Cushion comes close. This was just an insane creativity timeline.

And throughout the writing of this book, I felt like I was taking dictation.

So the characters are a mix. Some of them came very quickly. Craig Firenze sprang, almost fully formed, and almost immediately. I heard his voice the loudest and the clearest.

Then, as I recall, came Elise Jeffries, Nell Murphy, and Noah Braverman. Kitty Kowalski and Mink Lopez arrived together — Kitty and Mink. But the others took longer. However, I had Mei-Lin’s name pretty early on. But I did not know too much about the character to start.

Background

This story was exceptionally easy to outline. I changed nearly nothing. The storyline came to me, I wrote it down quickly, and then added a few little flourishes. I made sure it was in a coherent order. And then it was ready.

Which is amazing and kind of rare, seeing as I had struggled over the Time Addicts outline for Everything is Up For Grabs. In fact, even Untrustworthy was harder to put together.

Plot

In early 2020 (this date will likely change), Mount Tambora erupts as an earthquake hits Southeast Asia. So which came first? That’s sort of irrelevant, as a huge pyroclastic cloud springs up. This cloud blocks out a lot of sunlight and starlight. The world gets colder, and considerably dimmer.

Yet at the same time, Chinese students claim their experiments on chromium changed when the chromium somehow converted to vanadium. But that story about possible real-life alchemy is buried. Because Tambora and the earthquake are front page news.

When more elements start to convert to vanadium, people notice and experience the effects. This includes the loss of gold, which hits financial markets hard. And losses of plutonium and uranium, which put countries on high alert, afraid of a nuclear war.

The more things change, the harder it is to live the way we all used to. So, keep in mind that the quoted scene, below, takes place after the power goes out.

Characters

Mettle was an odd story for me because there almost isn’t a main character. Instead, the point of view shifts from chapter to chapter. The character with the most ‘screen time’ is probably Colonel Craig Firenze, but the more observational sections tend to come from Nell Murphy.

The scene is mostly Brighton, Massachusetts, although there are some scenes in Houston or in downtown Boston, plus a chapter is set mainly on an aircraft flying from Houston.

In a lot of ways, the story more or less takes place in my house.

There are about a dozen characters of note, mainly listed here in order of importance:

• Craig Firenze
† Nell Murphy
• Noah Braverman
† Eleanor Braverman
• Olga Nicolaev
† Elise Jeffries
• Mei-Lin Quan, MD
† Dez Hunter
• Minka Lopez
† Kitty Kowalski
• Jeannie Scutter Firenze
† Chet McKey
• Jerome Cordry
† Jackie (no last name)
• Shelley (no last name)

There are a few other characters who I name, but the reader sees these the most, although Jackie and Shelley are only in one chapter. Which happens to be the same chapter. The last six on the list do not get a POV chapter. Although Kitty will likely get one for the prequel. And Jeannie might, assuming I have more story to tell.

Memorable Quotes from Mettle

He started to dump the corn into a bowl.

Mink came into the kitchen. “What’s left in the cabinets?”

“Green beans, some tuna, I think I saw tomato paste in there,” Dez said as Mink opened the cabinets and started to look for herself.

“There’s pumpkin pie filling, too, and we still have peanut butter. I wish we had bread.”

“Want some corn?” He offered her the second bowl and fork.

“Yeah, sure, thanks.” He dumped about half of his bowlful into her bowl. “Kitty, what are you gonna have?”

“I want French toast.”

“If we had eggs, we could make French toast, if we had bread. And a working toaster. Aunt Doreen used to say shit like that.”

“Yeah, she’s hysterical,” Kitty sniped. “This blows.”

Mink just shrugged and ate as did Dez. When they were done, she bussed the dishes to the sink and washed them, and then started to wash the other dishes. “Man oh man, we don’t have to live like pigs. Can somebody dry?”

Kitty made a beeline out of the kitchen. Dez came over. “Just leave ‘em on the rack. I can get ‘em later.”

Rating for Mettle

Let me make this perfectly clear: Mettle has an MA rating. I am not kidding. While there are no sex scenes (a few are implied, though), every single main character has a potty mouth.

Plus there are any number of violent scenes. Some are more graphic than others but the worst should be rather disturbing.

I 100% mean this. Enter at your own risk if you don’t believe me.

Upshot

One thing which was great fun about this story was writing it with 9 1/2 points of view. I say a half because the first chapter is mainly news stories and flits from person to person and scene to scene. So that one doesn’t quite count. And with rewrites, I have changed it to add little scenelets but the common thread is still the news.

Each chapter worked as a separate POV. This is a style of writing I had not attempted before. And I found it exhilarating but it’s important to not confuse the reader. So I would really love to get beta readers on this one!

Wouldn’t the end of the world test anyone’s mettle? #amwriting

Want More of Mettle?

If Mettle resonates with you, then check out my other blog posts and pages about how changes in the periodic table nearly kill us all.

Character Reviews: Mettle

† Eleanor Braverman
• Noah Braverman
† Craig Firenze
• Dez Hunter
† Dr. Elise Jeffries
• Minka Lopez
† Nell Murphy
• Olga Nicolaev
† Dr. Mei-Lin Quan

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Self-Review – The Last Patient

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 12, 2023

Review – The Last Patient

The Last Patient was a story I wrote for the Stardust, Always anthology. All of the proceeds go to the American Cancer Society. Please give generously, even if you never buy the book. Cancer is horrid, and I have seen what it can really do to people. Let’s end this scourge in our lifetimes.

This short story is based on real events from my life.

Background

When I was in my first two years of college, I had a therapist. He was a fun guy; I liked him. Then I left Boston for the summer between sophomore and junior year. Yet when I returned, I noticed he was more stooped and paler. He seemed to be tired and weak.

I asked him what was wrong and he told me he had lung cancer. Keep in mind, this was late 1981 and that was essentially a death sentence.

I saw Dr. Brodie a few more weeks, with our last session happening before Halloween of that year. He told me that he didn’t want to see his other patients, who were all a lot older. At age nineteen, he felt I was lively and that helped him. He told me that I was his last patient.

Plot

I lifted this story directly from my memories: hook, line, and sinker. A few of the quotes are precisely as I remember them. It wasn’t writing. This was me taking dictation from my own memories.

Characters

The only characters are the unnamed narrator and Dr. Richard Brodie.

Memorable Quotes

Thirty-five years ago, a sacred trust was unexpectedly given to me, to be a friend and confidant to the man who was supposed to be mine. I did what I could, but I was not ready for it.

Rating for The Last Patient

The story has a K rating.

The Last Patient: Upshot

I would have liked to have shown him works like Untrustworthy. I think he would have been happy for me.

Even now, over forty years later, I remember how he looked a bit like Broderick Crawford. Funny, the things you remember.

I was his last patient. #amwriting

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Self-Review – All My Aliens

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 7, 2023

Self Review – All My Aliens

All My Aliens? What the hell?

Background

This was a story originally created for a competition. But it also came from a very wacky idea I had had several years previously.

The concept was, how would First Contact happen? And so I hit upon a very strange way to do it.

Plot

Because TV is more important to many of us than we would care to admit, the idea was a simple one.

My aliens would have to originally contact us on television. And, even better, it would have to be via the medium of fiction. But what would be the best means of doing this? After all, TV shows are cancelled all the time. It would have to be something long-term, with little to no chance of cancellation.

And then I hit upon the more or less perfect answer.

Soap operas.

And so the idea was born – my aliens would make contact with us via the soaps.

My Aliens: the Characters

The characters are not of this earth, of course. The only two who really get names are Chaz and Katherinemma. Katherinemma got her name because Alyssa Milano had (at the time) recently named her daughter Elizabella. So K got her name as a kind of homage to that.

And Chaz, of course, was the most typical and obvious male soap star name we could think of.

The Action

Some of my favorite parts of this story are how the action zooms from the strangers thinking about contacting Earth to the stars getting here. And then, of course, they have to get to Area 51 (because, reasons). And, of course, the daytime Emmy awards.

No good soap opera would ever be complete without a dramatic scene with a slap. No good story about celebrities would ever be complete without some crazed fan screaming about having her idol’s baby. And no good science fiction yarn would ever be complete without something with tentacles.

Fortunately, the story has all of that.

It also has what, I feel, is perhaps the funniest ending line I have ever written.

Rating

All My Aliens is probably a K when you get right down to it.

All My Aliens: Upshot

You can find it in the Longest Night Watch II, if I recall correctly.

All My Aliens — because TV is a logical choice for communicating with humans. #amwriting

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Self-Review – There is a Road

Adventures in Career Changing | Janet Gershen-Siegel | There is a Road

Self-Review – There is a Road

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on September 5, 2023

Review – There is a Road

There is a Road originally came about as a response to an image prompt on the old Trek United. However, I do not have the rights to use that image, and Trek United is a mere shell of its former self.

Background

The original image was a dreamy almost black and white, very shades of gray type of image. It was a wooden pathway into the woods, bending and seemingly with no ending.

Plot

The narrator is never named. She talks about her grandmother’s death from smoking, and her father’s from a transport accident. She mentions aliens and flying. Hence the time must be the future, and perhaps it is a rather deep future versus right now.

And then the narrator talks about making art. As she describes her process, the reader begins to understand that the narrator has screwed something up royally. Whether there has been an explosion or a fire, it hardly seems to matter. Because all that matters is that (spoiler alert), the narrator numbers among the dead.

Characters

The only character is the unnamed narrator, although she refers to her father and her grandmother. Since it’s a narration, it doesn’t really have quotes.

The Road to Story Postings

This story is really only available on Wattpad.

There is a Road on Wattpad

Rating

The story is Rated K.

Takeaways from the Road

This story is odd and dreamy and probably a little too spiritual for regular consumption. Also, there is just no way it could ever get a sequel or the like. Could I take it off Wattpad and submit it to an anthology? I suppose I could but, frankly, I do not think it stands as one of my better works.

The piece is old and the seams do show. Still, it is an interesting premise, and perhaps I should rework it one of these days.

There is a road — and it leads to this. #amwriting

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Character Sexuality

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 17, 2023

Character Sexuality

A look at character sexuality can take you in any number of directions.

First of all, you need to listen to your characters. Are they telling you who they like? Maybe they are, or maybe they’re a little shy about that.

Can you see your characters with someone of the same sex, or with anyone, for that matter? Because remember that your own characters’ sexualities need not reflect your own.

So consider how you will present it. For a great, matter-of-fact presentation of character sexuality, just look at Sulu in Star Trek Beyond.

Because without saying a word, all that happens is, he is greeted by a man with a little girl, he hugs the girl, and then the three walk away as Sulu and the other man (it’s unclear whether they are meant to be married, so I’m hesitant to use a word like boyfriend or husband) go arm in arm. And that’s it. It’s subtle and loving and sweet.

And of course people protested. Because change can be scary to a lot of folks, I suppose.

Flipping Your Own Personal Script

You have probably been the same sexuality for much of your life. And while gender and sexuality can be fluid, that is not the case for everyone. However, there is a spectrum.

Hence even if you have been, say, heterosexual your entire life, you may find you are not completely, 100% ‘straight’.

Furthermore, consider a thought experiment. Why am I suggesting this? Because a writer should be able to think about any number of characters and types of characters.

And that includes those who have differing sexualities from the writer. After all, don’t we write about men if we are women, or women if we are men?

Stephen King wrote about Dolores Claiborne. Harper Lee wrote about Atticus Finch. And even though most writers aren’t in their league(s), you can still make the effort.

Hence this means also looking into not only gay and lesbian characters, but also asexual characters, bisexual ones, and even characters into other things, like, say, S & M.

Character Sexuality: Some Takeaways

None of this is required, of course. But a thought experiment, I feel, is never a bad idea. You may find a character who speaks to you and who you really want to write. Or maybe you won’t. Only you can know that.

Oh, and please don’t make sex and getting a man the only thing your female characters do. Characters can have passions without your prose failing the Bechdel Test.

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Character Review — Noah Braverman

Craig Firenze, Noah Braverman, Minka Lopez, Dez Hunter, Eleanor Braverman, Olga Nicolaev, Kitty Kowalski, Mei-Lin Quan, Nell Murphy, Elise Jeffries,

Character Review — Noah Braverman

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on August 1, 2023

Consider Noah Braverman, One of My Original Characters

Who is Noah Braverman?

Noah Braverman is a linchpin character in Mettle. But he was downgraded from leading man status in favor of Craig Firenze.

Where Did Noah Braverman Come From?

Noah (like Josie James in the Time Addicts trilogy) actually lives in my house. Because Mettle takes place in my neighborhood, what better place but the one I know the best?

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Noah Braverman

Noah has the best defined family in all of Mettle. Apart from Craig and Jeannie, and Nell with Gran, he is the only person who the reader ever sees with a family member.

Description

The only person I have ever seen for Noah is the actor David Schwimmer. In part, it’s the air of intelligence. Noah is no dope, even though he’s not a doctor like Elise Jeffries or Mei-Lin Quan, and he’s not a PhD like his mother, Eleanor.

It is also because I try to pair characters with actors who are similar in terms of background. I wanted only a Jewish actor to play this Jewish character.

And, it’s also because of Schwimmer’s hangdog look, which he should probably just patent already.

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

Noah doesn’t have the last name of Braverman by accident, of course. But his bravery is not based on anything like battle skills or the like.

Rather, it is based on trust. Without knowing much about most of the other characters, Noah takes in Craig and gets to know and truly love and appreciate people he would never normally run into, like Nell Murphy, Minka Lopez, and Dez Hunter.

In fact, he is one of the reasons why the story seems to not quite get started until chapter 7 or so. I needed for Noah to know Craig at least a little bit, for why would he take in a stranger to live with him, particularly while people are going nuts?

Quotes {the Power Outage is Happening; He is Taking Craig to Brighton}

Noah did a fast three-point turn, getting the car onto Cambridge Street and abandoning Storrow Drive altogether. He gunned the engine, running red lights and weaving in and out of traffic. “Sorry for the white-knuckle ride.”

“That’s fine. You’re handy with the jalopy.”

“I learned how to drive in this car. Hang on.”

Noah turned in front of St. Botolph’s where some flickering lights were still on. But other lights were going out all over the rest of the area. He gunned it down Adams, passing a drug store and a taco place before the car sputtered to a halt and died across the street from the organic market.

Noah and Craig got out. “This way,” Noah said, “Go here and then straight for a while. It’s a bit downhill, then left on Hancock, number three oh one if you can see anything. If you can’t, the house has smooth pillars in front.”

The two men strode quickly, Craig holding the carryon and Noah holding the briefcase. One by one, lights in the houses started going out. Striding turned into jogging and then full-blown running as they turned onto Hancock and all the lights went out and even ambient car noises went silent.

Relationships

Much like any other character, Noah has interactions with the main cast, but he also has pointed and more important ones with a select few.

Noah and Elise

Best pals for years, he has a bit of thing for her but she doesn’t really reciprocate. It’s not that she doesn’t care. It’s more that she just plain does not feel a spark with him.

But they can clown around and kid each other, and they do a lot of that. Elise is also pretty much the only person who Noah knows by name in his neighborhood, apart from the people he lives with.

And speaking of them…

Noah and Olga

Olga Nicolaev is the caregiver for Noah’s mother, and she has a semi-thankless job as Eleanor slips deeper and deeper into Alzheimer’s.

Noah involves Olga in care decisions about Eleanor and trusts (there’s that word again) her wise counsel. And this is despite the fact that Olga has major issues with English.

Yet when the story starts, and throughout it, she refers to him as Mr. Braverman whereas he calls her by her first name. Now, that is pretty much something you would expect in a relationship between and employer and employee, but still!

Considering the intimacy of their lives together (nothing romantic), you would think he would insist on her calling him Noah.

But he never gets a chance to.

Noah and Eleanor

An exceptionally devoted son, Noah has never actually left home. Rather, when his father died and his mother became ill, the best response was to simply stay.

However, when the story starts, he is getting a little tired of Eleanor continually asking about his late father. She doesn’t know any better, of course. And he does have a great deal of patience. But his reservoirs of it are not without limit.

Conflict and Turning Point

Noah’s turning points are virtually the same as those for the other characters in the story. When it seems as if the entire world has gone mad, he has but one purpose—to get home. There is nothing else he can think about.

And this should follow for a character who is, in part, defined by family and home.

Continuity/Easter Eggs

Noah isn’t really the one with the Easter egg. It’s his mother, whose maiden name is Shapiro.

Future Plans for Noah Braverman

I do not have any future plans for him, but he will show up in the prequel, as will the rest of the cast.

Noah Braverman: Takeaways

Noah Braverman is a somewhat different kind of hero, sort of a hero as homebody, if you will. While Craig turned out to be the lead, it’s Noah who holds the story together.

Mettle would fall apart without him.

Noah Braverman — the character who brings everyone together.

Want More of Noah Braverman and the Rest of Mettle?

If Mettle resonates with you, then check out my other blog posts about how changes in the periodic table nearly kill us all.

Character Reviews: Mettle

† Eleanor Braverman
• Noah Braverman
† Craig Firenze
• Dez Hunter
† Dr. Elise Jeffries
• Minka Lopez
† Nell Murphy
• Olga Nicolaev
† Dr. Mei-Lin Quan

The Mettle Universe
Self Review: Mettle

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Writing Progress Report – Second Quarter 2023

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Writing Progress Report – Second Quarter 2023

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 29, 2023

Progress Report –Second Quarter 2023

How was second quarter 2023 for writing? So, I spent second quarter 2023 writing a number of short stories from one-word prompts.

Second Quarter 2023 Posted Works

First of all, I worked on a number of new short stories. A lot of these had been drafted on paper and so I spent some time editing them.

Then on Wattpad I posted on the WattNaNo profile and the Star Trek Fans profile, and nowhere else.

Milestones

Also, I have written over 3.45 million words (fan fiction and wholly original fiction combined). So right now my stats on Wattpad for wholly original works are as follows:

• Dinosaurs – 42 reads, 11 comments
† How to NaNoWriMo – 26,027 reads, 340 comments
• My Favorite Things (like kibble) – 983 reads, 133 comments
† Revved Up – 59,452 reads, 531 comments
• Side By Side – 20 reads, 2 comments
† Social Media Guide for Wattpad – 15,953 reads, 592 comments
• The Canadian Caper – 506 reads, 37 comments
† The Dish – 250 reads, 24 comments
• There is a Road – 189 reads, 28 comments
† WattNaNo’s Top Picks 2018 – 1,975 reads, 45 comments
• WattNaNo’s Top Picks 2019 – 1,848 reads, 10 comments<
† What Now? – 2,812 reads, 104 comments

More Published Works as of Second Quarter 2023

Also, I am amassing quite the collection of published works!

Untrustworthy, which is my first published novel. So yay!

A True Believer in Skepticism, published in Mythic Magazine.

Almost Shipwrecked, a story in the January 2019 edition of Empyreome, a site which unfortunately is no more.

Canaries, a short story in the March 29, 2019, edition of Theme of Absence.

Complications, a story in the Queer Sci Fi Discovery anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds went to supporting the QSF website.

Cynthia and Wilder Bloom, stories in the Longest Night Watch II anthology.

Props, a story in the Longest Night Watch I anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds go to Alzheimer’s research.

Surprises, a story in Book One of the 42 and Beyond Anthology set.

The Boy in the Band, a story in the Pride Park anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds go to the Trevor Project.

The Interview, the featured story in the December 14, 2018 edition of Theme of Absence. So they even interviewed me!

The Last Patient, a story in the Stardust, Always anthology. This was an anthology where the proceeds go to cancer research.

The Resurrection of Ditte, a story in the Unrealpolitik anthology.

This is My Child, a short story published in the April 8, 2019 edition of Asymmetry Fiction, another site which is no more.

Three Minutes Back in Time, a short story published in Mythic Magazine.

Killing Us Softly, a short story published in Corner Bar Magazine.

Darkness into Light, a short story published in Corner Bar Magazine.

WIP Corner

So my current WIPs are as follows:

The Obolonk Murders Trilogy – so this one is all about a tripartite society. But who’s killing the aliens?

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 is that?

Mettle – so it’s all about how society goes to hell in a hand basket when the metals of the periodic table start to disappear. But then what?

Time Addicts – No One is Safe – so this one is all about what happens in the future when time travel becomes possible via narcotic.

Time Addicts – Nothing is Permanent – this is the second in this trilogy. What happens when time is tampered with and manipulated in all sorts of ways? It’s the ultimate in gaslighting, for one thing.

Time Addicts – Everything is Up For Grabs – as the timelines smack together and continue to diverge, it gets harder to tell the “real” timeline from all the newer fake ones. And what if some of the changes are for the better?

Prep Work

So currently, my intention, for next year’s NaNoWriMo, is to write the third trilogy in the Time Addicts/Obolonks universe. But I need to iron out the plot! So a lot of this year has been spent on that. I have no name for this one yet.

For 2022 NaNoWriMo, I have decided to create a prequel for each of the 5 main universes: Real Hub of the Universe, Obolonks, Time Addicts (while the Obolonks and Time Addicts are in the same universe, I just plain want to write two separate prequels!), Untrustworthy, The Enigman Cave, and Mettle.

So, I anticipate a lot of fun and perhaps a little confusion. But it’s all good!

Second Quarter 2023 Queries and Submissions

So here’s how that’s been going during Second Quarter 2023.

It’s been quiet. But that has been by design. Right now, I just plain don’t feel like putting myself out there these days. There, I said it.

In Progress

As of Second Quarter 2023, 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.

• I Used to Be Happy – Gemini Magazine
† Justice – Adbusters
• Mettle – RAB
† Soul Rentals ‘R’ Us – A Thousand One Stories
• Who Do We Blame for This? – Sonder Review

All Other Statuses

So be sure to see the Stats section for some details on any query statuses for Second Quarter 2023 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% (so these don’t seem to have panned out)
• In Progress: 10, 14.71%
† Rejected-Personal: 14, 20.59%
• Rejected-Form: 24, 35.29%
† Ghosted: 13 (so these were submissions where I never found out what happened), 19.12%
So in 2019 my querying stats were:

• 23 submissions of 11 stories (so 6 submissions carry over from 2018)
† Acceptances: 4, 17.39%
• In Progress: 11 (so this includes 2 holdovers from 2018), 47.83%
† Rejected-Personal: 4, 17.39%
• Rejected-Form: 3, 13.04%
† Ghosted: 1 (so these are submissions where I never found out what happened), 4.35%

2020 Stats

So in 2020 my querying stats were:

• 37 submissions of 12 stories (so 9 submissions carried over from 2019)
† Acceptances: 3, 8.11%
• In Progress: 7, 18.92%
† Rejected-Personal: 12, 32.43%
• Rejected-Form: 4, 10.81%
† Ghosted: 11 (so these are submissions where I never found out what happened), 29.73%

2021 Stats

So in 2021 my querying stats were 5 submissions which carried over from 2020, 100% ghosted.

2022 Stats

So in 2022 my querying stats were:

• 6 submissions of 65 stories (so 5 submissions carry over from 2020 and 2021), plus 1 reprint!
† Acceptances: 14.29%
• Rejected-Form: 1, 14.29%
† Ghosted: 5 (so these are submissions where I never found out what happened), 71.42%

It can be pretty discouraging and hard to go on when nothing new comes up which is positive. You can essentially consider 2023 to be more of the same.

Second Quarter 2023 – Productivity Killers

So it’s work, what else? And Second Quarter 2023 will not be the end of that!

I am also dealing with the aftermath of my mother’s death on February 19, 2023. Just when you think it’s not going to hit you, well, of course it does. Of course.

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Self-Review – Fatima’s Minnesota Wish

Published by Janet Gershen-Siegel on June 27, 2023

Review – Fatima’s Minnesota Wish

In 2021, I tried to write or at least start one short story per day. Fatima’s Minnesota Wish came from a single-word prompt: carousel. It is the third story I wrote during the first quarter of 2021.

Background for this Minnesota Wish

Fatima’s sister Aaliyah is dying of some unnamed heart or muscular disease. Their parents have brought their children to the Mayo Clinic, in the hopes that somewhere, somehow, there can be a miracle and there will be a suitable donor. But Aaliyah’s time is running out.

For Fatima, who is in the seventh grade, school is a mystery. She is learning English on the fly, but at least she understands math, for the numbers are the same. In order to help her acclimate better (and faster), the school offers the services of its speech therapist for some individualized instruction.

Into this difficult and sometimes bewildering world comes an expression from the speech therapist, Miss Crane: Go for the brass ring.

The first part of the story is Fatima figuring out just what that is, and hoping against all hope that it will be the one thing that saves her dying baby sister.

Plot

It’s all the Hussein family can do to try to keep their younger daughter Aaliyah alive. But every day, that gets harder and harder. Fatima, their elder daughter, is just trying to navigate life.

Fatima’s own grief and sadness are spiked with a dose of the novelty of being in the United States and learning English. And maybe talking about boys with her new friends. But then there’s that brass ring, and all it symbolizes.

Characters

The characters are mainly Fatima, her parents, Ali and Maryam, and her sister, Aaliyah. At school, Fatima’s teacher is Mrs. Murphy. Her speech teacher, helping Fatima learn English, is Miss Crane. Fatima’s friends are Nicole and Debbie.

At the hospital are Mr. and Dr. DePels and their daughter, Doris, along with Dr. Rosenthal. Also, there are Shmuly Baum’s parents, Herschel and Raya.

Memorable Quotes

Months went by, and of course Mrs. Murphy was right about the Minnesota winter. But it was only my parents and me who ever saw it. Aaliyah stayed in the hospital, month after month.

In the meantime, I was making friends with some girls: Nicole and Debbie. My father went to work at an engineering firm whenever he could. He would switch off with my mother, who would work in architecture, from home. But I could see how worried she was. It was hard for her to be creative. I suppose that’s understandable.

When May rolled around, the lovely weather got us all itching to go outside. Miss Crane used a rather odd expression with me. She said I should “reach for the brass ring”.

Rather than ask her what she meant, I decided to figure it out for myself. I just asked her for a hint, and she told me to go to a local park, to the carousel. She had to show me a picture, as I had never seen one before.

The park was open that weekend, and so I, in my halting English, asked the man running the carousel what the brass ring was. So, he showed me. There are rings in the center and, as your ride goes up and down and around, you lean over and reach out to try to grab one. And he said I could get any prize if I brought him one.

Rating

The story has a K rating.

Upshot for Fatima’s Minnesota Wish

I like the idea of this story probably more than how it actually came out. In part, this may be because it does not quite end. Rather, it just sort of runs out of gas. Which can happen with stories, naturally. And it follows vis a vis how her sister’s health is declining.

Perhaps I will try to pick it up again in the future, particularly if it becomes a story to query or to self-publish.

Fatima’s Minnesota wish is truly heartfelt. And maybe one day medicine will be able to grant it. #amwriting

Want More of my Short Stories and Novellas?

If this story resonates with you, then check out my other articles about my shorter works.

Short Stories

Finally, for a complete list of my shorter works, please be sure to check out the Hub Page—Short Stories.

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Category: Writing

How and Why Does Writing Speak to Us?

Independent Writers Do It All

Past, Present, and Future Authoring

Review – Surprises

Background to Surprises

The Plot of Surprises

Characters

Memorable Quotes from Surprises

Rating

Upshot

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My Review of My Short Story – The Interview

Background

Plot of The Interview

Characters

Memorable Quotes from The Interview

Rating

Upshot

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Review – Mettle

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Plot

Characters

Memorable Quotes from Mettle

Rating for Mettle

Upshot

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Character Reviews: Mettle

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Review – The Last Patient

Background

Plot

Characters

Memorable Quotes

Rating for The Last Patient

The Last Patient: Upshot

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Self Review – All My Aliens

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Plot

My Aliens: the Characters

The Action

Rating

All My Aliens: Upshot

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Review – There is a Road

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Plot

Characters

The Road to Story Postings

Rating

Takeaways from the Road

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Character Sexuality

Flipping Your Own Personal Script

Character Sexuality: Some Takeaways

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Consider Noah Braverman, One of My Original Characters

Where Did Noah Braverman Come From?

The Past is Prologue — Backstory for Noah Braverman

Description

Purpose/Theme/Motivation

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Relationships

Noah and Elise

Noah and Olga

Noah and Eleanor

Conflict and Turning Point

Continuity/Easter Eggs

Future Plans for Noah Braverman

Noah Braverman: Takeaways

Want More of Noah Braverman and the Rest of Mettle?

Character Reviews: Mettle

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Progress Report –Second Quarter 2023

Second Quarter 2023 Posted Works

Milestones

More Published Works as of Second Quarter 2023

WIP Corner