Progress Report – Third Quarter 2023
How was third quarter 2023 for writing? So I spent third quarter 2023 just trying to keep my head above water. It was… tricky. So there was that…
Allow me to explain.
It’s All About the Spoons, or Lack Thereof
If you have never heard this expression before, then it may seem a bit odd. But I see it all the time in my circles. Must be the neurotic writer in all of us.
Let us assume that you have, say, ten spoons. And you need them for various tasks. You can’t change them for knives or anything like that. You just need spoons. And not necessarily for oatmeal. You need them for life in general.
Getting up on time might be one. Showering can be another. Eating a balanced diet is another. Getting enough exercise is one. Work probably takes a good four all by itself. What are we up to now? Eight, sports fans.
Now you’ve got just two more spoons to spend (or if you prefer, energy packs in a video game or the like). Your relationship (if you have one) may be one. Dealing with your family, even if that’s 100% pleasant, may be another. Cleaning. Cooking. Keeping up with current events. Pet care and/or child care if applicable. And on and on.
But you just spent your ninth and tenth spoons cooking dinner and calling your parents.
This is about the time to mentally (or maybe even out loud) trot out that old expression, “I can’t even.”
How Do You Get More Spoons?
Sleeping. Meditating. Doing healthy things (yes, cooking and making sure it’s nutritious, and exercising are all at least one spoon apiece. But they also help you recharge and reclaim a spoon here and there).
So, getting up in the morning and getting motivated to work out might be two spoons, but you get at least one of them back when you do. And you may even get three and end up ahead of the game.
You can also mess yourself up a good thousand ways till Sunday if you stay up too late (or have caffeine too late), or if you procrastinate and end up panicking to get things done.
Spoon destroyers also include things like being a caregiver, being laid off, etc. Recent inflation is a pretty nasty spoon destroyer.
Well, What Does All This Have to do With Me?
I recognize that this is a neurodivergent and somewhat convoluted way of describing what’s not exact depression but more like spent energies.
The year started with my mother’s 90th birthday and then her death a little over six weeks later. Understandably, that has clouded everything. It removes at least one spoon for every day, and that’s not meant to sound flip.
I also decided to change web hosting providers, and that has proven to be a bear—and I even understand this stuff. A bit. More spoons.
Clearing up the last of my mother-in-law’s byzantine estate? You guessed it: Spoon City, Population: me.
Write Those Spoons!
This is all a very long explanation for why querying feels so insurmountably hard these days. Why finishing a piece is an uphill slog. And why important stuff (including this blog) is pushed to the back a lot.
I need a ladle.
Third Quarter 2023 Posted Works
First of all, I worked on a number of new short stories. This is all 100% pantsing which is a little odd for me because I do like to plan stuff.
So, right now, on some of these I have no idea how they end!
Then on Wattpad I posted on the WattNaNo profile, and nowhere else.
Milestones
Also, I have written over 3.4 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 Third 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 and 2023 NaNoWriMos, 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!
Third Quarter 2023 Queries and Submissions
So here’s how that’s been going during third 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 third quarter 2023, the following are technically (but I’m not getting my hopes up) 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 third 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 of 5+ stories (so 5 submissions carried over from 2020); 100% Ghosted. So, these are submissions where I never found out what happened.
2022 Stats
So in 2022 my querying stats were:
6 submissions of 6 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.
Third Quarter 2023 – Productivity Killers
So it’s work, and see above. I am not seeing an end in sight for all these responsibilities and energy drains. Sigh.
If my works resonate with you, check out my other articles about my progress:
• Writing Progress Report – First Quarter 2023
† Writing Progress Report – Second Quarter 2023
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