Hounding After Hours

And no more work until MOnday. Even if they do call me in on Sunday, I ain't going!

That a boy, Ted, just say NO!

I'm off for a week. Vacation. I don't get to go anywhere, but at least I don't have to go there.

*cheers because he gets to see and pet Night's tail more often*

just don't forget the lotion...

I put the lotion on the skin or I get the fire again...
I put the lotion on the skin or I get the fire again...
I put the lotion on the skin or I get the fire again...
I put the lotion on the skin or I get the fire again...

aw, that would make a perfect Valentine's card...

For Valentine's I wanted to get a pic of me in a creepy van and a note that says, "thinking of you an awful lot"

I can't imagine any woman not wanting to receive one of those for Valentine's Day. You could also put a piece of candy in the envelope and say, There's more where that came from.

night-flyer said:

You could also put a piece of candy in the envelope and say, There's more where that came from.

Click to expand...

This is the greatest idea I've found all day! You rock!

I concur--that is a fantastic idea.

I'm up way later than usual, after getting home from a birthday party in which I was reminded that most twenty-and-thirty-somethings stay up this late and later on purpose. Regularly.

Glad I could help, Ted.

Rhoda. Hell, I stay up until four and I'm like over a hundred! Sounds like you had a good time, did you bring us some cake?

I can always count on the Hounds cheering me up.

And I'm still stealing gathering ideas for Valentine's Day from around the interwebs.

*hides in corner and giggles*

I can see you.

I got another rejection from Shimmer. I sent them a flash fiction piece I did for FFC. It was personalized. In fact, it was the most personalized rejection I've ever gotten. The editor said that they just didn't feel a connection with the characters and didn't add anything new to the genre. That's a tall order for a flash fiction piece.

This reminds me of an old Mad Magazine bit about a guy who collected rejection letters. He was a cartoonist. And he kept sending things to Mad and they kept buying his submissions. He was asking for a rejection letter to go with his collection. Finally, after 5 attempts, he realizes he has a market so he burns his collection and gets serious about being a cartoonist. So they reject everything else he sends them after that.

A personalized R means that you have to up your game and send something else in - they like the writing, just not enough to buy that particular piece. Give them another go with something else.

Never let an R get you down. See them as a challenge. "C'mon, do better."

That's what I'm thinking, too. I like the magazine and I really want to get in it. So, I'll find something better for them.

My best ever personalized R had something like "I don't know what you are trying to say with this, but I like the way you aren't quite saying it. If you have something which makes more sense, I would love to read it." I sent another e-mail within the week.

That got rejected as well, but he was ever so nice about it.

Here's a writing contest that just got posted. Short date, too.

Bookmarked.

Now, if only I could think of a suitably twisted monster idea...

Would this be a distraction?

*headdesk*

My schedule is slipping faster than a guy with two left feet on a sheet of ice.

Then my work here is done. I'll go and find something else to do.

I'm on a roll (no, not the eating kind). I asked someone to nag me about getting my daily word count in and it's been working. I get 1 day off a week, usually on the weekend (and this week's was yesterday), but as of today I am 5 thousand words into a 10-thousand word target outline for Dark Horizons, a new WIP. When I'm done with that outline I intend to apply the same technique to Hivers, Gated, Third Pulse: Book 2, and Fire On The Suns: Book 2 to get those books outlined, raise my daily target, possibly, and get going on writing those books. Uncle Jim says it's possible to use the outlines to write 10 pages a day and finish a novel in a month. I'm determined to apply the method and find out.

Hmmm, 300 pages x 250-words/page = 75 thousand words. 2500 words/250 = 10 pages.

That's short, but respectable, and with some padding out and rewriting will almost certainly hit 80-85 thousand words.

85000/250 = 340 pages/30 = 11.33 pages/day which is certainly doable. That's only 2833 words/day and I'm doing a grand a day in less than 30 minutes so, basically, an hour and a half a day once the novel actually gets rolling.

Most pros could write 3 thousand words a day in their sleep (I did it for Survival which was written in 3 days time).

hmm...I haven't written anything in about four months, but that monster contest sounded intriguing. Too bad the deadline is so short. Great job, Greg! What you're doing seems to be working and you can't go wrong with Uncle Jim's advice.

Good day, hounds.