Just a quick update on where the writing is this week. Its been a week since I finished the first draft of Captain and the Tan Eel, which means I should probably sit down this week and do a revision/edit of CTE so that I can promptly file it away for another week of maturation.
I heard back from Beneath Ceaseless Skies this week about DLR. Scott was great about pointing out some of the flaws of DLR that I hadn’t noticed before, namely in character depth for the narrator and a few scenery choices I had made. Oh, I won’t deny it, I was pretty miserable about getting Yet Another Rejection for it, but at the same time I’m a bit happy that Scott’s response wasn’t a flat out “Go away and find another way to spend your free time, because writing isn’t it!” So, so far, that’s many rejections, the last two of which included encouragement and editorial advise. I’m taking that as a positive motivator (no matter what you think), which may be part of the reason that I want to spend so much time getting CTE ready for prime time the slow and arduous way. I’ve sent DLR to another site, on the notion that although not everyone’s cup of tea, there might still exist a viable market for it. Sooner or later I’m going to have to face up to the fact, though, that I’m running out of viable markets to try it in, and it really is such a niche piece of fantasy “humor” that it doesn’t have much options left. No worries, though, I’ll save it for the omnibus edition so I can pull it out of a drawer in ten years as a “lost manuscript.” 🙂
No word from Asimov’s on BP, but that’s not really surprising. Although they’ve adopted the Clarkesworld submission engine, they aren’t foolish enough to give out what your place is in the queue. Can’t say I blame them, and it definitely curbs the hitting refresh every few hours as the numbers dwindle. Its still as much a mystery as ever when they will be reading it, but at least the submission itself was far less painful, and that’s the only important part.
And then there’s The Six Pence Dragon. Ironically, its the story I’ve both spent the most time on this week, and achieved the least bit of writing on. I’ve a notion that it might be more than just a short story – it has the potential to be a full length novel, in fact, which is part of the reason I’m not rushing to get words down for it. The outline for it is growing, slowly, and I hope to get it more fleshed out before trying to actually write it. I know, what is that, planning? From me? Go figure.