Easing Back Into Things

I'm trying to establish a rhythm and get back into the writing groove. As my fellow writers know, there's nobody better at making excuses for not doing what they're supposed to do than writers.

For example, you don't generally see accountants, teachers or professional baseball players taking time off to "deal with other things" or "find themselves."

Not so with writers. I present to you, Exhibit A:

Took some time to cool my heels. Moved to a new town. Bought a house. Remodeled the bathroom. Painted the walls. Helped edit Necrotic Tissue. Watched that beloved market, along with several others, go the way of the dodo. Turned thirty. Blew up a microwave oven. Anyhow, that's a long way of saying that I've been lazy in terms of the whole word-count-generation thing. I think part of me knows that when I go in on the writing life, I go all the way in, and it tends to dominate my thoughts. I wish I could compartmentalize, but I never can. It's what I love to do, and with so much going on, I got scared.

Having said that, I'm ready to jump out of the frying pan...

One of my first forays back into the writing-and-publishing world was sending an old story (that had promise) to a relatively new market, One Buck Horror. Though I received a rejection (even THAT felt good--like an old pair of shoes), I'm here to tell you that it's a solid market (pro pay! they still make those???) and I highly recommend downloading a copy. As the name indicates, it's only a buck. I'll crack into it someday.

I've also signed on to edit a few novels for my former NT colleague, Jodi Lee, over at Belfire Press. Good times so far.

Last, but not least, I recently submitted a story to a reprint anthology. One of my favorites. Written at a time when I was almost brand new at the game and wrote with the abandon only someone who has no idea what he's doing can muster.

Like a character in that story, I'm creeping my way down the hill and under the bridge...where the old obsessions live.

Feels good.