News:

No writing news this week, actually. We’re kind of between calls, and most of what’s coming out later this year has been announced.

Works in Progress:

It’s a new month, so August calls are done and September calls have begun. I just sent a small slate of pieces where appropriate, and there are a few more calls opening in the next few days I’ll send out, too.

Mostly, I’ve been working on We Follow You in the Dark. I finished the first round of edits and cut about 9K words from the story, so now it’s around 55K, which might be too short to try to sub to agents as a novel, like Question Not My Salt, but I guess we’ll see once I’m finished with second-round edits, which should be today or tomorrow. I was worried I’d have more to do on this second round because of how demanding the first round was, but nope, it’s still just polishing. I’m not complaining.

We Follow is resurrecting all kinds of nineties nostalgia for a shopping mall now dead and gone that meant a lot to me as a kid. It inspired some poetry in the editing process. In addition, my daily Quill & Crow Crow Calls have been inspiring some horror lyrics. They’ll probably get turned into poetry, but I like song structure.

After We Follow, I have a novel under my other name to edit. Then I have a few small-long projects I’m thinking about just buckling down and tackling through some intensive writing months. There’s not much short story writing on my docket except for flash contests, unless a call really inspires me, but we’re heading into spooky season, which tends to bring out more calls.

Books I’m Reading:

IT by Stephen King
Discount Armageddon by Seanan McGuire
Cruel Summer by Wesley Southard
The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss

Music I’m Listening To:

Ruelle
Tina Guo
Lindsey Sterling
Agnes Obel
Buffy the Vampire Slayer score
Neverworld’s End by Xandria
The Heart of Everything by Within Temptation
Mirrorball by Sarah McLachlan
Modern Alchemy by Zayde Wolf
Moulin Rouge albums
No Moment but Now by Wendy Colonna

Things I’m Watching:

America’s Got Talent series
Dr. Pimple Popper series
CSI series
CSI:Miami series
Murder, She Wrote series
White Collar series
The Great British Baking Show: The Professionals series (finished)
The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt series
Locke & Key series

Poem of the Week:

these two hands
joined perfect union
tie the satin ribbon
white and pure
around their wrists
bind together
loyalty and love
tighter smooth
insidious dents
burst capillaries
knot again between
clasped fingers
dye the fabric
a deep red
tighter