Deep Sky Anchor

Over the last more-than-a-decade, I’ve submitted nearly one hundred stories to more than 150 different markets.  A bunch of my stories have been published.  Some of them haven’t been (yet).  And, of course, I’ve received a lot of rejections.  969 so far.

As I approach 1000 rejections, I’ve been thinking about the publishing process — what it costs and the benefits it provides.  I don’t intend to stop submitting my stories to markets that seem well-suited to them.  However, I also don’t see a reason to stay dependent on other people’s e-zines to make my work readable online. Continue reading “Approaching 1000”

It’s very sad to play an ocarina and not summon a golden-eyed, ghost-faced, calico cat.

* fliers
* tape
* staples (once you’ve upgraded from packing tape to a brand new staple gun)
* energy (for asking strangers if they’ve seen the cat and then talking with them about how you miss her)
* breath (for playing the ocarina she loves) Continue reading “Things you can run out of while looking for your missing cat:”

‘Tickle One,’ noun, synonym for ‘cat’ in Wesley-speak. Usage: “That’s a tickle one!” (best said while pointing at a cat)

The two-year-old has been walking around with a backpack all day. I asked him what was in it, so he proudly unpacked: plastic food, the book eight-year-old’s been reading, a plate, and the TV/DVD remotes.

Ch. 1 – Dinosaurs
Ch. 2 – Dogs and Cavemen
Ch. 3 – Cats and Pyramids
Ch. 4 – Knights and Dragons
Ch. 5 – Ben Franklin and a Mouse
Ch. 6 – Dancing Hamsters and the Internet

Playing twenty questions with Elaine — the answer turns out to be a Rapunzel cat, which she just made up. Yep, she’s my daughter.

And now the answer to twenty questions is Dazzle Drop –a magical gumdrop that unicorns eat. Elaine is just like me.

Research: watching videos of Venus fly traps.

Being an editor is weird. It feels like the world has been turned upside down. Continue reading “Writing and Parenting Tidbits”