A Love Letter to January

Actually, I'm pretty glad January is over. It's been cold, so cold. The kids at school are about ready to explode with cabin fever. I'm tired of dry skin and cracked hands.

Bring on the sun! Bring on spring!

But first, let me pause to reflect:

I wrote three new short stories ("Tommy of the Flood", "Empty Vessels", and "The Distillery") plus one flash piece ("Fuzzy") inspired by one of Owen's books and another flash that will remain nameless for the time being. I edited a couple other bits and launched them in to the ether.

I placed a drabble with Drabblecast, a weird flash piece with Everyday Weirdness, and a magical realism short with A cappella Zoo.

A few things were published on the web, but my favorite appearances for January landed in Monstrous from Permuted Press and Northern Haunts from Shroud.

I tinkered with Rock Gods and Scary Monsters a bit and wrote about 3.5K on The House Eaters.

In support of the small press, I took out a subscription to Murky Depths and purchased the latest edition of Black Ink Horror (#5).

Whew.

January was a good month for personal reflection, too. Thanks for all the great discussions.

I'm going to go play with my kids.

Shaking Off the Rust

I hammered out about 1,200 words on a new short story last night, and it felt soooooo good to stretch my writing muscle. On Saturday, when I was struggling with my resident virus, I didn't think I'd want to write another word. Again. Ever.

Glad that's over.

So far I've had three rejections this "year" and one itty-bitty acceptance to Drabblecast for a 100-worder. I used to collect the rejection letters in a Hotmail folder, but lately I've been deleting them. Unless, that is, the rejection holds some constructive criticism. Otherwise *click* (flush).

It's hard to remember how those early rejection letters used to sting. My skin (or my skull) must be much thicker now.