Acceptance Letter!

Wow. Today I got an acceptance email for my story "Dragon Bones." It will be published online at GateWay S-F magazine, around July 1. (It actually is science fiction, although the title doesn't sound it.)

I gained a lot from working with the assistant editor, and it is wonderful to be accepted, even though there is no payment.

It is nice to have the story "taken care of." It's found a home, instead of being scrawled in a tablet, sitting on my shelf. Now, instead of me taking it out once a year, looking at and making the comment, "Hey, that's not too bad," maybe other people will read it and say, "Hey, that's not too bad."

Of course, as the proud mother/author of each story I write, I tend to think most of them are pretty good. But that's only part of the time. :) I'm not always sure, until someone else likes them.

In other news, I finally have one of my entries for the Noble Theme contest ready to mail!!!

I'm almost ready with the other one, too, working finishing with the printing-up-five-copies stage.

Today on Smallville, they brought back a girl villain, who this time around had a crush on Lana. I think that when a show starts to have everyone -- or even just all members of one sex -- falling for the main love interest, it shows that the writers are getting a little obsessed.

I read two more chapters of my brother's novel on Sunday and Monday. I enjoyed it a lot. You can really picture the characters. They each seem so distinct and individual. I'm starting to think his plan of writing out everyone's extended history before beginning was a good idea. Not sure if I could do it, though.

Characters' histories either come to me in a flash and do not need written down because I remember them so well, or else they come to me slowly, as I write, develop, and learn about the characters. (That could be just an excuse, but I don't think it would work for me to write "about" my characters too much before I write "with" them.)

Maybe I will still try it some time. But I won't worry if I can't make it work as wonderfully as he did. A writing style that works for one person may not work for another. For instance, I could never write like Tolkien. I haven't the patience for it, or the interest in language and certain details.

I'm thinking of a new idea for a story. Think I might write it just for my own enjoyment. Maybe I will try a modified version of Richard's histories plan on it.

I know writing short character sketches of no more than a few sentences helped when I was planning one story. I've also had some success with "character poems," non-rhyming poems that express what each character cares about most deeply, or in a certain scene.