Finished a new short story today.

"The Four Cowboys of the Apocalypse"

4,493 / 4,493 (100.0%)

I don’t think I’ve mentioned this one in my journal before. Sorry ’bout that. I seem to be finishing them a bit faster than usual lately. I can’t complain.

This one is another "weird Western," although it is not the follow-up to Deadstock that I talked about a couple of weeks ago. That one will be a much longer work (probably a novella, too), while this one is a much shorter piece.

Here’s my plan:

If Fantasy & Science Fiction ends up rejecting Deadstock (they’ve had it for 22 days now, which consequently is the longest they’ve taken to reply to one of my stories), I plan to submit a query to the editor of the Way Out West anthology to ask if I can submit it to them. It’s a few thousand words longer than the limit posted in their guidelines, but I figure it doesn’t hurt to ask. If they don’t end up wanting it, I’ll send them "Cowboys" instead and shuttle Deadstock off to a few other markets that will consider novellas, like Butcher Shop Quartet and New Genre.

Good times.

• Currently reading: "Trap of Gold," by Louis L'Amour

After many years of debate, Pluto has finally been demoted to "dwarf planet," which apparently isn’t enough to keep it in the solar system club. We now have eight planets in our little corner of the galaxy, which means a lot of science books will need to be edited.

There are a lot of people debating the decision, of course; not necessarily because they disagree with the reasons for excluding the erstwhile planet (which are quite sound, actually), but probably because Pluto has been a planet for so long they don’t see the point of giving it the boot at this late date. (Personally I don’t care what they call it. Pluto has always been one of my favorite planets, mostly because it lies on the edge of our galaxy and all that unknown space — pardon the pun. Anything could be lurking around out there.)

The International Astronomical Union also named two new Plutonian moons that were discovered last year. Continuing with the dark, Greek underworld theme, they christened them Nix and Hydra.

This is very exciting for me because my sf-hororr novella Heroine takes place around Pluto. There is mention of a Charon Station, although none of the story takes place there, and now I’ve got some other goodies to play with. I’m going to take today’s news as a sign that I’m supposed to finally finish the damn thing and get to work on the Novel (yes, I think of it in proper-noun status now).

• Currently reading: "The Museum of Dr. Moses," by Joyce Carol Oates

Sometimes I even impress myself…

"Dan Rose Says Everything Is Going To Be A-Okay"

4,784 / 4,784 (100.0%)

If you haven’t heard about this one before, that’s because I came up with the idea this morning and wrote it this evening. Never before has a story idea come to me in its complete totality all at once. I usually start with a germ of an idea and let it grow from there; it can take days or weeks, sometimes even months for me to see it through to completion. This time around the entire thing came to me like some sort of mental gift basket (cut me some slack, my brain is tired).

Having said that, I don’t know how to describe this story. Because the ending I wrote is open to interpretation, it could be considered a straight literary tale about madness or it could be a horror story. I’ll be curious to see how readers respond to this one.

Now I just gots to get someone to publish it.

Update: I told Kathryn about the new story and she said, "You should try to have thirty stories done by the time you’re thirty." I turn 30 on October 14th. That means I would have to finish seven more stories in a little less than two months. Not entirely outside the realm of possibility. Thanks for putting that in my head, babe.

• Currently reading: "On the Isle of Blue Men," Robert W. Sneddon

What would Peterborough be like in in post-nuclear holocaust world?

"Everything Gets Bigger After Nuclear War"

5,433 / 5,433 (100.0%)

That’s what I wondered after reading the guidelines for an anthology called Guzzolene (the word is a play on gasoline and was taken from the very excellent Mad Max movies, which were the inspiration for this collection).

Seeing as how The Road Warrior is one of my favorite action movies, I thought it might be fun to give it a whirl. Since I know cock-all about Australia, beyond what I saw in Muriel’s Wedding and Priscilla, Queen of the Desert (two great flicks, btw), I thought I’d transport my story to a setting I was more familiar with – namely, my new home. I swapped river bandits for street gangs, threw in some mutant eels, and voila! I have my story.

Since Guzzolene doesn’t close until November 1, I’m going to shop this one around to some of the bigger markets before I send it to them.

Either way I hope someone buys it so you can check it out. I think it’s a real blast. A nuclear blast (ha-ha).

• Currently reading: "Sandman," by Sarah Shun-Lien Bynum

Received the following e-mail from the editor of the anthology Horror Library - Volume 2. (Check out the website if you have a free mo. The cover artwork looks very slick!)

We have received and read your story, and it has made it’s way through our editing staff. We enjoyed "Charlotte’s Frequency" quite a bit and would like to place it on our tenative ’short list’ for the time being. Not a guarantee that it’ll be in for sure, but let’s just say it’s made it past the first rounds…and is certainly a story I enjoyed on many levels. It’s quite refreshing to read a story that has a classic sensibility to it, but one that still packs a punch.

So, if you don’t mind, we’re going to hold on to this one for awhile longer and we’ll certainly let you know what’s going on as things progress!

Of course, I told them I don’t mind and to take their time. I’d really like for the story to be accepted because it’s been around the block, probably more than any other story I’m currently flogging, and I think it’s a goodie.

Well, he’s hoping!

• Currently reading: "Village 113," by Anthony Doerr

Just finished my story for the Trent University Short Fiction Writing Contest.

"Dr. Fall"

1,235 / 1,235 (100.0%)

This was a hard one to write, mostly because of the 1,250-word limit. Each one had to count, and I still had to tell a story that would make some kind of impression on the judges. I was particularly sorry to lose one section describing the good doctor’s house, which is essentially a big shrine to autumn. Fortunately, the excised chunks have been saved as part of a longer edit (the director’s cut, if you will), which I will send out to some mag or another if the story doesn’t win the contest.

It was nice to get something finished this week. The other two people in my department at work have been on vacation since Monday. That meant I had to cover their duties. Not a difficult task, but a stressful one. In addition to my usual web-publishing duties, I had to write press releases, put together the municipal bulletin that appears in Lindsay This Week, write an edition of the employee newsletter, and contact newspapers and radio stations every time a new candidate in this year’s municipal election announced he/she would be running (there were four of them this week).

In short, I’m tired and a little burned out. I didn’t get a lot of writing done because I’m just too damned tired. But Kathryn is in London this weekend — to pick up her wedding dress; man, the big day sure is creeping up! — and I’ve got one more story close to completion. I’ll give you all the gory details once it’s done, which I suspect will be soon.

Back to the salt mines…

• Currently reading: "Voices from the Deep," Barbara Fradkin

Received one of my more unusual rejection letters in the mail today. It came from Weird Tales, appropriately enough.

Here’s what they had to say about "Charlotte’s Frequency":

Fun, but not quite working for us. Keep AAAAAATrying, do!

No joke.

A funky Friday rejection.

• Currently reading: The Concrete Blonde, by Michael Connelly

Since I came to work for Kawartha Lakes, I’ve written editorials for the local paper, sent out press releases, and even helped catch a bat in the Purchasing department (long story).

Today I had another first, dressing up as Sparky the Fire Dog for the Dairy Queen Miracle Treat Day.

I cavorted around and played with the kids, all the while thinking of Bill Murray in a similar situation as Frisbee the Dog in Scrooged ("It’s a bone!"), and did my part to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network.

An interesting side note: I had to read a set of rules before donning the Sparky armor. Among them I was instructed to refrain from rude or suggestive gestures ("Don’t hump anyone’s leg," the fire chief said). I was also told that Sparky doesn’t actually put out fires and he should never be seen holding a weapon. I had to wonder about Sparky’s past that such rules had to be put to paper.

As far as secret identities go, it wasn’t quite as glamorous as being Batman or Spiderman, but it was still pretty fun. Give Sparky a utility belt or some web-shooters and I’ll be out there at every event.

• Currently reading: The Concrete Blonde, by Michael Connelly