Acceptances

[Michael J. Hultquist]

I've had a pretty good year thus far in terms of acceptances. Here is my list:

OFF TRACK - Lilley Press (coming in 2008) - a novel
Boken - Our Shadows Speak Vol. 2
Colugo Men - The Beast Within- Horror Anthology - Graveside Tales
Infested - Twisted Tongue Magazine #9
Blessed Tomatoes - Black Ink Horror #4 - Horror Anthology
The Drain - FRIED! Fast Food, Slow Deaths - Horror Anthology - Graveside Tales

Plus I recently finished 2 scripts for Pierce Williams Entertainment - GEARS and PEACE WAR.

Also, I just found out that my film, VICTIM, is probably going to show at Cannes, hoping to find a buyer. Fingers crossed on that one.

AND!!! I'm editing a REALLY COOL Halloween anthology called "Harvest HIll" with Mr. Hutcheson. LOVING all the subs coming in. 

Oh yeah! And we have a great new icon. 

Mike H.

[JP]

Did you say Cannes? Wow!   

Screenplays, short stories, editing an anthology and a novel...not too shabby at all for 2008.

[Michael J. Hultquist]

It's been busy busy! I don't want to jinx anything, though. Oh boy! 

Mike H.

[BrandonLayng]

Whoally! ( A combo of Whoa and Holy) I'd say that's a pretty wicked year Mike. Cannes, now that's a good start, next thing you know Lions Gate will be breaking down your door. I've always wanted to get into movies, I have some pretty great ideas if I say so myself, but I've always loved the look of the indie camcorder films. My wife and I have discussed plans of setting up a film festival for amateur horror filmmakers, in the future of course after I've sold half a dozen novels.

  So get down with your bad self and give a slap on the back for a job well done.

[BrandonLayng]

I'm right in the midst of a RIDICULOUSLY difficult semester in school. My writing has taken a temporary hiatus, but I plan on firing up the genny come mid May.

  Here's hoping you find some down time man and manage to get back to the creatively written word.

[BrandonLayng]

I've been on a rejection streak lately AND a lot of my writing time has been invested into the 2 novels I have going at the same time.  However, my flimsy resume goes:

"The Final Seven Seconds" - Bird and Moon 2007
"A Colelction of True Evils" - Bound For Evil, 2008

Novels take up a lot of time, eh. I'm working on one right now and I have two others that are waiting for me to feel like ripping them apart. Don't worry the rejection streak will end, they always do.

[JP]

Six in two weeks. I encourage everyone to try it. 14 over the years but on a roll in '08? Has your frequency of submissions increased this year? I have a thoery about submissions, the more frequently you submit and the more you submit tend to go hand in hand with acceptances. What it comes down to is that you push yourself to write more and by doing so you practice the craft and get closer to honing it, you submit more and more frequently so therefore your name is out there more and less easy to forget, editors are more willing to read someone who's name they recognize than one they don't. Write and submit six stories in two weeks, you'll get at least one acceptance. And if you don't... that's six more editors who have heard your name and when you get rejections submit again immediately and remind them you submitted before.
[/quote][/i]---Brandon Layng

I see your logic and it makes sense.  I have submitted up to seven stories in two weeks (they weren't written in two weeks) and they were rejected. But that is because they were pretty badly done. The reason why is because for the longest time, my stories revolved around theme, not plot. One day last year I realized that was the wrong direction to take. I began to think that maybe most people aren't going to want to analyze a manuscript that relies on colors, seasons and birds to get the meaning of "out with the old and in with the new." Hell, most people probably wouldn't read past the first page. I thought even harder and realized most people don't even care about theme. I read stories for pure entertainment. If they have deeper meaning okay, but it doesn't really matter to me as long as I enjoy it. I looked over all the stories I had written and realized two things they had in common: 1. The beginning was boring 2. The plot was very weak. So, this year I made a resolution to not worry about any meanings beneath the surface of my story. My goal has been only to entertain. Plot over theme. Some of my new stories do have a deeper meaning, but there was no preconceived plan before it was written. The plot and characters were concrete before anything else emerged.

My frequency of submissions hasn't increased this year, but my approach to writing the stories has changed. I think this is the reason for the two accepted stories. I know that I am happy with my new style of writing. I agree with you about writing. The more you write, the better you get.

[BrandonLayng]

Theme is there for the writer and English classes, it's important for the man/woman creating the work to feel as if there is a deeper meaning to what they are trying to get out. Readers care about plot. Editors care about plot, that flowery prose is sparingly used, pacing and characterization. I read what was probably one of the best books on writing (other than SK's On Writing and Strunk & White's Elements of Style) it was written by an agent by the name of Noah Lukeman and it was called The FIrst Five Pages. It teaches the reader how to tear apart their writing and put it back together in a way that will get the reader past the first five pages and the advice applies well to the rest of a manuscript as well. I also found it a great motivator.

I always hide bits of theme in my stories sometimes it's obvious but only where it moves the plot forward. I've had to kill quite a few darlings along the way and I intend to finish the year with at least twelve acceptances because I'm doing what I never did before; submitting and making writing my main focus. Wish me luck with that.

Here's hoping new methods bring more acceptances to both of us.

[Barry]

Well said, JP.

Case in point....

Early 2007, i had written a total of 5 short stories.  I had meandering peices of others (maybe 10 more, unfinished).  I had written 2 novels and had started on another.  But I knew that I had to hone my short story skills because, quite frankly, they weren't my cup o' tea.  So I hug up the novels for a bit and MADE myself write some short stories, even some flash peices.  It took a while, but I eventually got better at it and now have about 20 or so short stories written, 1 of which has been published and 9 of which are out in submission limbo as we speak.  I feel that I'm a BIT better at writing short stories now and, from time to time, actually prefer writing them to working on my novels.

So yeah, work work work and try try try. It can only help, and never hurts.

[JodiLee]

       

I suppose I should have known this before, but... I took the re-write request as "look it over, we'll get back to you" not as "look it over, and we'll take it". Was I a bit surprised to see the pre-print galley in my inbox this morning!

One of my favorite shorts, "Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds" has been accepted into The Parasitorium's third anthology, Parasitic Thoughts. The anthology is made up of submissions from the members of The Parasitorium  writers group. Keith Gouevia is the editor this round (he's also doing Bits of the Dead).

When I have info, I'll spam-a-lot.

[JP]

Congratulations! 

Here, have a beer

[Natalie L. Sin]

 

[JodiLee]

Thanks you two!

Hopefully that breaks the dry spell....

[BrandonLayng]

      

I suppose I should have known this before, but... I took the re-write request as "look it over, we'll get back to you" not as "look it over, and we'll take it". Was I a bit surprised to see the pre-print galley in my inbox this morning!

One of my favorite shorts, "Days, Hours, Minutes, Seconds" has been accepted into The Parasitorium's third anthology, Parasitic Thoughts. The anthology is made up of submissions from the members of The Parasitorium  writers group. Keith Gouevia is the editor this round (he's also doing Bits of the Dead).

When I have info, I'll spam-a-lot.

[Zombie Zak]

Congratulations and a bottle of fizzy wizzy woo woo!