Sit Rep

Interzone hasn't responded to my sub nor my query, so I assume they've rejected my "Ra-Gho-Zu" story.

I didn't hear till lately that Interzone doesn't necessarily respond to submissions they reject.

I will see what other markets I can sub to as I eke out some fiction and film stories during my scant free time.

I will also be taking a break from blogging. I don't know at this point when I'll post on this blog again.

Sit Rep

Today I got form letter e-mails telling me that my script entries to the Nicholls Contest didn't advance to the next round.

I'm eking through with my script rewrites and still waiting for Interzone to respond to my "Ra-Gho-Zu" story, which is apparently buried in a pile at the editor's desk.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

Today I finally finished the rewrite on my Steven Decatur "Stars and Stripes" script.

Woohoo!

Now I have two more script rewrites to crawl through....

I still haven't heard anything from Interzone about my "Ra-Gho-Zu" story. Either they're seriously considering it, or it's buried in a pile and the editing staff hasn't gotten to it yet.

I'm going for the second.

I still haven't made the time to find another market to submit "The Automatic Pen" to. But I will. Just very busy with several things.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

I got an e-mail last night that I just read tonight.

"Automatic Pen" got rejected by the Cheer Up, Anthology.

I'll figure out the next market I can submit to.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

Yesterday I got a rejection for "Automatic Pen" from F&SF.

I then submitted the story electronically to an anthology tentatively called "Cheer Up, Universe," edited by Ahmed Khan. It calls for comic SF and Fantasy short stories. Hopefully, my lil' tall tale will fit the bill.

The submission deadline is June 30, 2009 (which I beat) and the response time is 1 day to 3 months.

A day's gone by and I haven't heard anything yet. =)

Hailing freqs closed.

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Sit Rep

On Wednesday, I got a rejection by Strange Horizons on "Ra-Gho-Zu."

Today, I mailed "Ra-Gho-Zu" to Interzone over in the UK. I also mailed "The Automatic Pen" to F&SF.

It'll take about 1-2 weeks at first class mail for "Ra-Gho-Zu" to make its way to England. Priority would've taken about the same time at a more expensive price, while Express was a small fortune that wasn't worth it. The response will come by e-mail.

Whenever my stories arrive, hopefully, either or both magazines will like 'em.

I'm plugging away, meantime, with my reading and writing.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

Today I got a rejection from Asimov's for "Automatic Pen."

When I get the chance I'll mail the story to F&SF.

I'm reading some novels and prepping to rewrite another script.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

I just subbed electronically "Ra-Gho-Zu" to the e-magazine Strange Horizons.

It's nice to save on postage and time and gas going to the post office. The response will be electronic and speedy.

We'll see.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

Today I got both the reception postcard and the form rejection from Gordon Van Gelder at F&SF for "Ra-Gho-Zu" in the same mailing. Van Gelder did me the favor of typing my name at the top of the rejection and signing it.

He apparently looked at all of one paragraph then rejected the story right after an office aide sent off the postcard.

Can't say I'm surprised after meeting him at Clarion 2004.

I'll figure out who next I'll submit to.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

A few days ago, I got a form rejection for "Ra-Gho-Zu" from Asimov's. Since it's my impression that Sheila Williams has literary tastes, I wasn't shocked.

Today I mailed "Ra-Gho-Zu" to the Magazine of Science Fiction & Fantasy. I'll see how Gordon Van Gelder likes the story. He has literary tastes, too.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

This evening I subbed online two film scripts to the Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting.

The Nicholls is the most prestigious film script contest there is. Placement even as a quarter-finalist could get a body some attention and script read requests. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

The deadline was May 1, 2009. Ideally, I would've liked to have subbed the scripts in January 2009 when competition first opened, but I hadn't been planning on subbing to begin with. When I finished rewriting the scripts, I felt they were damn fine. Hopefully, the judges'll think the same. :-)

I subbed "Ra-Gho-Zu: Heaven's Sword."

Storyline: A peacemaker descended from samurai sworn to protect the innocent must save the Empress Apparent from the galaxy's deadliest shadow assassin, an immortal spirit.

It's based on my short story "Ra-Gho-Zu," which placed in the semifinals of the 1st qtr of the 2008 WOTF contest and is currently being read at Asimov's. I plan on novelizing the script before I market it.

The second script is "Destiny."

Storyline: When Eris, Goddess of Strife, saves Alexander the Great, Lucius Julius, an obscure ancestor of the famous Caesar, must save Rome from antiquity’s mightiest conqueror.

I plan on novelizing this script, too, before I market it.

I now have some novels to read for recreation, 3 more scripts, and 1 fantasy short story to rewrite.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

Last week, I got a rejection by Analog on my "Automatic Pen" story. Unlike the other one, which was a preprinted form, I got a word processed letter with a single two line sentence saying the story wasn't suitable for Analog and it was signed by Stanley Schmidt himself. A sheet with the standard Analog submission rules and the first page of my story were also included. And the envelope was taped, though it was a self-sealing one. I wonder why so much care was put into sealing a rejection?

Anywho, I mailed on Saturday "Automatic Pen" to Asimov's, which also has "Ra-Gho-Zu." Sheila Williams can get to contrast a Mark Twain-type 21st century tall tale with a space drama. I hope she likes one or the other.

On the screenwriting front, I finished my newest draft of "Ra-Gho-Zu: Heaven's Sword," where my protagonist gets to play on a larger stage. I plan on subbing it and a Rome-Alexander alternate history epic to a major screenplay contest soon, called the Nicholls Screenwriting Competition. It's something of a mega WOTF for screenwriters. Extremely prestigious. The submission deadline is May 1, 2009, but I'll fire off these two within the week. I'm just doing some editing and final quick reading.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

I've sent "The Automatic Pen" out to Analog today.

Hopefully, Stanley Schmidt will like a 21st century Mark Twain type tall tale about a country hick genius who builds a wormhole to meet aliens who can fix his automatic pen.

I'm continuing to eke out an SF script rewrite. It's like pulling teeth, but I halfway get the feeling I'm onto something.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

Today I finally mailed off "Ra-Gho-Zu" again after it got rejected by Analog in late January 2009. I've been busy, but I sent it to Asimov's. Hopefully, Sheila Williams will like my SF opus better than Stanley Schmidt did.

Then when I got home, I found my "Automatic Pen" manuscript waiting for me in the mail with a rejection sheet from WOTF.

Nichevo.

I'll mail the "Automatic Pen" to Analog by the middle of next week.

I'm crawling through a film script rewrite now and reading a novel or two--when I have free time from work.

I'll see how this year turns out.

Hailing freqs closed.

Sit Rep

I've been busy with work, but I've managed to send out two stories today (after more rounds of periodic revisions than I'd like to count).

I've sent "The Automatic Pen" to the Writers of the Future Contest and "Ra-Gho-Zu" to Analog.

With the help of different readers from different sources, I made some changes to "Automtic Pen" to address a few logic issues and considered changing the title but kept it. Hopefully, it'll go farther than the Semi-Finals, where "Ra-Gho-Zu" placed.

Speaking of which, I made some editing changes to "Ra-Gho-Zu," I was going to fire it off to Analog, then held it for the Federations anthology, where it got rejected. I was gonna fire it off to Analog a few weeks ago, then got a suggestion to cut short the beginning (which the WOTF judge thought was perfectly fine) and the story is actually faster paced. In hindsight, the Federations rejection helped spur the new draft. The version I sent to the anthology was the one I was going to send to Analog at first. Hopefully, the Analog editorial staff will like the newest draft.

It's all in the laps of the gods now.

I must eke through script rewrites now, when I'm not exhausted by work.

Hailing frequencies closed.

I got a rejection e-mail today from John Joseph Adams for his Federations anthology.

Nichevo.

I'm moving on to another market and with another story.

Fortunately, an acquaintance of mine with a great reader's eye, who'd been indisposed has gotten in touch with me and wants to read my latest fiction stories. Return time is a few weeks.

When she's done, I'll fire it all off. I'm eking away at film script rewrites now.

Signing off.

I just subbed via e-mail an improved version of my WOTF Semi-Final story "Ra-Gho-Zu" to a major anthology market called Federations.

Very hopeful.

The anthology is edited by John Joseph Adams, (quoted from his site) "the editor of the anthologies Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse, Seeds of Change, and The Living Dead. He is also the assistant editor at The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, and is the print news correspondent for SCI FI Wire (the news service of the SCI FI Channel)."

The reading period is from November 1, 2008 to January 1, 2009. Rejections will be sent out quickly, but stories being considered may be held till January 31, 2009.

I was gonna fire it off on November 1, 2008, but I got an e-mail in late October saying that my Odyssey grad crit group was being revamped and seeking submissions. I thought I'd give it a shot and run it by the group to see if it'd pick up on a bug I might've missed.

The story was subbed along with one more to the Odyssey crit group on November 1, 2008. Me and another person critiqued the other story, but mine hasn't gotten a crit so far. The Odyssey crit group works on a free choice basis. I may choose not to participate with it any more.

I got tired of waiting, I know the story is good, and I didn't want to wait too long before subbing to John Joseph Adams, who has already been receiving submissions.

I was going to sub the story to Analog a few weeks ago after being rejected by Jim Baen's Universe. But I learned about the Federations anthology, and so I waited.

It's finally out now. Woohoo!

As Julius Caesar crossed the Rubicon, he is often misquoted as saying "The die is cast."

The more accurate quote is "Let the dice fly high!"

I'll be subbing another story to WOTF soon, then I'll put my screenwriting cap on for several months and work on some scripts that've been neglected for too long.

Hailing freqs closed.

It's interesting to live in one of those moments where history is being made.

I have been quiet for a while. Slogging through rewrites, work, and following the election on the Live Journal of Larry Hodges, where I've posted quite a few replies.

I will be sending out my "Ra-Gho-Zu" story to a major market some time next week. I'm just waiting on a final round of crits from people in an Odyssey grad critique group. And I'll be sending a short SF story, "The Automatic Pen" to WOTF about a week later after I get comments from the same crit group. I've decided to put my teen fantasy on hold for next year, while I read some teen novels and get back to some scripts waiting for my loving attention.

Work and the election have been taking up my time. Looking back, I suppose I could've commented a time or two on the election, but I'm not usually a political person and I'd set this blog up for chronicling my fiction/film pursuits.

Nichevo.

Anyone who's periodically checked my blog will have noticed the debates, SNL skits, etc. that I'd embedded. I hope that in some small way, I'd disseminated information that passing web surfers needed in order to decide on what to do for the 2008 election, which I believe is the most momentous in America's history to this point.

I'd debated on whether to vote early or show up on Election Day yesterday. After I'd decided to show up on Election Day, I came across articles that talked about waiting lines at early election polls of anywhere from 3-6 hours and that some polls would likely be mobbed on Election day.

Doh!

In my case, a large and spacious Greek Orthodox church that's right next door to my backyard is my local election poll. Built about 10 years ago, the church has all the frills and is rented out for weddings and parties all the time. I could've walked over, but I drove in order to be prepared to motor out of the place for work in case I had a three or so hour wait.

It took me only an hour all told of waiting, registering, and filling out my ballot. The poll opened at 7 A. I'd forced myself awake at 6 A after only 5 hours of REM time, got ready, and arrived at 6:55 A. A line had formed that stretched around one end of the church. I jogged to get a place, and the line kept forming behind me to reach around another wall.

The pace was decent, though. After about 25 minutes of waiting, I got to the front door, where volunteers were dividing the line into two for each of the two districts that could vote. The line for my district was a lot shorter and I zipped in, did my part, and drove back home to chill before work for an hour. I should've gotten a nap, but I got through the day.

I voted for Obama/Biden and a full Democratic ticket nationally and locally. First time ever. I'm an Independent and I'd voted for both parties in the past. But I voted for Obama as much as I voted against McCain and Palin. The Republican party has vowed to reform and change in order to regain the trust that George W. Bush has shattered. I am extremely skeptical of that when I consider how the GOP faithful has embraced Sarah Palin rather than be insulted at her selection by McCain as a stunt to draw disaffected Hillary voters.

Now the United States has its first black president, who has reached across age, ethnic, and other lines to gain the presidency. I believe he promises as well to be a global president as well with an Indonesian childhood, a Kenyan parentage, and a Middle Eastern name.

The honeymoon period will be sweet, but short since Obama is entering the presidency in circumstances possibly more dire than those that faced FDR: two expensive and mishandled wars in the Middle East that were needless to begin with, a skyrocketing national debt thanks to Bush Jr., rifts with the global community from Bush's "diplomacy," and sundry other issues. The Democrats also have, I believe 56 senate seats and two Independents aligned with them. Not quite filibuster-proof, but still a pretty strong position for passing vital legislation during Obama's presidency.

I believe Barack Obama promises to be an inspirational and capable executive. He'll need to be in order to fix the mess that Bush Jr. has plunged the nation into.

Hailing frequencies closed.

WHY YOU SHOULD OR SHOULD NOT DECIDE TO BE A WRITER

By MICHELE WALLERSTEIN
Screenplay & Novel Consultant
www.novelconsultant.com
email: novelconsult@sbcglobal.net


Writers write for all sorts of reasons. Some of these reasons are perfectly right and reasonable but many are heartbreaking mistakes.

There are people who go to movies and say to their friends and families: “I could have written a better movie than that!” Come on, admit it, you’ve all said it a few times. But if that is your only real motivation, it is pure ego and narcissism. Writing well is tough, grueling work. It takes years to become a really good writer, to be recognized in the film community and to make a living doing it.

There are many, many reasons that bad movies get made. Many of them start out as good screenplays. Perhaps the Producer uses the wrong casting director and the Star wants the dialogue changed to fit his mood, then the Director steps in and wants some changes to fit is “vision” of the film. Then the Producer has some problems with the financier so the film must
be set in Lithuania but it must look like Chicago. By now the original writer has been replaced many times by cheaper writers who are just happy to have some work and will do whatever they are told by anybody. There are so many permutations of the above-mentioned scenario that you can’t even imagine. Everyone starts out trying to make a good film. That’s a given.
What happens after that is a real crap shoot.

No one sits down and simply writes a terrific script. It doesn’t happen that way.

Another reason some people choose to write is to get something personal out of their system and off their chest. They feel that they have to get their story told. Perhaps it is their relationship with their mother or father. Maybe there has been abuse in their family or some other family drama that they need to explore or expose.

Again, this is not a good reason to write a screenplay. This is a very personal situation that may need to be told, confronted, and worked on in therapy, dealt with with loved ones or written about, perhaps, in a journal. It most likely is not a movie.

There are people who think that writing is easy, or that it’s cool, or that it’s fun. There are those who love to read so they think they can write. There are others who don’t know what else to do with their time.

To write a really good screenplay you need to take professional writing classes. You need to go to as many seminars on writing as possible. You need to read as many books on script writing as you can get your hands on. You need to write three or four screenplays then stick them in a closet and really start writing. Screenwriting is like learning how to play the violin or baseball, you have to practice, practice, practice.

A real screenwriter has to love the movies and has to be a real storyteller with a great imagination. This person must understand plot, character development, the three act structure, know what audiences love to see, understand what drama and comedy really are. The great screenwriter understands that any genre must touch upon the inner soul of their audience and make that audience feel something special, learn something special and come away with something new inside of them.

Becoming a professional writer is a long and serious road. It is not for the feint of heart. The rejections are horrible, but the rewards are great. Be sure you are devoting yourself to this process for all the right reasons and you can make it.

Baen's Universe Submission Update: Rejected

I got a short form letter via e-mail from Baen's Universe, saying "Ra-Gho-Zu" was rejected.

Nichevo.

I know the story is good. All I can do is sub to the next market on my list and move on with other stories.

I'd have thought that "Ra-Gho-Zu" would've been up Baen's Universe's alley, though.

Hailing freqs closed.