Writer Update

Writing Status

In the job of figuring out how to get published, doesn’t it seem that the more you learn, the more there is waiting in the wings to set you back two steps from the three you thought you took forward? One sci-fi magazine wants manuscripts sent by mail. Halleluiah! I’m sending my short story to them first. A second possibility wants manuscripts formatted in .DOC. I have no idea what that is. I’ll research it if the first magazine rejects the story.

Deep breath—stay positive—I am getting better at finding and implementing information. Unfortunately, what I don’t know usually pops up at the most inconvenient times or places and the possibility that I might push the wrong button and blow everything up terrifies me. I really look forward to the day when I can laugh about this.

It is coming, right?

What I Read

I read Margaret Atwood’s The Year of the Flood, second book in a trilogy. I liked this one better than the first. It concentrated more on character building than post-apocalyptic world building. The story is mostly told in third person, though interestingly, one character narrates from the first person. In general, I don’t much care for the device of assigning separate chapters to each character as their point of view (POV) moves the story forward, but it’s obviously popular now.

What Next

Years ago, I compiled one story from the New Testament books of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John—mainly to make it more comprehensible to my kids. Maybe I’ll share some of it with commentary from Imshalel, a character in my novel. Could be interesting.