Amber Stults – Book Reviewer and Writer

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These statistics are all for short stories, poems, or contest entries. Book reviews (and interviews) are not included.

1. Sales in August: 0
2. Rejections in August: 1
3. Submissions sent out in August: 0
4. Total stories/poems/contests pending responses: 2

I can’t even believe how quickly August has flown by.  My husband bought me some little cans of 7 up with monster faces on them.  October is right around the corner.  Oh no!

You visited a few times and I would appreciate your thoughts on this post, why not comment?

These statistics are all for short stories, poems, or contest entries. Book reviews (and interviews) are not included.

1. Sales in July: 0
2. Rejections in July: 0
3. Submissions sent out in July: 1
4. Total stories/poems/contests pending responses: 3

Last year I didn’t have a good run in sending out submissions.  I think my May writing events got my behind in gear.  I’m starting to submit flash fiction pieces written this year.

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At the end of June I registered for a flash fiction workshop at the last minute.  One of the requirements of the class was to write something for it so we could revise it and get a critique during class. 

Naturally since I signed up the first day of class I looked at a bunch of stories I wrote for 2008′s Writo de Mayo.  My goal that year was to write  a complete short story each day based on a writing prompt.  These didn’t have to be anything pretty – just first drafts.  I was surprised by some of what I wrote:

• A woman haunted by her brother.
• A Titanic survivor.
• A group of adventurers overcome ghouls to make a special delivery.
• A woman and daughter celebrating the young girl’s birthday.
• A director constantly replacing dead cast members before opening night.
• A woman who finds a dragon in her house.
• A werewolf boy who wants to be a vampire.
• A talent agent with a difficult client.
• A young warrior tending a castle garden.
• A trapped miner.
• A lost wallet.
• A woman keeping her dying friend’s secret.
• A woman driven to murder by her co-worker’s singing.
• A soldier patrolling an unfriendly planet.

 In the end, I decided to write something new.  I had problems getting down what I wanted to say but decided to submit it anyway as a work in progress.  It’s going to need a lot of work before it gets to the final version.

You visited a few times and I would appreciate your thoughts on this post, why not comment?

These statistics are all for short stories, poems, or contest entries. Book reviews (and interviews) are not included.

1. Sales in June: 0
2. Rejections in June: 1
3. Submissions sent out in June: 2
4. Total stories/poems/contests pending responses: 2

The Thurber House has a contest each year to kick off the summer season.  This was the first year I entered and since I wasn’t invited to come to the picnic for a reading I can assume I wasn’t picked as one of the top entries.

At the end of June I signed up for a Flash Fiction workshop with Jim Harrington, one of the editors at Apollo’s Lyre.  Flash Fiction is what I submit and I thought it wouldn’t hurt to have an insider’s opinion on a new piece before I did anything with it.

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Yesterday while driving to the farmer’s market to pick up my meat (I’ve belonged to a meat CSA since last fall) I was treated to a NPR interview with M.J. Rose on marketing and promotion.

I haven’t read any of her books but I do recall seeing The Hypnotist recently on several book blogs.  Rose is right.  It’s really difficult to get your book to stand out from the thousands of other books published that year.  And to keep the momentum going is difficult too! 

So many good books get published and it’s not easy to read them all in the first year.  It seems that’s when the sales have the most impact on future book contracts.  Though none of my novels have been published, I do have friends who have their novels in bookstores and available online. 

What makes a book or author stand out to you?  Is it the buzz you hear?  An interview?  A regularly updated blog?

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These statistics are all for short stories, poems, or contest entries. Book reviews (and interviews) are not included.

1. Sales in May: 0
2. Rejections in May: 0
3. Submissions sent out in May: 0
4. Total stories/poems/contests pending responses: 1

Nothing was submitted this month but that doesn’t mean I wasn’t still working and writing.  In fact, even though I wasn’t writing every day it was one of my most productive non-November writing months yet.  My writing related goal for Writo de Mayo and MayNoWriMo was to write another 10K words towards a previous NaNo project about a Barbarian Shamaness who must travel to a city to obtain more wort to save her village.  Without this vital ingredient for the medicine her village could be decimated.

Thanks to not actually writing for 12 days straight, I didn’t make my goal.  I was able to add 5930 words though.  Rereading the beginning chapter I realized it’s not the beginning.  It should be part of a flashback.  As much as I wanted to edit it and change things I didn’t do it.

I’m sure some of you will recognize what I call “shiny syndrome”.  You know… when you get a great NEW idea, or you see a market that another piece would be perfect for after some edits and you’re tempted to temporarily abandon your current project?  It tried to strike me several times during the month but I successfully resisted each time.

Participating in Writo de Mayo and MayNoWriMo helped me be more focused, I think.  I wrote down my goals where other people could see them and had to update my progress regularly.  To be honest, I don’t know if anyone else read them or not.

Attending Coyote Con provided me with the opportunity to chat with and get to know people I probably would not have met any other way.  Overall I’m pleased with the way May ended.

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Throughout May I’ve written about some of the community events that allow me to keep up with other writers.  They include Coyote Con, Writo de Mayo, and the Muse Online Writers Conference.

May was a busy month with Coyote Con, Writo de Mayo and MayNoWriMo.  MayNoWriMo 2010 was the brain child of Joely Sue Burkhart.  She rounded up authors to do guest posts and prize donationsfor the month long event.  Like Writo de Mayo, writers came up with a writing related goal and gave progress reports throughout the month.

I kept my goal for MayNoWriMo the same as for Writo de Mayo – to write an additional 10k words on a previous NaNo project.  Many good things came out of this one month group.  One I’ll mention is a new year long writing group to keep me on track with my writing goals.

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I keep forgetting to mention… I conducted an interview with Frick Weber earlier this month for Niteblade.  He’s one of the talents behind The Field on the Edge of the Woods.  The interview has been posted.  Enjoy!

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Each October, Lea Schizas and friends pull off an amazing online conference.  This will be the fifth year and I can only see it getting better.

I’ve attended the past few years and each one improves on the last one.  Bigger chat rooms, forums, and editor pitch sessions are some of the changes I’ve seen. 

My first year I was so overwhelmed with access to people who could speak on such interesting writing topics I wanted to sign up for nearly every chat.  And I think I did.  I attended many chats and participated in the forums.  There were a lot of handouts to read.  As the conference has gotten bigger the workshops have gotten more intense. 

The workshops last the entire conference and if there is one day you fall behind, it is difficult to catch up.  These are extremely hands on and some people are known to take vacation time to make sure plenty of time is available.  Even the presenters take time off! 

There is still time to sign up for the conference if you want to do a writing boot camp.  You will definitely be put through your paces.

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Way back in 2007 a LiveJournal community I belong to decided they wanted to tackle a writing project similar to NaNoWriMo.  And thus in January of 2008 the month of May became Writo de Mayo.  The idea was to pick a writing goal and stick to it for a month.

The NaNoLJers community is still holding Writo de Mayo.  The first year I decided to write a short story each day based on a prompt.  Not all of the stories were complete first drafts but I got a lot of writing done.

In 2009 I decided to start a second draft of my 2008 NaNo project.  It’s an urban fantasy and I did not finish the second draft.  I recognized some big holes in the flow of the novel.  It was only two months ago that I figured out the main one.

This year I’ve decided to add another 10,000 words to my unfinished 2007 NaNo project.  That first week in November was when the current Resident Corgi came to join our family.  I had honestly forgotten how disruptive adding a new member to the household could be.  Towards the end of the month I made some big writing pushes but didn’t get anywhere near the 50,000 mark.

Glancing through what I have so far has convinced me I’m a better writer than I was at that time.  The opening scene I thought would be dramatic will work better as a flashback.  But I’m not allowing my inner editor out.  No way.  This month is for writing.