*I just approved the final edits for "Coil Gun," which I sold to Digital Science Fiction. It's slated for the third edition, which comes out in August. The anthology (it's more a series of anthologies than a magazine per se) will be available on Kindle and other e-book formats for $3.99. I should be paid fairly soon too, which is doubly awesome. Once it's available, I'll be sure to post the appropriate links here and on my Facebook fan page.
*Digital Science Fiction reopened to submissions (for the fourth issue) this morning. I submitted my story "Picking Up Plans in Palma," which is set in the same alternate-timeline as "Coil Gun." I think it's a better story, since it's longer and told from the point of view of only one character. This means more development of the protagonist. I also applied the adage "write what you know," since SCUBA diving is involved. :)
I've plotted out some novels set in the same world in which the protagonist of this story is one of the main characters--the novel takes place during the WWIII depicted in "Coil Gun," but "Palma" takes place several years earlier.
*I brought my Lovecraftian story "The Beast of the Bosporus" to my Lawrenceville writing group the other day. They came up with many suggestions for improvement that will also cut the length. The first draft (which I think I wrote in 2004 or so) was 10,000 words long and one critique said it was like reading Toynbee, with monsters.
(The story is set in the 16th Century Ottoman Empire and features several historical figures as characters. I figured that would be rather different from typical Lovecraftian fare, which is set in New England in the 1920s.)
I've got it down to just under 7,000 words now. There's still a fair bit of material to cut, although some of the suggestions will add length.
(One group member said including a portrayal of an honest, devout Muslim in addition to the alcoholic Sultan Selim "The Sot" and the messing-with-things-man-was-not-meant-to Vizier Mohammed Sokolli Pasha would defuse any claims of anti-Muslim bigotry. To that end, I'm going to expand on the character of Sokolli's Janissary bodyguard Mehmet.)
*I haven't gotten a whole lot done on Battle for the Wastelands, although I did write some more material from the last chapter in my notebook while waiting for a meeting to start on Monday. I think I'll plug that material in tonight.
*I haven't done much with The Thing In The Woods. Given how this is a one-shot story and it's all about teenagers, it probably won't require extensive research. I could probably finish that fairly quickly if and when I decide to apply myself.
*"The Revenge of the Fallen Reboot" is done. I started writing it soon after I saw Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
in 2009 and due to it being a lower priority than other projects, it languished. Now it's done and no more fan-fiction. Due its length (60,000 words), I think this one might qualify as my third finished novel.(I wonder if Hasbro is interested in "roads not taken" novelizations? Star Wars had the Infinities comic-books after all.)
If you want to read it, here's the story.
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