My first writing blog

Well, I decided now that I'm actively trying to focus on my writing - working on a lot of short stories and finding an agent for my novel - that perhaps I should try blogging a little. I plan to use this to talk about my stories, any successes or failures I may have, as well as possibly things I read or see that on TV/movies/theater that strike me as write-worthy (sorry, Caitie's been watching a lot of Seinfeld lately).

As of now, I've had one story published ("The Return of the Supes" in Emerald Tales magazine) and have submitted my story for the second issue. That story is called "A Steady Life" and I feel it's one of the best stories I've ever written. It's quite different from my normal writing in that it's not science fiction or fantasy - it's a real character study which is something I've found I've been leaning towards more and more.

This morning I finished "Delicious," a story I'll submit for the third issue. It's another character story with a horror bent at the end, though it's also something different for me in that I wrote it from the perspective of a female seductress - something I've never even come close to trying before. It'll be interested to see how it's received, since it is something completely new for me. Caitie said last night she wants me to try something completely new -- no fantasy, set in present time. Honestly, with the exception of a couple of character pieces I've done for school, I don't think I've ever really done that. I tend to always go for some element of fantasy - or at the very least some kind of twist ending or set in the past. Maybe the present just doesn't interest me as much, I don't know.

I finished the Dark Tower series this morning. King has guts, I'll say that. I'm still wrapping my mind around the end, but I think I get it, and if I do, then King is kind of brilliant. The idea of putting himself into the book was a little strange, but it made sense with what he was trying to say about the nature of writing. It ties strongly in with my ideas of the journey and cyclical nature of stories. Maybe that's why I feel a kind of simpatico with King.

Finally, something a bit troubling. In reading thoughts about "Lost" I read a theory that Alpert's whole goal is to die - to end his immortality. I REALLY hope this isn't so, since it's a major idea in my novel! Still, if it turns out that's what it is, I'm saying here and now, I thought of it first!