As usual, I’ve gone over my projected word count…and I’ve even cut out the core of the story. So the overview I wrote a few posts back…yeah, nothing like that now. Now, the story focuses on Varley as he tries to figure out a way to augment his powers of luck for the ultimate poker game.
Of course, this isn’t just any poker game. It’s a game attended by a Bounty Killer, a Succubus, and a Werewolf. But Varley has what they don’t: a mage’s deck. No problem, right?
I’m in the first edit now. Next, I’ll send it out to my third world friends to get a review.
As for The Sorcerer’s Wife, I’ll wait to get back the critiques from my online group (the group from Banff) then I’ll be posting it here on this site (for free!).
I’ve booked my plane tickets to Edmonton in January. I hear January is a beautiful time to visit Edmonton. Sunny, warm, lots of bikinis. Should be nice.
In house news: things slowed down a fair bit. With our move-in date postponed, many of the contractors have decided that they’ll start taking it easy. Well, that’s no good. I’m bringing in some new people, got rid of one contractor, and have told others that they have to get moving. Only two weeks until move-in…and it doesn’t look that much different than a week ago.
Make sure you get tickets to see a game at Rexall.
There is one place in Edmonton in January where you can find bikinis (on women) and that is the Mall. And I am not going to that Mall. Which means you aren’t either — unless you want to risk a cab ride or (gasp) the bus.
So pack your mukluks and mittens, Big Guy. (that would be for the walk from the airport to the vehicle) And remember, we are doing writerly things. Like drinking way too much scotch and discussing metaphors, similes, and crap like that. God, I just get shivers thinking about it!
You want to know the worst part? I actually do. This is going to be so great! Begin the countdown!
“Asimov’s Science Fiction magazine is an established market for science fiction stories. We pay on acceptance, and beginners get 6.0 cents a word to 7,500 words, 5.0 cents a word for stories longer than 12,500 words, and $450 for stories between those lengths. We seldom buy stories longer than 15,000 words, ” straight from the “Submission Guidelines” page.
“We have no formula for fiction. We are looking for stories that will appeal to science fiction and fantasy readers. The SF element may be slight, but it should be present. We prefer character-oriented stories. We receive a lot of fantasy fiction, but never enough science fiction or humor. Do not query for fiction; send the entire manuscript. We publish fiction up to 25,000 words in length.” straight from Fantasy and Science Fiction guidelines.
They take longer work. Quit sweating the word count, and get the whole story down.
Ah. I feel better. My work here is done. And now, back to my word count. (ha ha ha)
They take longer work. Quit sweating the word count, and get the whole story down. Ah. I feel better. My work here is done. And now, back to my word count. (ha ha ha)
The problem is that I’m trying to think of what an Editor is looking for. I just don’t know if a top magazine (such as Realms) would want to commit more than 5000 words to an unproven writer. Thus my desire to keep my story short.
Of course, I might be shooting myself in the foot because I’m making the story weaker by cutting…