My short story “The Genesis of the Incorporeum” appears in this anthology, out Feb. 7
I’m struggling this week. We’re four weeks into the semester, which means I’m grading papers, which I loathe. I want to just assume that my lectures are so brilliantly inspiring that all my students will breeze through all the assignments, armed with the skills I imparted to them through my delightful lectures and carefully chosen homework.
Alas, tis not so. Every year, my students find new mistakes I never knew were possible. Fortunately, this semester I have a pretty good group of freshmen. (I teach spreadsheets and databases, AKA Excel and Access to college freshmen every spring, and I have done so for many years.)
The exciting bit this week is Friday’s release of The Garden of Eden anthology from Garden Gnome Publications. I was excited about this antho the first time I heard the editor, Allen Taylor, suggest it. There will be a series of anthologies, each with a different theme. They are all Speculative Fiction, not Inspirational Fiction, and they’re classified as “weird fic” which is right up my alley!
I was inspired by watching Ancient Aliens (my guilty pleasure) as well as by people’s propensity to say “I can’t explain it…it must be a ghost!” …or aliens, or something paranormal.
All totally possible in my view.
Just not very likely.
So I made up something else to blame it on: incorporeal time travelling creatures that are not aliens…they are of earth, but since they’re incorporeal, humans do not know they exist. And they can be blamed for OH so many things…
So that’s on my mind, as well as the fact that the deadline for the next antho is coming up and I really want to be in it again with another story about the incorporeum. Then there’s the WIP, a novel I took off the shelf and split into five separate novels…
I’m slogging through the WIP at the moment, which is dangerous because, if I’m slogging through writing it, the reader will slog through reading it, and might stick it on their DNF (Did Not Finish) shelf. My main problem is that I had a day or two of business that kept me away from writing, right after I’d been on fire and cranked out a lot of words in several days. When I went back to it, I wasn’t on fire anymore. I’m at that stage in the book where a few specific events will happen, and then it will be over. I know I don’t want it to be over…I don’t want to put it down. But I do want to finish.
The ROW80 Goals for the week:
- Do something writing-related every day: Yes, but not nearly as much as previous weeks.
- Do some actual writing every week: Definitely. The WIP is slow, but still growing, and I did some flash. I’m even a finalist on Five Minute Fiction Again. (Whee! Vote for me! Just click the link and click my name on the poll. No registration or any funky stuff like that.)
- Engage with other writers every week: I’ve been getting to know my antho-mates a little. I’ve been in several other anthos, and it surprises me that writers don’t get more involved with each other when they’re published together. Some writers seem to just be sitting back, barely acknowledging the antho exists at all.
- Stay away from the NaNo story for at least a month: OK, I’m doing pretty good about this, but then yesterday I started thinking about one of the books that comes between the NaNo story and my WIP, and I started making notes for it.
- Get sleep: No great, but not too shabby. Although hubby and I have planned our lives so that I can stay up late to write (it’s 2AM now) and sleep in the mornings, the rest of the world doesn’t always agree with this schedule. I hate explaining or defending myself.
Have you ever had a story published in an anthology? Did all the writers get involved, not just with the promotion, but in getting to know each other at least beyond a name and a headshot? I’m curious. I’ve seen friends tweet about how great their antho mates are, and I’ve seen others act like complete strangers.
AmyBeth Inverness 
Ok, the anthology was intriguing enough but the fact that the publisher has an Alf lawn gnome on their home page clinches it. I want this book! Good luck with the launch!
Thanks! I am also intrigued by the lawn gnome. I should ask Allen about it… My real initials are ALF so I have a particular bone with Alf!
Oh man, I can imagine… My last name is Pulver and it took me years to get not-twitchy about people making Pulver-izer jokes.
“Every year, my students find new mistakes I never knew were possible.” In which case, they should all get ‘A’s for creativity, right? 😉
The antho sounds intriguing. I’ll have to take a look. I’ve been in two…both different experiences. In the first all the authors were invited by the main author, we beta read each other’s work, we chat regularly. The other…I don’t know that most of us even know who the other is.
One of my first anthos had a lot of enthusiastic authors, but when release day came, most of them didn’t make a single peep. I was connected to them on social media, and I was surprised to see that only a couple of us were even MENTIONING the antho, much less actively promoting it.
As a publisher, I’ve been responsible for coming up with the anthology ideas, and looking for authors. I’ve been lucky so far in that people have been very interactive and excited about the projects. We are working on a Steam/Cyberpunk anthology and a nod to old silver screen movie monsters.
Do you really think that slogging through writing means that a reader will slog through reading? I always thought that meant I was being meticulous. . .
I think there’s a difference between being meticulous and being bored. Both can be considered ‘slogging.’ In this case, I’m almost to the wedding (close to the end…but not THE end) and I’m debating skipping over the bridal shower. Nothing important happens there. It’s a nice, civilized brunch. I don’t want to just gloss over it as if it never happened, but I don’t want to write “Then they had some cake. Then she opened presents. That’s about it…” 🙂
OK…I’m not THAT bad even on my worst day!
Congrats on being included in the anthology! Your story idea sounds really intriguing. It’s fun to muse about “life as we DON’T know it” y’know, and your idea is a new one to me. I love all things anomalous. (Well, guess that’s obvious since my non-fiction travel guide includes a chapter about an alleged space alien crash pre-dating the Roswell incident by 50 years!)
Let us know when it goes on sale. Eager reader over here! 😀
Thanks so much! I’ll have to check out that travel guide…sounds like it fits right in with Ancient Aliens!
The antho releases Friday, but of course some outlets are slower than others. I’ll share the links as soon as I have them!
I’ve been in a few anthologies, and for the most part I’m still “strangers” with nearly everyone involved. Only one editor do I still talk to on occasion. Great guy. Super nice. While a publisher did start trying to network all the people he’s published… I’d say I’m a lurker there. That fail falls on me.
I’m very hesitant to reach out, because I’m very much a coward. I’m afraid of being looked down upon and disliked. I always kind of fear being told I wasn’t good enough or the weak link in the anthology. I just do my best to promote and then go onto other projects.
AmyBeth, I’m also a big fan of Ancient Aliens … and America Unearthed too. H2 has become one of my favorite channels. I’m actually mulling over some standalone imprint ideas based on that channel. 😉
There are some awesome stories in the Garden of Eden anthology. I’m proud to have edited it and to have found the authors that I found – including you! You’ve been one of the most enthusiastic of the bunch and I appreciate that. The Amazon version should be available later today.
And here it is!!! http://www.amazon.com/Garden-Anthology-Biblical-Legends-Anthologies-ebook/dp/B00IAOVOMQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1391804739&sr=1-4
Incorporeals sound like intriguing creatures. Definitely sounds like an fascinating anthology. I’m super impressed by your commitment to carve out time to write . . . even if it can interfere with minor things like sleep. Kudos to you! 🙂
Thanks!