News: If you're interested, there is a new book, Better Fiction: Year in Review 2005 available that includes my first ever published story, My Redemption - which was originally printed in 1998 in a small press magazine, The Threshold. Also, several other great stories by other people and two of my poems - A Night Out and Smoke Dragons. It is available in both print and ebook form and available here: Better Fiction: Year in Review 2005
I'd love to hear what anyone thinks ;)
~Sarah
First things first - I am getting sick and tired of spammers using my comments to place their loan ads -- how do I get them to stop? seriously?? Do they even bother reading what they're commenting to?
Today has been one of *those* days again. I haven't figured out yet if I'm just an uberpessimist or if I really see the world more dark than light or what. I *know* there are great things happening in my life - both personally and professionally but for some reason, only the darkness catches my focus. It's like the good things happen for only a moment but the bad things linger. I have a beautiful son who is really a very good kid - smart, attentive, kindhearted - all the things a mom wants her son to be and I find myself sad because I can't seem to have another one. I've gotten a fair number of acceptances this year but the rejections have been far more numerous - never mind that quite a number of them came back with some very contructive comments and even a few compliments. I even got my very first fan letter this year. So why do I feel like I'm failing at this... this writing thing? I'm used to feeling like a failure in my normal life - it's been part of my life forever and I am accustomed to ignoring that feeling. I've even adjusted to feeling like a failure as a mother - again - I've learned to ignore it - simply because I know I am not. My baby is doing pretty well so I must be too. Feeling like a failure in the rest of my life - that's new but I know that it too is wrong. My draft work might suck (and it does, believe me) but when the polish and shine is done - I do decent work (even if occasionally upside down). I do know this. Really. I suppose overall, I'm just a bit screwed up...
OK - back up and running. My sponsor is changing servers and thought he'd told me, so we're uprooted for a short time but should be back up to par soon.
Hurray!!
~Sarah
I am not sure what happened yet but somehow The Imaginary Word has disappeared. I am working to put things in order so that it will be available ontime for December. In the meantime, I have put together a forum for news, discussions, etc relating to the Imaginary Word.
Thanks so much for your patience.
~Sarah Wagner
Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all eat well and have fun. I am headed for my grandmother's provided the weather doesn't truly hate me - which is looking possible...
For me - thanksgiving is great but it's the day after thanksgiving that gets my blood pumping. No. I don't go shopping. I wouldn't want to be around that many people if you paid me! The day after Thanksgiving, I get to pull out the boxes - all 36 of them (truly not an exaggeration) and begin the task of decorating for the holidays. Most of my decorations have been passed down - most of them I grew up with as they were my mothers. The big exception are my dishes - my beautiful christmas dishes - all decorated with scenes from "T'was the Night Before Christmas" and I love them. They are the first (and still only) dishes that are just mine - not my mother's first - all my other dishes were hers first. I love the holidays - so many memories for me and it's the only time of year where they are almost all good memories. I love this time of year! I must continue the preparation for Friday now... I've got my 'everyday' decorations to take down and store so that I'll have a blank slate on which to settle in every santa, snowman, reindeer, and tree... yay winter.
~S
Left Behind, a short story of mine, has just been published and can be found here: Whispering Spirits
~Sarah
The November Imaginary Word is up and running and full of all the best places to read prose and poetry this month.
~Sarah
This year has been full of the closings of great markets - markets I loved and wanted in damn it! First would that it were, then Lenox, now SCI FICTION.
This just plain sucks.
~S
Well - I'm happy I hit 20K and super glad I started over - this story is unfolding well and I'm loving the process - as jumpy and scattered though my way may be. Now - only 30K to go... hopefully, I can get some real work done over the weekend and then next week. If I can hit 40k by next friday, that would be ideal - more would be even better of course but - I'll go where the muse takes me, like I always do.
~S
So - I'm either a blind fool or a driven woman... I'm hoping for the later. I've put Hajin-mate (the nanonovel I've started) on hold for another time and I'm going to write a different book. Fortunately, this one has my attention already - my devotion in its grip. I do not think that the four days will be any handycap whatsoever... I'll get into it's explanations another day... I've got to go write it now.
~S
My first priority novel, a fantasy with some crossover points. As time goes by, I'll probably discuss the novel itself further. There are three planets involved in the story - Asher, Cusacatem, and Wyalat. Over the last two years, I've been working on a series of short stories revolving around the three worlds. It's been a great excersize in world building for me - getting that involved in the past cultures and traditions of my planets. I've got several of these stories in various stages of writing, editing, submitting, and publishing.
1. Fated (Asher) published June 2005 in Lyrica
2. Blood on the Sands (Asher) to be published in Shadow Sword issue 2
3. Moronar's Chosen (Cusacatem) under consideration
4. Death's Vessel (Cusacatem) under consideration
5. Blur of Tiers (Asher) under consideration
And there are aproximately 13 in various stages of completion though I hope to have two ready to be submitted during December.
~S
Not quite finished with the day but, the current word count stands at 7036. I wanted to be over 8k by the end of today... there's still time I suppose and I'm going to give it a go but, overall, 7k isn't so bad. I'm not hating the story as much as I was... it's not up to my personal standards but it does have the potential to be - when I stop the writing and move on to the rewriting and editing.
~S
OK - not quite the end of the day but, I'm at 2803 words. That's not too bad a start. If I can keep the pacing 50,000 will get here well before the deadline.
~S
Nano begins today... so far, I've tallied a measly 169 words... that will change before the end of the day - but, I have begun.
~S