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Post by steppedonwolf on Jun 23, 2010 8:24:50 GMT
Great news, sir - looks like the stars are right for your this year!
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Post by williemeikle on Jun 24, 2010 14:36:16 GMT
Rejection from Asimov's SF magazine.... but it was a personal one, and they said nice things, so not a -complete- bummer.
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Post by williemeikle on Jun 24, 2010 23:02:36 GMT
I've just done something I haven't had to do for a while - print out a story to send by snail mail. The editor of the anthology my latest story is headed for is a self-confessed Luddite and demands paper.
Which is fine by me. I cut my teeth in the early days on large piles of A4 envelopes, reams of photocopier paper and almost daily replacement of ribbons on an old daisywheel printer.
Given the acceleration of technology it feels like I'm looking back at the Dark Ages, but it was actually only fifteen years ago.
Most markets now allow electronic submissions, but it felt nice to slip a smart shiny manuscript into a new envelope, address and enclose an addressed envelope, and sign at the bottom of a cover letter.
And tomorrow I'll go to the post office and buy a couple of International Reply Coupons.
The nostalgia of it all may well overwhelm me. :-)
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Post by williemeikle on Jun 27, 2010 23:55:35 GMT
Just found out that I'm on the shortlist for another pro antho... something else to fret about then :-)
That's 2 pro anthos I'm on the shortlist for, and along with sales to the forthcoming hardcover Cthulhu 2012 antho, Escapepod, the Watch antho and Des Lewis' Null Immortalis it's turning into a good year for short story sales. It sort of vindicates my decision to be picky about where I submit
Here's hoping the second half goes as well.
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Post by williemeikle on Jul 1, 2010 12:44:34 GMT
Rakie's comments on the number of novels she's written made me count mine
In order of writing them:-
Eldren: The Book of the Dark Eldren: The Book of the Dead (trunked and trashed as it was crap) The Midnight Eye Files: The Amulet Island Life Watchers: The Coming of The King Watchers: The Battle For the Throne Watchers: Culloden The Midnight Eye Files: The Sirens The Road Hole Bunker Mystery Generations Hunter's Dock (not yet published) The Concordances of the Red Serpent (not yet published) The Midnight Eye Files: The Skin Game (not yet published) Berserker (not yet published) The Valley Crustaceans The Invasion
So the one I'm on is number 18. Blimey!
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Post by rakie on Jul 1, 2010 14:48:03 GMT
ha, you've got me beat! That's truly impressive, well done sir. ;D first one to twenty buys the next round.
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Post by williemeikle on Jul 2, 2010 14:09:56 GMT
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Post by williemeikle on Jul 4, 2010 20:29:21 GMT
Interim Report for 2010
Well that's the first six months gone, and there's been good and bad on the writing front.
The year started well with the publication of my story "The Blue Hag" in the South African magazine "Something Wicked" but it was rather slim pickings after that, with only several chapbooks from GWP to show any glimmer of hope.
Recently though things are showing signs of a better year to come.
Kindle releases of several works have shown steady, if a tad unspectacular, sales.
And on the short story front, some recent sales have picked me up; one to Des Lewis' Null Immortalis anthology, one to a forthcoming anthology about Voyeurs, and a reprint sale (at a pro rate) to Escapepod. Along with that, I got confirmation of my sale to Cthulhu 2012, a forthcoming pro hardcover anthology from Mythos Books
I'm also waiting for quite a few anthology submissions that should be announced in the coming months, so fingers crossed.
On the longer work front, there should be several new print works coming in the 2nd half of the year from GWP, and the release of the 3rd Midnight Eye novel: The Skin Game, from Black Death Books.
Also coming from Black Death Books will be the release of my back catalogue with them in ebook format, bringing seven new ebooks in the coming months.
On the actual writing front, things have been a bit slower than last year but that's no bad thing as I needed a bit of a rest. I have completed a short SF novel, The Invasion and several short stories. I'm currently at work on a very British disaster novel, The Creeping Kelp, which is working out like a blend of John Wyndham and Professors Challenger and Quatermass with added shuggoths.
As for the waiting... that continues, as I hold my breath for the print editions of things I've written over the past few years, the new ebook releases, the publisher that's looking at Hunter's Dock, the anthology submissions, other submissions to various publications, and the film companies who are in various stages of preproduction on my scripts.
More news, dear readers, as it gets to me. But for now, here's to the downhill slide to the festive season.
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Post by williemeikle on Jul 12, 2010 17:12:26 GMT
Successive FB posts from me show how quickly a day can change around...
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Post by williemeikle on Jul 13, 2010 11:11:42 GMT
What a day that was.
Let's start with some background. Two things I think are pertinent. The first is the date.
On 12th July 1984 I got married. It turned out to be the worst decision of my life, but that's a tale for another day. That same day my old Gran died and my childhood went with her. So, not a date I remember with any great fondness.
The other thing worth mentioning is that I have just started a new short story about a "Trickster" spirit.
So let's get to the day itself.
It started inauspiciously. I did my business in the morning, flushed the toilet... and the chain inside the cistern broke.
Went out to buy a new chain and checked the PO Box. I found to my delight that I had my contributors copy of the Null Immortalis anthology, one I'm particularly proud to get in to.
Back home, turned off the water supply, fixed the chain in the cistern, turned on the water supply.
Sue calls out from the garden that the washing line has broken, dumping a load of washing on the grass.
I start to head out then notice a "hissing". Further investigation shows that hot water is pouring out of the bottom of our boiler, flooding the laundry room floor. I turn off the water and phone a plumber.
Meanwhile, spend an hour or so fixing the washing line and mopping up the laundry room.
Make a coffee. Finally get online to find some arsehole has left one star reviews of my Kindle books because "Although they're right up my ally (sic) I don't have a Kindle." Resist the urge to scream and report him to Amazon for stupidity.
Ten minutes later I get notification of a pro sale to the Mountain Magic anthology, with a story I really love, The Scotsman's Fiddle.
Plumber arrives. Bad news. We need a new boiler and it will cost us all the money we had saved for a holiday later this year.
Five minutes later Sue checks her mail to find that she's won $100 in a competition.
Spend an hour draining the boiler and mopping up some more.
And just before a weary climb to bed, I get a pro payment for another story, one I sold to Escapepod.
I lay awake for hours waiting for something else to happen.
But it seems the Trickster has made his point.
I'm hoping for a calmer day today.
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Post by steppedonwolf on Jul 13, 2010 16:29:35 GMT
Nice to see the karmas I've sent are having some positive effects.
Send me back the plumbing-related ones - I'll pass them onto the eBookless Amazonian reviewer, sounds like he needs his plumbing dealt with...
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Post by shaun on Jul 13, 2010 16:35:32 GMT
That's some day! Congrats on the sale.
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Post by williemeikle on Jul 16, 2010 21:30:19 GMT
I am very happy to be in the upcoming anthology 'Mountain Magic: Spellbinding Tales of Appalachia' coming soon from Woodland Press. Some names I recognize, others that are new to me. And my second antho in a row alongside Steve Rasnic Tem... people will start to talk.
Table of Contents
• The Scotsman's Fiddle, Story by William Meikle • Top Hat, Story by Frank Larnerd • Margaret Rose, Poem by Kelly Ramsdell Fineman • Fiddlelegs, Story by Steve Vernon • The Ascension of Mercy Grace, Story by Jean Rabe • Sin Tax, Story by Stephen Couch • And this came straight from my student's mouth... , Poem by Joyce Richardson • Glory Hand, Story by Joshua Reynolds • A Silent Supper, Story by Lee Ann Sontheimer Murphy • Dancing on a Stump, Story by Karin Fuller • The Worm Conjurer, Poem by Wade German • A Recipe for Rain and Rainbows, Story by Beth Cato • The Passing, Story by Steve Rasnic Tem
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Post by bec on Jul 18, 2010 13:45:36 GMT
Well done!
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Post by williemeikle on Jul 20, 2010 22:53:56 GMT
As of right now I have 3 books in the top 30 in Kindle Store > Kindle Books > Fiction > Horror > Occult.
#5, #21 and #27 (I think there's about 2000 books in that category)
It's beer time!
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