Thursday 1 January 2009

Stepping Wearily into 2009

I'm going to start off the new year with a Cateism: You know you need to diet when you realise you would make a hearty meal for a shuffle of zombies.

Happy New Year everyone!

I'm a girl who believes in Karma and signs and portents and OMG! my new year got off to a bad start so I may make a hearty meal for a whole continent of zombies by the time the day ends as I delve into the world of comfort eating. Note to self: Do not open your emails on Jan 1st until something blindingly-brilliant has happened.

First email (okay, after several spam) was a rejection - BOO! So my stats for this year so far are:
Submissions: 0
Sales: 0
Rejections: 1
Publications: 0 (sob! - more on that)
Approx Word Count: 0
Stories out in submission land: 23
WIP: Theatre of Curious Acts 2nd draft - 10,921
Subscriptions: 2 (Postscripts, Doorways)
New Subscriptions: 0

Then with my following email, I followed the link to the latest issue of Necrotic Tissue which should have included my 100 worder Bug Eyed. It wasn't there. Ate some more chocolate, checked acceptance email (it says January 09), breathed sigh of relief that I hadn't imagined an acceptance, settled down to wait for the next issue in April.

Not a good start guys, right??? Gulp.

Anyhow, I guess we need to do the whole resolution/goal thing.

1. Write one short story a month - totalling 12 for the year (I can count).
2. Finish 'Theatre of Curious Acts' and sub etc
3. Rework 'The Poisoned Apple' and sub etc
4. Write new novel either 'The Moth Maker' or 'The new idea I had at work on Tuesday when I was supposed to be coming up with an idea for a short story - and then convinced myself I was a genius and this would be the one (again)'.
5. Take out a new subscription / buy a new anthology / novel from a small press publisher every month. And for those of you not in the know 'Necrotic Tissue' is going to be a print magazine as of July and they now pay pro rate to one writer per issue ($25 dollars for other short stories, and 5 cents per word for the 100 worders - which is pretty cool too). I will be abusing their inbox again.

And to compound my 'this new year is evil' mantra - I'm now off to do my writerly tax returns for 2008.

16 comments:

Jamie Eyberg said...

One rejection does not a year make. You will have a lot of acceptances this year. I can feel it. Now put the box of chocolates down and cozy up to the keyboard and start typing. You have a short story to write this month. ;)

Cate Gardner said...

Can I bring the box of chocolates to the keyboard. :)

Jamie Eyberg said...

What do you think I do? It goes well with coffee.

Aaron Polson said...

Rejections, bah humbug. You'll have an exceedingly sparkly year for sure. I sense book deal.

Jameson T. Caine said...

Chocolates! Now I know what I've been missing...

strantzas said...

2009 will be great for you, Catherine. Wait and see.

Cate Gardner said...

Thanks, guys.

Ooh, and a sparkly year sounds fantastic - we could all do with one of those.

Jeremy D Brooks said...

Rejection, shmejection...I say, as long as they're still talking to us, we're ahead of the game ;-)

Here's to a productive year!

Tuonela said...

A shuffle of zombies...

Thank you for that, it brightened my day.

Chocolate will sustain you better than caffeine, go for it!

K.C. Shaw said...

Ouch, bad way to start a year! On the other hand, you got it over with EARLY, and now the acceptances can just start rolling in. :)

I'd happily take that chocolate off your hands, but I'm on a diet. And grouchy as a result. Send the zombies to me too, I'll take care of them for ya.

God said...

2009 has Cate Gardner written all over it. For reals.

Here's to the year things happen! Let's do this thing!!!

Jodi Lee (Morrighan) said...

Would there have been a rejection today, if you hadn't put yourself out there, trying? No. Double points for trying!

*hugs*

Fox Lee said...

Your list is far more ambitious than mine, which I still have to write. Two things that prove I'm lazy! ; )

Kimbra Kasch said...

I look at it this way: things can only get better...

So here's to a year filled with acceptances, contracts, and chocolate.

Anonymous said...

Good thing to go ahead and get that rejection out of the way. Now on with the acceptances!

BT said...

Yep, I'm late getting through all your posts - sorry about that.

It also seems like we bookended the New Year period: I got a rejection on the 31st Dec 08.

We all know rejections are part of the territory, but I see good things in your writing, Cate.

Here's to a prosperous 09.

(One antho/subscription/etc a month! That could get expensive. I have 28 books on my to read shelf as it is. I don't think I could add a whole lot more)