Saturday 11 September 2010

The Brain Drain

This was the week that was... Brain draining.

Oh my goodness, work expected me to actually work this week. I swear I can still hear the phone's buzzing in my ear. Seriously, not a second to process a single thought. And worse, I developed the let's call it the 'don't want to diet and am determined to eat chocolate because I deserve it' attitude and pretty much decided early on each day that I shouldn't force myself to write that night because I was soooooooo tired. Hope next week perks up... Maybe I should start consuming jugs of coffee or at least increase from my one cup for the day at 7:30.

Anyhow, I did manage to send out a few submissions (for my 10bythen twitter gang). I'm up to five now (Lightspeed, Thackery D. Lambshead Cabinet of Curiosities, The Zombie Feed, IGMS, Clarkesworld) or in other words, how to pick places guaranteed to reject and give me an easy five more submissions. And began work on a new short story that my ego is convinced is a winner, but my brain hasn't figured out how to write. It's there, just behind my eyeballs - does anyone have a hook to yank it out? Anyway we have a delicious title and an almost delicious first paragraph and that is it. I'm also up to 4,000 words of notes for my Mad Escapade project that I'm hoping will be a novella.

15 comments:

Aaron Polson said...

Now that the brain has been drained, I hope you can fill it with other lovely things. Lovely and weird, that is.

Anonymous said...

Morning Miss Cate!

*Digs in her collection of odds and ends*

Here you go *hands a hook over with a long pink string still attached* Left over from a birthday party I think.

Good luck on the stories and the 10bythen

I think I'll start with 3forme :D

K M Kelly said...

Good luck with the submissions. Who knows - one of those might just work out :-)

Katey said...

Oooh a novella! Well, I'm sorry that worked drained your brain because that's awfully rude--but at least you still have the important stuff rattling around in there :D

Anonymous said...

Despite the brain-drainage, you still appear to have been quite productive! Re: Lightspeed, IGMS, and Clarkesworld, I don't think a month would be complete without a rejection from at least one of them...(speaking only for myself, of course).

Paula Ray said...

You are very productive - no wonder you are drained. Keep up the good work. You'll pull that story out, I'm sure of it.

Lee Thompson/Thomas Morgan/James Logan/Julian Vaughn said...

Sounds like you're doing great, Cate! Keep it going, everything takes a lot of time and effort to fall into place, sometimes. (But I'm sure you knew that. I like to tell people things they already knew. :P)

Keep at it! I hope you sell some more of your work soon!

Cate Gardner said...

What a pleasant way to look at it, Aaron.

Thanks for the hook, Sarah. And yeah, I think it would be a good idea if we all listed our own personal sub goals rather than a general ten.

I live in hope, Kate. I've lived in hope for some time.

Novella's are my favourite length, Katey.

Milo, I collect Clarkesworld rejections like some people collect stamps.

Well I have you fooled, Paula.

Me too, Lee.

Simon said...

Similar episodes of mad busy-ness at my work too, Cate. As for the attitude re: dieting... oh yeah. I can relate. Big-style, right now.

Drinking more coffee works for me. God bless Mellow Birds (it's all those adverts with Joanna Lumley from when I were a lad) and happy novella'ing! The world needs much, much more Cate goodness in its diet.

Cate Gardner said...

The world also needs much more dieting from Cate ;)

K.C. Shaw said...

Busy days at work make me eat chocolate instead of writing too. Hopefully things will settle down soon.

Would that hook be a brain-hook or an eye-hook? You wouldn't want to buy the wrong one and have to return it.

Danielle Birch said...

Having to work for a living is a damn inconvenience I think.

Cate Gardner said...

Ouch! Too late, Kate.

Amen, Danielle.

Barry Napier said...

Yeah but if you keep getting accepted, those guaranteed rejection submissions will stop counting!

Cate Gardner said...

Barry, they only happen in my dreams of late. :D I don't know why I've added a smilie, I don't suppose it's anything to smile about.