Eric Reynolds of Hadley Rille Books today announced the results of the Return to Luna competition. Congratulations to all the winners.
Return to Luna Winning Stories and Honorable Mentions
The Winning Return to Luna Entries:
"Visual Silence" by M.C. Chambers - The Grand Prize Winner
"Black Ice" by F.R.R. Mallory
"In Their Own Words" by Brenta Blevins
"Apples on the Moon" by Karen T. Smith
"Best Gift" by Brandon Bell
"Growing Season in Mare Frigoris" by Benjamin Abbott
"Coping Mechanisms" by Gerri Leen
"Joe the Martian Goes To The Moon" by Ken Edgett
"Final Arrangements" by J.M. Fisher
"One Last Haul" by Mark J. Soppet
"Ménage à Trois" by Gustavo Bondoni
"The Return" by David Schibi
"The Platinum Desolation" by Andrew Barton
"Coyote and the Gamblers" by Shauna Roberts
"Book of the Dead" by Sarah A. Eastly
"Misdirected" by Adam Israel
The Honorable Mentions:
"Fermi's Paradox" by Giorgio Gaviraghi
"The Foothills of Shackleton" by David L. Clements
"The Day" by Russell A. Dale
"SMOG" by Jean-Michel CALVEZ
"Jumper: First Cat on the Moon" by Michael Janzen
"Growing Up" by Karen Szymczyk
"Moondust" by Kate Kelly
"Winter Solstice" by Jamie Eyberg
"Stargazing" by Alex Moisi
"Paying the Price" by Dorothy Diehl
"Treading the Regolith" by Catherine J. Gardner
"Lunar Decisions" by Eric Conrad
That's my third so-close but no-dice hit this month, plus one mega so-close but no dice last month (shush! we don't talk about that). Next month I'm scheduling world domination or more chocolate...
Actually every time I look at that list I really can't believe that my name appears at all. I keep expecting to go back and find it erased.
In other news: The first draft of The Poisoned Apple II (the I'm so in need of a title project but my writer is too lazy to think of one - boo her) is nearing completion. I've also been working (writing longhand so I have no idea of the word count but it's not huge - yet) on my Matchsticks book, and have an idea for a chapter book/picture book, and another MG book. Oh, and there's all those tempting anthologies that I want to try out for... Oh dear, my feet are tingling* I may be about to spontaneously com...
*Nope, didn't blow up, I'm still here - I just got writer's butt because I hadn't moved from my seat in like hours.
Showing posts with label Matchsticks. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Matchsticks. Show all posts
Sunday, 10 August 2008
Friday, 1 August 2008
And that was July...
Okay, not much going on in July...
1. Wrote two mini short stories (100 Words each - an heir and a spare) for the Necrotic Tissue 100 Word Bite contest:
Halloween Watch - which I should find out today (EEK!) whether it has made it.
Bug Eyed - which I didn't send in as HW wasn't rejected. Will send it along when they reopen in October.
2. Wrote one short story:
Chasing Alice out of Wonderland - sent to 'The World is Dead' anthology this morning. Treble EEK!
3. Started two MG novels (as you do).
The first one - Matchsticks, Moths & Machinations - got stuck at 5718 words. I decided the storyline may not be appropriate for an MG audience and will hopefully be sorting it all out at the end of this month.
The second - The Poisoned Apple II (working title) - completed 15,479 words of it this month. Fingers crossed I finished the first draft in August.
And that's about it.
1. Wrote two mini short stories (100 Words each - an heir and a spare) for the Necrotic Tissue 100 Word Bite contest:
Halloween Watch - which I should find out today (EEK!) whether it has made it.
Bug Eyed - which I didn't send in as HW wasn't rejected. Will send it along when they reopen in October.
2. Wrote one short story:
Chasing Alice out of Wonderland - sent to 'The World is Dead' anthology this morning. Treble EEK!
3. Started two MG novels (as you do).
The first one - Matchsticks, Moths & Machinations - got stuck at 5718 words. I decided the storyline may not be appropriate for an MG audience and will hopefully be sorting it all out at the end of this month.
The second - The Poisoned Apple II (working title) - completed 15,479 words of it this month. Fingers crossed I finished the first draft in August.
And that's about it.
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Hair-Pulling Nail-Biting Frenzy!!!
I've gone a whole week (plus one day) without working on a short story. YAY! As I have 25 stories out with editors, plus two waiting in the wings for submission dates to open, I knocked myself on the head (HARD!) and settled down to work on the second book in my 'The Poisoned Apple' series. Check out the meter to the right for the current word count.
My other MG book 'Matchsticks, Moths & Machinations' is in hibernation because a) it doesn't want to be an MG, and b) can't decide if it wants to be YA or Adult. It's based on a 3,500 short story I wrote that came back from critique with demands the readers wanted a back story and more! more! more! I was also writing it with my typical MG humorous slant but I think this is a story that needs to be darker and the humor trimmed back. I'm hoping to get the first draft of TPA II' finished by the 16th August (that's only just over 1200 words a day so it should be doable if I give up the constant internet surfing), then I'll set it aside and get to work on Matchsticks during my 2 weeks off work. YAY! Sorry, I get excited at the idea of not having to get up at 5:20 Monday thru Friday.
Okay, so back to the short stories. Of the above 25 submissions those I am most anxious about are (drum roll please):
Dwelling - at the Harvest Hill anthology
Frog & The Mail-Order Bride - at Andromeda Spaceways
The Graveyard of Dead Vehicles - at the Wolfsongs anthology
Flying Dutchmen - at the From the Asylum anthology
PlasticineCoffins.com - at the Ghosts in the Machine anthology
Treading the Regolith - my attempt at sci-fi at the Return to Luna anthology
Sneakers on Asphalt - at the Terrifying Toys competition
Cold Coffee Cups & Curious Things - Malpractice anthology
The Flat-Packed Golfer - at Stymie
Ooh, and my wee 100 worder (which I wouldn't normally stress about) 'Halloween Watch' which is submitted to Necrotic Tissue's BITE contest. We are supposed to hear next week (August 1st) if we've made it or not.
Oh, and very, very, very excited, stressed, excited, excited, excited about The Poisoned Apple. Please don't let me jinx myself.
And the ones I am not nervous about/given up on:
The Last Motel Room - which has been out with Horror d'oeuvres since last October.
Yee-Haw! - the OMG! anthology
Have a good word-filled weekend!
My other MG book 'Matchsticks, Moths & Machinations' is in hibernation because a) it doesn't want to be an MG, and b) can't decide if it wants to be YA or Adult. It's based on a 3,500 short story I wrote that came back from critique with demands the readers wanted a back story and more! more! more! I was also writing it with my typical MG humorous slant but I think this is a story that needs to be darker and the humor trimmed back. I'm hoping to get the first draft of TPA II' finished by the 16th August (that's only just over 1200 words a day so it should be doable if I give up the constant internet surfing), then I'll set it aside and get to work on Matchsticks during my 2 weeks off work. YAY! Sorry, I get excited at the idea of not having to get up at 5:20 Monday thru Friday.
Okay, so back to the short stories. Of the above 25 submissions those I am most anxious about are (drum roll please):
Dwelling - at the Harvest Hill anthology
Frog & The Mail-Order Bride - at Andromeda Spaceways
The Graveyard of Dead Vehicles - at the Wolfsongs anthology
Flying Dutchmen - at the From the Asylum anthology
PlasticineCoffins.com - at the Ghosts in the Machine anthology
Treading the Regolith - my attempt at sci-fi at the Return to Luna anthology
Sneakers on Asphalt - at the Terrifying Toys competition
Cold Coffee Cups & Curious Things - Malpractice anthology
The Flat-Packed Golfer - at Stymie
Ooh, and my wee 100 worder (which I wouldn't normally stress about) 'Halloween Watch' which is submitted to Necrotic Tissue's BITE contest. We are supposed to hear next week (August 1st) if we've made it or not.
Oh, and very, very, very excited, stressed, excited, excited, excited about The Poisoned Apple. Please don't let me jinx myself.
And the ones I am not nervous about/given up on:
The Last Motel Room - which has been out with Horror d'oeuvres since last October.
Yee-Haw! - the OMG! anthology
Have a good word-filled weekend!
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
And that was June... Plus, one
Okay, here is my usual round up of what I did last month plus a wee extra. That is, it is my blog's 1st Anniversary - YAY! One year ago I was a very lonely blogger with no one to link to, no comments and not a clue what I was doing (okay, not everything has changed!). If you are very, very bored check out my first post and the hideous first attempt at a story after a few years away. I'll cringe with you.
Anyhow, let's resume with normal service. Here's what I did in June...
1. I sent out THE POISONED APPLE - Yay! . Current response figures are 0 full requests (gulp!), 2 partial requests (please), 7 rejections (3 form / 4 personal - one outstanding one that made my heart thump-thump-thump for about three hours despite the fact it was a rejection.)
2. Three Flash Short Stories completed.
Gasoline - Very short, a wee bit silly and not at all scary. Sent to Susurrus Magazine.
Selling Happiness - Already retired. Was very bored, couldn't sit still long enough to work on something long so sent a wee bit of 150 word silliness off to 'Alien Skin'. Got a 'cute' but 'no' response. Seriously the word cute consigned the thing to the dustbin. :)
Beneath a Hungry Sky - Sent to Northern Haunts.
3. Five Short Stories completed.
Through The Warped Eye of Death - has to be one of the swiftest returns on this. Written, rejected and accepted (by Sand) within the space of a month.
Sneakers on Asphalt - Probably officially a flash at 994, but I'm claiming it a short to make me appear more productive. Sent to the Terrifying Toys Competition. Fingers crossed and all that. Very surreal, hoping its scary.
Manipulating Paper Birds - I love this story. So there. Great rejection from 'The Black Garden'. Sent it along to 'Clarkesworld' - how brave am I?
Cold Coffee Cups & Curious Things - My attempt at scary without the surreal (okay there may be touches) - sent to Malpractice: An Anthology of Bedside Terror.
The Flat-Packed Golfer - Sent to the new 'golfing' related magazine (see previous post) Stymie.
4. And to the most important part. I've finally started work on my next MG novel 'Matchsticks, Moths & Machinations' with 4658 words completed so far. Expect a title change sometime this decade. I'm having so much fun writing it.
Anyhow, let's resume with normal service. Here's what I did in June...
1. I sent out THE POISONED APPLE - Yay! . Current response figures are 0 full requests (gulp!), 2 partial requests (please), 7 rejections (3 form / 4 personal - one outstanding one that made my heart thump-thump-thump for about three hours despite the fact it was a rejection.)
2. Three Flash Short Stories completed.
Gasoline - Very short, a wee bit silly and not at all scary. Sent to Susurrus Magazine.
Selling Happiness - Already retired. Was very bored, couldn't sit still long enough to work on something long so sent a wee bit of 150 word silliness off to 'Alien Skin'. Got a 'cute' but 'no' response. Seriously the word cute consigned the thing to the dustbin. :)
Beneath a Hungry Sky - Sent to Northern Haunts.
3. Five Short Stories completed.
Through The Warped Eye of Death - has to be one of the swiftest returns on this. Written, rejected and accepted (by Sand) within the space of a month.
Sneakers on Asphalt - Probably officially a flash at 994, but I'm claiming it a short to make me appear more productive. Sent to the Terrifying Toys Competition. Fingers crossed and all that. Very surreal, hoping its scary.
Manipulating Paper Birds - I love this story. So there. Great rejection from 'The Black Garden'. Sent it along to 'Clarkesworld' - how brave am I?
Cold Coffee Cups & Curious Things - My attempt at scary without the surreal (okay there may be touches) - sent to Malpractice: An Anthology of Bedside Terror.
The Flat-Packed Golfer - Sent to the new 'golfing' related magazine (see previous post) Stymie.
4. And to the most important part. I've finally started work on my next MG novel 'Matchsticks, Moths & Machinations' with 4658 words completed so far. Expect a title change sometime this decade. I'm having so much fun writing it.
Tuesday, 24 June 2008
Matchsticks, Moths & Machinations
I've finally started writing my next children's novel - working title: 'Matchsticks, Moths & Machinations'. Here's a 'first draft' extract:
As furniture bumped against her legs and doors smacked at her elbows, Molly was finding the chase difficult and tiring. Everything seemed to be against her catching the rotten things.
The First Chapter
The Malodorous Mademoiselles
The Malodorous Mademoiselles
Molly Beaumont chased after the blue and grey socks that had slithered off the Wormald sisters’ stinky feet. They slipped under the coffee table, took a detour around a threadbare armchair and escaped down the hall. She had a stitch in her side and a nasty smell up her nostrils. The peg on her nose was no longer adequate protection from the collection of whiffs that steamed from the bedrooms, the parlour and the sisters.
As furniture bumped against her legs and doors smacked at her elbows, Molly was finding the chase difficult and tiring. Everything seemed to be against her catching the rotten things.
*
*
*
I've put an optimistic 50,000 words as the word count I'm aiming for. Fingers crossed. I also need to start planning 'The Poisoned Apple II'. Another request for a partial today (eek!) for 'The Poisoned Apple', also an ejection, and the undying hope that one day someone will ask for a full. I also need to start writing something for the Necrotic Tissue anthology 'Malpractice'.
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