Sending stories out.

 I currently have over one hundred short stories that are gathering digital dust on my hard drive.  I know I need to do something with them.

One possibility is to send them out to markets that buy short fiction.  Note: "buy," not get for free.  Some publications claim that "exposure" is just as good as getting paid.  As for as I know you can't pay for your groceries with exposure.

This sounds simple enough.  And it really isn't hard.  It does take time, and recently I've found myself falling into the (bad) habit of not taking the time out to send stories out.

And yes, usually the answer that comes back is "no."  Sometimes it's a nice "no," as in, "This is really good but we can't use it,"  But one thing you learn quickly in this business is that "no" is a more common answer than "yes" when it comes to selling your short fiction.

I could also bundle my short fiction into collections.  I've done this in the past and am tentatively  planning to release a holiday collection in November.  This also takes time.

I know I can do it.  I have a system to ensure it gets done.  Time to blow the dust off it and get going again.  Those stories aren't going to send themselves.

Wish me luck.

Only a few days left...

 Hey all.  My Kickstarter funded!  This means I will be able to get my column collection put out for you to read.

I'm excited about this project.  It has let me relive a number of times in my life.  I think the columns I've chosen are a good representation of "Laura's Look" across the years.

The Kickstarter will end September 7th.  There is still time to be a part of it.  Would you take a moment and check it out here?  I'd appreciate it.

My Kickstarter is LIVE.

 Hey all.  Hope you're having a great rest of the summer and managing to stay cool despite the weather almost anywhere in the United States.

I'm thrilled to announce that my Kickstarter for my upcoming column collection "Laura's Look 100" went live early this afternoon.  As I type this, it's at $193 - just over $100 away from funding.  

If you like reading columns written with a warped point of view, this collection is worth checking out.  Go here to see it for yourself.  And below is a picture of the front cover of the upcoming book:

I hope you'll check it out.  Thanks for reading.  See you next month!

Where Did July Go?

 I am having trouble believing we are now in August.  July went by way too quickly.

Two events in July: 

At the beginning of the month I attended Shore Leave in Maryland.  As always, a wonderful time checking in with fellow wordsmiths and meeting new people.  This year I brought books for the first time to sell, and actually sold two (that may not look like a lot but believe me it's better than zero).

At the end of the month Don and I took a trip to South Carolina to see grandbabies.  Lavinia, who is five, is set to begin kindergarten this month.  Again I ask, where did the time go?  

It was a wonderful visit despite the air conditioning in the house going out near the end of it.  We all took it in stride and still enjoyed the precious time we had with the family.

I have no trips scheduled for the next few months and I hope to use that time to catch up on stuff.  Believe me, there is plenty to catch up on!

Hope you had a great July.  Let's see what August has in store for us.

Blew Past a Couple of Milestones...

 At the end of June I hit two milestones and forgot to mention them.

First, "Laura's Look" is officially 25 years old.  That's a lot of columns and a lot of patience and grace from the Highlands News-Sun.  My thanks to them for continuing to run it.

I'm working on a special way to celebrate this 25th year.  Stay tuned for more information.  For now, if you'd like to read the earliest columns, you can pick up "Laura's Look: 1998-2000" at Amazon:

The second milestone has to do with my writing every day.  At the end of June I passed the three year mark.  That's three years of putting word down every single day, with no breaks.  I'm kind of proud of that streak and hope to continue it for some time to come.

I'm hoping to share some big news at the beginning of August.  Stay cool, stay safe, and I'll see you then.

The First Half of the Year is Done...

 Where did the time go?  It feels like the past six months have flown by without stopping to catch its breath.  Yet here we are, the beginning of July.

Looking at my writing stats for the year so far, I managed to eke out 100,484 words.  That number could be better - I wanted to be at 150,000 by now - but it's still a respectable number for me.

Notice I said, "for me."  Not for you, not for Stephen King, not for any other writer.  Comparing myself to others on this and other aspects of writing would simply make me crazy and discouraged.  

I am going to try to push it some the second half of the year.  While I have trips planned, none are of the magnitude of the Hawaiian cruise.  I can goose the writing a little bit and get more done.

As far as the publishing side of things, I've gotten out a short story collection and two novels, one of which is book 5 of a series I cowrite with fellow author Azure Avians.  I'm sort of on track with this, wanting to get seven things published this year.  I'm currently working on a project for another column collection and have a couple of books I'd like to get published before the end of the year.

What goals do you have looking at the rest of 2023?

By the way, I will be attending Shore Leave in Hunt Valley, Maryland this upcoming weekend.  Below is my schedule for the panels I will participate in.  If you're in the area, I'd love to see you.

Finding My Groove

 One bad thing about being on vacation for almost two weeks is I've lost my writing groove.  While I managed to write every day, it continued to be less than five hundred words more often than not.

It didn't help this week I got two pieces of bad news that impacted my mood and writing.  One night I started to cry from fatigue and sadness.  I had people to get me through it, and I did eke out a few words that night.  

I also have a number of things I need to get done.  It's sometimes hard to pick what to do from all the choices.  I hope I can pick one and focus - just a matter of which one.

Let me finish this blog post by wishing all dads a Happy Father's Day.  Wish I could call my dad and talk to him.  Make sure you call yours.