I finally finished my Kumari revision and my loving husband patiently read and re-read with his red pen in hand. He loves the red pen part. There is irony in being the red pen wielding beta reader of a former English teacher.
The short is still short. I doubt I added more than 100 words, but it has reached that stage where any more revision will likely ruin it. I need to find somewhere to submit it. I had thought Apex. Am still kinda toying with them but I don’t think the story is dark enough. I have mentioned that they like story dark? Dark to the point of sick. According to my writing group, the main character of Kumari is reprehensible and unlikable but still manages to garner understanding if not sympathy. And of course, I didn’t “go there” in terms of sex or gore. Could have I guess, but just didn’t feel it with this piece.
I actually have another story that I started writing on the drive back from the States in July. There is nothing like listening to POTUS candidates on the 4th of July to bring on visions of a dark, foreboding future of Stephen King proportions. I outlined my idea aloud to Rob who wondered how I could find such sick images in my mind.
Yes, he wondered this out loud.
So, Kumari needs to go somewhere else. To a small magazine, I think.
I googled “Canadian sci fi magazines” and found nothing really. Just the magazine that asked for the second look at 2.0, and since they don’t take multiple submissions, I have to wait until I hear back from them on the current story under consideration.
No multiple submissions. NO simultaneous submissions.
The whole “getting published” game is stacked decidedly in the favor of publishers and publications. Not very free market if you ask me.
In the meantime, aside from the novel that is begging for my attention, I have started three more short stories on top of the three that need finishing and the memoir outline that is tapping on my skull.
Oh, and I need to totally rework my three month “plan” because I have changed direction.
But Kumari is done and that is something.
anniegirl1138 
The shops are all shut and it’s raining. There is a man in beaten trousers. He carefully treads the street as though the pavement might break underneath him. I sit in the car and cry my eyes out. What do people do when they get soaked in the rain and have nowhere to go? They must just find somewhere to shelter and wait, the rain dripping slowly from their clothes.
Good job, Annie. I like hearing how violently (perhaps that’s too big a word) active your muse is. You will be published, you know. And you will win competitions, too.
My sense is that after the first breakthrough, there will be a lull, then multiple successes in a batch, all in the next few months. You have what it takes. And they will want you.
Thanks, Sally. It’s funny but I feel the same way. One day everything is just going to fall together.
congratulations from a new visitor to your site – i found your url from a comment you made recently on Parenthesis’ blog.
Thanks for stopping by. Appreciated your thoughts.
Congrats on finishing. And for looking to get published. Far out of my league.
Thanks!
given that fiction is so difficult (at least for some of us), i’d call it a HUGE “something”!
Yeah, but it’s still not publishable.
Sounds like it’s time to visit the library for the “Writer’s Market” reference. 🙂
You could also try Glimmertrain. I hear they take short fiction. Best of luck! 🙂
I remember Glimmertrain but haven’t signed up. I have both the US and the Canadian Writer’s Markets. Need to go through them again.
Wow, I’d say that’s something big. You are on the right path, following your passion. I understand what you mean about feeling the pull of a “job” but your writing is your passion and how could you not do that? It sounds like you are in the right place. Write on.
Thanks. It’s hard to explain why I feel that “job” need because I had moved beyond the point where I could find fulfillment in it.
Congrats on that. You can massage a story over and over but at some point you have to deem it finished. My brother use to paint and he said that if you look at a painting for too long, you get to a point where you don’t know what it looks like anymore. At some point, you have to put down the brush. Or the pen. Or keyboard.
Yes, I need fresh eyes is the trouble.