Good News About Death and Destruction and Mayhem

It's weird how this writing gig works. If you're into instant gratification, you might as well forget it. Pick up your TV remote, play a videogame, go to a movie, do whatever, but definitely don't write fiction. Especially short fiction.

You write something and submit it to a publication, then you wait. And you wait. And then you wait some more. Most of the time, you WILL eventually get feedback regarding your work, although that's not always the case, and it's not always the kind of feedback you want to hear. But either way it usually takes a while.

All of which makes this past week so unusual. In the span of two days, I received good news on two separate fronts:

1) The flash piece I wrote and submitted to the dark fiction Ezine Black Hound for their 'Be My Valentine' contest, titled "Devotion," took second place and is featured at their website!

This news thrilled me, especially considering some of the authors whose work I admire and was competing against - heavy hitters and up-and-comers like Andrew Wolter, Dave Rex, Sarah Basore, Seb Naylor, and Justin Holley, among others. If you're interested, check out my entry, plus the winner and the third place finisher as well, at the Black Hound website. Simply follow the link and then click on the "Competitions" button from ther main page at the Hound.

2) My short story dealing with death and justice and retribution, "Due Consideration," is being featured in the March/April issue of Crime and Suspense! If you have a couple of extra minutes, you can check out that story here, or click on this link to go to the main Crime and Suspense page for March/April and read all of the featured stories.

As if that wasn't enough, I finally finished editing and revising my full-length novel, Final Vector, and am knee-deep in the synopsis I must complete before taking my hat in my hand and beginning the process of searching out agents and publishers, so the end (Or the beginning, I suppose, depending on how you look at it) is in sight there as well.

After that, it's on to my next novel, the idea for which I blogged about a week or so ago and for which I'm completely stoked, while I furiously email agents and publishers regarding Final Vector. Oh yeah, and I want to work on some more short fiction, too. And update my website. And go to work at the Evil Day Job. And spend time with my family.

Man, I love to write!