I believe that a wild groundhog will know when it's time to end its hibernation, but it's different for groundhogs all over.   I do watch to see if Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow every year.  He saw it this morning.  I don't need a groundhog to tell me there's six more weeks of winter left, though.  It's only the beginning of February, after all.  I like winter, so it's fine with me.  I'm not a hot weather person at all.

And why isn't Groundhog Day on TV right now?  They should do a 24 hour marathon of it like they do with A Christmas Story.  I would like some Bill Murray today, thank you.

Even if I don't get any Bill Murray today, at least the premiere of Lost is on tonight. YAY!

I haven't done as much writing this past month as I've liked to.  I'm tired all the time.  I'm not going to blame it all on the pregnancy, but it does drain my energy a lot.  Sometimes my creativity fizzles and I need a break.  Hopefully my muse will kick me back into high gear for February.  If I want to finish Sorrow Phage, I'll have to get going on it.  I got an awesome idea today while watching Discovery Channel.  Reality is so much more nefarious than fiction at times!

I'm officially 28 weeks along today.  The final trimester.  I can't wait to be the only one inhabiting my body again!

I submitted two short stories to magazines today.  One of them went to an editor that I met at ARCHON in 2008.  I talked with him for a while and bought a little book of his short stories.  He was very helpful with his advice for short stories.  I wonder if he remembers me.  I'm a bit nervous if he does, but I'm sure he's talked with several young writers over the years.

I also entered Alchemy in the 2010 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award contest.  I made sure the manuscript had the newly edited beginning on it.  I would be thrilled if I even made it through one of the rounds.  Of course, I'd love to win a publishing contract with Penguin.  There's only a short period of time to submit your manuscript if you would like to do so.  I encourage all the writers out there who have a completed manuscript to do so.  It's a fantastic opportunity!

So I can say I was productive by way of submitting stuff today even if I didn't do any writing.  I'll blame it on the snow.  I had to shovel it.  A lot of household stuff gets done when I'm procrastinating.

I had a fun dream this morning while I was napping.  I was mentally writing my newest novel and watching it appear on the paper in a book at the same time.  It was an old book with a worn out hard cover and thick, parchment colored pages.  As I was reading, the words would appear in a fancy font.  It was at a critical point in the story.  The protagonist, Erinys, had handed herself over to the big bad villain to save her love interest and two little girls. (How the children got in there, I have no clue!)  The villain went on to state his conditions for her surrender, and her reactions were hilarious.  First, he wanted her to submit and be his slave for the rest of her immortal life.  Then he wanted her to give him her "virtue."  Yes, that's the word that was used!  The funny part was there was a scene in the chapter before where she loses her virginity to her love interest, so the reader knows she can't promise the bad guy that.  Yet since the villain doesn't know, Erinys debates whether she should lie or not.  It was a strange mental exercise!  I don't believe the actual novel is going to go in that direction, but I do like that my sleeping mind is working for me.

I had one short story rejected, and two more agents rejected Surviving the Myth.  I was reviewing my agent submission list, and I need to send more out for Alchemy, but there's been over seventy.  I'm running out of reputable agents to query!  I always make sure that whoever I submit to has the proper credentials and whatnot.  If I can't find anything about them online other than a little website or an ad, I don't dare risk it.

I've had a lazy Monday.  My eyes are too tired to stare at the screen for long.  I slept half the day away.  I worry that I'm losing valuable time for writing, but I can't help it that my body wants sleep.  I also tell myself that I might as well get all the sleep I can before the baby arrives.

I had meant to spend my day making changes to the first bit of my newest novel (we'll called it Sorrow Phage for now), but I got on an Alchemy kick.  I did up a cover letter to submit it to Berkley Books, and then edited the first three chapters.  I took out one of the parts a few agents had a problem with.  Magena Silver will no longer be seducing her clients.  She only charms them.  I thought about taking out the parts where she cares about how much money she's making, but that wasn't going to work.  Magena really does care about money.  She's a bit greedy.  Hey, everyone has their flaws.  I could give you a psychoanalysis why she's that way at the beginning of the trilogy, but she would hate it.  She's the therapist in these parts!

It took me all morning, but I printed out the cover letter, synopsis, and first three chapters.  They're sitting pretty in a big envelope waiting for my trip to the post office this Saturday.

I did a bit of work on Sorrow Phage before my nap.  Thank you to everyone who gave it a quick read and commented on it for me.  It does help to know what readers are thinking before I start getting too deep into the story.  After that, the rewrites get more complicated.

I said yesterday that I had hoped to hear about my manuscripts, and Alchemy was returned to me from SPICE.  I received the standard form rejection letter.  It took five months to hear back from them.  Not a bad turn-around.  As always, I wish they would have at least offered one line with a reason why it was rejected, but I suppose I can be grateful that they actually sent a response.  There have been a few that have not.

Alchemy has gotten the most attention for me from agents and publishers when they read the query.  Then, when they read the entire manuscript, they reject it.  Yes, the protagonist is a bitch, but she does have heart, and the reader sees it more over the course of the trilogy.  I think perhaps I will change one bit at the very beginning that throws some people off.  I won't change the character of Magena Silver.  If I do, then it will no longer be the story I wrote.

I finished off my January short story yesterday and sent it off to the End of the Rainbow anthology.  It was shorter than I intended to make it, but I wasn't as focused as I like to be.  I liked my idea for it, but my mind kept going back to my new novel.  At least the story's gone out, and I can start up the new novel today.

I forgot to mention the other day that I got an email from Bitten by Books.  They're a huge book review site, and they have big authors on there doing interviews, chats, virtual readings, etc.  They have contests where you can win a Kindle or gift cards.  It's fantastic.  They had done a review for The Deep Dim, but they said they couldn't find any working links to it.  Oh, you can imagine how disappointed I was to tell them that the book is no longer available because the publisher breached contract.  I told them that the book was in submission with another publisher, and they said they'd happily hang onto the review in case I did get picked up.  They were so nice!  I'd love to have a review of one of my books on their site.  Hopefully soon I'll start hearing back from the publishers that have my novels.

I'm a third of the way through Under the Dome.  Sometimes it's hard for me to read.  Not because it's horribly written.  Oh no!  It's an awesome story.  King is an incredible writer.  It's because I hate so many of the characters.  They're written to be detestable.  King has achieved the loathing he wants his reader to have of these characters.  I just get so angry with those bad, bad people!  I'll have to sit at the doctor's office for a while this Friday morning because I'm doing my glucose test.  I'll be bringing the book with me.  It will be quality time with Under the Dome and glucola.

I've had a lot of news concerning my stories this week.

My short story, "The Tattooed Woman" was accepted by Emerald Tales magazine for their Carnivale issue coming out next month.  You can buy it in both print and electronic formats.

I received my first pass for Surviving the Myth by an agent.

The editor of The Horror Library Volume 4 (Cutting Block Press) emailed me and asked if I had another story I would like to submit to him.  He had previously rejected one of my stories, and I hadn't submitted another.  I guess when he said that he liked my writing, but the story wasn't right for the anthology, he actually did like my writing.  I sent him "Fever."  I hope it's horrifying and shocking enough for him.

I received my signed contract and payment of ten dollars for my short story, "Bun in the Oven" from Cyberwizard Productions.  It will be in their silly western anthology (as yet untitled) which is due out in the next month or two.  I took my husband out for ice cream with my payment!

Alchemy was rejected by L.K. Hamilton's agent.  She had asked for the full manuscript, but she felt it wasn't right for her.  At least I should be glad that the query had interested her enough to read it.

I still have five short stories out there that I'm waiting to hear back on.  I'm currently writing one for an anthology called TRIANGULATION: End of the Rainbow.  I have four novels in submission with various publishers, and several agent queries have been sent.

Sometimes it's hard to keep track of all of this!

I want to thank authoraubrie</span> for bringing this to my attention.  I knew the anthology was due out at the beginning of this year, but I was waiting to hear word on it.  Obviously I should be checking the publisher's website more often!

Here's a teaser: http://bedazzledink.com/?page_id=214

I'm surprised that my short story, "Ladgarda" is first in the anthology.  I'm honored and a little nervous about it.  I hope it entices people to read the whole thing, because women pirates kick butt!  Aubrie's story, "Pirate Wannabe" is in there, too.  If you check out my story, be sure to do the same for hers.

I sent out five agent queries for Surviving the Myth today.  I tweak them for each agent, but they have the same basic lay-out.  I'm hoping it will grab the attention of an agent because the manuscript fits in a specific niche of the paranormal genre with the protagonist being pregnant.  It makes the story stand out, but it will also take an agent of a particular taste to pick up a novel like that.

With the queries out of the way, I can get moving on January's short story.  I'm not sure yet what I want to do.  I have a few ideas bouncing around in my head.  I've been feeling down about my short stories lately because of the rejections, but I know I just have to push on.  Not everyone is going to like what I write.  I know it.  Yet sometimes as a writer, I can't help but want my stories loved by everyone.  Oh, the fragile ego!

I received three story rejections this weekend.  I'm surprised that the editors responded so quickly, but a rejection is still a rejection.  One was just a standard form letter.  My story for the Four Horsemen anthology had made it to the finals, but it was not chosen.  The editor who rejected the last story gave her reasons why, and I do appreciate it.  She enjoyed the story and thought it well written, but wanted me to expand more on the emotions and situation at the beginning.

I'm reading Pride and Prejudice and Zombies right now.  It's amusing to a certain degree, but I'm not blown away by it.  It's a fun concept, but I've read better zombie stories than that one.  I'm deciding whether to read The Giver or Under the Dome next.  The Giver would be a fast read.  I could finish it in an evening.  When I picked up my copy of Under the Dome, though, I thought I might topple forward with the weight of it!  Yet it's Stephen King.  I'm willing to risk sore muscles for one of his books.

Happy 2010, everyone!  I hope it's a fantastic year for all of us.

I'm going to relax this weekend and then get back to writing on Monday.  I'll have to think of a short story to do for this month and start on my next novel.  It will be the first book in my Phage series.  I have only an idea of a character to begin with, but I think she's unique and she will set everything up for a fascinating story.  I'm going to be realistic about things for this year.  I hope to finish this first novel by April, and then concentrate just on editing and short stories until November rolls around.  If I can, I want to do NaNoWriMo this year and write a second Phage novel.  I just have to think of a fun story for the first one.  It will come to me.  Writing novels is easier for me than short stories.

I sat down in front of the computer this morning and sent out a bunch of short stories.  Two to magazines and three to various anthologies.  It's sometimes difficult to find homes for stories that had been written for specific anthologies and then rejected, but I believe if they're well written stories, they'll find a place somewhere.  In total, I have ten short story submissions and four novels out there.  I deserve a break until the new year now.

I'm currently reading Jacqueline Carey's newest novel, Naamah's Kiss.  I love it!  The Kushiel trilogy has always been one of my favorites, and while I enjoyed the second trilogy in that world, I didn't fall in love with it.  This new one with Moirin has captured my heart again.  Moirin has all the wonder and heart that I felt were lacking in Imriel in the previous trilogy.

Christmas this year will be a wonderfully quiet one.  Today we're going to see Avatar with friends, and then tonight, we're settling in for a cozy night with pizza.  Tomorrow, it will be just my husband and myself enjoying one last quiet Christmas before the baby arrives.  It's nice not to have the stress of traveling at this time of year.

I finished off my short story for the Four Horsemen anthology and sent it in yesterday.  I've been productive between naps!  I will try to do a bunch more submitting and queries before the end of the year, so I can get into a new novel in January.  I hope to get a novel written before I have the baby, and then when he's here, I will concentrate on editing.  Editing is easier to do with constant breaking from the computer.  I won't have to worry about ruining my creative flow.

Merry Christmas, everyone! :)

I had my short story about Eve rejected this weekend.  No reason was given.  It was just a standard form letter rejection.  Yet I did get an email saying that one of my suggested titles for the silly western anthology that I have a story in is in the the final running.  The authors are voting right now.  I like my suggested title, but I also felt that I shouldn't vote for my own.  I voted for someone else's which was clever, but hokey.  Hm, should I not feel bad about voting for my own title?  Would you have voted for your own?  The author who wins gets a free copy of the book and bragging rights of naming the anthology.

I've had a wonderfully lazy day today which included laundry, napping, and cheese ravioli for dinner.  Mm-mmm!

I've been busy with holiday stuff and all sorts of other things.  I now have my tree fully decorated topped with a LED star.  You can see a picture of it on my Facebook page.  Presents are wrapped and treats are munched upon.  I have a holiday party to attend tomorrow night and then it will be a quiet week.  I'm looking forward to it.

I started writing a short story for an anthology about the Four Horsemen.  I decided to go with Pestilence as I think not many people will go in that direction.  I'm trying to create a mood of panic and keep it going throughout.  Sort of like the typical disaster or epidemic movies out these days.  It's hard to get the reader to care about the characters this way, though.  It's a challenging story to write.  Even if I don't like the story in the end, I think it was a good exercise.

You know you've been viewing too many lolcats when your first instinct is to type: "i has a title!"

I've been thinking a long time what to call my NaNo novel. As I laid down for my nap today, I finally came up with something: Surviving the Myth. It works on a couple of levels. I googled it and a lot of non-fiction books popped up, but I didn't see anything in the paranormal or romance genre. I had thought to go with something with "stalked" or "hunted" in it, but there's so many titles out there like that. I also thought to play with the fact there's shape-shifters in the novel, but "big and furry something or other" just didn't work for me. The protagonist, Inari Thane, is pregnant. It was something else to go with, but I didn't want the title to focus on that fact. Unless a clever agent or publisher decides to pick me up and change the title, I'm sticking with Surviving the Myth.

I submitted a few short stories last week to magazines. I realized I have a lot of short horror stories, and a big number of them are about zombies. I had the dead on my brain this year, I guess. I'm still debating which story I want to write this month. Fantasy or horror. We'll see which way my muse takes me.

I haven't had much energy lately to do anything creative. I'm happy I haven't gotten any nausea with my pregnancy, but I'm tired all the time. I've never been one to nap, but my body gives me no choice in the matter these days. My goal is to try to be productive in the mornings and sleep in the afternoons. It worked during NaNoWriMo. I am going to enjoy sleeping now while I can, because I know after the baby is born, I'll be lucky to get a few hours every day.

I finished my novel yesterday. Yay! It's nearly 72000 words. Of course, the number will change when I do some editing and rewriting. I'll let it sit until the new year, though. Let it breathe. And let myself have some time to think of a title. I still don't have one.

I received a few agent rejections this week. I'm debating whether to keep trying to sell Alchemy to them, or try out this new novel. Alchemy has gotten a good response. There's been interest in it, and that was more than any of my other novels I've tried to promote.

It's been almost a year to the day that I've submitted my epic fantasy novel, The Cursed Land to Baen. They have a system where you can see where your manuscript sits in their slush pile. Mine is still in submission. At least they're honest when they state on their site that it could take a year or more to get to your novel! I'm seriously considering taking the big manuscript and transforming it into a fantasy romance rather than trying to market it as strictly epic fantasy. It is harder to sell epic fantasy. It would be a lot of rewriting, but it might pay off in the end.

For today, though, I'm taking a break. The wind is howling and it's going to storm. I'm going to cuddle up in a warm blanket and play a video game.

A normal life for Kaylee had been cruel and lonely. She wanted only for it to end, and it did the day when she impulsively drank some mysterious potions in her father's lab. She gained the power to have her skin change colors to blend in with the background and become invisible. Her new life at the Masquerade Carnival was exciting and people were in awe of her when she danced. The other performers welcomed her and were kind. It was the life she always wanted, or so she thought until she saw a handsome young man who was helping run the rides. Her desire to be normal, to be wanted by him, called to her an old gypsy woman. Would Kaylee decide to keep her powers yet be only a performer her whole life, or would she give them up to be normal again and have a man to love her?

"Chameleon's Colors" is a riveting modern fairy tale that draws in the reader from the beginning. Kaylee is an fascinating character that anyone can sympathize with and join her in her struggle to make a decision of whether to be unusual or normal. People with powers and a carnival seem like something much set apart from the every day world, but Aubrie Dionne makes it a real place to the reader. Her descriptions lend an edge of the exotic to the aura of intrigue and mystery of the story. The ending, too, surprises not only Kaylee, but those sharing her journey.

"Chameleon's Colors" is a must read, and I for one cannot wait to get my hands on the remaining stories in Aubrie Dionne's carnival series.

Please check out Aubrie Dionne's site and you can buy her newest story at Gypsy Shadow Publishing.

I've been doing a bit of writing, but I'm not going at the same speed as I was last night. As long as I do a little writing each weekday, I'm pleased.

I got a rejection this morning from a zombie anthology. I had submitted the story back in July. So they were a long time getting back to me. It was your standard rejection saying "it's no reflection on the quality of your writing... don't give up!" To make up for the rejection, I sent out a submission to Emerald Tales for their "Carnivale" issue. I sent "The Tattooed Woman" to them. I don't know if it will be too much of a horror story or not, but we'll see. I did a list of places of I want to submit to, too. I hope to do a bunch of submitting this month and have the time in January to edit my current novel.

I won't be doing much else in the way of writing today. I'm off to the post office in a bit to send off a batch of holiday cards. Then I'm going to the mall to do a bit of shopping. I'm hoping that since it's in the middle of the week, it won't be busy. I don't like crowds.