steampunk

My NaNo widget is still broken. Le sigh. Apparently the widget gurus know but haven’t been able to fix it yet.

My weekly blog post goal was handily met. Check.

I got all my weekly NaNo words in which is good but considering I was on vacation all week, I really should have achieved nearly two weeks’ worth. So I can’t feel too good there other than I didn’t fall behind and I did get other stuff done at least. I will say this in my defense—it’s much, much harder editing in “new” words to an existing story than writing a brand new story that’s bubbling in your head scratching to get out.

And Amazon…sigh…they continue to torment me. I noticed (on my birthday I might add) that they had removed me completely from my anthology’s book page. If you don’t carefully examine the cover, you’d never know I was an author unless you go to my Author page. There you will find me claiming my anthology even if my anthology doesn’t claim me. I complained and was told that’s how it is, suck it up. I’ve written back a second time and they’ve responded but I haven’t read their email yet. It’s been sitting in my inbox for nearly twenty four hours. I was so depressed and angry on my birthday, I just haven’t had the heart to read their latest response. Well hey, they invited comments on how to make their author program better, and I’ve told them. So jumping off my soapbox, I’ll leave you with a caveat—anthologies are wonderful vehicles for people like me who like to write short stories, but don’t pin too many hopes of fame and fortune on them (like anyone believed that to begin with.)

Image courtesy of Pill Hill Press

Ending my pity party, I got some GOOD news yesterday: My short story, Clockwork Nessie, that I’ve been fretting over for months now, has been accepted by Pill Hill Press for their forthcoming steampunk anthology, Conquest Through Determination. Yay! I love the cover. The anthology, which pays nothing to the authors, is a contest with several $50 to $100 cash prizes. I’m cool with this arrangement in lieu of payment. As already stated, I’m certainly not in this for the money. LOL

I completed and sent in my second round of edits on my novel by the 17th due date (yay!) and also finished final edits on my Christmas anthology (yay!). I’ll have some upcoming PR for the latter beginning the 27th, well my alter ego will. I have my own to-do list for The PURE to get crackin’ on.

My goals and current stats for this round are on my ROW80-4 page.

The Linky site lists other participants’ progress reports. Give them some encouragement too.

This month’s prompt:
NaBloPoMo – National Blog Posting Month (not affiliated with the real NaBloPoMo).

Write up a back cover blurb for a book you have written or would like to write. It should be short, sweet, yet give a sense of people and events without totally spoiling the ending.

I was preceded in the chain by MysteryRiter and Jarrah Dale will follow me. A list of all the participants wraps up the post. Give ’em all a read if you can!

My blurb is for a YA speculative fiction novel I want to write. I’ve written seven flash fictions (links on my flash fiction tab) featuring the both the “subby”, Garman, and the “cloudy”, Ruey, including one where the two protagonists meet, and have the general idea in my head, but that’s about it. Oh, and I have the cover in mind…well, one possibility (see above) when I considered making it steampunk, which I still may.

Before I share, however, please remember that this is practice for me because blurbs and queries are the BANE of my writer’s existence. Oy!

Horizon

The surface of the Earth is uninhabitable, or so everyone has been saying for the past two millenia. Sixteen year old Garman is among the fifty brave pilgrims annually allowed to leave the oppressive rulership of their subterranean world and take their chances above. No matter what the surface holds, Garman would rather die free, than live enslaved.

Hovering nearly a mile above the dead landscape of Terra, an aerial city circumnavigates the Earth once per year. During Ruey’s sixteenth orbit, she discovers her city is slowly falling, and those who know the truth have been disappearing. Ruey is certain her not-so-utopian society is hiding more than just the secret of their death spiral.

With the surface looming closer for those rising up and those falling down, two troubled, insular societies will clash at the horizon, and discover that fact is legend and legend is fact.

Participants and posts:
orion_mk3 – http://nonexistentbooks.wordpress.com (link to this month’s post)
Ralph Pines – http://ralfast.wordpress.com (link to this month’s post)
MysteryRiter – http://incessantdroningofaboredwriter.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
AuburnAssassin – YOU ARE HERE
Jarrah Dale – http://brattysramblings.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
SinisterCola – http://acgatesblog.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
dolores haze – http://dianedooley.wordpress.com/ (link to this month’s post)
pyrosama – http://matrix-hole.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
Alynza – http://www.alynzasmith.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
anarchicq – http://anarchicq.com/ (link to this month’s post)
writingismypassion – http://charityfaye.blogspot.com/ (link to this month’s post)
CScottMorris – http://www.cscottmorrisbooks.com/ (link to this month’s post)