My "Amazing Story"

 

The zippered Flesh anthology may be six years old, but I'm still running across reviews of its disturbing stories. This one, for example.

To Every Story its Time

 It happens every time.

I hit a period of non-stop creativity where I crank out several stories at once, and then it comes to a screeching halt. Somewhere in that process, I start submitting my work to various publishers, sometimes scoring an acceptance or two early on and then...nuthin'. 

And that's okay. It stopped bothering me a while ago. My original strategy involved descending into self-loathing, rushing headlong into impostor syndrome and, when those failed, rewriting older stories until I got my mojo back. Speaking of older stories, I have a few I have been trying to get published over the years. One such work, titled, "The Gipper Memorandum," sat in my files since 2012, occasionally rearing its head whenever I felt a publisher might be interested in publishing it. 

Lately, my run of luck has been of the sucking variety. Rejections didn't exactly flood in but they definitely trickled water onto my forehead with each disappointing email. Reasons ranged from the generic "not for us" to the "man, that's good writing! Sorry, no" variety. At least one came with compliments for "parts" of the story, concluding with the painful "it's too preachy" opinion.

So, when I opened my email this morning and saw two emails from publishers to whom I'd sent stories, I assumed they too would be negative responses. The first one turned out to be simply a confirmation of receipt. The second one was an acceptance of a story that was written in 2012. 

I never lost faith in "The Gipper Memorandum" but I did reach the conclusion that it was probably a story for a short fiction collection. A so-called "Added treat" in the form of an unpublished story. But then some big shot editor had to go and accept it and ruin the surprise for everybody! 

I am, of course, beyond pleased to see one of my older stories finally get picked up. If anybodsy takes anything away from my post, make it this: Don't just leave those stories and novels in your desk drawers and on your hard drives. Assuming you tried to get them published, try again and again. Sometimes it's all about timing and, in my case, waiting until there's a fascist lunatic in charge of a country that should know better. 

I will post more anthology info for "After the Kool Aid is Gone" once it becomes known~

User Review: "Blower of Whistle"

 My unproduced political satire script on Kindle titled, "Blower of Whistle" has its first customer review and it is a positive one!

Read it here!

"BLOWER OF WHISTLE" Now Available on Kindle!!! (Updated with link)

Are you excited? You're excited, aren't you? Yeah, you are! You can't wait! Your heart's all a'flutter! Your bladder can barely avoid releasing. The sun is a little bit brighter, the clouds a bit fluffier. There's a spring in your step and a song in your soul.

Now you just need to know what the hell I'm talking about and your conscious mind can catch up with your nervous system. Then wait no further, faithful reader! Wait no further!

But wait a minute. How could you not know about my un-produced screenplay? What are ya, some kinda unknowing type that doesn't intuit when something no one has ever seen has been written? I don't need people like you in my life. You sicken me. I taste bile. It stings almost as badly as the many disappointments in my life. Why do you torment me so?

Okay, I got that off my chest. Feel better? Good. I'm glad we worked that out like mature adults who hold onto petty grudges until the ulcers consume them like acid poured over a murder victim to conceal his identity. It's called being mentally healthy.

"Blower of Whistle" was and, I suppose, is a short screenplay I was challenged to write for an actor I know who wanted to produce it. When I say "challenge," I use it as facetiously as she did; she knew full well I could write this and finish it quickly. She read it and laughed in all the right places. Having done my part, I sat back and waited for the magic of film production to turn my little teleplay as they were once called into hopefully hilarious reality. 

There was even talk of casting me as the President's smarmy, weasel-like attorney. And then that talk ended and my actor friend grew more and more frustrated with her acting troupe. Thus did my Hollywood hopes get dashed on the shores of Boo Hoo Beach.

So, the un-produced screenplay languished on my hard-drive for several months, becoming less timely and relevant as a very real impeachment took place. For a while, I felt I'd written something hopelessly dated, a piece that was written to be seen before the proceedings. What could I do with it now, I wondered. Then it occurred to me. So what?

So what if it was written to be seen before the actual impeachment? I didn't name anyone, although the targets of the satire could be seen from space. Wasn't this story supposed to take place prior to the impeachment anyway? Who could say what secret meetings were held in the days leading up to the impeachment? ME! Haven't you been paying attention!?

So this, then, is the tale of the top secret meeting held before the impeachment to help a clueless, boorish president avoid national embarrassment.  I'll let everyone know when it's officially available. 

And available it is!

click here and bring money!