The Writing Life

Sometimes we writers just need to know that we're not alone, we're not the only ones in this crazy business getting the crap beat out of us, via reviews, critiques and rejections, as we try to climb the writing ladder. Jim C. Hines has an excellent essay about "Taking the Hit" on his blog that puts all the pain into perspective. http://www.jimchines.com/2010/07/taking-the-hit/

There's a great country song I listen to that has a grown man writing a letter to his younger self, sorry the title and artist escapes me at the moment, so when Brian Lindenmuth sent me this link to a writer who's written a letter to his younger self, I chuckled and just kept nodding my head yes to all the great advice. http://antoinewilson.com/?p=776 And wouldn't it be nice if we could write our younger selves a letter? I wonder what we'd tell ourselves.

The song is "Letter to Me" by Brad Paisley. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RQ3bn7V0zdU

Over at Tor.com there's a great essay by L.A. Banks. The title says the piece is about writing paranormals, but in reality it's a humorous look at the writing life and I found myself laughing my butt off as I read the piece. For your morning chuckles http://www.tor.com/blogs/2010/07/writing-the-paranormal

Flash Fiction Chronicles is a great blog with loads of good writing advice. I have a link to it over there on the left. One of the essays that caught my eye today was by Jacqueline Vick, and it's about "Growing a Novel from Short Stories" http://www.everydayfiction.com/flashfictionblog/growing-a-novel-from-short-stories-2/
At the bottom of the essay, she's also included three markets for novella length fiction.

And last, The Literary Hatchet is open for submissions until September 1 for their October issue. They're looking for dark stories in the horror, mystery/crime and suspense/thriller genres. This is a twice a year pdf publication. They're looking for shorts of 500 to 3000 words, the payment is $15. They're also looking for artwork, poetry, and humor pieces. You can find all the details at http://www.hatchetonline.com/HatchetOnline/LiteraryHatchet/submissions.htm
The subtitle for this zine is Lizzie Borden's journal of murder, mystery and Victorian history, so that will give a pretty good idea of what they're looking for. Plus, they've been publishing since 2004 so there's plenty of back issues to check out. Also if you click on the extras link at the top of the page you will find a link to a looong list of horror magazines.