Juicy Bits Anthology on the Coming Soon Page.....

Out on 28th April, one of my stories is part of the Juicy Bits Anthology from Dreamspinner Press.

2 Weeks 6 Days 2 Long by S K Manganelli Matt’s partner Craig has been away on business for almost three weeks and he’s getting fed up with sleeping on his own. It seems he’s not the only one. Craig surprises him with an early return at a family get-together. Matt is even more amazed when Craig demonstrates how much he missed Matt, and that two weeks and six days are simply too long to be apart! Click the pretty to pre-order!

First Edits Complete.....

I can't figure out if I'm an editor's worst nightmare or a teacher's pet?

Sorry been MIA - we moved from the house to the flat and it was pretty nightmarish. Squeezing a four bedroom house's contents to fit into a small three bedroom flat has not been fun and the car still has boxes shoved in it whilst my bedroom is a bit of an obstacle course of suitcases and boxes.

Last weekend we celebrated my Dad's birthday which was really cool - sat around and ate and talked for hours - but of course it meant we didn't spend enough time unpacking/cleaning that we should have, and everyone has been back to school this week so, yeah, it's all a bit of a mess.

My back is playing up, as are my hips and knees - all that time on my hands and knees scrubbing carpets at the old house - but all worth it as we are getting our full deposit back. (Round of applause and sigh of relief as it means I can repay some of the money we used to move). All of this means I'm not sleeping very well - 6.42 a.m and I haven't been to bed yet!

LM is being - well, difficult is probably the best word. She's just being really defiant and rude about everything, doing silly things that she knows will get her in trouble, that sort of thing. It's difficult as MD is as tired as I am and trying not to react but it's hard.

However, we finally managed to book MD in for her last Christmas present - a makeover, pamper and photography session. Four hours of being pampered and treated, followed by playing dress up and having photos taken - hopefully it will make her feel good, and of course it never hurts to have yet more pictures of my babies to put up on the wall.

And onward to editing news. Received my first set of edits for '2 weeks 6 days 2 long' today and sort of girded myself to want to cry, etc. I was offered some how-to sheets to make sure I knew what not to do with track changes, etc on Word which was really nice as it's all been self-taught up until now. Of course, me being me and pretty much awake, I decided to see what edits there were to do. It was actually quite painless - some were my use of formatting, some were Britishisms I use; some were me running sentences on. So I finished them and sent them back. Hence the starter question: teacher's pet or worst nightmare?

Because now I'm worried I did them too quickly and should have thought about them longer? And should I have made more comments about why I agreed/disagreed? Gah, sometimes being in a different time-zone is a real pain in the butt!  Of course, I can't take credit for how well edited the story was - that was all Silk-Labyrinth who went through it with her fine-tooth comb before I even submitted it last year. So I shall ensure I send my thanks her way instead of just preening and pretending I somehow managed to achieve that myself!!

So yeah, first edits complete and I agreed the blurb. As soon as I'm allowed, I'll put the proper blurb and picture up but you guys already know it cos I did the mini banner of the two guys on the poppies way back to last year.

And now that the first edits are over, maybe I should stop writing that Teen Wolf/BtVS crossover and try to write something original?! Ooh look, 6.50 a.m., time for bed!

Dreamspinner said yes!

Dreamspinner want to publish my short story in their anthology. It's called '2 Weeks 6 Days 2 Long' and it's going to be in their Juicy Bits anthology later this year!

I'm very, very happy - I must admit, with Alien Christmas receiving a lukewarm reception (at best), I was beginning to think I didn't have what it takes. But this means being accepted the first time wasn't a fluke - this is another publisher saying yes, they like my work and want to publish it.

As it's a short story, it's not huge amounts of cash but that's not really the point. It's January and I've achieved one of my aims for the year already - another story has been accepted. This was the banner I made to give me an 'image' in my head of the MCs:

Now I guess I need to stop hiding in fanfiction and start finishing off some of the WiPs cluttering up my Ninja USB!!

The editors at Dreamspinner....

....they say no.  Just received a lovely email explaining that the submission doesn't match their publication needs and I have replied, saying thanks and asking for any feedback available.

Hey ho, not quite sure how I feel.....

August and it's Dr Feelgood

Into August, and I have set myself a goal of 45k words this month. I need to write a certain amount per day in order to meet that goal, and although I haven't written 1500 words per day, I have written every day. I have an idea for another story that fits with a DSP Open call, but am trying to figure out a title for it.

I made a little banner so I have their images in my head while I write because I find that helps, but the title isn't coming to me. I think I've written something like 2400 words so far, and the minimum count is 5000 so I'm on track.

I think I want something medical in the title but what? Off to strain my brain further...

OMG I did it!!

I have just officially pressed send on my first submission for publication!! The story is just under 11000 words long and I have submitted for a Christmas anthology. The deadline for sending in submissions is tomorrow.

I still can't quite believe I managed to finish it in time. I've been working on it every day for a while but the words were being dragged out of me. Somehow, yesterday and today they just flowed.

Of course, I've left it much too late for anyone to do a tidy up/ beta for me which is a shame, but I am just so chuffed that I did what I said i was going to do - I beat the deadline and I submitted something.

I need to lie down - now I feel ill at the thought of professional strangers reading my story and laughing their heads off at me for even thinking I might have some talent!

Writing for Christmas in July....

It actually started because I thought I had an amazing idea for a story for the open submission that Riptide Publishing are holding in October.

I got myself seriously excited, started with chapter outlines and characters blocking - I even had a fabulous friend or two ready to pre-read it for me.  But I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong - that it couldn't be that easy.  And I was right.

I was "channelling"  a book I had read in 1995 - not word for word, but I obviously had the structure in my head because the first couple of chapters of my brand new opus ran along the exact same lines.

Having read up on plagiarism - what counts as plagiarism, etc - as part of my brain meanderings, I realised there was just NO way I could write this and submit it for publication.  Yes, the protagonists are two men rather than a heterosexual couple; the storyline could well completely veer off as I am writing it; it could be considered an homage.  But in the end, I just feel so guilty that I got even this far with the idea that I can't see me ever submitting it anywhere.

I'm continuing it as fanfiction so the story that's bouncing around in my head will hopefully be finished but only for me and a few friends to read.

TAKE TWO

An anthology over at Dreamspinner is open for submissions.  Closer deadline (1st August) and the subject matter has to include something heart warming for Christmas.  I should be able to write something for this right?  Well, yes and no.  Somehow it's started off like something out of a Sci-Fi novel including time travel.  Yep, no Christmas yet but we're travelling through time so you know, Christmas could happen at any moment (pun intended sadly).

And because I have zero confidence in myself and feel much happier/confident when I am writing with a dear friend, I have dragged her into my deadline!! I've sent off the first chunk (about 2000 words) and have asked her if she will consider co-writing it with me.  I even admitted why - that I feel like something is missing, that I need her touch, her way with words to bring the story properly to life.  So fingers crossed, what I've written can spark her muse into action and she can do something with it.

Surely this counts as me doing something to get published?  I have a little contest going on with my sister - I will send something off to be published before she manages to redo her bathroom.  So far, we're neck and neck which isn't good.  But either way, I have two stories battling for dominance in my head which is kinda nice as my head hasn't been a good place to be for a while.

Now I just need to get into the Christmas spirit....