Early on

Confession: I'm not sure which is scarier, the prospect that no one is reading this blog... or the idea that they are.

Reading:

• "Riding the Doghouse" by Randy DeVita
  
• The House of Mirth, by Edith Wharton
  

Writing:

• "Ferian Fetlock Catches a Cold"
  

Revising:

• "The Revenant"

Future Projects:

• Dairhenien's Library - Development
  
• Floorcraft - First rewrite of 1-5, first draft of 6-8
• Ferian Fetlock - "Ferian Fetlock Takes a Wife."
  
• "Motley" - Expansion
• "Fireworks and Earthworks" - 5% into first draft
  
• Untitled School Mistress Story

Unpublished Stories/Status (in chronological order of completion of first draft)

• "Pictures of the Old Port" - 5th Draft, Unsubmitted
• "What Price Stamps" - 3rd Draft, Submitted to The American Drivel Review, July 30th, 2008
  
• "The Frost Fugling" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "Black Pudding" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "Cora and the Sea" - 3rd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "Motley" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "Leaves and Sunsets" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "A Happy Ending" - 1st Draft, Unsubmitted
• "The Revenant" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
  
• "Illuminated" - 3rd Draft, Unsubmitted
  
• "A Cup of Coffee" / "Morning Tea" - 2nd Draft, Submitted to Tea: A Magazine, July 29th, 2008
• "Ferian Fetlock Cures a Horse" - 2nd Draft, Unsubmitted
• "Hattie Donnelly's Favorite Doll" - 2nd Draft, Submitted to 24 Hour Short Story Contest, July 27th, 2008

I know a few days ago I mentioned that I had started a wiki. As of this moment there's not too much there, although I think as time goes on it will become more and more detailed. Essentially, I want to get more of what's in my head, especially regarding character backgrounds, in writing.

Part of what I started working on is a page that I've quite creatively called List of early writings. The dividing line is pretty clear in my mind--it includes everything I wrote that I am now tremendously embarrassed at the prospect of letting anyone else read. Hell, half of it I can't read without blushing.

But you know, I wrote quite a lot. This list isn't even complete, it's just the stuff I happened to have in a big green notebook. I wrote nearly a dozen short stories before the age of thirteen, and at least six worth mentioning in high school. In 8th grade, I nearly completed a novel... length-wise, it would have been a young adult novel, but since I was a young adult, it qualifies. Then in high school, I actually did write a novel, although if you're expecting any coherence, you're out of luck. Still, I estimate it at anywhere between 80,000 and 100,000 words, which is not too shabby.

I'm ashamed to read these stories now, but at the same time, I'm so very proud of them. I can see the great, glaring errors in them, and I hate that. But if I hadn't written them, I wouldn't have learned not to do that shit.

And you know, some of them really aren't that bad. There are even a couple that I might consider posting at some point, if only as an exercise in critique. Others are so bad that I might have to post them as my daily confession as an exercise in humility.

Maybe that's the best thing they can do for me. Success is a distant gleam in the tunnel, and it might be the proverbial train. But if I ever need it, these stories are a reminder that I am more than capable of sucking and sucking hard.

Publication Status:

• Submitted: 5
  
• Accepted: 1
• Rejected: 1
• Pending: 3