Well, the last few weeks have been crazy busy, but the sort of busy that makes you feel like you have been really productive. Over the last few days I have been able to put a few ticks in the win column! The big one is that I sold two stories over the weekend, which is a wonderful feeling. I try not to talk too much about a story until I have signed the contract but the first one is a big one (my biggest sale so far, and I will definitely be talking about it in a post coming soon!), and I am also thrilled with the second sale.

Last year I submitted a story to  an anthology I desperately wanted to get into, but sadly it was rejected. A bit discouraged, I put the story up with my online crit group and it was absolutely panned. That’s never fun, but reading the feedback I realised that the editor had been quite right to reject it, and it had deserved the negative but constructive feedback. It just wasn’t up to the standard it needed to be. However, I still loved the concept despite there being so many things wrong with it. So, I gutted it and added the things it needed, like conflict and character motivation and made sure there was a real story arc.

As a result of that excellent feedback, and an editor who was happy to work with me on making it the best story it could be, I am excited to announce that Venus Transiens will be appearing in the upcoming Horror, Humor and Heroes 3:  The New faces of Science Fiction.

I also have two stories that have progressed to the second round of reading, both in markets that would mark another milestone, and I finally worked up the courage to submit to a pro market. Add NaNoWriMo, and finishing my uni work for the year (I ended up with a HD, a D and HD), I haven’t had much rest.

I also had a wonderfully convivial writer group meeting on Sunday which, as usual, has left me inspired and reinvigorated, and motivated to keep on writing.

Now all I need to do is catch up my Doctor Who watching!