I must be keen...

I even worked on Saturday morning!

And very productive it was too. I sent off the 'wrong number' flash fic to GFF with a cover letter etc, and then settled down to read through the new bit of the ghost story. Usually when I rewrite scenes in an existing story I have to polish extensively. I've always said it's rather like knitting - you put a sleeve or something down for a few days and when you pick it up again your tension has changed and the new knitting comes out a totally different size! Well, writing often seems like that and my style or tone can change subtly from one day to the next (I suppose depending on my mood). Luckily this time that hadn't happened and I only needed to fiddle with it a bit before I was happy with it. It's much better than it was and the joke at the end helps to finish the story off so much more clearly than just sort of trailing off into nothing. :)

I didn't have time to do the cover letter and all the other submission paraphernalia but at least the story itself is now ready to go.

Finished!

The re-write of the ghost story, that is. Phew, what a struggle it turned out to be! I got the lads into the bedroom but they rebelled and didn't want to cooperate at all. Still, it's done now and I've added about 1100 words as a result - and what with that and juggling the ending slightly, it's definitely improved. I'll let it lie fallow for a couple of days before the final read-through, and then I'll send it off to Cobblestone for their Halloween call.

Now I'm off to look at a flash fic called 'Wrong Number' that I'm thinking of subbing to the next issue of Gay Flash Fiction.

Working on...

Right now I'm re-writing the end of 'Got Ghosts?', the ghost story set in an ancient English country house. I wasn't overly impressed with the way I'd ended it, but had to finish it off in a bit of a rush to meet the Samhain deadline a few weeks back. Sadly it didn't get picked for their anthology, but Cobblestone Press have a call out for paranormal romance for Halloween and I'm hoping to have it ready in time for that. As well as a bit of juggling of dialogue to get a joke at the very end, I'm also adding a sex scene. I know perfectly well that sex sells *g* and the original story didn't have any, just a couple of kisses and an interrupted clinch. ;)

Luckily the Cobblestone maximum word count is much higher than Samhain's was, so I've got plenty of space to get the two guys into bed together in the Small Blue Bedchamber, on Adam's great-grandmother's antique patchwork quilt. The only thing to decide is what to do with them once I've got them there. :D And fast, because the deadline's in early July and I'm not sure I'll be ready in time. Eeek!

Beach Nuts is out!

I've just heard today that the brand new issue of Gay Flash Fiction is up and running, complete with Beach Nuts (see previous entry for details).

Do pop along to www.gayflashfiction.com for a free read - and I hope you enjoy it!

Coming soon to a zine near you

Good news this morning - Gay Flash Fiction magazine has accepted 'Beach Nuts' to appear in the next issue. GFF is now the sister-zine of Forbidden Fruit and does exactly what it says on the tin - it specialises in flash fiction (under 1000 words) with a gay theme.

'Beach Nuts' is a very silly little story featuring two men who find themselves bothered by a nutter on the beach, and decide to take matters into their own, er, hands. I wrote it specially for GFF so I'm really delighted that the editors liked it enough to accept it.

The new issue is due soon, probably in the next couple of weeks, but I'll let everyone know once it's available so you can read my story. Or if you prefer, keep an eye on my website where I'll be announcing the release when it happens.

Short story delay

Yup, that's a short story *and* a short delay. LOL.

'Washday Blues' was due to come out in the June issue of Cobblestone Quarterly Magazine, and I was really looking forward to it 'cos I haven't had anything new come out for a while. But they needed the issue to promote their brand new vampire anthology and have held over the fiction to the next issue instead.

'Washday Blues' will now be coming to a zine near you (ie Cobblestone Quarterly) in September, so I get to look forward to it all over again. And I'm hoping they'll be running a brief interview with me in the same issue, so watch this space for further updates.

Roll on September. :D