Just in time for the Halloween season! After months of preparation and delays due to COVID-19, my short story “Night Watch” is now available in the Utah Horror Writer’s anthology, They Walk Among Us! It has been strange seeing my name printed alongside more established Utah authors, some who I’ve seen at writing conferences over the past couple of years. Even stranger, I noticed that “Night Watch” was referenced once or twice in the description on the back cover. That has flattered me beyond belief. For those who want to feel their spines tingle in the spirit of Halloween, They Walk Among Us is now available on Amazon in paperback. In this anthology there is a flavor of spooky for everyone! As far as I know, the publisher has changed plans and not released a digital version, but I will let you know if that changes. Since the finished versionRead More
Even upside down, the world goes on spinning. I wanted to share an event going on later this month, as well as an update regarding “Night Watch.” Although we can’t meet in person, the League of Utah Writers is still holding its Spring Conference on May 23rd via technology. I’m excited for this year’s conference because I don’t have to pick and choose what classes and discussions I attend. I can go to all of them! The presentations will be prerecorded for everyone to view. There will be some live Q and As, manuscript feedback, and other fun things to attend live next Saturday as well for a more en media res feel. I’ll make sure to share some of the highlights of the conference before June rolls around. Registration for LUW members is $20, while normal registration is $50. Buy a ticket here: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/2020-spring-conference-league-of-utah-writers-registration-73177121741 *** The They Walk AmongRead More
I was completely unprepared for the email I received Monday morning. First, a quick recap. If you’ve read my previous posts, then you’re familiar with the fact that I’ve recently written a short story titled “Night Watch” that I submitted to the Utah Horror Writers for their upcoming anthology. When I emailed them the story on Halloween, I received a response a few days later that a decision would be made in a few months. So I waited, and planned on waiting for quite a bit longer. But it turns out that my wait was going to be a lot shorter than I expected. Monday, while I was waiting for an appointment, I glanced at my phone. Seeing that I had gotten an email during my drive, I clicked on it. Moments later, my brain caught up with my eyes, and I realized that I had just been sent anRead More
As a new writer and author, I’m still learning a lot about the trade. Both on the creative and business side. Today, I learned more about an author’s rights to their published work. When I published “Monsters in the Woods” with Metaphor, I’d assumed that they held the rights to the story–either permanently or over a period of time. I only learned that this is not the case because I asked the new chief editor when I would get the rights back to my short story. I discovered that the rights reverted back to me as soon as the piece was published. All I have to do in the future is mention that my story is a reprint. This is exciting because I’ve been wanting to find a new home for “Monsters in the Woods,” so finding out that I didn’t have to go through any special rigmarole or waitingRead More
It feels like forever since I last posted. A month in blog time seems to be quite a bit longer than normal time, in my opinion. First, I’ll share some updates about the projects I’ve been working on. I’m sure it’s been obvious that I’ve not had the time to write as much. I know it’s been a few weeks since I’ve updated the progress bars. However, this has not been an entirely accurate representation of what has happened. My short story “Night Watch” went through another critique with my advanced fiction class last Wednesday. The feedback was good, but there were a few issues that everyone felt needed some work. I know that with the 5,000 word count limit I won’t be able to please everyone. The first step in my plan is to finish two separate rewrites since there were a lot of conflicting comments. I would likeRead More
After a month of work, the second draft of my short story went in for critique! It was a good feeling finally having the story at a point where I felt comfortable handing it off to a group. I knew it wasn’t perfect (not even close), but I got a few great suggestions from my fellow writers. I wasn’t able to get as much feedback as I’d have liked because I hadn’t yet been added to the Facebook page. It turns out I should post the story about a week or so before we meet for a more in depth critique. But now I know for next time! I’m still grateful for the advice I got though, the story already flows better. I do think that I’m going to let the story sit for a week or two before I come back to it. After a while, I struggle toRead More
Well, I’m still working on posting consistently on a specific day every week. One day I’ll get there, but I keep letting it slip my mind. However, practice makes perfect, and perseverance leads to success. The next couple of weeks will be full of fun stuff as I report on my experiences at the Summer Writer’s Symposium and Fyrcon this month! My goal is to post as soon as each conference is over so that my thoughts and feelings are fresh. Hopefully I remember to take some pictures. I’ll also be working more on my steampunk novel once July arrives. By the time I enter my last semester at Weber State, I want to have a few chapters ready for my novel writing class. A quick update about the short story I’ve been working on: the first draft is finished! Right now, the working title is Strictly Nightlife. Since IRead More
“Monsters in the Woods” is now available to read! Since Metaphor doesn’t have a website for their published work you can read it here. Originally, “Monsters in the Woods” was a nonfiction story based on my childhood. This was one of those stories that I struggled to find inspiration for, then it came in a single burst–the first draft anyway. After some mentoring by one of my English professors, I decided to add “the man’s” perspective and upped the tension in the story. Eventually I decided that this story no longer fit into the nonfiction genre, but it’s pretty close. This is also the story that I had the chance to read at the National Undergraduate Literary Conference hosted in Ogden, Utah. I actually liked reading out loud a lot more than I expected. If I ever had to give advice on how to best prepare for a reading, itRead More