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Off My Game

This was a tough week for writing. I started it in Maine at a retreat for my “day job,” had a huge Fourth of July barbeque, and have since been cleaning and packing for my trip to the beach.

I also signed up as a slush pile reader (they call it editor/reviewer) with Sotto Voce. Work for free, you ask? Why yes, in this case I will. Basically, it keeps me in the know. What are other people writing? How good is it? Where do I need to grow? It's sort of like being back in workshop, where I can read a lot of stuff and be able to make a few comments about it, and learn from the process.

I did get a nice request from the editor of Polluto for a rewrite of a story I submitted. I completely changed it, hoping to nail it the second time. Other than that, I’m working on a first draft of a sci fi story for an upcoming themed anthology; two thousand words in and probably not halfway. I wonder when I became such a long-winded writer; I used to have a hard time getting to twelve hundred.

I also have a rewrite to do on an old, old story that might work for another anthology. I’ve got to bump the word count up by about a thousand on that one, though, but that shouldn’t be a problem. There’s lots of wiggle room.

It will be hard to hit my target of four stories submitted this month, but perhaps when I get back from the beach, I’ll manage it.

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