A flash story of mine (“A Binturong Named Vithi”) was accepted by the Taj Mahal Review. It should be released in June 2012.
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My travels
I am back from the Pasadena Litfest! I am happy to report that it was a success. If I told you how long I spent preparing and how much time I actually spent saying anything on the panel you’d think I was crazy. Regardless, I read from my upcoming short story collection, Dysfunction. I chose “The Cottonwood Borer,” which is a story about a mother who is dying and tells her daughter she will be reborn as a beetle. It was a fitting story for the day before Mother’s Day, though that wasn’t intentional. I shared the panel with Jervey Tervalon (moderator and author himself), Caroline Allen, Colin Dickey, Bernard Ng, Pat Alderete, and Susan Straight. For people who all haven’t met each other beforehand, we did have a certain chemistry and our stories went well together. Caroline read a bawdy tale complete with sex and humor, Colin read a really intriguing, dense nonfiction piece about a cult figure, Bernard read a personal story about his experiences in China, Pat read emotion-rich poetry about the difficulties and rewards of motherhood, and Susan read about a prostitute who had been murdered. It was a real honor (and high) to read alongside these fabulous writers. The readings ran over so we only had time for one question from the audience.
Afterward I got to spend some time with my friends who came out to hear me read. I loved being back in LA. I have missed my friends and the literary scene there, which is quite different (not better or worse, just different) from the scene here in New Mexico. Later that night I went to a party for the Litfest presenters and organizers. I got to meet Sandra Tsing Loh (I am a huge fan of hers), Jeanne Kelley (author of Salad for Dinner) as well as other hard-working, devoted writers. It was a wonderful, inspirational weekend.
Sadly, I received a rejection from Calyx. They had been holding onto my story since October, but they ultimately rejected it. Waah! I will try again in October.
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Tagged Bernard Ng, calyx, Colin Dickey, pasadena litfest, Pat Alderete, sandra tsing loh, Susan Straight
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Straylight Magazine, Third Coast, and the Upcoming Pasadena Litfest
I’m getting excited. I’m about two weeks away from the First Annual Pasadena Litfest (for real this time!), and I’m really excited. My health is improved, and my writing is back on track. I can’t wait to mingle with writers I admire and learn a thing or two from their tricks bag. I will also get to visit with my good friends and have a little vacation.
In other news, I had a radio interview with Straylight Magazine’s podcast (out of the University of Wisconsin-Parkside). They originally published my short story, “The Reincarnation of Chamunda,” a couple years ago, so when I informed them about my new novel, they were interested in interviewing me as part of their author series. The interview was a lot of fun, and also nice preparation for the litfest. Dean Karpowicz (Professor at the University as well as Editor of the magazine) and Kelsey Hoff (Reviews Editor) asked me so many thought-provoking, insightful questions, it felt like being back in school again among bibliophiles and having those long literary conversations over drinks and not ever feeling tired even though the sun has gone down and you know you have other things to do. I had an awesome time. Thank you, Dean and Kelsey, for taking such care with my novel as well as for all of the kind things you said. I will post a link to the podcast once it’s live.
In terms of rejection, I received a quick one from Third Coast — a whopping four days! Did they read it? I don’t know. I really doubt it. I submitted an essay that I have worked a long time on, one that has solicited personalized rejections from bigger journals. They are nearing their deadline, so I wonder if they just rejected everything after a certain date. UGH! I support them. I enter their contests and therefore subscribe to their journal. I read it. Some of the material in there is not that good. I don’t think I will submit here again nor will I support them either.
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Tagged pasadena litfest, straylight magazine podcast, third coast
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&Now Awards
I just found out that my short story “The Discrepancy Equation” (which was originally published in decomP back in October 2010), was selected as a “Best of Innovative Writing” and will be published in an anthology titled THE &NOW AWARDS 2: The Best Innovative Writing, edited by Davis Schneiderman. The publisher is &NOW Books, an imprint of Lake Forest College Press, to be distributed by Northwestern University Press. This volume is the second in a biennial series, and will be released in spring 2013. Excitement! Yay! I had written this story as a challenge to my husband who said that I have very few mathematical bones in my body. I beg to differ, coming from a line of engineers! Anyway, shame on you, Alex 
No new rejections to note. I am working on getting an excerpt of Amit’s Ability to send to the annual SouthWest Writers International Writing Contest. It’s a local contest, but they receive submissions from all over. I am entering because it is forcing me to think about where specifically the novel is going (I have to submit a synopsis as well), which will help me as I begin extensive revision. I am also going to start shopping around my Basquiat story. I have been told by several readers that it is ready to be sent out. I have stopped submitting to some of my favorite markets (Missouri Review comes to mind), but now I have something good.
Burnishing
I’ve taken quite a bit of time (about two months) away from my novel (Amit’s Ability), and instead of returning to it, I’ve decided to do a bit of housecleaning. I am revisiting some of my short stories–the ones that get the “almost but not quite” rejections–to see what I can do with them. I’m re-purposing, finding the nuggets. So far, I’ve revised one rather long short story (“Basquiat, Living”– almost 10,000 words), and now will tackle some more. I’m giving myself another week or so before I return to the novel because I know once I return, I will not be working on any short stories for quite some time.
My goal right now is to finish this some fifth draft of the novel by October. It won’t be done, but I can be close to at least a working version. I don’t know if that’s ambitious, silly, or crazy.
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A New Story Is Up!
Check out my latest titled, “No One Left.” It is up now at Used Furniture Review. You can read it here. It’s very VERY short, just like this blog entry.
In an amusing side note, I love the spam comments. Especially the one that said, “Your comment really was insightful and helped me out so much and made my day,” referring to the post I had written about migraines. Doh!
The Man Who Broke Atlantic City
There’s a recent article in the Atlantic about Don Johnson, the man who won $6 million dollars from the Tropicana by playing only blackjack. It’s an interesting article because I myself am a gambling enthusiast, and I have always appreciated the nuances of gambling (including the analytics and logic behind it). How does that apply to writing? Well, Don Johnson didn’t win because he was lucky. He won because he negotiated his odds at these casinos, making sure the playing field was stacked toward a skilled player. He didn’t rely on luck or serendipity. He also made sure that he would get something out of it even if he lost (meaning he could somehow recoup his losses). I began to wonder about my own approaches to writing. Am I just merely relying on luck and some skill? Am I not giving myself enough credit, submitting only to non-paying markets or markets that require submission fees? (Side note: I was appalled at how much money I spent last year on submissions fees. I won’t even tell you the amount, but it was enough to put a significant dent in our 2011 taxes.) Perhaps I am doing all of these things when I submit. I think what I need to do is start behaving more like Don Johnson: instead of thinking about it like a purely subjective experience, I should really study the fields I’m submitting to, make sure that the odds are in my favor and that my skill set will be appreciated. Also that there is some benefit to my submission. I do some of this already, but I think I am done submitting tons of stories at once. I am going to really sit down with my stories, really work on them until they cannot be worked on anymore, and then only submit to a few select markets that I think are right for these stories. And where the exposure (I determine) will be beneficial, or I will be paid.
In other news, I am submitting (or have submitted) stories to Pen Parentis, for their 2012 Writing Fellowship, and NPR’s Three Minute Fiction. Pen Parentis is open to parents who have children under age 10. I wrote specially-crafted stories for both contests, which delights me because these are the first pieces of new writing I’ve done in a while. I’m excited about Pen Parentis.
Today I am putting away the laptop and my fanatic husband and I will be watching Kansas play Ohio State in the NCAA Championships (not the Finals yet). I am not a sports fan, but it is a little entertaining to watch my husband get giddy over these games. I like to poke fun. Plus he has promised us some good nachos 
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Tagged don johnson, ncaa championships, pen parentis, three minute fiction
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LitFest Cancelled and the Authors Guild
So amazingly, severe rain (!) was expected in California over the weekend that the Litfest was supposed to be held. So they cancelled it. It is now postponed until May 12. It NEVER rains in Southern California, and when it does, it’s like dribble from a baby. It’s nothing. So I was surprised, but actually a little relieved. I have more time to prepare.
My article is now up at Albuquerque the Mag. With the exception of a few mistakes, the article is good, and I am happy about it.
I’ve had so many rejections since I last posted it is kind of embarrassing:
Painted Bride Quarterly- a generic rejection that took over a year to get to me! Wow.
Hunger Mountain – a generic bad rejection
JMWW – a generic, so-so rejection
Passages North – a generic bad rejection
Mid-American Review – a generic good rejection
I have not resubmitted to any of these places.
Recently, I have joined The Authors Guild. I figured it was about time, and they do offer a plethora of services to writers. I’m already receiving some legal advice from them about how I have not yet received any sort of payment from SFA Press. I won’t talk about it at length here since it’s sensitive information, but once I get some resolve (or not), I might discuss it, and share my experiences so that other writers can beware of what’s out there. In my excitement at getting published, I fear that I jumped the gun too quickly on signing their contract. I fear I will pay the price. More soon.
Election Day
I’ve been feeling better, so I’ve been back at work. Less than two weeks to my panel in Pasadena, and I’m starting to get that nervous/excited sort of energy. I haven’t done a reading in a long time (since the end of November), so I wonder if I will be nervous. Toward the end of my book tour, I was starting to feel like a pro. I wasn’t even shaky or sweaty, and I thrived off of the adrenaline. I am still debating whether to read from my short story collection (forthcoming in December) or my novel. I will have copies of my novel to sell, but my short story collection is more recent and immediate.
I voted today. I was surprised that there was a line clear out the door. When I lived in LA, I never had to wait. I am not sure if that means more people vote here, or if there are more polling places in LA, so lines moved quicker. Either way, I’ve always enjoyed voting. It’s amazing how each citizen does have her moment to make a difference. I really believe in civic responsibility. (Plus I’m a sucker for the “I Voted” stickers.)
No rejections or acceptances to note.
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