Friday, February 1, 2019

Winter's Here—Time to Write


Don't know about you, but in late January, winter set in with a vengeance around here. By the end of the month, we were digging out from significant snowfall and trying our best to stay warm. On the plus side, the weather made sitting in front of the computer seem pretty inviting, so I've been getting a fair bit of traction on my various writing projects.

Recent Publications
Have you ever wondered whether attending a visitation or funeral and sharing your positive or funny memories of the deceased with their loved ones matters? My guest post on January 21, 2019 on the Warpworld blog shares my views on the matter.


I also had the opportunity to appear on Canadian writer Colleen Anderson's blog, promoting the next issue of Eye to the Telescope, which I will be guest editing. You can find the link to the blog here, and if it inspires you to submit something to Eye to the Telescope Issue 32: Sports and Games, all the better!


The Saturday Evening Post runs a limerick contest, where they provide an image and invite people to submit a limerick to go with it. I've been a runner-up a couple of times, but was thrilled to get the nod for top spot for the September/October 2018 contest. You can see the winning limerick, and the image that inspired it, here:


In January, I received my print copy of Third Wednesday, Volume XII, No. 1. This particular issue included two of my offerings, "Lost at Sea" (inspired by the orca whale that refused, for a time, to give up its dead calf), and "Canoe Trip, Massasauga Provincial Park". 

Nomadic Delirium's January 2019 Spaceports and Spidersilk included "Dorvan cuisine", a speculative poem.

Coming Soon
Though I only have a few pieces scheduled to come out in February (poems in the print and online versions of Scifaikuest), I have some interesting items coming out later in the year that I'll share a little later.

What I'm Working On
One of the reasons I retired at my earliest opportunity is to reduce stress. In line with that, I've tried to give myself more lead time with writing projects, so it's not always a last-minute scramble. To that end, I'm working on some stories right now with May and June submission dates, as well as re-furbing some of my past story ideas for re-submission to other markets.

Also still trying to exercise the poetry muscle, and from time to time digging into the research I did for my never-completed Master's thesis to see if some sort of non-fiction project might emerge from that.

Till next time...