anthology

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Lenni Reviews: “Statues: Junji Ito Story Collection”by Junji Ito

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

The actual summary works here, so I don’t spoil or sound rambly: “Art teacher Okabe creates strange, headless statues. One day, he is found murdered, his corpse headless. From that day on, art club member Shimada seems off somehow… Elsewhere, in a curious town custom, the dead are placed on a tatami mat and set out on the river. Kanako’s grandmother lives alone in a house near this river. What did she witness at one of these funerals long ago? And a mysterious disease makes girls suddenly become more beautiful. But soon they all die. The only way to survive might be worse than death itself”

This collection of stories is pretty good, but also very rapid-fire and short. Some of these could easily be expanded a bit more so they don’t feel like they’re incomplete. I still enjoy them, but a couple more pages would have helped them feel more fleshed out. No pun intended. 3.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Alley: Junji Ito Story Collection” by Junji Ito

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

This collection of short horror stories leans heavily towards urban legends like spirits in creepy alleys and cursed ice cream trucks. Your scare milage may vary throughout this as the stories are hit or miss for me. The hospital one freaked me out the most. The body horror alone gave me chills and is the best in the volume, in my opinion. It isn’t perfect and I don’t wanna say too much lest I spoil something but it’s a decent collection but if body horror isn’t your thing, best skip this one because Ito is very good at that. 4 out of 5.

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Monday Writing Update

This was a very productive weekend. I was able to get started on an entry for an elf anthology and I was able to get the house in some sort of order so I wouldn’t be completely ashamed to have someone over. 0.0 Eventually, I would like to start Fiction Friday back up again but all things in their own time. I can’t put too much on my plate at once. I’ll end up spazzing and not finishing anything. >_<
Wish me luck today!

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Monday Writing Update

Holy crap, Monday. Pull no punches, why don’t cha? *chugs coffee*

Anyways, after a stressful week, I am hoping to make up for my complete lack of motivation to write and fly through my word count goals for the week. Those goals include but are not limited to:

  • Finish Winter Boot
  • Start one anthology entry
  • Edit 10 pages of Greenhouse
  • Finish another review for Otakus and Geeks

I have been “subtly encouraged: to hurry and finish Greenhouse and honestly? I’m over due with that. I should have finished it months ago. You guys deserve to hear what happens next with Darjeeling and how Auris plans t0 exact his revenge. >} Dun, dun, DUUUUNNN!!!

No, haven’t had enough coffee yet. Somebody bean meh!

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Pagan Blog Project – “G” for “Gratefullness”

I’ve been thinking a lot about how I am lucky for what I have. Even though I got rejected for that anthology, I am grateful to have plenty of other places to use it and the chance to edit it the way I want it.

I am grateful for my vacation and to be back with my family. I am grateful for my life and everything in it that makes me smile for even the barest second. Because life’s too short to be all frowny all the time. 🙂

 

 

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Writing Update

Where once I was concerned with keeping my stories short, I have spent the weekend battling with this anthology submission in order to get it to the minimum word count. In two very long days, I took the story from ~1,200 words to ~4,300 words. And I’m stopping there.

For me, this is another nuance in the lesson on giving up. There are times were you just have to stop. I also apply this concept to my sketching; there is a certain point in the process where you start to screw up the work while trying to fix it. At that point, it’s best to put the pen or pencil (or keyboard) down and step the hell away before you ruin it. I would rather be 700 words short and have a good story (that may be accepted on its own merit despite the word count) than make the word count and have a crappy story (that will either be rejected outright or the editor will ask me to cut it down).

After a final typo crawl, I will be sending this one in, hopefully tonight. As always, I will return to share my triumph or my crushing defeat. 😉

However, there is no rest for the wicked. I have already brainstormed my next submission and I’m back to working with my steampunk gals, who I have missed terribly. No, I have not been editing the next First Brood book. You can yell at me if you want. I kinda deserve it. :p

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Giving up: Knowing When To Throw In The Towel

I have finished the rough draft for one anthology entry and I’m 7 written pages into the second. However, I have come to realize there is no way I will get to finish both of them in time to submit. They are both due on the 24th, one is 1,200 words and needs to be 5,000 and the other needs to be 10,000 and I am no where near that.

So, I give up.

I will write both but instead of submitting two crappy manuscripts which will absolutely get rejected, I can focus on the short one, get it all perty like, and finish the other one at my leisure. And who knows? Maybe the stars will align and I will finish both to submission quality. And maybe the unicorns who live in my closet will cry tears of liquid silver and I will sell it to pay off my mortgage. :p

It is a pretty big closet…

This is a hard lesson for me to learn and it’s one I’ve had to learn more than once: You can’t do EVERYTHING, and you don’t HAVE to. Anything I don’t finish by the deadline, I can polish myself and put together as an anthology. Just because I can’t have them all traditionally published doesn’t mean they will languish unread on my flash drive. Some will even be on my site, as well. ^_^

Are you excited? Because I am. Excited and proud at getting so much done, even if it isn’t all on time. 😉

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Huzzah! Writing Progress Report.

Instead of watching the game, or the commercials, I hid from it all and finished one anthology entry! 😀 Tonight I’ll be typing it and all day, I’ll be starting work on the next one. 🙂

Also? I have given up working out in the morning. :p Not because I’ve given up working out mind you. I’ve just noticed how much less sleep I’ve been getting which is just as unhealthy for me as not working out at all. :p I’m aiming for 45 minutes 6 days a week to get nice and fit. ^_^

I suppose that’s about it. What do you really expect this early on a Monday? =_=

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Making the announcement… Again

Yes, if you follow me on Twitter or Facebook, you have already heard. But it’s so awesome, I’m saying it again. >D

I got the official word yesterday that I have been accepted into the Femme Fatales anthology coming out later this year from Lethe Press. This story will be my first non-self published work released onto the world. 🙂

I will update when I know when the anthology will be out. It’s still in the editing stage and I am doing my level best not to annoy the everlovin crap out of the editor with rapid fire questions like a bored child in the backseat of a car. XD

Since the book isn’t out yet, I didn’t go crazy with celebration. I had a single beer, went to bed early, and slept in instead of waking up at the ass crack of dawn to workout. I certainly live the life, don’t I? XD

I am certainly not resting on my laurels. I may have taken last night to rest my brain but today, I’m back with a vengeance. I’m reading a bunch of writing books (including Writer With A Day Job) to hone my craft even further, strictly enforcing my daily page goals, and making damn sure any writing the world sees is as polished as I can get it. There will be time for gushing and such when there’s a physical book in my hands. I need to work even harder now. 🙂

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New story up! :D

Gods in the Grey City is available for download on Kindle for $1.99!! 😀 My empire is growing!! BWAHAHAA!! XD

Seriously, I’m glad to have more up there for people to buy. 🙂 And now that it’s for sale, I won’t have to bug anyone to vote for it up at top webfiction anymore. Maybe I’ll come up with something else to put there, I dunno. It doesn’t seem to be doing much for my traffic. This doesn’t mean I’ll stop having some free goodies for you guys. And you’ll also notice there’s no cover. I figured I would rather get the story THERE than sit on it and wait for cover art. I’ll upload a cover whenever I get one. :p

Now, I’m going to concentrate on getting Greenhouse done and the entry for that contest over at Otakus and Geeks. Then there’s some open ended submissions for some other anthologies I’d like to try for, as well. It all depends on how much time I have and how Greenhouse flows.

With a hurricane coming, I may have more time that I bargained for. Can’t do laundry if the power goes out. :/ I think once I get through the legal crap from Ma’s passing, I’ll buy a generator. I’ll just feel safer. ._. Not that we’re gonna get really slammed here but still. You never know. Last time we had a long term power outage (last year, I forget what month) it was a tree branch taking out a power line that did it. Can happen anytime so I’d like to be prepared.

Next week, I’ll be on vacation. ^_^ In order to get a proper break, I need to leave the state so I’ll be headed to VA. I may post, I may not. But I will of course, take plenty of pictures. 🙂