Published

My story "All I Want For Christmas Is Mr. Right!" appears in the December issue of True Love.

Character Match

Following my divorce earlier this year, I joined Match.com, an Internet dating site. While I've met some nice women and have had some interesting dates, I don't plan to share details from my dating adventures.

On the other hand, I do want to share a tip for those of you who struggle with character creation and development: Join Match.com and start reading member profiles.

Sure, you'll find basic info--height, body type, hair color, eye color, and so on--but the best material is contained in the paragraphs of self-desciption each member writes. That's where you learn characterization.

Pick one, any one, and read it closely. Is the author's profile brief and to the point, or does it run for multiple paragraphs? Does the author describe herself, or does she describe her "perfect" match? Does the author write in complete, grammatically correct sentences, or are words misspelled and punctuation applied randomly? Does the author reveal something about past hurts (you may be surprised by the number of women seeking an "honest" man), or about future goals? What's the tone--serious, funny, or sad? What does the author say and what else is implied?

You may not discover the love of your life on Match.com, but you can certainly find enough characters to populate your fiction.

If you're an unmarried writer struggling with characterization in your short stories and novels, try Match.com.

But if you're a married writer, no amount of fast-talking will make your spouse believe that you joined Match.com for "research." And if you can't convince your spouse, you might need to use that membership for more than just research...

I write like a girl

Fellow confession writer Roberta Beach Jacobson posted a link to The Gender Genie (http://bookblog.net/gender/genie.php), a program that will examine a piece of writing and determine if it had a male or a female author.

For fun, I tested three confessions and the program thought they were written by a female. That's good, I thought, because they're supposed to be!

Then I tested two hardboiled pieces of crime fiction--violent, sexual, as masculine as I get. The program thought they were also written by a female.

Maybe my crime fiction isn't as hardboiled as I thought it was. Maybe I should become a florist...

37 / 1,100

I received a contract in today's mail, my 37th acceptance of the year, which puts me behind my goal of one acceptance each week. I'm 37 acceptances for 44 weeks, well behind the blistering pace I set in the previous five years (63 acceptances in 2002, 55 in 2003, 75 in 2004, 57 in 2005, and 66 in 2006).

On the other hand, if my records are accurate, this is my 1,100th acceptance.

Published, again and other good news

My story "Rescued By a Mountain Man" appears in the Winter issue of True Experience.

In another bit of good news, I returned home today to find a message on my answering machine from a woman I had interviewed. She was calling to say good things about the article I had written. My ego puffed up an appropriate amount.

Why it pays to watch Mel Brooks movies

After Marcel Marceau died, Entertainment Weekly (Monitor, October 5, 2007) stated that the famous mime "entertained audiences around the world for over 60 years without ever uttering a word." As a fan of Mel Brooks movies, I knew this was incorrect, and I dashed off an e-mail to the EW editors.

I don't know how many other readers spotted the error, but the October 26 EW carries the following "clarification":

"While Marcel Marceau never uttered a word during his 60-year stage career, the mime famously said the word 'non' in Mel Brooks' 'Silent Movie' (Monitor)."

Published, again

My article "From Small Ideas, Big Projects Grow: Victoria Educational Gardens" appears in the November/December issue of Texas Gardener, which should hit newsstands soon.

"Snowbird" opening on-line

Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine has posted the opening of "Snowbird," the private eye story I co-authored with Tom Sweeney, on their Web site: http://www.themysteryplace.com/eqmm/excerpts/excerpt2.shtml.

Published, again

My story "Hot Mama" appears in the November True Romance.

36

I received my 36th acceptance of the year today, a confession with the sure-to-be-changed title of "Sugar Tits."

Private eye story published

"Snowbird," a private eye story I co-authored with Tom Sweeney, appears in the December issue of Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine.

Quoted

I recently received a photocopy of part of the March, 2007, Byline. Rhonda Peters quoted me in her article "I Confess: My True Romance Was Not A True Story," an article about writing confessions.

Published, again

My story "Thanksgiving? No, Thanks!" appears in the November True Story.

Finding balance

When I started freelancing full-time, one of my goals was to write more short stories and to earn a significant portion of my freelance income from writing fiction. Initially, that's what happened.

That hasn't been the case for much of this year, though. I've written less fiction, yet seen my income slowly creep upward. I expect to earn more this year than last, but it appears that fiction will generate both a smaller percentage of my total revenue as well as fewer total dollars than last year.

I've been thinking about this quite a bit lately. What I've realized is that sitting at a computer has come to dominate my waking hours. Because 99%, or more, of my gross income is derived from things I do while sitting at a computer, and 50% or more of my "social" interaction comes from participation in Yahoo groups and e-mail, I find myself seeking opportunities to get away from the keyboard. So, what suffers? The time I would spend writing short stories.

The vast majority of the fiction I've produced has been written on speculation, while nearly everything else is produced on assignment or to-order. Fiction generates income many months--sometimes years--after creation. The other work generates income a few days to a few weeks after completion.

Right now I'm trying to find balance in my life. I'm trying to find balance between generating income to support myself and producing the kind of material that made me want to be a writer in the first place. I'm also trying to find balance between "alone time" and "social time."

I don't think I have the balance perfect, yet. But I'm getting closer.

Most importantly, I'm pleased with my life. I like what I do, I like my clients, and I like the future as far ahead as I can see it.

So tweaking the balance a little bit is nothing to worry about.

I've met all of this week's deadlines, so maybe tomorrow I'll spend a little more time writing fiction. Today, though, I think I'll turn the computer off and go outside.

Today's mail

Today's mail included payments for three short stories.

35

My 35th acceptance arrived in today's mail, a contract for a Christmas love story.

34

Yesterday I received a contract for a short story, my 34th sale of the year.

And again...

My story "Nothing But The Painful Truth" appears in the October issue of True Confessions.

Published, again

My story "A Girl, a Guy, and a Sandwich Shop" appears in the October True Story.

Completed revision

Earlier this year I received a 24,000-word ms. back from an editor with numerous suggestions on how to revise and improve the story, along with a note that the editor would look at the story again if I revised it. I did all the heavy lifting right away, making substantial changes and reworking bits and pieces. Then other projects with real deadlines crowded my to-do list and this ms. was pushed aside.

Yesterday I carved a five-hour block out of my afternoon and did a final revision of the ms., cleaning up little bits here and there. Early yesterday evening I sent it to the editor.