Productivity is up

I've been writing more since Thanksgiving than I had during much of the year, and four new short stories are going in the mail the next time I leave the house.

Including these four, I've completed and submitted five new stories since Thanksgiving. I've also started numerous new stories and have made progress--sometimes significant progress--on a number of other stories in various stages of completion.

Why the sudden flood of work? I'm not certain, but I did spend Thanksgiving away from home, away from my office, away from my computer, and away from writing in any form. I think I came back refreshed and ready to get back to work.

Why I support the writers' strike

While I should support my brother and sister writers in their effort to receive fair compensation for their work in television and movies, I don't. I support the strike for a purely selfish reason.

As my favorite television programs run out of new episodes and are replaced by reruns and bad reality TV, I find myself spending more time writing. The longer the strike lasts, the more I write. The more I write, the more I earn.

So, strike on brothers and sisters. At least this writer is benefitting from your struggle.

Published

My story "The Philandering Private Eye" appears in the January issue of True Confessions. Although published in a confession magazine, this story is straight-up crime fiction. And the title isn't mine; there's no private eye in the story.

Letter published

I have a letter in the current issue (#102) of Mystery Scene.

First publication in 2008

My story "In Love With Mr. Coffee" appears in the January True Story, making it my first publication of 2008. I have two other stories scheduled for January publication, so I might start the year with a trio of publications.

"In Love With Mr. Coffee" was originally slated for the December 2005 issue, but was bumped. I've had stories bumped before--many times, actually--but I don't think I've ever had one bumped 25 months!

Published

My story "If I Was A Rich Girl" was published in the October issue of True Love.

(I would have posted this sooner, but True Love no longer appears on local newsstands and my contributor copy just arrived in the mail.

38

I was away from home for Thanksgiving and returned home to find a contract for a confession, my 38th acceptance of the year.

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.