Not a Real Update

I know it's been awhile since I posted in my blog, but that's because there's not much to say. Lame!

- I've written, edited, and recorded some flash fiction for a future project
- I've connected my blog to facebook, so that all my facebook friends are currently seeing this note and wondering "what the heck"?
- I've done some editing on a story, but it's slow going and I'm STILL not finished. Arg!
- Trying to keep Dear Editor up-to-date. Jonathan helped with that!
- Got stuff to Beta Read, which I will no doubt enjoy!

Beta Reading

I've been having a lot of fun beta reading. It's always satisfying when the other writer is, you know, good-- excellent is even better-- because then you feel like you're privy to something, and that you're helping with something important. And of course, getting your stuff read in return is awesome. I suppose it's a little nerve wracking when you know the other writer is a good writer, and you hope they think the same of you. But the important thing is to improve, and getting your stuff read and commented on is essential, as long as you find beta readers with some sense.

It's also a great way to connect with other writers, because they need and want it as badly as you. I had been a little afraid that other writers, especially strangers, might react poorly to my critiques, but so far that hasn't happened.

Also? Bonus if the other writer(s) are old friends from High School.

20% is a big Number

20% may not get you a passing grade in school, but it's gloating material when we're talking publishing rate. 20% of the work I've submitted - short stories, novellas, and flash fiction - have been accepted for publishing to wherever I submitted them. That's counting each submission as a separate entity, not each story. This may be a temporary percent, but I'll gloat while it lasts. It's worth noting that most of my work that has been accepted has been twitter fiction. Check out my sidebar to see what has been or will be published.

Little Bit Here, Little Bit There

A personal note: My son Corwin was born July 9th!
So then how am I posting to say any thing about writing? Well, sometimes he just wants to be held, and sometimes that is when I can write. Flash fiction, of course. If you want to ask me more about how I'm accomplishing this, email me at mr.mulington.the.3rd (at) gmail (dot) com

New acceptance: Nanoism will publish a twitter fiction of mine November 2nd.

I wrote a few nonfiction articles to try my hand at it, but ultimately I still love fiction the best.
eHow articles: http://www.ehow.com/members/mristuccia.html

I've been catching up on podcast fiction (EscapePod, Podcastle, and Murder at Avedon Hill) and ran across yet another story by Ian Creasey that I love at EscapePod. I emailed him and he responded. Pretty cool, that.

One thing that has had to wait though is podcasting. Oh well!

Outlines are Fun

Before I get to babbling about outlines, let me direct you to some light-hearted flash fiction I've been writing on ficly. These pieces are prayers from Caveman Bob (or his family + associates) to God, and you can find related prayers written by me and by other people by clicking around on either the "prequels" or the "sequels" at the bottom of the piece. They are fun to write, so I command you to have fun reading them!

It's been that, and it's been outlines and notes for story ideas. In some ways, writing outlines makes me itch to actually begin the stories, but I'm a bit leery about that because of the upcoming interruption (having the baby). I'd rather write a good outline now and start a story fresh later than start the story and have 2,000 words that I never pick up again.

Besides, I've had periods like this before, where my brain just decides to switch gears for me from writing to conceptualizing. It tends to happen after I've finished (or abandoned) a large project. This is partly because, for me, outlining and writing are separate things. I'm not saying I won't start writing a story just because I don't have an outline (which, by the way, doesn't have to be written down to count). But for the majority of my stories I like to have enough planned that I feel like I know where the story is going. I like to feel as if I'm approaching an end that I will be able to come up with, or further define, or just plain fix, later. I know a lot of writers do the exact opposite, but for me, the initial conceptualizing of the work is exactly when I "go with the flow" and it's almost like actually trying to write it down at that point would be an interruption to the creative process.

Another reason is simply because I've been sick. There's something about being sick that makes me appreciate being better and makes me want to do stuff, and this time, that's creating and outlining. Whatever, I'll take it!

The two stories, are, briefly:
Clear Omens - A fantasy story where the characters are concerned with the mysterious birth of non-mages in a world where every one is a mage. The context of this story is heavily religious and even some of the events are patterned after Judeo-Christian beliefs. So, my beliefs, but I still wonder if some people will be needlessly offended. Probably. I mean, people are offended by Narnia somehow.
Shards - Also fantasy, but this one doesn't come with a plot yet. World building has been fun, though! The setup is also partly religious but, since I made the Narnia comparison, in more of a LOTR style where it simply explains how some things came to be. It involves a gift from God shattering and its pieces falling all over the world, where they create magic that humans can use. Yay, magic!