These last two months have felt particularly long, lasting eons beyond their prescribed schedule on the calendar. Mostly, this has come from some unexpected financial dilemmas:
– Dropping my phone, which is required for work, and needing to replace it.
– Getting rid of O’Malley’s tapeworms.
– Replacing the breaks on my car (Potentially I need to replace other things, too. Thanks pothole).
– Needing to update my driver’s licence.
– My first speeding ticket in fifteen years because I just really had to pee. (Thanks coffee.)
There was also my back getting thrown out and not able to take off of work because I needed to pay for all the above things…
Do you believe me when I say that it wasn’t a bad six weeks? It truly wasn’t. It was just a lot all at once and time dragged because everything balances between paychecks. Each two week cycle felt like decades. The good news is that I’ve paid for *some* of my car repairs and I’ve managed to get everything else on a payment plan.
One could argue that Sisyphus enjoyed his work…
Which you know, good for him, but he never had to pay rent. So.
But in all seriousness, it hasn’t been a bad time. Just a keep your head down and work time.
Which, brings me to the next order of business. The gooder-than-good news! There has been a LOT going on in the wild world of writing.(Which is why I barely managed to only read three books this month. The other reason is that one of those books was ACOSF.)
In order:
-My short story, SNAGGING BLANKET, was officially published on the last day of Feb with Fractured Lit.
-My novella, THE NIGHT BEGINS, was submitted for the Shirley Jackson Awards.
-Joined a group of ’23 Debut Authors to put together a few panels for Printer’s Row for an event in Chicago. (We’re still waiting to see if our pitch is approved.)
-Signed a contract for my short, A PACK OF YELLOW EYES, with NewMyths and it will be published next year.
-Won a flash memoir contest with my short story, GOOD HAIR, which will be published in May.
-Had an interview with The Arbitrary Editor, which will also drop in early summer.
-Invited to hold a Folk Horror workshop (on 22 June 24) for Darkness in the Fields.
-Signed on to be a featured author for The Scribbler Subscription Box.
-Signed on for a Christmas themed romance to ghostwrite.
-Invited to submit a flash fiction to the UnCensored Ink Anthology
-AND SIGNED A CONTRACT FOR A HOME IN TISHOMINGO!!! (which will come out of Wild Ink Publishing in 2026)
I’m especially thrilled that TISHOMINGO found a home at last. This, I feel, has been my best novel written so far. For some of these projects, I won’t see a paycheck until 2025 and that makes current me with a sick car a little anxious, but future Abby? She’s already planning the cheese plate she’s going to buy with her victory money. In full transparency, I’ve also received five rejections for a submitted total of eight short stories. (One of them being A PACK OF YELLOW EYES).
Those rejected stories aren’t my only failures. These past weeks I’ve been neglectful in both aikido and learning how to play the guitar. For the guitar, I’m not sure if I like the class. I like the teachers, but the setup is odd and hard to focus. So, I’ve been lackluster and feel like a fraud. I’m not even sure where to fit in practice. (I know where but the art of developing a new routine is not strong in me.) For aikido? I have no excuse but for just wanting to put things in the fuckit bucket. How do I fit in the extracurricular activities that are good for my personal growth when I’m required to fit my writing job in between my dog walking job? Never mind when the dishes will be clean and the laundry moved from my bedroom floor to the hangers in my closet. Sometimes we want to do it all and just don’t know how, but I’m okay with that, as long as I keep trying.
The last order of business, which really should be a post on its own, and the most important thing that happened to me:
I found a puppy and took him home. Through a series of events, he is officially a member of the family. His name is Coco and he’ll turn four in the middle of April.
Needless to say I have my hands full but things are on the upward turn. In a few weeks, I’ll be setting my bolder aside and taking a break on the mountaintop before the damn thing rolls down hill and I have to start submitting work and paying for bills again. So. Until next time, happy reading!
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