Shiny New Toys

     We've all had the excitement and natural high that a shiny new toy can bring. A new book, your first car...dare I say first love?  Oh, yeah, and of course those random things that you get at Christmas under the tree.  Today, I got one of the best shiny new toys ever.  I got an email from Fissure Magazine saying that my story was going to be in their special Steampunk edition!  YAAAAAYYYYYY!!!!! <insert crowd going wild here>  I can now say, officially, I am a published writer.  Did I mention the YAY factor?  So! As of mid-November, there will be people I've never met actually reading something I wrote.  Essentially, I just got a massive silver-leaf wrapped present with a shiny coppery ribbon with curly ends handed to me on a red velvet pillow.

     So what's next?  Well, I have a few more short stories I'm working on that I'll be sending out and about as soon as they're done and polished, and I'll keep this blog updated on that.  The Big Thing, however, that I'm going to be concentrating on in the immediate future (other than some more happy dancing over being published!) is NaNoWriMo.

     That's right! I have completely taken leave of my senses Once Again, and will be dedicating the entire month of November to figuratively opening my veins over white paper and praying for a decent story to emerge from the resulting blots.  I intend to write 50,000 words (or more) in 30 days.  Will they be amazing? Will they be fabulous? At this point, I'm mostly hoping for slight articulation and minimal coherency. But it will be a beginning!  I have an idea, I have some characters, I have a vague map in my head and a sort of kind of a plot, and that is going to be pretty much my every thought this upcoming month.  

     So, good-bye reason and sense and normality (such as I know it), and hello silken shackles and chains to my keyboard and notebook. Wish me luck!  

For a sneak peak at the cover of Fissure Magazine's Steampunk edition, go here: http://www.shadowarcherpress.com/fissuremagazine.htm