Interesting Numbers

Besides the 38 inches of snow that fell here between Friday and Saturday; as well as the 5 foot snow drifts etc.; I came across some interesting numbers that have been trending for the last six months. Many of you who feel the need to practice this torture called writing and submissions are aware of the website DUOTROPE. It is a writers' website where we hopefuls can search and find the next crushing rejection. Free until the beginning of 2013 the site does publish a monthly state of the state of publishing. In the last 30 days 177 markets have re-opened! Hooray!!! BUT 166 others have temporarily closed and an additional 114 are offically dead leaving a net loss of 103. On this day before the night that THE WALKING DEAD return, and I don't mean the state of music to be celebrated via the Grammys (Go MEGADETH), the downward trend of markets has been steady. As writers we need to plug away and utilize every potential media we can. Like the dead who walk that we write about, we are not quite finished yet.

Mr. Friedenhandler may not be dead (again) yet.....

Heard from Scarlett River Press and there may be some hope for the Anthology "Mortician's Tales". Keep your fingers crossed.

I Will Take It......DUST

My story DUST is a runner up in the Surreal Grotesque's latest contest whereupon the editor tosses you a prompt and you write an under 1,000 word flash fiction tale. Hooray!! My prompt was young girls find a OUIJA Board and an old diary and let the horror begin....

So We Went It Alone and I forgot my pants.....

Peaked vs. peeked vs. piqued----how they Heck do I know I'm a writer not a grammerticition or a dictionarian. Are those real words? No but what the Heck. Language is a wonderful thing and as writers we try to stretch meanings and images. We try to push the envelope. We try to invent words. We try because we write and we write because we are afraid of our own mortality; and being the narcissists we are, we think our words and thoughts will live on forever. Yeah, that and being an immediate attention whore helps. Anyway, sometimes we get bull headed and do not think with our right head; we get all caught up in being masters of language when we should just use a bloody dictionary. I used the wrong term in a column. My wife, today, was the only person to point it out to me. It is a good thing she is around to ground me now and then.

"A Light To Starve By" Reviewed on Lurid-lit.com NOW!!

A different and marvelous post apocalyptic view. It is more than the vampires that have swallowed mankind. This is a marvelous story that rises above the rest. Check out the review on Lurid-lit.com now.

Our Writing Course Will Start Shortly

Confirmed today that my Creative Writing Course is a go. My class size is small, only 5 people, but I think with this number, my students will be better able to discuss their projects and review the projects of others. I also believe greater attention can be given to them individually as well. I look forward to this challenge which I believe is an invitation to bring others into the fold of our writing community. More to follow....

"The Perfect Home" Published Tonight In Surreal Grotesque 9

After the Super Bowl take a look at Surreal Grotesque 9. In this issue published tonight you will find my short story "The Perfect Home" just in time for Valentines Day.