Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

For 18 months I submitted at least one short story to at least one publication. And then, in July, something broke.

Don’t know what, but it broke good. Short stories weren’t working. I was sick of all my work, especially the short cutesy work. I plowed back into my novel, but I’d been doing novel work off and on during the previous 18 months, so I’m not sure why my ability to do two things at once ceased to function. Thankfully I didn’t try to walk and chew gum at the same time.

But October has changed things. I’m back on the horse, so to speak. Two stories out now, and two of my strongest to date.

At any rate, fingers crossed. If these two fail, there’s always attempt number 41. And we all know what number comes after that.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

Things are looking up over here.

I have some family additions on the way, and they appear happy and healthy.

I sold a non-fiction piece, which in the grand pantheon of writerly achievement may be small, but for me looms quite large.

I have a professional change coming up that I’m hugely excited about, and I think will shine some happiness into all corners of my life.

Just thought I would acknowledge all of the above. You never know when everything will go to crap, and I want to have this moment to savor.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

I think so.

No I have not sold a story. Different life area entirely. But still exciting.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

I have a spreadsheet I use to track the status of all my submissions. To date it’s been easy to fill out the columns, because they’re always the same columns. Date Submitted, Story/Piece Title, Submitted to, Response. And Response is always the same.

Until this last week. Response=Accept. Wohoo!

And I got to fill out a new column–Money.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

Well everyone else does it (said with whine…)

* Revise The Final Tasting
* Revise Faster
* Finish 1st draft of Nine Tenths
* At long last go back to the bazillionth draft of Moneymaker.

Really it’s the last one I’m dying to do. After not touching Moneymaker for almost a year I’m ready to start fixing it. I think I’ve absorbed what I wanted from VP, in relation to this story. Rejected some bits too. Got a strong enough vision to maybe make it worth something, send out a few queries. Still–going to make myself finish all the other work first.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

A third iPhone? Really?

I am a bit of a Mac tool, and I’ve completely eradicated Windows from my house. I’m still proud of that, and I miss it not at all. I’ve had markedly fewer crashes on my last two Mac laptops than any PC that preceded them.

But.

But my iPhone, which I love to use, goes belly-up entirely too often. I owned a 3G less than a month before it tanked. I took it to the unfortunately named Genius Bar and it was kindly replaced, so I thought little of it. But now, four months later, I’ve had to replace it again, and this time not for free. I’m not playing handball with the thing–for crying out loud my last pre-iPhone phone went through the wash and still worked. What gives?

I’m not defecting, not yet. When it works, the iPhone apps and flexibility and near-perfect user interface are still for me. But I’m watching the market (yes, this means you Android). Might be I’ll have to give up one kind of snobbery and replace it with another. Steve Jobs may not have a death grip on me after all.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

Man, it’s nearly been a year.

Nearly a year since VPXII. Now a whole new crop of aspiring writers are getting all excited about going to VPXII…I. I am now an oldster. Those guys from the last class–won’t they shut up already? How quickly it all happened.

I wish I had stories of novels published and accolades won. I don’t, not yet. I’m not on the verge of selling (or even completing) my latest novel, and my short stories are quite likely stuck in a rut.

Still.

VP taught me a lot, even if I never publish word one. And I met people I’d have never otherwise met, and I keep in touch with a great many of them. Bittersweet though it may be, it’s still a great memory, and something I can look forward to thinking about at least once a year, as a whole new class gets ready to share in the fun.

Best of luck next month, all of you VPXIII’ers.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

* The dogs are howling something fierce. Not my dogs, as I have a cat. Good god–what if the cat is howling?
* My family dynamic may be changing. Read into that what you will. Some of you know what I’m talking about (Internets, I’m looking at you).
* I achieved my 35th story rejection since I’ve been tracking such things. Picked up two acceptances along the way, although nothing paying. Only one story is currently about and about, which is unusual for me. What does it mean? It means my spreadsheet can count to 37 (35, not counting the acceptances).
* If I was to say “not counting the mezzanine”, would anyone get it?
* Should I apply to Clarion next year? I’m thinking I have no business applying, as the realities of acceptance are unavoidable. Six weeks, away from wife and child? I don’t think I’ve banked enough husband points for that. Besides, maybe I’m beyond teaching.
* What type of glass do you use for $6 wine? Plastic? One of those hats with cups built into the side? I’d hate to be gauche.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

In the interest of random blog content, here’s a few books I’ve finished reading in the last month:

The bloody, and the crazy. Really–why not?

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

My son is creative. Daddy helped a bit, but mostly my boy’s work. Watch as genres collide!

Fight and regain your honor, brave pirate…er…knight. Whichever.

For Gwen Stacy!

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

Exactly the kind of blog header likely to keep me from ever obtaining another job.

I find something lacking in my career of late, and that is…fun. True–work is called work for a reason. Everyone has days where there is more labor than anything else, more getting through the day than living the day. But I maintain that shouldn’t be the dominant state of affairs. You should enjoy what you do for a living–it should excite you. On many days you should want to do what you’re doing. You should leave family and loved ones to actually read or study or exercise the talent that aligns with what you do for a living,whatever that may be. I’m struggling to find that lately. It happens once in a blue moon, but truly, how often do you see a blue moon?

Fingers crossed that I get it all figured out, and the whole situation isn’t some male approaching 40’s nonsense that I’ll look back on and laugh in ten years. Even if it is, I need something to get me through.

As this blog is titled, maybe it will all work out in the end.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

I bowled over 250 without getting up from the couch.

Sure, it was only on the Wii. But my helpless competitors stood and flailed, swung wildly and rattled off strike after strike in vain. I triumphed in a way no less magnificent that if I had vanquished my foes on the lanes of a PBA competition (as sponsored by Denny’s).

I bowled four strikes in a row. And then I spared. And then, the final nail–I closed out with a Turkey.

What did we do before the Wii? Imagine–if you can–a world where people had to go outside and exercise.

Shudder.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

The idea entered my head a few days ago that I was out of story ideas. The concept mildly alarmed me–I’m only a third of the way into my present novel, and I still occasionally prod a work-in-progress short story with a mental stick. In short, I’m not terribly in need of a new idea.

But.

But I’m working on these pieces and some days thrashing more than writing, and I started to wonder if the well was dry. Already. Washed up before I’d begun. And then today I’m reading a news article when I stumble across a bit of history and, just like my first stillborn attempt at a novel, I fashion the premise for a historical fiction story right then and there.

I am happy and sad for me.

There is, as mentioned, a half-finished historical fiction novel already consuming bits and bytes on my computer. Someday I feel I’ll go back to it, when I’m a stronger writer. While writing that first historical fiction story I felt like a third grader trying to drive a car–it was fun, but I wasn’t ready for it. So with that challenge already in the queue, do I really need another historical fiction idea, set in the same city no less?

It’s not really a question. I’m thinking of the story and I’ve got this sad grin, because I’m looking forward to writing it one day, and knowing what a challenge it’s going to be to do it.

Writers. What is wrong with us?

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

Recent happenings:

* Winnings of near $200 in Vegas
* Roughly 500 words written this evening to bring the page total for unsold novel number two to 118 pages
* That’s nearly 32000 words
* And I netted about $30 at the horse track

A wise man once said “I don’t need help. I just need more credit.”

Subject-wise this post is all over the place. Just deal.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

Not to become the “all iPhone, all the time” blog, but am I the only one with wireless connectivity issues on their iPhone? I get signal strength issues in places where I previously had no such issues. My house, for example. Laptop fine, can roam all the same places. My iPhone, post 3.0–no such luck.

I suppose I could just set the dang thing down for a while and deal with real life. The concept is mind-blowing.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

So although I’m not buying the new iPhone, I did take the plunge on the 3.0 upgrade. Worked just dandy. Sor I’m enjoying the landscaped mail, and have suprised myself by using the voice notes (hello to recording my parking location at airports).

Is it slower? I’ve seen speculation, but at the moment I’m unsure.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

Lest the previous post confuse you, I’m all for Iranian freedom. I’m just not sure what a majority of the people on the ground are thinking.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

This may be wildly unpopular to ask, but two questions:

1: Was the recent Iranian election actually rigged, or is there just a vocal minority (I’m just asking)?
2: Is the other guy any better? I don’t know anything about him–is he likely to lift the “Great Satan” tag, or just hate us less?

Sincere questions. I am ignorant of the answers.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

I fast approach the thirty thousand word mark in my new novel. This is the danger zone, the portion of the novel-writing process where it is “oh so easy” to consider the whole enterprise a piece of shiite and toss it over in favor of television or video game zombie-blasting or that bottle of Smirnoff you’ve been saving for a rainy day (cheapskate–I mean Smirrnoff, really?). This is the make or break point for novel writers. Passing it guarantees nothing, but cutting and running at this point can become a crutch, and it’s easier to bail the more times you hit thirty and go “eh, the next one will be better”. While working on the last novel I made myself power through, and I intend to do the same this time.

First step on that road? Cease the blogging wankery.

Later, Internets. I’m off to write another ten thousand, and then some.

Originally published at Jeff Macfee. You can comment here or there.

Recently I’ve been considering just what I want this blog to be, and whether I want the focus to remain on my writing, or whether I’ll leak in other bits of my life, such as my career in IT. My VP friend Anthony Ha triggered my ruminations via a Tweet and linkage to this article at The Rumpus. Is it enough to blog about my writing, when I spend the bulk of my time performing a vastly different function?

This post is somewhat of a setup, as I’ve already made the decision on the writing/work balance, but it’s still an interesting question. I’m inclined to agree with the article’s premise, which is that writer’s don’t write about their respective day jobs because “it’s not where their passion lies”. I’ve been conflicted over my investment level in work for a while now, but I think I’m gaining some clarity. IT, specifically the system administration and managerial portions I have experience in, interests me. Many facets of the industry and the job–the parts that have become a commodity–no longer interest me, but I think there are still areas where “the art of IT” can be practiced. It’s just getting harder to find those gigs.

Anyway, the simple fact that I’m interested enough to blog about it means I have some shred of interest left. I can’t write about writing 24×7–even I hit a limit on navel gazing.