Life- nothing exciting

Sorry about the lack of update. Things are kind of in flux. I started a new job. Things are... weird. Don't know what else to say right now. Hopefully things will get better soon.

Life - Update

So I sent off all of the contracts and what-nots to the editor of Crossed Genres yesterday. It felt pretty good to be at the post office with something like that. I had to resist the urge to blabber on at the post person about what it was.

On another note, my writing has come easier since receiving my acceptance letter. I think I was beginning to doubt myself a bit. I know that's pretty stupid. Most authors have at least a hundred rejections on hand before they get there first acceptance, but I don't think it was so much about the rejections, you know?

I think I was suffering from a bit of what always sabotages me. I think I was just afraid of finding out. Getting the acceptance letter was more freeing then anything else. It was like, okay, that parts over. Now I can just go back to writing without the expectations. Of course I want to be published again, but now that it's happened once I know I'm doing something right.

Life- I got published!

So, I received my first acceptance letter today. My story, "The Last Collector", will appear in the July 2009 issue of Crossed Genres magazine.

http://crossedgenres.com/

I'm pretty excited, though I've calmed down quite a bit since I received the letter. I had been keeping up with the editors blog, and it sounded like he had already been in contact with all of the authors, or at least the ones who had never been published before. I convinced myself that I was just waiting for my rejection to come.

So, about 7:30 today I flipped over to my e-mail to find a response from the editor. I opened it thinking it would be my rejection.

My first thought?

"This is really long... It's like, a whole page."

Then I started reading, and thought,

"I don't get it. It sounds like they really liked my story....."

Then I got to the part where they said they would be putting it in the July issue... It took me a full five ten seconds to realize I was reading an acceptance letter. I guess they hadn't even realized I had never been published before, which is really cool.

I then proceeded to call my parents, and Sara's mom. One or both of them may still not know I will soon be a published author though. I was pretty incoherent. Funny huh? First thing that happens when someone says, "hey, you're pretty good at slinging those words together.", is that you forget how to make words function in any meaningful fashion.

So here is an excerpt from my acceptance letter. I have removed most of the publication hoo-haw for the sake of brevity.

Hello,

This is Bart Leib, co-editor of Crossed Genres magazine. Kay Holt (my co-editor) and I both greatly enjoyed your submission "The Last Collector". It's an potently somber story, and the revelation of the forgotten Dystopian disaster at the end was very effective. Your main character was very "human", so the discovery that he HAD been human was completely convincing. We also liked your art submission "Clockwork Man At the Beach" very much, and feel it complements the story well.

We’d like to include both "The Last Collector" and "Clockwork Man At the Beach" in Issue #8 of our magazine, which will be released online, in print (Print-On-Demand), and in various electronic formats (PDF, Kindle) on July 1. As specified on the website, we offer a flat $10 token payment as compensation (times 2 - $10 for the story and $10 for the art). We'll also send you a copy of the .pdf and/or .prc editions at no charge. You can also purchase up to 2 copies of the magazine in print for 25% off: if you’d like to do so let us know and we’ll make arrangements once the issue has been released.

I've attached 3 documents to this email. The first is the License Agreement for the story, and the second is the License Agreement for the artwork. Please read them over carefully (they're the same except for the name of what's being licensed), and if you have any questions or concerns please let me know.


So that's it. That's how it begins I guess. I can't tell you how lucky I feel to have only had to suffer five rejections to get to my first acceptance. I would not be here now if not for Sara. I owe her a lot for making my work better then it had any right to be at this early stage.

Jeromy

Art- Burblebee Bush

So, I was just on a design website called concept art.org, pretty cool place. Lots of interesting art and a great forum. I found it while trying to find some dynamic pose reference for my art, which I feel is getting kind of stale when I try and move from anything cartoony. Well, they had an add for the brand new version of a product I have wanted for so long. I figured I would check it out....

http://intuos.wacom.com/americas/index.php

It's freaking amazing. Not having a Wacom limits me on the computer, because no matter how much practice I put in a mouse will never feel as natural to me as a pen. I've tried the demo of Corel Paint a few times, and it never comes out looking like a real painting. I figured I would click the buy link to see whether it's something I could ask my parents for on my birthday.... Errr.. Damnity damn damn. Not even close. They are having a hard time with the economy too, so this thing is right out. I guess another time, when I get back on my feet. =(

So anyways, I think I'll post another funny creature today. His name is Burblebee Bush.

Okay, so this is freaking amazing. I am totally imagining interactive books with this technology. Could you imagine being able to just pop in on your favorite characters?

Art- NarBeaver

Okay, so I figured I would add a new creature today. This is the NarBeaver.

On the writing front, I received a rejection for my story "Death in a Stairwell" Which you can read on this blog. I got some helpful comments though, so that's good. I am also waiting for a response from Crossed Genre's on a story I have yet to post anywhere. I'll let you know as soon as I do.

On a personal front, today I had the most terrifying job interview ever. I was grilled by a panel of people I have dubbed, the nice guy, the mean bastard, and the quite one. It was for a position as a 9-11 operator.
Part of the process is to take a lie detector test, so they asked the preliminary questions for that. Great way to start off an interview huh?