Publishing

My copy of "2008: Novel & Short Story Writer's Market." just arrived in the mail today. Now I have to sort through the several hundred listings to find short story markets that will accept me and pay me for my glorious work. That way when I attempt to sell the brick I mentioned in my last post I will have some publishing experience to prove my merit. Apparently being the self-proclaimed, Grandmaster of the Universe won't be enough to catch an agents eye.

Brick

This November I wrote a novel for National Novel Writing Month, or NaNoWriMo. If you're interested there's a link on the left. But I only wrote the first fifty thousand words of it. Then for the next six weeks I finished it coming in at a whopping 107,000 words. (Which for the record is not terribly long for an average book) So I ran it through spell check which took about a week, cut out the big chunks I knew didn't belong, and then spent a small fortune having it printed. The good news is that if I ever sell this novel I can write that off as an expense.

The bad news is I have a stack of papers nearly four inches high waiting to be edited. I've done the first 19 pages or so, but the whole thing is 610. My english teacher, in her infinite awesomeness has agreed to look at my novel once I edit it. I told her I would have it ready around late March, early April. In order for me to pull that off I need about 14 or 15 pages of editing done every single day. Being a writer is hard.

Irony

Today, is Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Last year for Lent I gave up the internet. Ironically, this year for Lent I am committing to more internet.

I have had this blog for a while, but I only post rarely. I've started up others blogs where I make a few posts, then forget about it. But I like the idea of having a blog. The blog culture appeals to me, and overall I think blogs are pretty neat.

So this year for Lent, I am keeping up this blog. My goal is to post at least every other day. So then by Easter I will have finally learned whether a blog really is for me. I know I will do this, because I'm doing it for Lent, but if by Easter keeping the blog is starting to seem like a chore, then I will be satisfied in saying that blogging is not for me. However if I find that I love it, I will get in the habit and I will have an active blog. So all will be well.

Morning

4 o' clock in the morning. My head is stuffed up, and my nose hurts. Except I mean that the other way 'round. See? My brain is messed up too.

I don't know if I'm sick or if allergies are just making me feel sick. I'm hoping for sick, because I really don't want to go to school today, and we're really not doing anything of extreme importance today. Just as I typed that sentence I remembered that I was supposed to perform a scene from Hamlet today. Though if I had to miss anything, that would be it. That gives me and the others in my group more time to study.

The bad news, is I am probably not sick. I know these symptoms, they are simply the symptoms of silly syphilis. No I lied, I just felt like being alliterative. Allergies and dehydration, is what I have. It sucks.

Allergies

Need I say more?

Hail

Today was a rainy, cloudy, generally depressing day. Normally this would put a real damper on my mood, but on my way home it began to hail. At this point you are probably wondering why hail is an improvement. In fact it was not. What improved my mood was the song that played on my ipod, just as it began to hail: "Take Me Out" by Frank Ferdinand. Listen to the song below. You'll see what I mean.