I have an offer from Nature to buy "Fine-tuning the Universe," and a contract in hand, and that means... my third pro sale.

Well, at least the gaps between them are getting shorter...

When I started thinking about this endeavor, back in my twenties, sometime around 2002, SFWA eligibility seemed impossible and yet so simple. Surely, getting the first pro acceptance must be hard. But equally sure, getting the second and third must be easy. Momentum, eh? It's a thing. Or so I hear.

Or, not so much.

Back when I threw my shoulder into novels and gave up on short stories--last June, so about a year ago--I had pretty much figured that I was going to have to sell a novel to become eligible to join SFWA. Any short stories I've written since then, I've written for funsies. (Granted, submitting them isn't so much fun, but I have a near-Pavlovian response to typing "The End" anymore. I start salivating in order to lick the envelope.) And in writing for funsies, I have the highest acceptance rate of my career.

Anyway, it's not like I thought (much past the first few months, anyway) that SFWA was the end-all, be-all of this shindig. It was just... that's how you knew you were There.

Interestingly, I'd pretty much decided earlier this year, for good or for ill, that I was as Here as I'm going to get. I decided I couldn't really call myself a Neopro anymore, if only because of the passage of time, and not so much due to credentials. But a funny thing happened on the way to accepting that I might never be more than a name one occasionally saw in the table of contents (I had even painted myself into the scenario where I was That Convention Panelist who talks about writing Scads o' Things You've Never Heard Of): I kept writing.

I think I mentioned pretty recently how much patience figures into this writing career thing... like how long it was between first draft and publication for one particular story (five years). That, I would call specific patience, and is not applicable to the story of this story. (I finished "Fine-tuning the Universe" in mid-April. I sent it out. It is now accepted, twenty-four days later. This is no Scalzian thirteen minutes, but at least I don't have whiplash.) But general patience is also very important.

My general patience is what allowed me to stop firing so many blanks with my short stories. I realized that being in it for the long haul meant that I could continue to be Nobody in Particular at conventions (as long as I kept writing), that I could write novels and not worry about the gratification short stories provide--yes, even rejections provide a kind of gratification--(as long as I kept writing), that I could accept that my career seems to have a long fuse that may very well never ignite anything (as long as I kept writing).

Anyway, lessons learned: it doesn't come fast to most of us. It always looks like it's happening faster for other people. And momentum is a tricky thing.

1) Heading to Penguicon. Erm. Tomorrow, though. Early as I can roust splash_the_cat from her warm bed. I am not on panels, but I intend to meet Mary Robinette in person, and hand $5 to E Bear. All other bets are off as to what may happen.

1a) Resolution: I will not spend more than $10 in the dealer's room, and only if they have something I really need.

2) Tomorrow is my husband's birthday, which is why I'm not heading to Penguicon tonight. We are celebrating tonight. With massive quantities of Mongolian barbecue and Carvel.

3) the_flea_king just emailed to say Escape Pod would like to buy "An Almanac for the Alien Invaders." I'm very pleased! Contracts a-coming...

Quantum Kiss has bravely bought my excessively long story "The Wedding Dress Tea Parties of 2443," which is:

• the story I worked on while I was at Milford in Wales and having a most wonderful time
  
• the first (and so far only) story title I plucked from my spam filter
  
• more or less a Regency romance in space, plus a little screwball comedy, plus a little science fiction of manners
  
• loooooong

So! Uhm. Sale! *eyes inventory* That's getting a leeetle low, you know?

---

And I just happened to notice that Tangent Online has been offline for a year today. *tear*

---

And okay, my ConClave 33 schedule. Read it and weep! For me! Preferably, weep tears of Red Bull.

Friday:

Fri 6:00 PM Br 7 Michelle Sagara, Merrie Haskell, Jim Hines
Things I Wish Some Pro had told me when I was starting out: No-nonsense professional advice on how to build your career as a professional writer, what to do after you have sold your first story or novel, details on contracts, editors, etc.

Fri 7:00 PM Br 7 Michelle Sagara, Merrie Haskell
Why write under a pseudonym? What are the advantages and disadvantages of using a pseudonym?


Saturday:

Sat 10:00 AM Atlantis M. Keaton, Merrie Haskell, Dave Klecha, Jim Hines, Steve Buchheit, Ferrel "Rick" Moore
Writer's Workshop: Open Writer Q&A

Sat 11:00 AM Br 7 Tiffany Aaron, Steven Climer, Michelle Sagara, Merrie Haskell
Creating Settings: How are they created? How can they be used to fill out the background of the story giving texture and detail without overwhelming the plot? The writers will talk about where the settings came from and how they were developed. At the end of the discussion the audience can choose a picture, list words describing a setting based on it and write a paragraph putting the words together and voila: a setting is created.

Sat 12:00 PM Atlantis Merrie Haskell, Wanda DeAngelo, M. Keaton
Who are the Aliens? We will take a detailed look at aliens of SF/F. Are they simply a modified extension of our own cultures and species? Does exploring aliens help us understand ourselves? Would we understand a truly alien species and culture?


Sat 1:00 PM Br 6 Steven Climer, Merrie Haskell, Wanda DeAngelo
Research is an Art: How is research done? What is the best way to research? How much is too much? How much is to little?


Sat 4:00 PM Br 8 Tiffany Aaron, Merrie Haskell, Daniel J. Hogan, Steve Buchheit
Gee, I wish I thought of that. Where do writers get their ideas?


Sat 5:00 PM Apollo Merrie Haskel, Christie Halle Devlin, Dave Klecha

Christianity in SF&F: How has Christianity influenced and been used(and misused) in science fiction and fantasy? Where did the Lords of Kobol, Klaatu, exorcists, and anime nuns come from?

Sat 7:00 PM Atlantis Merrie Haskell, Daniel J. Hogan, Michael LaFlamme, Michael Poe, Jim Hines, Lucy Synder
Humor in Science Fiction and Fantasy: Where has the laughter gone? Isn't laughter as important as technical wonders in Science Fiction?

Sunday
Sun 2:00 PM Br 7 Michelle Sagara, Tracy Chowdhury, Merrie Haskell
From Idea to Story: How do I take my great idea and write a great story. In this panel we will discuss the process from your mental idea to the written form. What are the techniques you need to use to make your idea come to life and flesh.

On Thursday, I bounced around in my chair at the Brown Jug and explained to splash_the_cat how excited I am by the polarized reactions Reparations has been getting. People are angry! People are enthused! Accusations of white liberal guilt are being bandied about! And the questions of paradox--!

Being a writer, for me, is a bit like being a neglected child. ANY attention is GOOD attention.

Plus, I'm really good at paying attention to the comments that are complimentary, and ignoring the ones that aren't.

And then, my story went reallytruly live at Coyote Wild. Check out The Girl-Prince. (Or not. I mean, obviously, based on previous, even if you don't read and then come tell me you hate it, I'll like what you say.) sartorias and her crew did a fantastic job picking stories. Some rich financier needs to hire sartorias as editor of a YA spec fic magazine and then let me buy a subscription. Anyway, lots of nice comments from folks. It's as good as writing fic.

And then, Surreal Botany got reviewed at io9, and that was extremely cool. (Even cooler is when I realize patrons at my library are buying it, and they don't even know their local ILL circulation supervisor and shipping manager is involved.)

And then, Dunesteef Audio Fiction purchased (or rather, is in the process of purchasing, but I anticipate seeing the contract soon) "Rampion in the Belltower" for podcasting reprinty goodness. Which makes 3 podcast reprints this year. Fan-awesome-tastic!

Not a bad week.

I was trying to be professional and not post anything until I had a signed contract in hand, because that seems to be the way it's supposed to be done, or at least I've recently made that up so that I could have something else to worry about, but on the other hand, I realized that there are modifiers in the English language one could use to delineate such a situation.

In other words, sartorias, aka Sherwood Smith, informed me that she and her teen reader panel loved "The Girl-Prince" and wanted to buy it for the Coyote Wild YA issue and that contracts and suchlike things would be forthcoming.

*flails*

I don't honestly know what's cooler:

1) I started writing a new story for said issue, and totally failed, and sent them "GP" at the last minute, not entirely sure it was YA enough.
2) sartorias loving the story.
3) teen reading panel of actual teens loving the story.

---

Also there's this old writing entry, reposted here from June 2007, which is when I was struggling with the rewrite of "The Girl-Prince":

Maureen at work (harpist, possessor of long red-blonde hair that belongs in a Celtic tale, and otherwise cool chick) pointed out a site that lets you play with images from the Bayeux tapestry and make a story.

Since I'd been rewriting "The Girl-Prince" and sort of failing at the beginning, I thought, "Hey, let's see what happens in Picture Book Mode." Beginnings are my particular demon. They get considerably less demonic in Picture Book Mode, I am happy to report.

Now, I share with you. It's not precisely the wording I'll use, but it's close.

Beyond helping me turn a page-long beginning into a paragraph, I now have a lovely teaser for "The Girl-Prince." Not that one needs teasers for short stories, but I have one, and it's cool.

I hope it's clear in the last picture that the thing that's not a woman is a rocket. I used the image of a cooker and a castle and stacked them. I was sufficiently convinced that it could stand in for a spaceship. I hope you are, too.

---

In completely other news, I got a not-rejection from Quantum Kiss that made me laugh, which was basically, "We are not rejecting you, we just don't know what to do with what you sent us." So, they may yet reject me, but in the meantime, they're going to think about it some more. I had to laugh: I feel exactly the same way about that story, from a selling-it standpoint. The only part about that story that was easy was the writing of it.

• writer group met tonight
  
  • "The Spring at Spellwinter Inn" is sooooooooo a novel. Which I knew. Dammit.
    
  • I managed to remember to eat dinner beforehand.
    
    • This did not stop me from gorging on s'mores and capers. Consecutively, not together.
    
    
  • I'm deeply pleased by the stuff I get to read in said writer group, nine times out of ten.
    
  
  
• I'm a little dizzy
  
  • I think I still have an ear infection, maybe?
    
    • I hear crackling when I bend over, see.
      
    • And today my eustachian tubes itched.
    
    
  • I'd be discommoded if the dizziness were from something else.
    
  
  
• I've been listening to the Writing Excuses podcast
  
  • two very enthusiastic thumbs up; I've heard five--six?--eps.
    
  • The one I listened to tonight had some excellent advice about pacing. I believe the episode was--Pacing, Episode 10.
    • It illuminated some things I've noticed recently in my own work.
    • How come it takes so freaking long to relearn everything consciously as a competent professional?
      • Did I ever actually know anything instinctively as a baby writer, anyway, or did I just think I did?
      • Does anyone else miss the arrogance of youth and the "talent" phase of the game?
    • I wish I could remember the specific thing well enough to regurgitate it for you, but it's probably a good thing I don't remember it consciously right this second. Hopefully it will come up when I work, though.
    
    
  • They are big on "Butt in chair, hands on keyboard" as a solution for most types of writing malaise/problem. I concur.
  
  
• Writing podcasts are great because I'm definitely one of those people who needs to intake information several ways before I can fully get it. Reading it and hearing it and then figuring it out for myself is the best way for me to learn something.
  
• Also, Jordan Castillo-Price's Packing Heat: Erotica Writing Tips and Tricks is a damn-fine-writing-podcast.
  
  • don't let the erotica angle put you off, there are lots of great writing tips in there...
    
    • however, I no longer listen to this on the way to work, since a co-worker picked up my iPod the other day and started fiddling with it in front of my boss and it was extremely helpful for my embarrassment factor that he couldn't actually figure out how to turn off the hold switch and bring up the title of the podcast
    
    
  • JCP has a heavy-duty Wisconsin accent, which, when combined with certain blunt terms heavily used in erotica, makes it a bit... surreal. But she are pretty darn smart.
    
  
  
• I'm tired. Good night.

Edited to Add
PS. Looks like Les Bonnes Fees is buying "Rampion in the Belltower" for their first issue. YAY! It looks like Rapunzel will be the theme of the issue, to which I must say... how timely for me to make my sub. :) That's luck on the timing. No question.

So, after my onward post last night, I woke up this morning to an email that the Russian sci-fi mag, ESLI, wants to translate and reprint "Almanac."

Uhm, I didn't contact them first.

How do I count that?? Not a submission! But a sale!

Okay, there's now an email from Rachel Swirsky with "acceptance" in the subject line, so even though there's no contract yet, I'm tallying this one in the wins category.

Podcastle is gonna do "Dead Languages"!

I've had to stop myself (I think I stopped myself, anyway) from unprofessionally squeeing over how much I love having my work read aloud/podcasted during my communications with rachel_swirsky, but it's true.

The writing of a story is probably my favorite part, particularly the moment of optimism when you start a story, but also that moment of triumph when you finish it, and sure, I enjoy acceptances as much as anyone (everyone?), but seriously, nothing feels as complete as getting podcast-reprint thingie done.

Maybe that's because I've been an audiobook listener since childhood, and the book-on-tape was always the last thing to come out, so it feels like the Final Phase as a consumer so it seems completionist...ic? for me too as a writer. Or maybe I just like having stuff performed--long before I was published in even the high school lit mag, I was writing monologues for the children's theatre group I was involved with.

---

And I don't even remember what the other huzzah was, because I just read pnkrokhockeymom's con recap and was laughing too hard to remember what other awesome stuff is going on, so I'll just randomly reel off some cool things.

• K. got all A's last report card
  
• uhm... I have all of Kate Elliott's Crown of Stars series, so I can finally read them!
  
• I kicked ass at pyramid position in yoga tonight
  
• ah... uhm... seriously, what was the other thing I was so damned excited about? This is ridiculous.
  
• oh, well. Sale!

---

Edited to add:

OMG. I remembered what the other huzzah was*. Tonight's HIMYM. Tonight's HIMYM. TONIGHT'S HIMYM. I had to switch icons just to express my feelings.

---

* After splash_the_cat emailed me. Subject: Did you see HYMIM tonight? Body: If not, you REALLY REALLY SHOULD RIGHT NOW.

---

Double edited to add
This icon works strangely well with writing acceptances, too.