Well I can finally cross this off my list. I figured since I did it, I'd share it:

"Inheritance"

Peter returns to Harlan County for his mother's funeral and his inheritance consists of an old steamer trunk, a keepsake brought back from his father's second tour in Vietnam and the Purple Heart that came with it. He discovers that the secret of the trunk, which he shared with his mother, is only a sliver of the story. His father's suicide had been a lie, designed to hide the fact that his p'ai (minor soul) lives inside the shell of his body, sleeping in an abandoned mine. Upon her death, Peter's father awakens, emphatic that he will make his wife a creature like himself but Peter has other plans for his inheritance.

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I'm done doing feedback at TC for the foreseeable future. I spend too much time doing it (and no one else does). Then I get shit from the writers for not praising their junk. God forbid I'd do exactly what our site was made for: constructive critique.

I have my own stuff to do so screw 'em.

ETA: A quote of the day for July 9:

W. Somerset Maugham

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The journal that published "Nine" is ceasing publication. Ah, the fickle world of publishing.

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I have to admit that I know sometimes I'm shooting for the top and that the top is, well, most likely out of reach. But aiming for a certain goal (or over it) costs me nothing so I go for it.

You might remember that I queried an agent at a certain agency and that he fell off the face of the earth. Then the namesake of the agency got back to me personally. I hadn't heard from her but someone with that level of agentitude, I didn't want to push & pester. She was kind enough to ask for the first 100 pages so I was beyond myself with glee at that.

That said, she finally got back to me today with good and bad news:

Thanks so much for giving me a chance at this – and my apologies for taking so long to get back to you.  You’re right, there is a Tawni O’Dell quality to your writing and to this story – which means that I’m very impressed by the way you set down sentences.  But it also means that in many ways this story feels too familiar to me.  I know you’re going to get a wonderful agent, but I’m afraid I’m going to pass.

So just when I was beginning to think maybe I should give up on RFM and that I might have better luck querying WS, I got some wonderful encouragement, the first really encouraging thing I've had on the piece for a long time. I'm not surprised she'd pass (I think I might have melted into a puddle of goo if she'd said, "Send me a whole") and I thought it was very nice for her to write a personal note instead of a general rejection or something that's like what agents say in lieu of "no thanks" (like "this piece isn't right for me").

I have some more queries out and I wrote a couple of sentences on Nine this afternoon. I really need to reread it b/c I'm blanking out on what's happened in it. Then I can do some new work provided the kids stop dragging chairs around the kitchen in order to get snacks out of cabinets or play "tower."

That's the state of things. Plus the kids are playing semi-quietly in Zoe's room and Hawk is supposed to bring us dinner from McD's. Things are pretty good.

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"Nine" is up at Northpoint. Here's the permalink.

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From "A Brief History of Jeans:"

Jeans remained the workwear of the rough and tumble West well into the mid-20th century. They started to trickle out to the general public in the 1930s, as Hollywood Westerns started sweeping across movie screens, introducing audiences to macho types sporting jeans as they lassoed cattle, slung guns, and engaged in other cowboyish activities.

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Thought it was time for an update on queries. Dream Agent #2 passed. Oh well. I have to stop calling people "Dream Agents." I did some more research last night and found another agency that feels like a perfect fit. I made a list of "try" agents, ones I'll possibly send something to after I check out their sites & authors. I sent two new queries last night as well. This means I have three out, one with 100 requested pages and two plain old queries.

DA#2 said in part, "However, I'm afraid that your story just doesn't resonate with me. I'm going to pass. However, I'm sure there are other agents out there for whom this would be a better fit." Then in her blog she wrote this, "However, while I often share agent Nathan Bransford's dismay at the state of dreadful query letters I've been receiving, I do want to thank those of you who not only put real thought into writing your queries and pitches, but actually made a genuine effort to research my submission guidelines and personalize your query letters a little, too. Maybe you think I don't notice. I do. Even if you received a rejection from me, I did notice all the effort that went into your query. And ultimately that effort is what will help you finally land the right agent for your project."

Well, I did that. So I'll assume that I'm among that group.

I also have a couple of subs out right now. I sent "Curve" to an online journal (it's also out at a print journal with a long turnaround rep) and excerpts from RFM and Nine are out to a themed issues of different journals. I have a flash piece out too but it's a place so big that they usually don't send accept/rejects; they just publish and you can assume it's a reject if you're not there. Meh. But hey, free to enter w/ a prize so why not?

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There's a knitting magazine I like that has a blog (updated daily, usually with a pattern or tip). Last month they had a contest: use their magnetic poetry kit to create a poem. Second place was a subscription to the magazine, which I aimed for. I didn't take it seriously as a submission since, hey, it's magnetic poetry. But I did spend time on it.

They suggested taking a photo of your magnetic poem but since purchase of the kit wasn't required, it was necessary (and when I look at the rules now, it no longer says optional; when I submitted and triple-checked to make sure, it was). I submitted my "poem" and said that if an image was needed, I would create one but since it was optional and I don't own the kit, I only included text.

Yesterday they announced the winners. I am not among them. All three winners had an image. Hrm. And one of the prizes was for the "best presentation." That tells me where the focus of the contest was: visual. And doesn't that put the visually impaired at a disadvantage (not that I am but I think of these things)? So anyway, my heart was not broken but I can't help feeling a little gypped on the "image optional" part. I think it was actually "image not required but if you want to win, we want a pretty picture to post when announcing the winners."

This was my "poem:"

I want pleasure,
soft edges, color

He felt you must stitch, weave, hook, knit
count, swell, spin,

play the fringe friend for me.
Get rhythm.

Trying is easy;
to do, luscious

Theryn said it was probably too risque for the knitting magazine. Hey, it's their kit. I was just pleased to find a selection of verbs and to be able to create some semblance of structure. Silly me for concentrating on the poem instead of finding a way to take an attractive picture of it. That'll learn me to submit to non-writing writing contests.

I think I'll go write some calendar prompts. I thought May's were done and when I checked the calendar yesterday, they weren't. I already sent out a sub today and researched some markets. Mentally composing a 150 words story about sand dunes for a contest. I think my writing -centric quota for the day is finished.

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