The good morning, good night thread

[marc_chagall]

There's also 'Cathy's Comps and Calls' (no relation) which occasionally turns up some interesting things, and is chronological and regularly updated so easy to skim through. http://compsandcalls.com/wp/

[delboy]

Thanks Delph. That's four or five excellent links from good people here at the Cafe without having to invest in Duotrope 

[marc_chagall]

Poll's up, if you lot would care to pop down to the flash challenge and cast a vote. 

[Ed]

Another stupidly busy but unprofitable month here. I'm at the stage now where I need a holiday, but it's only been five weeks since my last one

How's everybody else doing?

[marc_chagall]

Viciously sore throat and a nasty cough here, but I've managed to write on average 1000 words a day since 1st December, so if my word count drops a for a day or two, I'm confident I'll catch up okay. It's addictive, this writing stuff. Am also subbing loads and getting a reasonable number of hits; and working flat out with Kay, my editor at Circaidy Gregory Press, to get the collaborative novel, 'The Driftwood Tree' knocked into shape for publication as soon as possible.

[delboy]

Good work, Delph! Putting the rest of us to shame - well, me at least!

I'm still caught in the trap. Long commute means I'm exhausted and have no time or energy. But I can't knock it on the head as I'm the sole bread-winner now. I'm trying to live a life as well as do work but it's taking it's toll. So not much writing happening at the mo - but tons of ideas    I have actually been spending most of my free time trying to improve my song-writing, singing, stage-craft and all that. It's part of my ten year plan to prepare myself for solo gigs when I retire (rather than being an old rock'n'roller still playing My Generation when I'm 60 !). It's going really well. Lots of really good comments about the new songs and I did a solo gig this week that went down very well - and I'm only a couple of years into the plan.  Alas, right now, I've done something and I have a blocked ear that's permanently ringing. No idea why. It's like I have a cold when I don't. Weird.

Anyway here's one of the new songs:

https://youtu.be/ZdWBY6Z-u5o

[Geoff_N]

Shame about your ear, Del. Hopefully, it will improve. My tinnitis is with me for ever, but I don't mind it because one is of a canary.

Two successes with shorts recently in The Horror Zine and in Twisted Tails IX - Wunderkind published by DDP. Details in my blog at http://geoffnelder.com/writing-success-and-not-so-much/

Not as successful a roll as Delph's - you're such an inspiration.

Right back on with writing a weird little historical fantasy based partially on Sir Francis Bacon and John Napier, along with a rope that when pulled operates a capstan that winds up the planet.

[elay2433]

Nicely done, Delph. You've really been keeping it rolling for awhile now.

I like the song, Delboy. The sound is really pretty clean for vocals and the guitar. Is that all due to just using a quality mic?

Congrats on your hits, Geoff. I haven't subbed in ages.

I did use the new year as a jumping off spot to try and get things rolling again. Took me until Jan 11th to actually get up and out to the garage early enough to start writing. But I've been out there nearly everyday since then (I've missed two Mondays - Mondays are tough). I'm not averaging as high as Delph, but I'm about halfway there, hitting around 500-600 words in about an hour on weekdays. On weekends, when I've got more time, I'm able to get nearly 2,000. I actually feel much better (despite being more tired) for some reason. It's like a nagging in my sub-conscience has been quieted. I set out to write a story for an open anthology with the theme 'Beneath the Surface'. I'd been kicking around an idea for a longer work that I've generically outlined in my head. I figured if I could write the final chapter as a stand alone story, I'd get to better know the characters, and I'd know where I was going with the longer work (if I decide to try and actually write it). The target market had a max word count of 5,000 words. I just finished my story yesterday. Came in at 17,000 words. It's probably not finished either. I need to rewrite the beginning to better reflect the way the characters took shape as it progressed. But, hell, I'm happy to actually have finished something. Even if it's something that I probably won't be able to sub.

The coolest thing has been finding a rhythm that works. Getting out there early and getting going just got easier and easier the longer I did it. I'll be back out there tomorrow morning to start editing. Hoping I can keep rolling onto the next project after I've finalized this one.

[Ed]

Well done for sticking at it, Jerry. My mind is too cluttered with work stuff and worries to get anything written at the moment. When I'm not working I'm hitting the gym or resting. I've found the exercise has helped a lot with my state of mind and my ability to handle stress, pluss I've pulled in three holes on my belt over the past few months, so I'm looking a lot more trim. It's not something I enjoy, but like you I've set myself the task of getting to the gym three times a week and stick to it religiously. I feel if I let myself off the hook even once, I'll break the habit and then be on the slippery slope, which ends with me fat and unfit like I was before. You've done a similar thing with setting yourself the task to get out to the garage early and getting going with writing. I think it helps that it's somewhere outside of the house, too. If I was exercising at home I reckon I would have already quit by now through inertia. Good luck with the editing

Geoff -- well done with the hits. Well done Delph as well. You two are making me wish I'd get on and sub a few things out.

Del -- I get tinnitus as well. It comes and goes with me. A few weeks back I was just sat minding my own business and out of the blue one ear went silent, in a good way. I hadn't realised how much it had been bugging me until it stopped, but it was like that blissful moment when bagpipes stop playing (not that my tinnitus sounds like bagpipes). Mine is a high pitched constant note in one ear and in the other it's a constant low brrrrrrr, like a truck climbing a hill in the distance -- it was the latter one that stopped. It was bliss.

Something I think that helped was buying noise cancelling earphones. We don't realise how much noise we put up with in our everyday lives, driving a car, the chatter in an office, all those low level sounds are actually quite wearing. With the NC earphones, even if you're not listening to music, you can plug them in and switch them on and the difference is amazing. I find certain noises can trigger and propagate my tinnitus, so I try to avoid them. Things like loud bangs, or drilling noises, all sorts of things really.

[delboy]

Cheers Ed, I might look into those noise cancelling headphones. For me, I'm starting to wonder if it isn't the driving - blatting down a motorway for a couple of hours morning and night is a lot nosier than one imagines, especially with the music turned up above the road noise. And especially with an old car that doesn't have much in the way of noise suppression. I've been reading a few reviews lately and all the reviews have a section where it talks about such things - back when my car was born I don't think road noise considerations were on the agenda!

[Geoff_N]

Jerry, I too overwrote the word limit for an antho this year. Only by 8000 words yet it killed me to cut out whole threads and characters to do it.

I think I've mentioned before about my tinnitus but only recently discovered some of it is generated by G&T. I'm really a whisky drinker and only occasionally but was told the quinine in the tonic was good for the hand cramps I get from cycling over 4 or 5 hours. Now it seems that a quinine side effect can be tinnitus.

I was mocked by a shopkeeper today and only because in my opinion a shop with GAME in its title should sell chess boards - and not the digital one.

[Ed]

Del -- it's driving that gave me tinnitus in my right ear without a shadow of a doubt -- years of driving while smoking with the window cracked open and that constant roar of wind noise. I stopped smoking over eight years ago now, thanks in large part to the folks here (Missy and Fnord recommended the book that stopped me), but I was left with the legacy of tinnitus that still bugs me to this day. I count myself lucky if that's the only legacy of two and a half decades of smoking I have to suffer. Still bloody annoying though

Those noise cancelling ear plugs are amazing. So much so that the first time I plugged them in and turned on the switch I actually said 'wow' out loud. I still marvel at the difference they make even now. I paid about £50 for my first pair, and then bought some 'better' ones by Sony recently for about £70, but the cheaper ones I think are actually better. They take a single AAA battery, which last forever, whereas the Sony one is rechargeable, doesn't last long and craps out if you drop and part of it and then need recharging before you can use them again

[elay2433]

Congrats on notching that belt a bit tighter, Ed. That take commitment. 

I've kept on with the writing -- even got out to the garage this last Monday. Managed to rewrite the beginning of my first (too long) piece. Now it's sitting and stewing, aging like a fine wine, or so I hope. I'm taking a bit of advice from Stephen King's 'On Writing', and letting my last project sit until I get so invested in a new one that I've completely (or almost) forgotten about the last one. Theory is, once it's sat sat long enough it'll be like reading someone else's work and so make the editing all the easier.

I flailed around a bit when it came to starting my next project. I still hit the garage and got my words in while brainstorming for a decent idea for this anthology: http://www.independentlegions.com/submissions.html

Finally got started last Friday. I'm at 4,200 words after this morning's session. It's going well, but I'm running into the same problem -- it's going to end up too long. I'm really only at the end of the beginning right now, and my guess is it'll clock in around 10,000 words when I'm finished. The target anthology allows for a max of 7,500. No worries though. I'm having fun, even if it isn't suitable for this particular anthology once I'm finished. Feels kind of like I'm learning to write all over again. And since I can see the end of this story coming up on me, I'm starting to fish around for new markets for the next one.

Being a native California, I thought I might take a shot at this one: http://strangecalifornia.com/about/

[desertwomble]

This seems like a good site to look for markets. Not sure if anyone's cited it here.

http://writingcareer.com/

DW

[elay2433]

Thanks Womble. Some good markets there.