The Little Contractor Tool Kit

I'm happy to say that my jinxed short story about a haunted toy on Halloween has been accepted by Nightfall Publications for their From Shadows and Nightmares anthology.

Nightfall Publications

The Hermits of Hahajima

The Hermits of Hahajima, my ghost story about the Japanese soldiers who can't return to their homeland because of the atrocities they committed will be out in January at Whitlock in Our Haunted World

Bobby Stokes Salutes the Fall of Manchester

NANOWRIMO 2010 WORD COUNT

Like Buses

Acceptances are like buses.

You wait for months without anything more than
Rejections, rejections, rejections,

And then two come along at once!

At least I wasn't standing between stops.

My short story The Hahajima Ghosts has been accepted for publication at Whitlock Publishing . They are putting together an anthology of ghost stories from around the world called Our Haunted World. It looks like an interesting project, and I am excited to be a part of it.

Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine...

Has accepted one of my stories!

I am very excited to say that passengers on flights throughout the universe will be able to read it in the 50th issue, February 2011.

CLOUDBERRY RECORDS INTERVIEWS...ME

http://www.cloudberryrecords.com/blog/?p=780

UPDATE

Well, thanks to the Spirit of Heinlein approach it's been a good day.

Words written: 3,000

Rejections: 3
Acceptances: 0
Submissions held for further consideration: 2

That's worth a couple of chocolate biscuits :)

Thanks to Anthology Builder...

For accepting 3 more stories.

Hideki Desu, Hideki and the Gnomes, and Figgis' Elixir are available to add to your custom anthology.

Anthologybuilder

In the spirit of Heinlein

In the spirit of Heinlein's first rule, I wrote until 11:30 last night.

In the spirit of Heinlein's second rule, I completed a draft of a story that has been kicking about on my hard drive for a couple of months.

In the spirit of Heinlein's third rule I will not re-write what I wrote yesterday (though I might tweak it a little to suit submission guidelines--which is in effect editorial request).

In the spirit of Heinlein's fourth rule I will send it off tonight.

And if/when the rejection comes back, I will, in the spirit of Heinlein's fifth rule, send it on out again, and again, and again.

Heinlein's Rules

Time out to assess where I am according to Robert Heinlein. From his 1947 essay "On the Writing of Speculative Fiction."



HEINLEIN'S RULES FOR WRITING


1. You must write.
I have close to one hundred short stories in various stages of development and three unfinished novels. Okay, so I write. Unfortunately I've been slacking recently. It's time to get back on target.

2. You must finish what you write.
To date I have finished about one third of the short stories I have started. Must get cracking on the other two thirds.

3. You must refrain from rewriting, except to editorial order.
Okay. I am guilty of tweaking the odd story when it turns up in my rejection box. Who wouldn't? Sorry Robert, I sometimes fail here, but I am learning to let go of my babies.

4. You must put the work on the market.
Check box. To date I have submitted 33 stories to 82 different markets.

5. You must keep the work on the market until it is sold.
15 acceptances.
88 rejections.
8 submissions lost in the ether, probably never to be seen again.
12 stories pending response.

What is the use of a story that is not told. What is the use of letting a story rot away on the hard drive? Time to set a goal. I'm not going for numbers here. I'm going for persistance, because what Heinlein is saying is clearly that if you are persistant and keep throwing it, some will stick. From today, I will be more persistant in my efforts to get my stories out there for the world to read.

Fair and Square up at Allegory

Friday: 256




On Monday a man with a hammer lurked in the bushes of Regents Park ready to pummel me to death. Tuesday an intoxicated motorist pursued me in an urban hot rod. On Wednesday I escaped knife wielding maniacs, oncoming trains and a near electrocution. Yesterday lightning, a flood and myriad other natural phenomena closed in on me. Now there is an angry cuckold on the fourth floor waiting to blast my brains out. He thinks I’m having an affair with his wife. He is of course mistaken, but that is beside the point.



I have escaped 23 unaccountably strange deaths in this small town this week. But disaster is drawing in around me and now, to top it all The Morning Star is reporting that North Korea has given the United Nations a final ultimatum. By Sunday the entire planet will be in the same precarious position as me. I am the only man in the world with the power to change it all.




Read the rest of it here:

http://www.allegoryezine.com/fairandsquare.htm

Allegory

My short story "Fair and Square," has been accepted for publication inVolume 12/38 of Allegory, due to hit the web on May 1, 2010. allegory

Hideki Desu

Discover Simple, Private Sharing at Drop.io

Writer: Mark lee Pearson
Reader: Jim Sadler
Producer: Lee Rawlings
Assistant Producer: Tony Eccles
Music: Lee Rawlings and Simon Belshaw

PODCAST

My wonderful friends at JLT-AUDIO-STORY-PRODUCTIONS were kind enough to record my story, Hideki Desu, which was published in Space and Time Magazine last year. The story can now be downloaded and listened to at their website:

PODCAST OF HIDEKI DESU