It's Chit Win. It's Chit Win. It's Really, Really Chit Win.

Family songs, you got to love them. And who is Chit Win? Here she is:

A Littlest Pet Shop toy, named by my daughter, who became the eponymous alien in one of my stories. My space western story, 'Chit Win' has been published as the last story from Daily Science Fiction this year. Funny where you get your inspiration from, isn't it?

'Chit Win' hit subscribers' mailboxes today and should be available for everyone to read on the DSF website in about a week. 

If you fancy a weekday dose of science fiction and fantasy stories delivered to you for free, why not consider subscribing? 

A Happy New Year to y'all.  

Mythos Story Published

My story 'Stone City, Old as Immeasuarable Time' has been published by Lovecraft E-zine. What a fabulous illustration by Steve Santiago. Cosmic horror, despair, old stange places, and neolithic monuments. They tend to slip into my work. The stone mothers in my story are inspired by the prehistoic Venus Figurines, quite a familiar trope in my work.

I'm designating this Lovecraft Homage month, because a couple of weeks ago Innsmouth Free Press published 'Future Lovecraft' which includes of of my poems.

Goals for Short Stories

Goals: I've been thinking about them. I'll probably continue with my goal I've been using for the past two years, which is four subs to the professional press a week.

It's not as scary as it sounds, once you've built up a little inventory. Say you have four science fiction stories, right off the bat I can think of ten venues for them:

 Analog, Asimov, Clarkesworld, Cosmos, Daily Science Fiction, Digital Science Fiction, Fantasy and Science Fiction,   IGMS, Lightspeed, Lore. And I could go on. Honestly, there are heaps.

So four stories will give you 40 subs, and so on and so forth. Because the beauty of it is you can re-sub a rejected story to a new venue. Rejection is good. Yep, it's a great little goal.

But I've been trying to  think about a goal relating to improving quality. And I think I've come up with a good one.

Before I make a sub, read a story from that venue. 

Something that it seems only polite to do. And yet, although I do read heaps, it occurs to me that my reading can be patchy. The idea being that  reading and thinking about the story, will give me a better idea of the editors' taste, and hopefully (somehow, as if by magic) transfers some of that quality to my own writing.

Have you set your goals for 2012, yet? Any good ones?

First 200 words of your story, critiqued by IGMS editor

edit -- This is closed now, he's got the 20. 

If you're quick and brave,  you can get the first 200 words of your short story critiqued online by Edmund Schubert, editor of Orson Scott Card's Intergalactic Medicine Show. He's going to comment on the first 20 entries on the Magical Words Blog.

linky

I'm not doing it. I'm too chicken. But you should.

Sometimes You Just Got to Flaunt it (Bragging Post)

Recently I've been posting my news in a sidebar. Figuring that my readers don't want to be overwhelmed with my braggage.

But sometimes, a woman's got to do what a woman has to do . . . .

I was very pleased to see that my drabble (100 words, no more, no less), 'Forest Born'  was selected for the featured story of the week at Luna Station Quarterly. This was first published by the sadly lamented Necrotic Tissue.

I've got a poem, 'Cup and Ring Carving'  up at Mirror Dance, one of my favourite venues. Featuring one of my recurring tropes, a mysterious prehistoric monument. Good to see my friend, Simon Kewin there too.

Future Lovecraft has been published. With one of my poems. Looks like I'm table of contents buddies with Nick Mamatas and many other fine authors.

Finally I'm going to announce two exciting acceptance this week, a poem from Dreams and Nightmares, oh my word. And a micro for Earthbound's Dark Stars anthology.

What's in a Name?

I was following a writers' discussion about self-promotion. This being award season for the science fiction and fantasy community, it's a topic on our minds.

One writer, who has a few tasty publications under her belt, said, that to get published by the top magazines, she felt she needed to get her name out there.

And by out there, I guess she meant being active in the social medium (especially twitter), writing articles, giving interviews, meeting people at conferences etc.

Well, that got me a-wondering. I've never really believed that. I figure that people do get plucked out of slush without having a name.  I sold to  professional  paying magazine without having a blog, for instance.  I always feel that story is queen, and that your other accomplishments don't matter a toot.

I guess it's different if you're self-publishing. Then you really want to get name recognition. But I'm happy, at the moment (and watch this space) writing and sending off to magazines.

It's a delicate subject, few people want to come out and say that they are experts in self-promotion.  Most of us (?) want to be recognised for our art.

What do you think? Is getting your name out there important? Will it make a difference to sales?  Have I got a name? And if so, is it a bad name or a good name?