Workshopping – day 6

It has been an amazing eight days here.  I haven’t posted since last Wednesday because I’ve spent the last five days rewriting all three of my stories following intense critiquing sessions. A Prayer for Saint Barbara is now Fat-Bottomed Girl and For the Plucking has morphed into Fractal Jack.  As a Wind Among the Reeds has kept its title but like the other two, it has lost almost 2,500 words and has been radically restructured.

It’s almost 9:00 p.m. here in Lawrence and I just finished Fractal Jack. There will be more critiquing and the Campbell and Sturgeon Awards winners are going to join us for class on Friday. But my stories are complete, so there will be much less pressure on me for the next four days. I’m not going to do a long entry tonight; I am so tired. But I promise more tomorrow. Honest.

BTW, I’ve been talking to Rachael every night, via cell phone, and she told me I got my comp copy of the Brit horror magazine Morpheus Tales in the mail today.  My flash, To Each His Niche and Task, is in it and my name is third on the cover, below Joe Lansdale. I am, as Jon and Sarah say, so chuffed.

At morpheus tales

Just got the news today.

You can pre-order Issue 5 of Morpheus Tales now, for shipment in July.  It includes a story by gonzo horror author Joe Landsdale and my flash fiction, To Each His Niche and Task, is on page 10.

The story is told first person from the point-of-view of an aging man who is believed to be a mass murderer but is convinced that he is a superhero. Someone has said that we are all the heroes of our own imaginary movies, but what if we are the only one with true vision?

Issue cost is £3.50, including international shipping.  That’s not a typo.  Morpheus Tales is a Brit speculative fiction magazine.  I haven’t received my author copies yet, but I’ll let you know when I do.