But today I’m happy to be at work on a Sunday. No. I haven’t lost my mind. It *is* supposed to be a day off and on one hand I do wish I were at home enjoying this gloriously sunny cool day.

However, I have no internet or telephone at home right now and I was in the middle of doing some things on my blog and emailing Rob when the connection was severed. Unplanned outages drive me insane!

So having to work today comes with the benefit of being able to access the internet and for that I am grateful.

How did our net get severed, you wonder?

Sigh. Well. My son wants a goat to show for FFA (Future Farmers of America). I told him he had to build a pen for it BEFORE we bought the goat. So he began the work of laying out the area, cutting cedar trees for gate posts. Then he began putting down the posts. And that’s when we lost our net.

Apparently he cut through the buried phone line either when digging the gate-post hole or with the t-posts. I’m not sure which, but I am positively sure we have no phone or internet now. As soon as the little hourglass popped up on my screen and the wait didn’t resolve in a few seconds, the sinking feeling of understanding what had happened took hold.

I went outside and took a look at where he’d chosen to put the pen and sure enough, that was the vicinity of the phone lines. Hindsight… I know.

So, I don’t have my regularly scheduled post today. I wanted to write about my budding writerly career/business plan.

Instead, I’m just letting you know that if I don’t post for the next few days, it’s because weekdays at work have been too busy lately. When I get the lines repaired at home, I’ll be back. And if the day job eases I’ll post when I can.

I hope you enjoyed creating a story for today’s photo prompt. Mine is in my usual vein of weirdness. Can’t wait to see what all you’ve come up with. I’ve missed my Friday Fictioneering!

***

Here’s how it works: My story is here. When you comment, post a link to yours. Then comment and add your link to the other Fictioneer’s stories.

Tweet your link, too, and add the #FridayFictioneers hashtag so we can easily find you and RT.

I’m always open to constructive criticism if you see mistakes or ways to improve upon what I’ve done. This is a learning exercise for me. However, not everyone feels that way, so if you don’t see an invitation to critique on their post, don’t do it. A lot of people just want and need encouragement!

We are the Friday Fictioneers and we gather every Friday here to post a very short story. It’s a great way to showcase your voice, but to do it in 100 word is almost an extreme challenge. It forces you to choose strong verbs and concise phrases.

Hop on board and post one of yours or visit ours, or do both.

• Feb. 2, David Rozansky of Flying Pen Press will blog here about ‘Bookkeeping for Writers’.
• Feb. 9, @Odin1Eye  of the View from Valhalla will tell us about his review process for books and podcasts, and whatever else he wants to share.
• TBA – anyone interested in becoming a guest blogger here, please let me know. I’m looking for guest blogs on topics to do with the business of writing. In the meantime, I’ll be pestering potential contributors I run across…

For today I have a couple of links to share. I liked this one because it reminded me of why I want to develop my plan. I read this blog for insight to the industry, although this particular publisher doesn’t publish my genre: http://behlerblog.com/2012/01/23/have-a-plan/.

And you can read what Jeannie Leflar, a.k.a. The Writernubbin, has come up with regarding her writerly business plan here. When I’d brought the topic up a few weeks back, she jumped on the ball and got it done!

I’ll share my plan as I build it, beginning with Sunday’s post.

Here’s the photo prompt for this week’s Friday Fictioneer’s:

End of the Line

Why only 100 Words

100-words isn’t a *rule* and some of us write more than that. My goal is to have The Friday Fictioneers use 100-word stories as an exercise in choosing concise phrases and strong verbs. It’s an excellent way to show your stuff to the world without exposing too much. It’s okay if you use more words, but if it’s much more let us know in the comments so we’ll know how to allocate our time if we’re trying to read all the posts.

Put your best efforts on display for 100 words (more or less) and hop on board Friday with links back to your blog so we can all see what you’ve written. If you don’t have a blog of your own you are welcome to post your 100 words in the comment section of my story’s post (Friday).

If you accidentally post your link here on this page today, you’ll miss out on a lot of the blog hopping because the action will be stemming from links on the story page on Friday.

How to become a Fictioneer

1. Write a 100-word story (more or less, and it’s okay if you didn’t use this picture for inspiration)
2. Post your story to your blog on Friday (or just link to it tomorrow if you wrote earlier)
3. Comment on my story Friday and post a link to your story.
4. Tweet your link and include the tag #FridayFictioneers if you’re on Twitter.
5. Visit and comment on all the other stories that link to my story. If the comment forms allow, leave your link on all your comments, so others can find you and us later on.
6. Check back often because participants post throughout the day.
7. Get psyched up to do this again next week

You can click the tab at the top to read a little more about Friday Fictioneers.

I hope to see your creativity shining tomorrow!

For the rest of my regular blog followers, I’m sorry for this cryptic message that went to your inboxes!

So the title of this post applies to me too. I’m not yet back in the land of the writerly living. Maybe tomorrow. Life is taking precedence right now, but it won’t be much longer. I’m already thinking in terms of what needs to be done next, calculating how much editing I’ll have to do each day in order to have my ms ready for my self-imposed deadline of late August, and getting the gears moving again.

Of course, it’s hard or impossible to separate my ordinary life from my writerly life anyway.

While we were soaking in the healing hot springs of Pagosa Springs, CO, I had an idea for a scene in my back-burner work in progress. At the moment there was no way for me to record it, but the spontaneous dialogue that made up the crux of the scene stuck with me until I could get back to our room and get out the laptop.

I’d purposely tried to give all things writerly a break. But I wasn’t entirely successful with that. I still checked email (even though I refrained from responding to them for the most part), watched my Twitter feed (and again, refrained from Tweeting as much as possible) and watched the happenings on my blog from afar and tried to leave it alone.

That was not easy and I don’t feel that I was very good at taking a total vacation from it. Maybe with another week I could have weaned myself further.

***

So this update is bringing me back up to speed as I try to figure out where I am at the moment.

I don’t think much has changed since the last update. I still have three submissions out, one short story and two photo essays. When I get a better camera I’ll be able to submit to more photography markets and I like the combination of writing and photography so it’s a good diversion from the novel-writing when I need to take that sort of tangent.

Tonight I’ll try to work on editing Symbiosis for the first time since taking my vacation. I hope the break makes it easier to see necessary changes. It’ll be a good opportunity to look at it with fresh eyes to see if I really do like the POV change I’d made.

It’s time to begin working on my career plan, too. Tonight I’ll start reviewing my thoughts on that.

***

Have any of you ever taken a complete and total break from writing, including all the peripheral writerly activities? Were you successful at it?

Don’t forget to post your link at Susie’s blog. She left a direct link below in the comments

After you’ve posted your link at her blog, put your link in the comment section of my placeholder page if you want me to be able to find and comment on your story when I get back.

Thanks, Susie and y’all have fun!

***

I’ve been using my flash as short story starters – have you been using yours to any end besides the fun we’re having on Fridays?

Now post a link to yours in the comment section of my story page and add your link to the comments of the other Fictioneer’s stories. Tweet your link, too, and add the #FridayFictioneers hashtag so we can easily find you and RT.

I’m always open to constructive criticism if you see mistakes or ways to improve upon what I’ve done. This is a learning exercise for me. However, not everyone feels that way, so if you don’t see an invitation to critique on their post, don’t do it. A lot of people just want and need encouragement!

We are the Friday Fictioneers and we gather every Friday here to post a very short story. It’s a great way to showcase your voice, but to do it in 100 word is almost an extreme challenge. It forces you to choose strong verbs and concise phrases.

Hop on board and post one of yours or visit ours, or do both.

He’d sent a different driver to pick us up after the ride. That driver nearly didn’t get us home because his driving was so terrible. First he nearly sandwiched us between a snow plough and oncoming traffic, and then later he almost ran off the road. He periodically drifted toward the center line, which gave me several scares when there was traffic in the other lane.

Needless to say we will drive ourselves next time.

The photos from the train ride are beautiful though. It was my favorite part of our trip. If you’d like to see them, they’re over at the other blog:

http://ancientearthwisdom.com/2012/01/20/durango-to-cascade-narrow-rail/

***

This week I have a guest for my Thursday post. Maggie is a book reviewer I met first through eFiction Magazine when my short story Ozark Pixies was published, and then have come to know her a little more via Twitter and our Friday Fictioneers.

Today she’ll tell us a little about her review process and what she’s interested in reading. Since finding a reviewer who will evaluate and report on indie books can be difficult, I thought my indie friends would appreciate knowing about her.

She’s available to answer any questions you might have, so leave a comment and ask away!

***

Unbiased Book Reviews – A Must for Indie Authors

 By Maggie Duncan

First, thanks to Madison Woods for letting me guest on her site. I was giddy with excitement when she asked.

I love to read. I’m one of those people who’ll read the RDA label on food packages if I don’t have a book or magazine within reach. My Kindle has over 150 items on it. My stack of magazines could, on occasion, build walls.

So, why, you ask, would I volunteer to read more books and review them? Well, first and foremost, I love to read. (I mentioned that, didn’t I?) I also know that warm, squishy feeling you get when a perfect stranger reads your work and says it’s good. I remember the first review of my collection of short stories, Rarely Well Behaved, some ten years ago. Here was someone I didn’t know and didn’t pay, and she gave me an honest and encouraging review.

I believe that if “indie publishing” is going to challenge traditional publishing with any degree of success, indie authors need “untainted” reviews—as in, all your sorority sisters, junior league members, or extended family didn’t go on Amazon and give you five stars. You need reviews that provide an objective opinion on the work, an evaluation of your self-published work based not on friendship, but on the merit of the writing.

A few months ago, then, I decided to start reviewing the indie books I read. I started out with mini-reviews on my blog (http://mymusings-maggie.blogspot.com/); then, I had two reviews published in eFiction magazine, one in October and the other in December. (If you want to read them, go to efictionmagazine.com, click on “Back Issues,” and download those two issues. However, you’ll need to do it before January 1, 2012, when eFiction back issues will no longer be free.)

How does this work, you ask? Contact me at unspywriter@gmail.com and tell me what genre and where to find your book. Don’t send me a free copy. I’ll buy it. I think it’s “cleaner” that way, and you deserve the royalties. I’ll take a discounted copy, but a free book isn’t necessary. And, trust me, if I don’t like it, it won’t matter whether I’ve paid for it or not. I’ll be honest about it either way.

And about genre. I don’t read Christian fiction or paranormal romances. At all. Sorry if that offends anyone, but neither genre is my cup of tea. I like urban thrillers, mysteries, suspense, a good ghost story, a political thriller (which I write), sci-fi, and historical fiction—or any combination thereof. I’m not a fantasy fan, but if it’s not a knock-off of Lord of the Rings or The Dragonriders of Pern, I’m willing to give it a look. I like characters who are engaging, unusual, and self-sufficient. I especially like strong, intelligent women who don’t wait to be rescued and strong, intelligent men who consider women their equals in every way. Regardless of genre, I like stories that are realistic, i.e., where I can “see” myself in the world you’ve created. Sex (heterosexual or homosexual) and violence don’t bother me, unless they’re gratuitous.

What makes me qualified to offer an opinion on your work? Well, I love to read. My tastes are eclectic. I was an English teacher, and I was a reporter on and editor of an aviation magazine for a total of nineteen years. (By the way, if you’ve included something aviation-related in your work, it needs to be correct. I’ll know.) Bad punctuation and incorrect grammar will put me off, no matter how good the story is.

My review of your work will either appear in my blog, or I’ll submit it to eFiction, which wants reviews of indie fiction. I’ll let you know when it will be published (either place), and you’re welcome to link to it. I’ll also send you a few interview questions and post your responses in my blog as well, to coincide with the review. If you don’t like the review, take a deep breath, then re-read it. It will include constructive criticism.

I see a time in the near future where an “indie author” will receive the same positive attention and the accolades a traditionally published author now receives simply by virtue of being traditionally published. By giving you an honest assessment of your best work, I believe we can both work toward that and make it a more definitive possibility. The sole bar I’ll measure you against is whether I’ll recommend your book to my friends.

Here’s my challenge to you: Everything I’ve said I don’t read or don’t like, prove me wrong with your work. I love to read. Who’ll be first?

If you have any questions, e-mail me or post a question as a comment to this, and I’ll respond.

—————-

Phyllis Anne “Maggie” Duncan is a retired federal employee who now writes fiction full-time. She is the author of a collection of short stories, Rarely Well Behaved. When she’s not writing the occasional short story, she’ll be working on another revision of her trilogy about domestic terrorism, A Perfect Hatred. She lives in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley of Virginia and loves to spoil her grandkids.

Supporters of the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame and members of Chicago’s literary and arts communities will gather at the incredible Sanfilippo Estate on March 17, 2012, to present Gene Wolfe with the first “Fuller Award,” acknowledging an outstanding lifetime contribution to literature.

Peter Sagal, host of NPR’s news quiz show ‘Wait Wait … Don’t Tell Me!” will be the toastmaster during dinner in Sanfilippo’s Carousel Pavilion, introducing Special Guests as they offer up speeches and toasts in honor of Gene Wolfe.

The Master of Ceremonies for the performance will be Gary K. Wolfe, Professor of Humanities and English at Roosevelt University and award-winning editor and critic.

Neil Gaiman, Peter Straub, Luis Urrea, Michael Swanwick, Audrey Niffenegger, Jody Lynn Nye, Michael Dirda and Patrick O’Leary are just a few of the many luminaries set to pay tribute to the writer whose body of work, including the Chicago-set Free Live Free, distinguishes him as one of our city’s finest literary treasures.

Tickets, which must be purchased in advance, are available online at http://genewolfesanfilippo.eventbrite.com/.

Guests can attend the performance and award presentation for $65, which includes a staged reading of one of Gene’s short stories, adapted by Chicago writer Larry Santoro and performed by members of Terra Mysterium. After the reading, guests will be treated to a concert by R. Jelani Eddington, one of the world’s most accomplished pipe organists on Sanfilippo’s 80-rank, 8,000 pipe organ.

Those who purchase a Dinner Ticket for $150 will head to the Carousel Pavilion following the performance to enjoy a meal featuring delicacies from Barrington’s own chef Jeramie Campana of Wild Asparagus. While enjoying their dinner and wine, guests will be treated to speeches and toasts by Gene Wolfe’s family and friends.

Proceeds from the event will go toward a permanent home for the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, currently housed at the Cliff Dwellers Club of Chicago.

“We need a space that will enable us to permanently exhibit the story of Chicago’s great literary heritage,” said Chicago Literary Hall of Fame Executive Director Donald G. Evans. “Our mission is to preserve and promote Chicago’s literature, and as we enter Year Three, we’ve set ourselves to really make a difference in our community and beyond.”

For additional information on the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame, please visit www.chicagoliteraryhof.org

The Sanfilippo Estate, nicknamed Place de la Musique, is a 44,000-square-foot private residence filled with magnificent collections of beautifully restored antique music machines, chandeliers, art glass, the most spectacular European salon carousel in existence, street and clock towers, steam engines and other functional mechanical antiques. The Estate, owned by Jasper Sanfilippo, former CEO of the parent company of Fisher Nut, hosts charitable fundraisers through the Sanfilippo Foundation.

About the Chicago Writers Association
The CWA is a federally registered 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization with over 300 members, ranging from aspiring novelists to published authors, journalists, and poets. The CWA dedicates itself to promoting the four C’s of writing—creativity, commerce, craft, and community—by: fostering a visible, supportive writing community; providing genuine, constructive feedback and access to resources; assisting writers at all levels to achieve their writing goals; building a bridge to unite all facets of Chicago’s diverse literary culture; and promoting Chicago as a place of literary distinction.