Another Short Story Accepted!

I submitted my newest short story, The Library Lady , this morning and it was accepted to the Literary Foray anthology where it will be joining my two previously accepted stories!

Thank you Nicole for your amazing feedback!

~ MM 

Looking Back ~ November 2010

Who is good at keeping New Year's resolutions? Anybody? Anyone? I didn't think so. The old proverb says, "The road to hell is paved with good intentions." When it comes to New Year's resolutions I think most of those intentions are forgotten before the hangover subsides. Perhaps knowing this a writing site I belong to, Writing Dot Com, encourages us write them down and post them up for the world to see in the form of a Dear Me letter. This could be either to humiliate us later when we fail miserably, or because we are writers, take your pick. Whatever the reason, this provides us the opportunity towards the end of the year to dust the list off and see how we've done.  When I was asked to do just that, I cringed.

Maybe a little background will shed some light on why I found this request so painful. At this time last year I was immersed in the craziness known as NaNowrimo or National Novel Writing Month. I wrote over fifty thousand words in just a month. I let loose, ignoring my inner editor and wrote more on one project than I had ever written before. I was stoked! My confidence was soaring through the roof! But, I was burnt out. Holding down a fulltime job and cranking out 1667 words a night during the holiday season had taken their toll. I thought I just needed a little break.

I took the month of December and most of January off citing the holiday distractions and burnout as excuses. In the last two weeks of January I managed a short eight hundred and sixty five word tale to win that weeks round of The Weekly Quickie and, of course, my aforementioned Dear Me letter. By now you are probably thinking 'that's not too bad, a month and a half off, and it was over the holidays.' Uh huh ... except I didn't write again until July 21st.

Now maybe the cringe makes sense to you. So, I went back and re-read my Dear Me letter, peeked at my Portfolio, and low and behold, the sun crept from behind the clouds. Maybe my dear friend Giselle saved me by taking over The Weekly Quickie contest, or maybe it was just time. Either way I entered round one of her reign on July 21st and it was like the dam broke. I've wrote fifteen short stories since then. Most have been for The Weekly Quickie, short and sexy, but there have been a few longer pieces mixed in there including a 2nd place entry in The Paradise Cove and an entry to the October Short Shots Contest.

Taking a good look at the goals outlined in "Dear Slacker...err...Me," this is what I found.

1) I will clear the mental hurdle of the novel and complete one, even if it is only for my satisfaction.

          I completed revision on my novelette His Pet,  posting up the final thirteen chapters of the tale and making at least one reader, who had been waiting patiently for two and a half years, very happy. I also worked sporadically on my WIP Club Justice  that sits at just under twenty thousand words to date.

2) I will enter at least eight contests on the WDC site.

          To date I've entered eighteen. Of those eighteen I've placed or rated an honorable mention in twelve, with two others still open for judging.

3) I will submit at least eight items for publication off site.

          I've submitted six so far. Three have been accepted for publication in anthologies and three are pending. UPDATE: The other three were accepted to Daily Flashes of Erotica Quarterly Anthology!

4) By the end of the year I will be able to show at least one of my works off in print, or a sheaf of rejection letters telling me what I must improve.

          Today I held the anthology, Something from the Attic,  in my hands for the first time. Inside its beautiful covers is my short story, "Muse." I can honestly say I am a published author.

When I cringed this morning I thought 2010 was a bit of a disappointment on the writing front, with the exception of my three short stories, none of which were wrote this year, being accepted for print. Doing research for this contest has really opened my eyes and I am amazed at what I have accomplished in what amounts to less than four months. This challenge has encouraged and inspired me. Once again it highlights the finer things about our community.

Thank you.

The Hating Game ~ BLOGSPLASH!!!!

Help Talli Roland's debut novel THE HATING GAME hit the Kindle bestseller list at Amazon.com and Amazon.co.uk by spreading the word today. Even a few sales in a short period of time on Amazon helps push the book up the rankings, making it more visible to other readers.

Amazon.co.uk: http://amzn.to/hNBkJk


Amazon.com: http://amzn.to/hX2ieD


No Kindle? Download a free app at Amazon for Mac, iPhone, PC, Android and more. Coming soon in paperback. Keep up with the latest at http://www.talliroland.com/.

About THE HATING GAME:

When man-eater Mattie Johns agrees to star on a dating game show to save her ailing recruitment business, she's confident she'll sail through to the end without letting down the perma-guard she's perfected from years of her love 'em and leave 'em dating strategy. After all, what can go wrong with dating a few losers and hanging out long enough to pick up a juicy £200,000 prize? Plenty, Mattie discovers, when it's revealed that the contestants are four of her very unhappy exes. Can Mattie confront her past to get the prize money she so desperately needs, or will her exes finally wreak their long-awaited revenge? And what about the ambitious TV producer whose career depends on stopping her from making it to the end?

[If you'd like to help promote Talli's book, please copy this post and paste it onto your blog or FaceBook wall.  Christmas and Hanukkah are right around the corner -- and this would make a great addition to your gift-giving list!] 

~MM

Another Foot in the Door!

Great news tonight ... I just found out that I've had 3 short stories accepted to an Erotica quarterly anthology called Daily Flashes of Erotica. These 4 books offer an erotic tale for each day of the year. Talk about starting your day with a tingle. LOL Just to increase my bookshelf, or decrease my cash *wink*, ... "Voyeur" is slated to be in the Apr-Jun, "Kiss of Leather" in Jul-Sep, and "Solace" in Oct-Dec! Here is a link to the first in the series that while it doesn't have any Mara smut, is currently available from Pill Hill Press / DFE.

Daily Flashes of Erotica

~ MM

Fifteen Books ...

A little bit of fun borrowed from the world of Facebook. Don't take too long to think about it. Fifteen books you've read that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. 

Okay ... in no particular order ... 

1) Clan of the Cave Bear ~ Jean M. Auel

2) Kushiel's Dart ~ Jacqueline Carey 

3) Lord of the Rings ~ JRR Tolkien

4) The Bears of Blue River ~ Charles Major

5) Mrs Frisby and the Rats of NIMH ~ Robert C. O'Brian

6) Blue Adept ~ Piers Anthony

7) The Minds of Billy Milligan ~ Daniel Keyes

8) Dragon Riders of Pern ~ Anne McCafferey

9) The Wolf and the Dove ~ Kathleen Woodiwiss

10)Passions of the Realm ~ Joan Balser

11)The Black Lion ~ Jude Deveraux

12) Palomino ~ Danielle Steel

13) Anne of Green Gables ~ Lucy Maud Montgomery

14) The Sleeping Beauty series ~  Anne Rice writing as A. N. Roquelaure 

15) All the awesome HORSE books of my youth ... Pounding Hooves ~Dorothy Grunbrock Johnston, Fury ~ Albert G Miller, Man O' War ~ Walter Farley, Misty of Chincoteague ~ Marguerite Henry, The Black Stallion ~ Walter Farley, My Friend Flicka ~ Mary O Hara, and Black Beauty ~ Anna Sewell

LOL An eclectic list to be sure, ranging from childhood on up these are some of the tales that stuck with me. <3 

On a more serious note, doing this made me think of what I've read lately, and if it wasn't on-line, I haven't. I miss curling up with a good book. When did I get too busy to enjoy the simple things??? 

~ MM

When Blessings Hurt

My sister-in-law, Connie, passed away Saturday morning. She was only 40. Her life has been full of medical maladies ... Juvenile diabetes, a car accident that left her in a coma for a month ... she was never the same, Dialysis, kidney and pancreas transplants, then the kidney being unknowingly nicked in a "routine" biopsy ... she nearly died from the internal bleeding before they figured out they had screwed up, and then this past July she had a stroke.

She has spent the last 5 1/2 months bouncing back and forth between the hospital and a physical therapy center. For every step forward there were three steps back. She continued to have strokes. Finally the doctors told us that the anti-rejection medicine she has been on for years because of her transplants, had weakened the walls of her blood vessels. This meant the strokes would continue. There was nothing we could do, but wait for "the big one." I felt like we were at Talladega. *small smile* Those of you who aren't NASCAR fans might not get that, but it would have amused Connie.

Her passing was without question a blessing. She is in a better place. She is no longer suffering. So why then are we? Perhaps we are selfish wishing her here with us. Regardless, she will be missed. I pray she is happy and the pain is gone. I know that one day I will think of her and smile again. It has been a lot of years since I could say that.

Rest in peace little sister.

~ MM

It arrived today!!!

My copy of  Something from the Attic arrived today! It was an amazing feeling to hold a book in my hands and read one of my stories. I can't even imagine the thrill of those blessed with a book deal. I can't stop grinning over a short story!