Category: Journal

+ SO LATE updating this weekend from last week. So I'm keeping it brief. I did get all my edit plans completed, plus an extra one, and read all of Bartleby: The Scrivener, but I didn't move forward on any specific edits, and I missed one of the one short story/day. This week, I'm going… Continue reading Belated Updates, Momentary Obsessions, & Official Documentation Achieved!

I can't be the only writer who is absolutely obsessed with notebooks. Blank notebooks, full notebooks, expensive journals, and cheaper-by-the-box Memo notebooks--I love them all. I used to watch Inspector Gadget explicitly because Penny's "book computer" was the coolest notebook I'd ever seen. Eilonwy's blank book of spells was just about the coolest thing I'd… Continue reading THE ENDLESS ALLURE OF NOTEBOOKS

This was a good week, writing-wise, for the most part. I managed to get in a couple really productive days, which buoyed me for the inevitable unproductive ones. I finished a flash fiction story called, "More than Instinct," and even got it submitted! I also resubmitted (twice) a story that had started languishing in my… Continue reading Flash Fiction, Edit Plans, & BEEEEEEEES-! (I mean, wasps…)

This week had some highs and lows on the writing front. On the one hand, I submitted "Candyland" for the first time, which felt great. I attended a Zoom writing accountability group which a good friend of mine recommended, and it was fantastic to even just listen to other writers talk about what they're goals… Continue reading Writerly Camaraderie, Stately Bureaucracy, and Unreliable Napping Expectations

July was a better month for reading, let me tell you! I actually finished a couple books and haven't let myself pick up any others in the meantime, so the list is starting to inch down from that dangerous dozen (which typically indicates I've got too many going, or too many of the same kind… Continue reading POLY-READER NOTES: AUGUST 2020

Andromeda Spaceways Magazine #79 is now out! Woohoo! This issue contains "Any Day but Today...", my snarky superhero short story. It's only $4.95 AUD (~$3.50 USD) for an electronic copy in ePub/Mobi/PDF. And that cover-! OMG, I love it! :D This week has been a bit better for productivity, and insanely good for reading. I… Continue reading Andromeda Spaceways, Pomodoros, and Booklights

I recently finished reading Scott Dikkers' (of The Onion) book on writing comedy, called How to Write Funny. I read a lot of writing and creativity related books, and while most are somewhat shrug-able in their value, How to Write Funny actually made me think. A lot. Not only about comedy writing, but also about… Continue reading GRIMDARK TIMES & THE LURE OF HUMOR

Much better week for productivity! While I didn't get any time to work on things last weekend, I did determine one key fact of current life that might help a lot moving forward: Goldbug's AM nap is slightly deeper than PM nap, even if not quite as long. Why does this matter? Because it means… Continue reading Word Culls, Cranky Superheroes, and Trimming the Reading Pile

Hello. I'm Maggie Slater, and I am a non-botherist. The first step to fixing a problem is admitting you have one, isn't it? Well, I have one: I am too patient as a submitter. What does that even mean? I think it all started when I began seriously submitting short fiction. No, honestly, it probably… Continue reading WHEN IS THE RIGHT TIME TO QUERY?

Somewhat less than a productive week, though not a complete waste. Early on I got a little work done on "Candyland," a short weird story about how far we'll go to present a good picture of our lives on social media. I've reworked the beginning, cut out a lot of fluff, and am translating over… Continue reading Sporadic Editing, Cranky Babies, and Weird Stories