I realized I've been updating my buddies about my writing endeavors outside of the blog world, but hadn't been updating ya'all and you are the ones who encouraged me to send out my writing and see what the universe returns.
Well, since last October when I wrote short stories for the blog and kept you in suspense, your wonderful reaction to my writing made me brave enough to send it out. Since then, these things have happened:
I won the essay contest in October for Travel Channel's "Ghost Adventures" live episode at Trans-Allegheny Lunatic asylum.
My short story "Cave Dwellers" was the only short story chosen for the premiere issue of the printed magazine "Creepy Queen" (fantastic magazine if you're into spooky stuff and spooky crafts, I highly recommend it for all of you with creepy Etsy businesses especially)
My short story entry "Wolves at The Door" (not the same one I wrote for my blog--a new one) for a lycanthropy contest for flashesinthedark was chosen for the 01/28/2010 entry.
In the mean time, I have gone on to submit 3 others that I got into the finalist position right now and await the final decision(fingers crossed).
I also am finishing the very ending passages of an erotic horror novella for submission and am paring down "The Thicket" for an erotic horror novella submittal to Harlequin. Every week, I submit at least 2 short stories to contests and magazines. This fall in October, I plan to once again do short stories, probably more of the mad-libs ones since those are so fun to do! You keep my skills up with the crazy choices you make for characters and places and situations.
As you can see, your support started a monster. I hope to get into a place where I can get published with a larger publisher and quit doing medical transcription so I can write full time.
As well, I've decided to pick up oil painting again and hope to start doing paintings based on my visual snippets I get when I do psychic reads. The images are murky and intriguing and multi-layered with many elements in a collage-like layout. I hope some day that I could specialize in doing psychic paintings along with my reads so people can actually see what I see inside their head.
I still hope to work on my steampunk creations from things I've gathered abandoned in the desert, rusted, and nasty, but I get the feeling that when I put all the elements together, it will be quite obvious where I'm headed.
I don't think I'd ever adequately be able to tell you how much I appreciate your support for my writing. My blog will remain here, it is my first love. I just adore having this blog as a way to daily get thoughts down and knock around ideas.
I also hope to get to a place in my budding career where I can utilize all the wonderful people I've met in the blog world to be assistants and helpers and encourage their careers and help them along, as well. I've always held a belief that I'd rather get somewhere holding hands with others than to do it alone. You have been wonderful hand-holders and don't think that your talents and special abilities have gone unnoticed. Some day soon, no doubt, I will bother and bug you to join some venture.
Oh, and do keep up on the blog. Next weekend I'm hitting a haunted spot for a study and will bring along Dale the doll who will join the ghost hunting team, pose for pictures, and write a post about what we found. I'll never stop being weird and thank goodness ya'all are just as weird as me. I don't know what I'd do if I hadn't have found people like you who are equally "unique."
