Just a short entry... I wrote a new story the other day, the first of at least ten I'm writing as part of a flash fiction challenge with my friend Matthew in Oz. This one turned out a bit longer than I thought (about 1900 words), but I whittled it down to 1700 and sent it off to a quick response market. The best way I can describe it is that it involves sinister clowns and other such bizarreness (although probably no more bizarre than most of the stuff I've written!) ;)

Within a day I got Matthew's piece fired back in response! Now I've got to write another one, this one using the word 'bender' (that was the last word in his story) either as a theme, a word in my story, or as just plain inspiration. I jotted down a few ideas yesterday and picked a title from a list I made up a few years back, which I still add to from time to time. This morning a fully-formed story idea came to mind before I went to work! I was hoping to start it this evening, but alas I had to work late and get some errands done. This one will be somewhat experimental, since I'll be trying some tricks with voice and tense.

I now have six stories doing the rounds, which seems to be the next barrier to surpass. I'm hoping that'll climb steadily as I write more. We shall see....

2005 Stats:

2005 Word count:	23,041
Stories written:	4
Total submissions:	19
Total acceptances:	0
Total rejections:	12
Waiting for response:	6
Books read:	7
Fiction Mags/Chapbooks read:	8
Audiobooks:	15

What I'm Reading:
Black Seas of Infinity, H.P. Lovecraft (SFBC collection)
Star Ware: The Amateur Astronomer's Ultimate Guide to Choosing, Buying, & Using Telescopes and Accessories, Philip S. Harrington
The Aeneid, Virgil (audiobook)
Locus January '05
Astronomy August '05, and Sky & Telescope September '05