Well, opening up Lone Star Stories to non-Texas speculative fiction and poetry has led to a marked increase in submissions. I've had eight stories sent my way since the guidelines change on the 10th. One science fiction flash piece almost made it, and I asked the author for a rewrite. We'll see if he agrees with my points and sends me a revision. I hope he does; it's a strong story that would be even stronger with a few extra touches. The other seven I declined.

On the writing front, I'm still plugging away on my shared world story (it has now crept past 2000 words) and my new story with an Arab flavor (now past flash stage and not even close to done). My collaborative story is collecting electronic dust on my hard drive. (Sorry, Josh.) I really need to get to it over the next few days.

I've received no positive responses to my story and poem submissions since June, but I have several works out long enough to leave me feeling marginally optimistic. However, I'm certainly not expecting a repeat of last month's sales.

I'm off to see if I can get one of my three stories moving again.