Sometimes life has a great sense of timing.

Sunday is my last day of delivering the Raleigh News & Observer at the crack-o-ass every day from 3-6 a.m. I have enough freelance work lined up to say buh-bye that damn route. And not a moment too soon, as my arms are about killing me.

And I just learned this afternoon that one of my mainstream short stories was accepted at, guess where -- the Raleigh News & Observer, in their "Sunday Reader" section! How cool is that? And it's gonna run on the very same day that I finish up the paper route. So I get the unique opportunity to deliver my own story to people!

The story started out as "A Simple Way to Pass the Time," but Marcy Rice, the editor at the paper, suggested I change the time of year from summer to before xmas, and it just made the story work perfectly (the two main characters are blue-collar fellas who work in a toy factory). So the new title is "Comfort and Joy." Look for it on Sunday, December 8th. Cool stuff! And at $100 for 1200 words, that comes to over 8 cents a word. Not too shabby!

In other news, I'm in "finish-up" mode on a bunch of reading and critting, drafting a story, and getting ready to make some serious headway on both Heart's Revenge and The Wannoshay Cycle. I feel the momentum starting to build, and I'm ready to ride the wave, thanks to my tidings of comfort and job (comfort and joy!). Later...

Now Playing:
"Under the Table and Dreaming," Dave Matthews Band

Now Reading:
Black House, King and Straub

Stories out to Publishers:
20