Back from the beach, windburnt more than sunburnt for a change (thanks to a boatride up and down the Intracoastal Waterway, interrupted only by an hour of being stuck in the mud while the pilot was trying to turn around), and more or less relaxed. I didn't re-read the Intracities stories as I'd planned on doing, but I'll get to them this week, I hope.

I did read most of the stories in the fiction issue of The New Yorker and was pleased by them more or less, but nothing that took my breath away. I figure, to get a story in there, you've got to write something that comments on life in the city or suburbia in such a way that intellectuals will dig (one of the stories had a recurring motif that even a dullard like me could grasp) or tell a story from another culture/country that gives us "insider" information about it. I may write a story like that, just for the hell of it.

I've been doing some thinking about writing and journaling and the like. I think I need to be more focused. Right now I feel like I've hit a plateau, especially with short fiction. I want to use the momentum I've gotten with my stories, especially the recent stories I've gotten accepted and published in the past 6 months (I'm thinking of the energy in my story "Gunning for the Buddha" as well as the wild stylistic gymnastics of the collab Greg and I did, "California King," as well as the collab with Tim, "Helljack" for its sheer inventiveness and bizarre imagery; I'm also extremely fond of my stories "The Dissolutionist" (setting) and "Goddamn Redneck Surfer Zombies" (voice)).

I want to take the best features of my stories and use them in my novels. For whatever reason, my novels don't have the same pacing and style as my stories, and I want to fix that. I think I've just viewed novels as slower-paced, and that's why I haven't generated much interest from publishers or agents (though I think I've done best with The Last of the Hand, which was requested in full by an agent and an editor at DAW, from the slush pile, both to no avail, ultimately).

So... I'm rethinking my plans, once again. I have a story to write for an antho, and I'm hoping to try some experimental writing for that, and see if that carries over into my novel ideas. I came up with a novel concept this weekend at the beach, something that I'm not even sure if it fits into any one genre, and it may be just the kick in the ass my writing needs, if I can focus long enough to sit down and write it.

So we'll see what happens. Not sure if I'll journal much about it, at least not yet. I'm just going to focus on writing, and try to do less surfing. Seems like every time I check my own journal, I end up losing half an hour, checking everyone else's journal. Not a good thing (tho I do enjoy keeping up with my fellow writers!). We'll see how it goes. Since tomorrow's a new month, I plan on getting started then. Later!