As most of you know, I'm editing two short story anthologies. It's my first time doing this and so far it's been very interesting as the subs roll in. Now it's time to start selecting stories.

Surprisingly, the most important thing I've learned so far is not about editing. It's about subbing and querying.  Now that I'm the one getting the emails, it's an entirely different world. I followed along on #queryfail and wondered if people really said the things editors pointed out. Well, they do.

After reading about 100 query and sub cover letters, I know exactly what to put in and what not to. I honestly didn't read anything in a letter except what I needed: word count, pairing, story title, blurb. The rest I ignored unless I had to read the whole thing to find that. I didn't have time to read that stuff, and honestly not much else is that important.

Would you believe that I got a few subs that didn't even have the story title in the email? I had to look at the attachment to find it to put in my spreadsheet. I'd say fewer than half of the people provided all of that basic information in a way that was easily accessible or well organized.

What I did get in the cover letters: childhood stories, best friend stories, and a detailed life story rather than a 150-word bio.

I got one het sub, too, which was interesting since I'm pretty sure it was clear I was looking for gay or lesbian stories.

And I've just scratched the surface on reading.

I'll do another post just on the odd stuff people mentioned that they probably shouldn't have.

Word Counts - Today: 300 | June: 11,853 | 2009: 122,899

I spent a bit of this week doing a few shorts based on prompts and I've got them posted over on my website. None of them have been edited, so please forgive any typos or errors. Feel free to point them out so I can correct them. I always feel incredibly nervous posting stories. *chews fingernails* 

What's for Dinner? (1600 words, June 8, 2009)– written from prompts: Elevator, trip, klutz, grin for Addison Albright

Going to the Zoo  – NSFW (2200, June 12, 2009) — written from prompts: Nate & Cory, zoo, rubber band, ice cream, elephant (for  )

Pineapples & Chocolate — NSFW (2300, June 13, 2009) — written from prompts: ecstatic, tuba, goldfish, nut sundae, greivous, craptastic, fire truck, pencil, pineapple and dinosaur

Ficlet request form to get your own.

25K in 30 days progress

Word Counts - Today: 0 | June: 11,553 | 2009: 122,599

I never did post the final version:

Skeptical and straight-laced Blake isn’t so sure about attending a Christmas Eve Party at a BDSM club. He’s never gone in for any of that kink, but he wants to humor Jay as they spend their first Christmas together. Despite his initial aversion, Blake’s powerfully drawn to the scene and eager to experiment. AfterJay reveals a startling secret from his past, he gives in to Blake’s request to play, and receives a gift more precious than he ever expected.

If all goes well, this will be in a BDSM Christmas anthology from Phaze edited by  !

Word Counts - Today: 2,000 | June: 11,553 | 2009: 122,599

SEX, LIES & WEDDING BELLS is half price today only as part of Ravenous Romance's FIVE-STAR FRIDAYS!  Every Friday they feature a book that got 5-star reviews and let you buy for only $2.49. How can you go wrong for a full-length novel that's a Coffee Time Recommended Read?

Check it out!

I'm hanging out today at

torquere_social

  and on Beth Wylde's Yahoo group during her month-long Pride celebration, featuring GLBT authors and publishers! 

cassandra_gold

  will be joining me, to celebrate her brand new release today SAVING CIARAN from Cobblestone Press. (I'll update with direct link once it goes live)

Word Counts - Today: 2,000 | June: 11,553 | 2009: 122,599

Writing Update/Free Read tomorrow

I turned off the phone, twitter and the internet this evening to force myself to concentrate and managed about 1600 words. The good news is that I’ll be putting that up as a free read on Friday. It’s a Nate & Cory ficlet for  based on the prompts she submitted. Actually it’s 2000 words, so it’s a bit more than a ficlet!  I’m continuing on this story and it will be quite a bit longer and hopefully Torquere will take it as a sequel to my Sip “A Heat.Seeking.Missile.”

If you want to request a ficlet (they’re averaging 1500 words, so I don’t really know what to call them!) the form is here.

Current word count for June stands at

That puts me about 400 words behind where I should be, but I’m not worried. The ideas are flowing!

EVENTS

On Friday I’m doing two chats. I’ll be co-hosting with

cassandra_gold

over on Beth Wylde’s Yahoo Group, and I’ll be at the Torquere LJ Social! I’m planning to do a shorter ficlet from prompts I’ll be taking during the day and writing something in the afternoon. Here are the links:

Beth Wylde’s Yahoo Group
LJ community

Word Counts - Today: 1,700 | June: 9,553 | 2009: 120,599

I'm working on another blurb. This is for NEW TRICKS, the BDSM story I just sent for the Phaze anthology. Let me know what you think of it? Does it get your interest? Would you want to read this? Anything I should change, or add that you don't see here? Also, Broad Horizons is a BDSM club where all the stories are set, which would be clear to anyone reading the blurb on the antho sell page… but I've got a second version where's more specific.

2nd draft,:
hopefully addressing pronoun issues….

Skeptical and straight-laced Blake isn't so sure about attending Broad Horizons' Christmas Eve Party. He's never gone in for any of that kink, but he wants to humor Jay as they spend their first Christmas together. Despite his initial aversion, Blake's powerfully drawn to the scene and eager to experiment. After Jay reveals a hidden secret from his past, he gives in to Blake's request to play, and in the end receives a gift more precious than he ever expected.

Another version (differences in purple)

Skeptical and straight-laced Blake isn't so sure about attending a Christmas Eve Party at a BDSM club. He's never gone in for any of that kink, but he wants to humor Jay as they spend their first Christmas together. Despite his initial aversion, Blake's powerfully drawn to the scene and eager to experiment. After Jay reveals a hidden secret from his past, he gives in to Blake's request to play, and in the end receives a gift more precious than he ever expected.

All comments and suggestions are greatly appreciated.

1st draft

Skeptical and straight-laced Blake isn't so sure about attending Broad Horizons' Christmas Eve Party. He's never gone in for any of that kink, but he wants to humor Jay as they spend their first Christmas together. Despite his initial aversion, he's powerfully drawn to the scene and eager to experiment. After Jay reveals a hidden secret from his past, he's willing to play, and in the end Jay receives a gift more precious than he ever expected.

Word Counts - Today: 1,700 | June: 9,553 | 2009: 120,599

I took the "what fantasy writer are you?" quiz. Be warned, it takes about 15 minutes to complete. Lots of questions with answers you really have to think about. They really should put the info for average time needed to complete quiz based on actual data. Oops, sorry I got a bit geeky there.

I am apparently Orson Scott Card, who I'm sure is not a favorite of many visiting my LJ.  WTF? How did I end up most like him?

This is how they defined me: Congratulations! You are Low-Brow, Peaceful, Experimental and Cynical!

Ok, I will agree with some of that but the way they determined a few of these wasn't done very well. However, I do like being confirmed as cynical.

Take the quiz yourself: http://www.helloquizzy.com/tests/which-fantasy-writer-are-you

Word Counts - Today: 500 | June: 7,853 | 2009: 118,899

I finally got the BDSM story I wrote for a Phaze antho sent off to the editor. Yes, way past deadline. At least it's done. I had to cut out a few scenes and rework in order keep under 20k. I don't want to see this story again for a long time.

final count 19826. See, I didn't go over!

So, in the past 2 days I've only managed another 1500 words. Starting tomorrow it's back to new stuff so the word count should really pick up!

As of Day 9 in the 25k in 30 days challenge

I'm about 1000 words behind the average daily word count I need to make (833/day). Not too hard to make that up.

It's late and I'm too tired to even come up with a blurb for it..yikes I forgot that. Tomorrow!

Word Counts - Today: 1,800 | June: 7,353 | 2009: 118,399

I've decided to extend the deadline on my GLBT Fairy Tales anthology until at least June 15. I got so many F/F stories and I need more M/M versions of fairy tales! Please feel free to repost or forward this information. Thank you. More details and specifics on how to submit a story at my website.

GLBT Fairy Tales Erotic Romance Anthology

Publisher: Ravenous Romance
Editor: EM Lynley
Payment: Royalties
Email: lynley.editor @ gmail.com
Length: 3,500 – 10,000 words
Deadline: June 15, 2009 or until spots filled – query ASAP if you need an extension
Publication Date: July 2009

All stories should be based on traditional or original fairy tales, but with a GLBT slant. Here's your chance to spice up some favorite childhood tales in a way you've never seen before, but always wanted to tell the story! Feel free to use non-European tales as a base. Here are a couple of great resources for inspiration: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_fairy_tales and http://www.surlalunefairytales.com/talesindex.html

Currently accepting only M/M stories as there has been an abundance of F/F queries and subs. CLOSED to F/F subs unless you have previously queried.

All stories must have an erotic element, with a preference for romance over pure erotica. That means there should be a relationship between the characters beyond merely a sexual one. The sex should have emotion and I want to feel that along with the characters. These are fairy tales so there should be HEA or HFN, whichever is more appropriate for your story.

More details and specifics on how to submit a story at my website.

Word Counts - Today: 1,800 | June: 7,353 | 2009: 118,399

As of last night, I'm at a stil-disappointing

I will definitely get more words done today. *keeps repeating to self*

I did manage to post the first custom ficlet, written for  !  It's called What's for Dinner, and you can read it here.

Don't forget to request your own!  I have the next one, for  almost done. Expect it later this week!

Word Counts - Today: 800 | June: 5,553 | 2009: 116,599