Onwards and Upwards

So I know quite a few people have been wondering what been going on with me. I know, majorly long time since anything from me. Not even one of my ill fated Big Blog Posts to fill in the weeks since my last post. To be honest, for the most part there wasn’t much to update.

Physical therapy is kicking my butt, I had a lot of muscle atrophy when I was in the hospital. Most of the week is recovering and resting from the 2 hours I do a week. I had a bit of a SNAFU with my white bloods cells not too long after my last post that has taken almost up until now to fix. There was a lot of changes in meds, treatments to get my white blood cells back to normal. So, its been busy, but nothing noteworthy. Or at least I didn’t think it was. I was just planning to stay out of things till i was back to about 75% again.

But I have some fairly big news. One is that for an indeterminate amount of time, this will be the last personal post here. If I have news or info that about my writing, I’ll post, but I’ll soon have my hands full that I just won’t have the time to keep this up to date.

The reason for that is I will soon be working over at Choate Road in a more significant role. Also, I think the July update of Choate Road will be the last Prescott’s Pulpit. We have some really fun and interesting things being worked on over there so keep your eyes peeled, because I promise that before summer is over, big things are going to happen there.

Other than that, just still recuperating from the transplant, trying to make sure I can get to Necon in July. I hoping to be able to stand for extended periods of time before I get there. There is a lot of standing at Necon.

So, for now, as He-Man said in the movie,

Good Journey,

W. D. Prescott

My Cart O’ Graphy (What A Graphy Is, I Don’t Know)

Many friends and fellow writers do Work In Progress Wednesday. It seems to work for them and as I am slowly getting back into my writing again, I thought I would give it a shot. New year, new me (sort of), new method to my madness.

One writer friend of mine has started work on a collection of short stories. I have wanted to do a collection for a while. When I was listen to details, I started thinking about my fictional setting, Lucin City, and my “in limbo” blog, Scattered Tales. I decided that what i need to do is a massive world building exercise and try to flesh out the setting more before I work on anything.

First step: Mapmaking

I already have a few stories and the first draft of my novel that has descriptions of key locations around the city. I made a rough map based on those descriptions that looks more like a flow chart than a map. Right now I’m in the middle of drawing a more detailed map using templates I found a while ago. What i hope to do is have a lots of blank buildings that I can use as settings for stories. If they are next to ones have used I will know what to incorporate to make the setting seem unified through all the stories.

Once that is done and start writing stories, on of the first ones will be what may actually turn into a novella. It’s a story I started way back in college and was where I created the setting of Lucin City. I still love reading the first sentences about the city in that story. It is also a prequel story to the novel I write for my Masters degree. As I work and finish other stories, I’ll submit them to markets. If they get accepted, great. If not, they will have a home in the collection or possibly Scattered Tales.

I also have ideas for a few anthology projects I’ve seen recently. The hard part is that the medicine I’m on makes me drowsy enough to make writing difficult. Do I try to push through and write for them, or concentrate on the collection? That is the question I still need to answer before the deadlines.

Life Progressions: The Writing

I woke up this morning and didn’t realize I had closed my mail client at some point in my sleepy haze (anyone who spends enough time with me takes on average 4 hours to get out of. I’m not that much of a morning person). When I did, one of the greatest emails was waiting for me.

The acceptance of “January” for the Dead Bells anthology by Library of Horror Press!

My goal for at least one sale this year was met. Next year is two (meanwhile what me fail around like maniac trying to work on something like 32 submissions, haha). Now it’s just down to working with the wonderful Jodi Lee on what edits she suggests.

Let’s just say, today I have been really giddy!

In other news, I’m shelving Scavenger. After a lot of debate with myself and a great correspondence with friend and mentor, Mike Arnzen, I decided that, to do the book justice, it needs to be completely rewritten after I have been able to detach from it completely. So, for NaNo, I’m going to do a number of flash piece, short stories, chap books, and possible an old novella idea or two. All of which will be set in my fictional town of Lucin City. After that, I’m probably going to work on the first of my Rock ‘n’ Roll themed books. Hopefully, during that time, I can get a hold of one of the local roller derby teams here and get the research I need for the book after Scavenger.

Check back, as soon as I get more information on Dead Bells, I’ll post it here.

Next part teaser: Find out how one person has changed my life.

Still Tainted One Year Later

Today marks one year that Tainted: Tales of Terror and the Supernatural was published. I didn’t even think to check on how many have been sold up to now. I have had way too much on my mind. I know I have bought my fair share for the signing in June, a couple I promised I would get, and some that people paid me in advance. In think in all about 50 are out in the world from my own self-promotion that I know. Could be more, might be less. One thing I will say, self-promotion is damn hard, even worse when you are a shy guy, more so still when you worked in a mall and saw how much those kiosk workers are built up to latch on to a potential customer. I don’t want to be that kind of seller.

See, I find that trying to make a person buy your product, no matter how good you are is a 50/50 shot in the dark. I say that because when I was working at Borders I was selling books left and right just by talking to the customers as if I didn’t work there. I don’t know, maybe my personality is one that works best reading the rules, throwing out the idiotic ones, and then improvising with what I know. I seem to take the same thing with my writing. I never really self promote myself saying “hey, I’m published here you should go read it!” Not a self-confidence thing either, in fact, I get too many compliments on my writing to be able to delude myself that I’m not good. Though, it is still really hard for me to take a compliment. I like to think that if a person will reread my story at least once in their life, that says it all, or if I were to ever get one of those great fan letters you see other writers talk of on how this story or that book moved/helped/changed a person, well then I think life would be complete right there.

What can I say, I have simple and modest dreams.

But what is kinda scary is that a year has come and passed. All I’ve got at this point is one story. Granted, the last year was full of family and medical distractions up to and through the summer, and I went on a busy Con season (for me at least) during the summer too. I only really have started my writing for the year. And sweet baby Jesus in bondage gear is it a lot. If you want a full account, check out the interview I did with my friend Dhympna du Maurier at her blog, Culinary Carnival. It is a lot and this may be the last post from me for at least October. Though, there will be a wonderful blog post by the Dark Fantasy Mistress, Louise Bohmer, later this month.

I wonder if all the work I’m trying to finish is not a way to make up for the lost time I had the rest of this year? I mean, I would like to think that at some point my writing chops with get faster and stronger and I will become prolific, but really, what was going though my head. And the trouble is that I could easily give up any of them, set them aside for another time. I mean, I’m not under contract or anything. But I love all of these stories and I want you all to have a chance to read them and those that have yet to hear of me. I want to splurge imagination on you. I want to give you the diverse insanity that is my mind in stories that will, if not terrify you, make you think how even the ordinary can become evil and extraordinary.

So, I leave you with my favorite season, favorite holiday, a time where the world becomes my inspiration and I get very distracted. I go to work for you, those that have read my blog for this whole year, for those that have read “The Tethering” in Tainted and have been waiting for more, and for those that have done both. And from the depths of madness stricken heart, thank you for your support and being kick ass creatures of the night!

~ W. D. Prescott