August Contest Winners - Week One

Congratulations to Laurel, Gloria, and Wendy...first week winners of a FREE PRINT COPY of my book Heroes Die Young! You'll be receiving an e-mail shortly to coordinate delivery.

It was a bit interesting to see the lack of response last week. I would have thought more people would want to have a FREE PRINT COPY of a book, no strings attached. Hopefully there will be more response in the second week. Posted notices with new questions will be out tomorrow, so stay tuned...

Weekly Goals - August 5, 2008

Results for this week:

1. Not Completed - need to return a story back to editing
2. Not Completed - working edits
3. Completed - actually finished all of them
4. Completed - have reached the end of available e-mail queries
5. Revised one chapter of Death Brings the Victory [added]
6. Contacted three bookstores for Heroes Die Young signings [added]

And now the goals for the coming week:

1. Complete final draft of "A Time for Truth"
2. Re-start edits of "Double Trouble"
3. Revise two chapters of Death Brings the Victory
4. Complete first draft of "Borne Leadership"
5. Contact three bookstores for Heroes Die Young signings

Submission status for the week:

Short stories:
"Entrapment" (since April 25)
"Redemption" (since June 14)
"Greed" (since May 15)

HEROES LAUGH LAST:
4 queries remaining

Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals

Weekly Contest

Be sure to check out AstonWest.com for your chance to win a free print copy of HEROES DIE YOUNG!!! Winners will be posted here each Friday during the remainder of August...stay tuned.

9 days

When an agent requests a partial, says it may take 2 months to review, and then rejects it in 9 days, is it safe to assume they thought it sucked?

Weekly Goals - July 29, 2008

Results for this week:

1. Completed
2. Not started
3. Completed
4. Completed
5. Completed

And now the goals for the coming week:

1. Submit short story to an outlet
2. Complete final draft of a short story
3. Review five chapters of Death Brings the Victory
4. Submit queries to three more agents for Heroes Laugh Last

Submission status for the week:

Short stories:
"Entrapment" (since April 25)
"Redemption" (since June 14)
"Greed" (since May 15)

HEROES LAUGH LAST:
1 partial (since July 21)
4 queries remaining

Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals

Weekly Goals - July 22, 2008

Been a rather successful week...and as you can see, I'm in full swing on promotional items for Heroes Die Young. The book comes out in September, so the next 6 weeks are going to be a busy time.

Results for this week:

1. Completed (just tonight)
2. Completed
3. Completed
4. Submitted queries to three agents for Heroes Laugh Last [added]
[Already received one request for partial and one rejection, waiting on the third response]
5. Completed sell sheet and press release for Heroes Die Young [added]
6. Submitted partial to agent for Heroes Laugh Last [added]
7. Developed bookmarks for Heroes Die Young [added]

And now the goals for the coming week:

1. Develop business cards for Heroes Die Young
2. Develop giveaway button designs for Heroes Die Young
3. Develop t-shirt designs for Heroes Die Young
4. Review first three chapters of Death Brings the Victory
5. Submit queries to three more agents for Heroes Laugh Last

Submission status for the week:

Short stories:
"Entrapment" (since April 25)
"Redemption" (since June 14)
"Obedience" (Rejected, re-submitted July 17, ACCEPTED July 21)
"Greed" (since May 15)

Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals

Getting Honest With Yourself

Have been pondering this post lately...and figured now is as good a time as any to put it together.

As a fiction writer, honesty is something that has to be used carefully. Honesty is good, but when it gets in the way, the story has to take precedence. The good guy doesn't win, the leading lady doesn't pick the guy she needs to in the end, and all the best laid plans in the world end up failing miserably. That's honest reality (most of the time).

But to be honest, that has nothing at all to do with this post...

As a writer, I have to be honest with myself on my shortcomings as said writer. If I don't, I'll never succeed as a writer because without improving my skills, those offers for representation and/or publication will never come.

So, what is my biggest issue in my writing?

I'd have to say that's using an appropriate level of description. I suffer this while writing and reading both. When I read a book, I tend to skip over the parts I don't feel add anything. That in itself would be okay (one doesn't need to be overly descriptive or it's going to be just as bad), but in my case, I tend to omit A LOT of detail in my writing. I see things in my head, but translating them onto the written page often baffles me. Why should it matter (so I ask myself) what types of furniture are in the room? You can relay character traits through this information (as an example), but in my head, I see it as useless excess and skip over it.

So, they say the first step in solving a problem is to admit you have it...so hopefully this will lead to my full and total recovery.

And I recommend writers everywhere take up this challenge: What is your biggest issue in your writing? Be honest with yourself, and see if it helps you improve.

Take Cover!!!

Lo and behold, what did I find in my e-mail inbox this morning, but the final cover for Heroes Die Young. Fun times!

And here it is, for all (two) of you to enjoy.

Weekly Goals - July 15, 2008

Been a busy boy this week, but unfortunately not toward my posted goals. Instead, I've been hashing out final proofs and cover art (post coming) with my publisher.

Results for this week:

1. No farther than last week
2. Completed, now with some betas
3. Not started
4. Completed proof corrections and forwarded to publisher [added]
5. Completed cover suggestions and forwarded to publisher [added]
6. Finished reading Bloody Mary by J.A. Konrath [added]

And now the goals for the coming week:

1. Complete the first draft for a new short story
2. Complete short synopsis for Friends in Deed
3. Review plot notes for Death Brings the Victory

Submission status for the week:

Short stories:
"Entrapment" (since April 25)
"Redemption" (since June 14)
"Obedience" (since May 15)
"Greed" (since May 15)

Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals

Weekly Goals - July 8, 2008

Results for this week:

1. Completed.
2. No farther than last week
3. First draft completed, working revisions

And now the goals for the coming week:

1. Complete the first draft for a new short story
2. Complete final draft of the synopsis for Friends in Deed
3. Review plot notes for Death Brings the Victory

Submission status for the week:

Short stories:
"Entrapment" (since April 25)
"Redemption" (since June 14)
"Obedience" (since May 15)
"Greed" (since May 15)

Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals

Maybe Someone Should Invent a Time Machine

Why is it that spacecraft built decades ago perform better than those built today? We could send a spacecraft to the edge of this solar system, but we can't get half of the ones we send (today) to Mars to function properly?

The Waiting Game

It seems as though things have been changing with my submissions. It used to be I'd receive a fairly quick response from outlets (usually rejections). Now, it seems like the time-to-respond is more in the realm of months (according to the listing I put down every week). I imagine it's because these outlets are getting swamped with submissions and have no time to read...but a writer wannabe as myself can always dream, and think my material has improved to the point where people are giving it more thought before rejecting it.

Who knows?

Weekly Goals - July 1, 2008

Results for this week:

1. Completed, and started on final revisions.
2. Not much farther, still about halfway through
3. Worked some revisions to the synopsis, but still not completed

And now the goals for the coming week:

1. Complete the final draft of Friends in Deed
2. Complete the first draft for a new short story
3. Complete final draft of the synopsis for Friends in Deed

Submission status for the week:

Short stories:
"Entrapment" (since April 25)
"Redemption" (since June 14)
"Obedience" (since May 15)
"Greed" (since May 15)

Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals

...and a Dollar Short

(Or Weekly Goals - June 24, 2008)
Results for this week:

1. Started revisions on one chapter of Friends in Deed, not completed
2. Halfway through the first draft of a new short story
3. Query completed, first draft of synopsis completed

And now the goals for the coming week:

1. Revise three chapters of Friends in Deed (and complete the current set of revisions)
2. Complete the first draft for a new short story
3. Complete final draft of the synopsis for Friends in Deed

Submission status for the week:

Short stories:
"Entrapment" (since April 25)
"Redemption" (since June 14)
"Obedience" (since May 15)
"Greed" (since May 15)

Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals

Weekly Goals - June 17, 2008

Results for this week:

1. Revised two chapters of Friends in Deed
2. Completed the final draft of "Double Trouble"
3. In work, not completed

And now the goals for the coming week:

1. Revise three chapters of Friends in Deed (and complete the current set of revisions)
2. Complete first draft for new short story
3. Complete the query and synopsis for Friends in Deed

Submission status for the week:

Short stories:
"Entrapment" (since April 25)
"Redemption" (rejected, re-submitted June 14)
"Obedience" (since May 15)
"Greed" (since May 15)

Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals

Rejection

I finally received a rejection for my short story "Redemption" after a three-month wait. I'm attempting to decipher the rejection.

Good story but not great. Read all the way through. There's a Fine line between classic, Golden Age SF and predictable writing. This one straddled the fence, so have to pass.

I'm assuming that the writing was "predictable" but without more feedback, I have no idea how.

But I try to take this all in stride. Ray Gun Revival rejected my first story with feedback. I worked their concerns into my next piece and the publication of "Little White Truths" was the result. So, hopefully this particular magazine will be a future home for Aston and his stories. At least they read the whole thing...

Writing Goals - June 10, 2008

Results for this week:

1. Revised two chapters of Friends in Deed
2. Completed a revision of "Double Trouble"
3. Started, not completed

And now the goals for the coming week:

1. Revise two chapters of Friends in Deed
2. Complete final draft for "Double Trouble"
3. Complete first draft for new short story

Submission status for the week:

Short stories:
"Entrapment" (since April 25)
"Redemption" (since February 29)
"Obedience" (since May 15)
"Greed" (since May 15)

Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals

A Prescription for Trouble

It's been a while since I've ranted about anything...so here goes.

I was out and about yesterday afternoon, taking a small road trip (don't worry, not going to be a ran about gas prices). Unfortunately, I also suffer from allergies and with the recent storms and incessant winds around here, they were going nuts. Alas, I hadn't thought to bring along my last remaining pill from my prescription bottle.

Now, a few months ago, I received a notice in the mail (from my insurance company) that the particular brand I use was no longer going to be offered as a prescription, but over-the-counter (which makes them happy, because they no longer cover it on our plan). A while back, I noticed a large stand at Wal-Mart with this particular medicine, so didn't think too much about it.

Well, as I mentioned, I was on a road trip, so wasn't around my home-base Wal-Mart. I went in to pick up the new OTC version. Lo and behold, there wasn't any on the shelves, but instead I find a piece of plastic telling me to take it to the pharmacy counter. I thought that was odd, since I'd seen a big pile of them at the other store.

I take the placard up to the counter, and they immediately ask for my driver's license.

Alas, what I'd failed to realize was that my prescription was for the "D" version of this medicine (for "decongestant"), which contained pseudoephedrine. Thus, my name must go on a federal watchlist, because with all the free time I have between writing and my day job (and foster care, from time to time), I obviously have this wild urge to cook chemicals into drugs.

But not so fast, this is also not my standard Wal-Mart, so they don't have me in their system. It takes somewhere close to ten minutes for the cashier to punch all of my data into the computer, complete with a variety of corrections she had to make while the line built up behind me.

When we finally finished, I asked the cashier if it was going to be such a hassle, why didn't the company just keep it as a prescription? I don't think she understood, based on her vague response to the question.

But I now figure it's only a matter of time before I have the DEA busting down my door. And now, since you've read this post, they have you in their sights as well.

You're welcome.

(Check back soon...I intend to rant about their new packaging scheme, and figure out what the cost difference is)

Weekly Goals - June 3, 2008

Results for this week:

1. Revised two chapters.
2. Not started
3. Finished

And now the goals for the coming week:

1. Revise two chapter of Friends in Deed
2. Revise "Double Trouble"
3. Complete first draft for new short story

Submission status for the week:

Short stories:
"Entrapment" (since April 25)
"Redemption" (since February 29)
"Obedience" (since May 15)
"Greed" (since May 15)

Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals

Weekly Goals - May 27, 2008

Unfortunately, the Memorial Day weekend wasn't as productive as I had hoped.

Results for this week:

1. Not started
2. Completed
3. In work
4. (Not on my original goals) Began reading a new book

And now the goals for the coming week:

1. Revise one chapter of Friends in Deed
2. Revise "Double Trouble"
3. Finish reading The Atlantis Prophecy

Submission status for the week:

Short stories:
"Entrapment" (since April 25)
"Redemption" (since February 29 - still under review, according to the mag)
"Obedience" (since May 15)
"Greed" (since May 15)

Aston West
novels
short stories
writing goals