My Projects
January 16, 2012 | 
Author The following is a post I made on my favorite writers’ forum – Accentuate Writers. I’m inspired to do a lot with my writing career this year, and it all starts with BIC (butt in chair) writing time every day. I haven’t been as diligent as I should be yet, but my gears are grinding and beginning to catch.
2012 Writing Resolutions
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1 – Finish LAFFN and get that novel ready for submission.
2 – Submit it somewhere.
3 – Finish Dream Walkers
4 – Submit that somewhere
5 – By Feb 29, have 7 short stories circulating submissions at ALL times.
6 – Stay on schedule with my fiction blog.
7 – Break into the erotica market in some fashion.
8 – Complete NaNoWriMo again.
9 – Gain a decent following/readership on all 3 of my pen names.
10 – By Dec 31, make some sort of a living from fiction writing… yeah… you heard me… I’m shooting for the moon.
Posted in 
I have two stories in this amazing anthology from Twin Trinity
Ray Bradbury inspires enough writers, I would think, with his worldwide success and proliferation of short stories and novels. The people over at Write 1 Sub 1 grabbed hold of his idea about how to get published frequently and ran with it.
Write one story in a week, and sub one story in that same week. (Most likely not the same story!) Crazy? You can watch Ray Bradbury side-stepping blow-up godzillas as he wanders around his house wearing white shorts (at least I hope they’re shorts) on Youtube and think… well… yes, a little bit crazy.
But writers are supposed to be a bit crazy, aren’t we? Something enters our mind and it sinks it’s gleaming, scythe-like claws into whatever bit of gray stuff that controls creativity and doesn’t let go until we type it out. Bradbury started writing young, got rejected plenty of times, and went on to publish sometimes more than forty shorts in a year. That is simply awesome, stupendous, uber 
Writing a short story each week for the rest of the year seems rather daunting, but I know I can do it because I used to do it. I used to whip out a new short story every week, then set it aside and let it molder. Most of them are trunked now. Some of them have been tweaked and polished.
Those are the ones I will start submitting.
I’m coming late to the game on this “Write 1 Sub 1″ blog plan. Many other writers started at the beginning of the year. There is no catching up, but there is catching the wave. Starting Monday, I will dust off a completed story, send it out somewhere appropriate and start work on another.
My biggest problem now is that many of my short stories end up as novels. I can’t deal with another novel right now.
It’s a thrill to receive a book you are published in. Squealing like a school girl when the box thumped on the porch. Rushing outside to grab it fast enough to make the postman chuckle. “My book!” I exclaimed, waving it in his direction. He just smiled and plodded back to his truck. 
“Elements of Dimension” is the third anthology of themes short stories and poetry from the Accentuate Writer short story contest, published by Twin Trinity Media. Included among the other excellent stories and poems are two of my pieces:
“Death Obeyed” is a classic fantasy tale of immortality, spells gone wrong, monstrous mishaps and revenge. My poem, “Tale of a Suburban Dungeon” should feel familiar to anyone who ever played D&D or other table-top role-playing games as a kid. It’s quirky. It rhymes. Enjoy.
Twenty-seven other short stories and poems transport readers to secretive space ships, introduce them to dead detectives and flamboyant fashion-loving leprechauns, elvish royalty and aliens. There is something for everyone who enjoys speculative fiction in this book.
“Elements of Dimension” can be purchased through Amazon, Books-a-Million, your local book store or direct from Twin Trinity Media. Get your copy now.
It’s sometimes hard to figure out what to stick on my writer’s site and what to leave off. There are plenty of things I’d love to share with you guys, but I don’t want my website to become cluttered.
Now that I am a full-time fiction writer, I need to focus more on getting the most from my writer’s website real estate. Getting information from the Muse Online Conference helps a bit, though I have such a background in marketing and web development that I’m pretty sure about what I have to do. I just have to tweak my brain away from creating and crafting to the more mundane business side of things.
Things Needed on a Writer’s Website
- Books and other publications (if you have them)
- General info about you, the author
- Information about your genre(s)
- A blog, which can include all that other stuff
- Ways for your readers to keep in contact with you (RSS, blog, newsletter)
That is my next step: a newsletter. And then I have to figure out where to put the signup on my site.
…and coming up kinda goopy.
I’m not that good at poetry. I don’t consider myself a poet. I have written a few poems over the past few years, but I don’t see myself being published or inspiring anyone with my verse.
The Accentuate Dimensions book needs a few good poems, however, and I am trying to whip something up. Since it is in the fantasy genre, I considered penning some epic tale of heroic deeds and adventures, but I think there is a line limit, so that won’t work. Besides I only have 1.5 weeks to get my Vampire Santa story done, and I do need to make headway on both my novel and novella by the end of the month as well. They both have to be done by Christmas without a doubt.
So… my fantasy poem turned into a vaguely humorous free-verse about some kids playing a RPG in the basement of one of their houses. As it stand right now, it rather stinks, but I think I could do a little polishing. I’ll probably make it rhyme. For some reason, I like rhyming.
Back to work!
Oh to heck with it… it’s just procrastination.
I’m lazy when it comes to working for myself. I’ve done it for years, and always (usually) managed to get everything done, but I procrastinate like there’s an eternity of tomorrows and no one counting on me.
I’m doing the same thing now. Perhaps, as I mentioned in a previous post, it is fear that is holding me back. What if my writing is not good enough? What if I can’t make it as a fiction writer?
Well, the simple answer is that I will just go back to doing what I did before. And really, it’s that simple. All my income sources are still there and still making as much money as they ever did. There is no risk.
But there is a risk to my feelings, my psyche. What will happen if I find out I can’t get one darn thing published? Not one agent interested in my novels or one magazine or anthology interested in my short stories? How will I feel then?
Elements of Time
Available from Twin Trinity Media.
Elements of Dimension continues the Twin Trinity short story anthology series with more top-quality stories and poems. This book explores the themes of science fiction, fantasy and reality. I have one short story, "Death Obeyed," and one poem, "Tale of the Suburban Dungeon" in this book.
"Elements of Time" short story anthology is available now. It features winning stories from the Accentuate Services contests plus themed poetry. Two of M. Lori Motley's short stories, "Inescapable" and "No Time Like Now," are included.
"Elements of Soul" short story anthology is available now. It features fifteen winning stories from the Accentuate Services contests plus themed poetry. Two of M. Lori Motley's short stories, "Summer Heat" and "Flood of Tears," are included.