And I'm spent...

The last 2 months have been a bit insane. I got roped into this crazy submission call, originally proposed by my critique partner. The submission call involved fairy tale retelling with *drumroll* zombies!

I know what you're going to say next: "But Landra you hate, and I mean despise with every ounce of your being, zombies."

I'm also aware of this fact, and... did I mention I was dragged into this by my critique partner. The conversation went a bit like this:

Her: This is insane but, Entangled has a call for fairy tale retelling zombie romance short story/novellas for Halloween. It's got my creativity flowing.

Me: What's this crazy idea you're having? I like it.

Her: We should each write a story for submission. It's due by July 31st. Doing it together will act as motivation.

Me: But we have less than 2 months to write it.

Her: That's right. 1 week to brainstorm, 1 week to plot, 2 weeks to write, 2 weeks to edit, and 1 week of wiggle room I think we can do it.

Me: It would definitely be an experience for deadlines and writing short stories.

Her: So you're in?

Me: Uh... yeah.

Alright flash forward about a week later and she texts me.

I just remembered something: You hate zombies. Like they seriously creep you out. How are you doing with this?

I told her as long as the good guys get to win I can do this.

Then things got crazy. I brainstormed, plotted, and then lost my touch. It took about a week to get back in the groove. Then I wrote (kickin' and screamin' all the way) until I thought everything was crap. I wrote some more, and sent the pieces of the story to my lovely CP to rip apart. In between the power outages, heat waves, monsoons, and random disasters I managed to finish the story and begin edits. The last 4 days were probably the worst, and then I had to write a query.

Bottom line of this crazy rant: I. Did. It. I submitted the story. I'm ready for rejection. I learned a ton of things through writing and editing, which I'll include in another post. But regardless of what happens this is a learning experience and even if it does go beyond a standard form letter telling me to try, try again I know that I can.

What this means for you, dear reader, I'm back. Give me a week to recover, but after that be ready for review time. If you've emailed me be ready for a response.

Funday Monday- December 6th, 2011

Greetings everyone! It's Monday, and since it's almost Christmas (19 days and counting) here's a little video of some lights and one of my favorite songs!

Now for other exciting things to do on this Monday. Let's start with a couple of blog contests.

5. The 12 days of Bookmas! The lovely ladies at BookEnds, LLC are hosting their 2nd annual 12 days of Bookmas contest on their blog. Each weekday (business day) there will be a clue posted at noon. Subsequent clues are available on their clients blogs which they have provided a list to here. The first one to guess the book correctly wins a prize. Check it out, but remember you have to be quick!

4. The 12 (Historical) Days of Christmas! Another 12- themed contest is being hosted by Rita at Not Another Romance Blog and Danielle at Ramblings from this Chick blog. This contest is honestly about posting comments and reading some very inventive stories as 24 authors pair up together and provide fun tales based on 12 different themes. For more details check out Rita's post.

3. Continuing on this 12 days theme we have an awesome free read that you can find on The Season. The 12 days of Christmas anthology is a collaboration of 12 authors (who would've guessed) each with a story based on 1 of the 12 days of Christmas. Originally released in 2008, it's still a fun holiday read. Get it here. Featured authors include: Jackie Barbosa, Kay Gregory, Kate Austin, and Sherryl Hoyt. 

2. Got a Geek Story? Well, Entangled publishing is holding open submissions for Romance+Geek= Happily Ever After. Dust off the typewriter, and grab you a 24-pack of Dr. Pepper, Mt. Dew and a little spiked eggnog. Deadline for submission is Jan. 15th, 2012. So, there's time to take a couple of days off for a little Christmas feast. More details can be found here.

1. Finally let's talk flash mobs. I knew they existed but never spent enough time researching them on YouTube. Let's just say today is a good time to check it out. There are tons of videos- some good, some bad- available and you can't help but marvel at the power of music. People from all walks getting involved to dance, sing, or both. If you're a music lover like me then some of these videos may just give you a little feel good this Monday.

Submission Day!

Well, deadline day is here. The final day to submit to Phoenix's 'Extinct Doesn't Mean Forever Anthology'. I am proud to say that I got my submission done in time.
I submitted, and now have pins and needles rolling through my stomach as I wait.

Good luck to everyone else out there who submitted too. For those still toiling away, I hope you get your submission done before the stroke of midnight. Hey, if Cinderella caught her prince in the same amount of time then anything's possible.

For now I am off to Helium this evening to rate a few articles.

Catch ya on the flipside!

Countdown is on!

Yes, that's right! "It's the Final Countdown!" (da da da... da da da da), and you all know that I am humming the music outloud.
Only two weeks to finish polishing my submission to Phoenix's "Extinct Doesn't Mean Forever" Anthology.
See the details here: http://phoenixsullivan.blogspot.com/p/extinct-call-for-submissions.html
The deadline is Jan. 31st and I have been toiling away for the last couple of months getting my submission written, edited, and polished. While I am trying very hard to submit days before the deaded submission closing, I fear that I will end up coming in at the last second.

For those who have already submitted I wish you luck. For those, like me, still challenging themselves to get their work in before end of the month I salute you!