The title of this post seems to be a bit of a catch-22 doesn’t it? An even bigger question might be, “What the heck are you talking about exactly?” From a writing perspective it simply means this: you cannot get published if you don’t have the confidence in you work to submit it. Now, submitting a story doesn’t guarantee your work will be picked up. Far from it. Chances are extremely good that you will get rejections. It is one of the downsides to being a writer. Still, sending your stories and working to improve your craft will pay dividends. Take me for example. I’ve been submitting my work for several years without success. The rejections hurt and sometimes made […]
Read moreCategory: Irreverent Muse
Balticon 44
It has been more than two weeks since I came home from my first Balticon. I wanted to take some time to really absorb all the things I saw and did before I spent any time talking or writing about them. Let me begin by saying Balticon was something special. Someone very accurately said, “It is like coming home.” As odd as it may sound she was absolutely right. It was home for so many different reasons. Let’s start with the people. I have met many people online over the past year or so. Facebook, Twitter, email. I’ve gotten to know many of them reasonably well. I’ve even had the chance to talk with many of them via Skype for […]
Read moreHitting My Stride
I have finally gotten to the point where I have some reasonable expectation that editors and publishers will read my stuff and not say to themselves “That sucked. Next!”. I’ve been told enough times by people in the know that I can write so I don’t have quite the doubts I used to. That doesn’t mean I expect every single thing I write to be accepted but it has given me the confidence to write stories I wouldn’t necessarily have attempted in the past. A great example of this is GalaxyBillies. I love reading the SciFi and Fantasy with Comedic tropes but I never felt good enough to do it myself. Now I’m doing it and, while it may not […]
Read moreFace-to-Face Meetings
I must confess to a little nervousness as I attended my very first Balticon. On one hand I was REALLY looking forward to meeting all of my online friends (at least the ones in attendance) but on the other that little affliction that affects many writers known as shyness was rearing its ugly head. I took a brief wander through the con, saw a few of the people I recognized and kept going. I was on my way to my room for the first time when I stopped myself. It was time to take myself to task. I asked myself the hard question: why am I here? Now before I go any further, I hope you don’t find it too […]
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