Yoked to the cubicle

Really didn’t want to come in to work today. Seems like the more time I get off, the harder it is to drag myself back into the office. Seems counterintuitive, doesn’t it?

The Freon in our A/C froze again yesterday. It only does that when the contraption thinks we’re working it too hard. The last time it happened was last year when we had a houseful of guests, again in the middle of summer, and all the extra bodies radiating heat overstrained it. We changed the filter and Matthew went out and dumped some water on the hose thingy, which thawed it–the same thing we did last time. After an hour or two, it kicked back in, but for a while, our house was getting rather muggy. Hobkin was displeased. It worries me that our A/C is so touchy. Aside from changing the filter periodically (which we don’t do as often as we should), I don’t know anything about the care and feeding of air conditioning units.

On a related note, the news people kept saying that today would be the hottest day of the year. And, for a sprinkling of irony, the A/C is cranked so low at my place of business that I was cold. I keep a cardigan there to combat the ever-changing thermostat levels, but normally it doesn’t see much use in the summer months. I wore it for most of the morning today.

Also struggling to rid myself of a major headache. Not sure if it’s sinus, caffeine, or vascular in origin, so I downed coffee, Sudafed, and Ibuprofen, hoping that something would deaden it. That pain management philosophy resulted in a queasy stomach, the jitters, and a sniffly nose, all compounded by a total lack of respite from pain. Stupid headache.

Writing Stuff:
Forty-six critiques on my current Critters offering. There might be one or two more trickling in tomorrow, but I think I’ve got a good grasp on what the overall opinion set is. This pair of tales was very well received. As such, I decided not to wait to do a final shine and polish of one of the stories. It’s packaged in the mail and on its way to Cricket. Bon voyage little myth!

I hope the Cricket Magazine Group folks don’t think I’m glutting them. I’ve declared a self-imposed limit of three submissions to them, of which no more than two can be to Cricket, but I very much hope that’s not two too many. I wonder if it would be prudent to ask my editor there how many submissions at a time they like to see from their writers? Gosh, what a novel concept, ask rather than stew and fret about it until I’m on the verge of neurosis! Snort.

No words achieved on the “Island Love Story.” I meant to finish it this weekend, but I was struck down by a headache yesterday (possibly the same one I’m suffering from today) and spent most of my time slumped over on the couch. I’m not stressing about it. I’m so close to “the end” I can taste it. It’s just a matter of adhering butt to chair and hammering those few hundred words out.

Instead, when I was in the “able to marginally function” zone, hovering between the effective doses of Sudafed and Extra Strength Excedrin, I finished the overhaul rewrite of the trunked story. Then I discovered that the anthology I intended it for doesn’t open until next month, so I sent it out to another market. Figured it might as well be under consideration somewhere while I wait for the reading period to open. And if it sells before then, well that’s all to the good.

In other marketing news, The Strand has closed to unsolicited subs. They’ve had a story of mine for nearly seventeen months. Does that mean they’re finally going to go through their damn slush?? Also, Challenging Destiny is switching from a print mag to an electronic one, which knocks it down a tier on my “preferred markets” hierarchy. I’ve loosened up on my “only submit to print markets” policy, obviously, as I’ve sold several works to online publications, but I still prefer the feel and look of paper. And my compulsive checking of the Here & Now website keeps resulting in frustration. The site hasn’t been updated since April. If they’ve published issue five which was supposed to see light in May, they’re awfully quiet about it. My story “When the Lights Go Out” is slated for issue six which is supposed to be out in August. And I’ve got two more stories with them, waiting for publication. I really hope they don’t fold, especially before they can publish (and pay me for!) those tales.

Hell, while I’m venting and grousing, I’m still waiting on the Blasphemy antho to hit print. And yes, there are still no royalties to be had from Asylum 3.

I’m apparently in a resoundingly grumpy mood.