Laptop voyaging and The Town Drunk

According to the FedEx website, my laptop is on the delivery truck in CA, on its way to HP. Waiting waiting waiting. I don’t like waiting.

   


Writing Stuff

With The Town Drunk opening to submissions yesterday, I got my first taste of slush reading. And y’know what? I liked it! How twisted is that? It might be the giddy flush of an exciting new project, but I’m finding it to be both an enlightening and enjoyable experience–no doubt due in great part to the awesome submission system britzkrieg set up. I can understand how slushing could be overwhelming, as I only went through around half a dozen manuscripts yesterday before deciding I wanted to switch gears, which is a pretty small number compared to what folks like JJA or Douglas Cohen doubtless wade through on a daily basis. But I’m all fresh-faced and eager now.

Reading slush is different from reading to critique or review, or reading for pleasure for that matter. With critiques, I’m trying to analyze what worked and what didn’t, and suggest fixes, often reaching into the “what Eugie would do if she’d written this” bin. When reviewing, I’m again focusing on the what worked/didn’t work aspect–without the fix suggestions obviously–and dissecting the story’s component pieces in an effort to convey to an audience the rationale behind my impressions. When I’m reading for enjoyment, I try to distance myself from the mechanics and assorted elements of a story and strive to immerse myself into the tale. If I do pause to consider the technical aspects, it’s usually to admire, appreciate, and catalog them for my future writing consideration. (If I’m picking out what’s wrong with a story I’m reading for pleasure, it’s usually a sign that it’s stopped being pleasurable and I’m about to put it down.) But slushing sort of falls between pleasure reading and review reading. While it’s either a “yes, I liked this” or “nope, pass,” I’m also evaluating whether I think a story will be enjoyed by a larger audience and if it fits into a market’s mission statement/goals. And I’ve begun to have “this writer shows promise even though this story didn’t float my socks. I wonder what their next submission will be like?” thoughts flit through my head, which is pretty cool.

New Words: Did a pair of editing passes on “Beauty’s Folly,” culling about three-hundred words, and packaged it up. Decided not to send it through Critters because I’m feeling cocky–probably a decision I shall regret later. But for now, I’m winging it out to market.

Club 100 For Writers
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30 Responses to Laptop voyaging and The Town Drunk

  1. keesa_renee says:

    I was wondering when you were going to mention your new editorial hat! Congratulations!

    The thing I like best about editing is I finally understand what editors mean when they say something like ‘we liked it, but it’s not for us’. We’ve had a few of those at DKA. So, who writes the rejection letters at Town Drunk? 😉 (We get to foist that off on our Managing Editor. 😀 )

    • Eugie Foster says:

      So, who writes the rejection letters at Town Drunk?

      With the submission process currently in place, all the slush editors can reject along with . I actually don’t mind that part either. After receiving so many rejections myself, I sort of think I’ve got a pretty solid feel for what counts as industry standard in that area. ‘Course I haven’t received hate mail yet. It’d be nice to avoid that aspect of slushing . . .

    • Eugie Foster says:

      So, who writes the rejection letters at Town Drunk?

      With the submission process currently in place, all the slush editors can reject along with . I actually don’t mind that part either. After receiving so many rejections myself, I sort of think I’ve got a pretty solid feel for what counts as industry standard in that area. ‘Course I haven’t received hate mail yet. It’d be nice to avoid that aspect of slushing . . .

  2. keesa_renee says:

    I was wondering when you were going to mention your new editorial hat! Congratulations!

    The thing I like best about editing is I finally understand what editors mean when they say something like ‘we liked it, but it’s not for us’. We’ve had a few of those at DKA. So, who writes the rejection letters at Town Drunk? 😉 (We get to foist that off on our Managing Editor. 😀 )

  3. Hi Eugie. I like slush reading too — especially since I gained enough confidence to trust myself (if the story is painful on page 1, it probably won’t get better on page 2.) Town Drunk sounds like a very cool mag!

  4. Hi Eugie. I like slush reading too — especially since I gained enough confidence to trust myself (if the story is painful on page 1, it probably won’t get better on page 2.) Town Drunk sounds like a very cool mag!

  5. Interesting foray into the slush pile. I think I would have fun as an editor too. 🙂

    • Eugie Foster says:

      I’ve heard horror stories and moans and groans from editors, so I was a bit trepidatious–and I’m waiting to see if some funny/scary slush events will manifest in the future. But so far, it’s been way cool.

    • Eugie Foster says:

      I’ve heard horror stories and moans and groans from editors, so I was a bit trepidatious–and I’m waiting to see if some funny/scary slush events will manifest in the future. But so far, it’s been way cool.

  6. Interesting foray into the slush pile. I think I would have fun as an editor too. 🙂

  7. elvesforeyes says:

    Congrats on the new editorial hat. Slush away!

  8. elvesforeyes says:

    Congrats on the new editorial hat. Slush away!

  9. The latest editing foray is indeed interesting. I shall have to look at the link to town drunk just in case it’s a venue for any of my babies. My only worry is that we so often disagree on what’s worthwhile and I’m usually wrong. Oh dear! But since my batting average has recently improved somewhat, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

    • Eugie Foster says:

      Eugie’s Fourth (or was that seventh?) Rule of Writing: You can’t win if you don’t play.

      You should definitely submit something! I think you write funny extremely well, which is exactly what TTD is looking for. And I wouldn’t be slushing your stories, regardless, due to conflict-of-interest issues. There’s enough submissions editors that we don’t have to deal with the potentially sticky situation of reading friends and/or writers group members submissions. Whew.

      Submit!!

      • That no conflict thing sounds good. Don’t forget I’m “Louise Herring-Jones” on stories, but I always use my real name for checks. :>) I’ll have to look through the remaining items in the closet and see if I have something not out that’s potentially humor. Thanks for the tip.

      • That no conflict thing sounds good. Don’t forget I’m “Louise Herring-Jones” on stories, but I always use my real name for checks. :>) I’ll have to look through the remaining items in the closet and see if I have something not out that’s potentially humor. Thanks for the tip.

    • Eugie Foster says:

      Eugie’s Fourth (or was that seventh?) Rule of Writing: You can’t win if you don’t play.

      You should definitely submit something! I think you write funny extremely well, which is exactly what TTD is looking for. And I wouldn’t be slushing your stories, regardless, due to conflict-of-interest issues. There’s enough submissions editors that we don’t have to deal with the potentially sticky situation of reading friends and/or writers group members submissions. Whew.

      Submit!!

  10. The latest editing foray is indeed interesting. I shall have to look at the link to town drunk just in case it’s a venue for any of my babies. My only worry is that we so often disagree on what’s worthwhile and I’m usually wrong. Oh dear! But since my batting average has recently improved somewhat, nothing ventured, nothing gained.

  11. neo_prodigy says:

    i have a dell laptop so suffice to say i’ve had to replace mine more than once.

    i can relate to the agonizing wait to get your computer back.

  12. neo_prodigy says:

    i have a dell laptop so suffice to say i’ve had to replace mine more than once.

    i can relate to the agonizing wait to get your computer back.

  13. Anonymous says:

    Um, Eek. That market sounded like something up my alley, although at this point, I don’t think I have anything under 5K.

    I am, however, used to the anonymous editor/slush reader on the other end. It would be rather…odd…knowing Ms. Eugie might read my story. Yowza!

    Pat Kirby

    • Eugie Foster says:

      Heh. If it makes you feel any better, The Town Drunk has a conflict of interest policy in place so that that us slushers don’t have to/get to read submissions written by friends and/or writers group colleagues. Therefore, if we buy something of yours, while I would love to wink and get your undying gratitude for my nepotism, it would be undeserved. Likewise, if you get rejected, I didn’t do it!

      Submiiiit! You know you want to!

    • Eugie Foster says:

      Heh. If it makes you feel any better, The Town Drunk has a conflict of interest policy in place so that that us slushers don’t have to/get to read submissions written by friends and/or writers group colleagues. Therefore, if we buy something of yours, while I would love to wink and get your undying gratitude for my nepotism, it would be undeserved. Likewise, if you get rejected, I didn’t do it!

      Submiiiit! You know you want to!

  14. Anonymous says:

    Um, Eek. That market sounded like something up my alley, although at this point, I don’t think I have anything under 5K.

    I am, however, used to the anonymous editor/slush reader on the other end. It would be rather…odd…knowing Ms. Eugie might read my story. Yowza!

    Pat Kirby

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