Last night, I put about 900 words down in the outline for my novel.

Today, I just haven’t been able to muster up the motivation to go after it any further. It’s like I’m stuck in sludge.

Worst thing about this is that I’m a compulsive writer. Not only have I put nothing of value down today, I’ll feel guilty about having not done so.

Maybe it’s good to take a mental day off. Either that, or the Internet and its various distractions are the scourge of this craft. YouTube was invented to kill literature, I swear.

I have several ideas I want to write on. Initially my plan was to work exclusively on my novel — I’ve written two before — but I keep having these short story ideas that demand purchase in my time.

Don’t let anyone ever kid you into thinking writers don’t have days where they’re not motivated. I just can’t get in gear today.

I’ll hang it up and come back to it tomorrow, I suppose.

Hey, I’m ramping up to announce something big. So bear with me, already!

Current count: something like 15,000 words.

And that’s not a story. This is an just an outline for a story, kids.

I’m back from my vacation. It was good, and very needed with some of the stress I’ve been under lately.

Remember when I said this, in last week’s post?

Vacations have been interesting events for me as far as writing in goes. In each of the past two vacations I took, I came back to find acceptances in my inbox. I’m hoping lightning strikes thrice and I can snag another one over this trip.

Well, I must be burned to a cinder, because lightning did strike thrice. In fact, I got a double-jolt in this particular blast.

I’m pleased to announce that Murky Depths has taken “Best in Class” for their upcoming issue #6, December 2008. “Best in Class” is a dark science fiction tale of a prized collector’s car whose AI struggles to understand stark circumstances it has been thrust into. Murky Depths ran “Paston, Kentucky”, another tale of mine, for their very first issue, and it’s a pleasure to do business with them again.

In equally exciting developments, Something Wicked, a horror magazine operating out of South Africa, has taken “The Eighteenth Floor” for publication, details to be provided to me in the near future. I am thrilled to see this piece finally get its due. Every author has those extremely rare stories that they think they fired on all cylinders with — this is one of them. When this horror piece hits their pages, my fiction will have graced its third continent.

My sincerest thanks to those that have read my stories, and whom continue to read them. And I’d like to thank both these fine publications for running my work. It is my pleasure and honor.