Thanks for submitting "The Slave" for our consideration, and for your interest in LORE. While I enjoyed aspects of this tale, we are going to pass on this particular effort -- narrowly. This was good, to be sure. I hope we shall see something more from you in the future. Good luck in your ongoing endeavors.

First, I want to point out I've never posted a rejection online before. I can't say it won't every happen again, but I don't do it for a thousand reason, the biggest one being that this was a private conversation. I have the utmost respect for Rod Heather over at Lore and not just because he sent me this very nice rejection. Lore Magazine is chock full of fantastic fiction that I'd be proud to be part of. There's a reason why I put this here and posted my reviews from Amazon's Breakthrough  Novel Award. (Vine 1, Vine 2, Reader's Weekly.)  Nor is it easy for me to put up  my reviews for you to see my warts -- you'll notice I allowed my pride (footnotes in Meathead) to shoot myself in the foot. I'd been told before to delete them. But I ignored that advice and annoyed the reviewer. I'm also embarrsed by the comments about editing as well. 

Moving on.  I've been wanting to write about the nature of selling fiction for a while. I had hopped to have made another sale by now for one thing. I was feeling pretty high on the hog after my sale to One Buck Horror. A pro sale meant... means a lot less than you'd expect. When you haven't sold anything, when you're querying and getting nothing but rejections, your first personalized rejection is a milestone and a Pro sale the holy grail. This could be my 5oth personal rejection. I stopped counting.  That doesn't mean it isn't meaningful. I really appreciate it when an editor takes the time to give me a few kind words. When I feel low, I pull them up and read through them.  I let them wash over me and remind myself that it takes years and years for an overnight success-- not every writer is an overnight success. But I think you know what I mean.

So I have two pieces of advice:

Enjoy your milestones. I mean really, really enjoy them. Exalt  yourself, your skill, your creativity, the genius that makes up all of you. Daydream about the big sale. Let your ego off it's leash. (Don't worry, there's a rejection around the corner that will put it back in check.) But most of all, celebrate your perseverance. Without it there would be no milestones, which all too soon they become part of the landscape.

Don't fret. Just write. I haven't sold anything in a long time and I'd be lying to say that isn't eating at me, but fretting over it isn't productive.  I have to keep circulation the stories I've finished and keep writing new things. And maybe you haven't sold anything. Maybe you don't get personalized rejections yet. Don't fret. Keep writing new things and you will.

The zany adventures of a Great Dane/Bloodhound mix in Ohio takes on a life of its own when he digs up a zombie in the woods. Meathead is a typical dog, loyal, friendly, innocently mischievous, and his owner, 40-something Einstein Angleton (still living with his mother), knows this well. The novel is uniquely narrated in Meathead’s voice as he chats with other woodland creatures and struggles to be a good dog to his human, a race he holds little respect for. The plot kicks in when Angleton finds a camera during a recent walk through the forest with Meathead, who digs at a smelly patch of dirt that has a hand coming out of it. Once developed, the camera’s pictures reveal the misshapen face of a man -- a recently-turned zombie named Hubert Pines who winds up on Meathead’s porch looking for sympathetic conversation and ends up befriending the pooch. Before long, things get crazy as Meathead outwits the local trainer (a.k.a. “Dog Nazi”) to help Hubert stay hidden and find him a stash of Zoloft while vying for the love of Anita, a female zombie bent on biting Einstein, all before his body falls apart completely. The author supplies a plethora of goofily-named characters, fart jokes, and footnotes that steadily become more distracting than cutely informative once Meathead’s voice becomes firmly established. Yet it’s the perspective of this plucky pet that contributes most to the novel’s allure, charm, and G-rated entertainment potential. A spirited, refreshing addition to the recent influx of zombie stories.

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?
I really like your style. It's so comfortable, honest and witty. It's mesmerizing. Even though this is from the viewpoint of a dog, it's strangely easy to relate to and understand as a human, and it's just downright fun to read. I particularly thought that you did an excellent job of capturing a dog's point of view but still giving it enough personality to make it into something quirky and fun.

What aspect needs the most work?
Hmm..hard to say. There are so many good things going on here that I couldn't really pick out many negatives. The only thing that comes to mind is that this doesn't seem to have much market potential. As much as I hate to say it, this would be a tough sell to a publisher since it's so off-the-beaten-path. What is your overall opinion of this excerpt? You know, if there are flaws in here, they are seriously masked by the quirks of the main character and the pure personality that shines through in every sentence. As a long-time reader (and, not publisher, so I am somewhat of a "lay" person here), I really enjoyed this. It's something so different and refreshing that draws you in with its silliness and makes you want to read more. 
 
I really don't have any criticism (except that I want to keep reading, this was so fun!). I'd just beware of selling this to a New York publisher. In fact, the pitch probably would get you tossed off many NY desks simply because your story is told through the eyes of a dog instead of a person. 
 
This is a very tough sell (and really, don't rule out self-publishing).

What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?
The characters are very well done. The dog talks but still seems realistic. The human characters also are very believable. What aspect needs the most work? There are a few mistakes here and there that a good editor could fix. Grammar is very important in a young adult book since it is giving them an example of how to write.

What is your overall opinion of this excerpt? It is interesting. It is not the best book I have read but it is quite readable and moves along nicely. Writing from the viewpoint of an animal is a bit different from the usual and this is a fair example of this sort of novel.

Today was a good day. I've come to believe that we probably spend at least half our lives battling our bad habits. But I up early, had a good breakfast, wrote for about two hours and went for a long walk. I even had a healthy lunch and dinner. This may not seem much of a challenge, in and of itself, but I used to know this girl. We weren't close friends but more than just co-workers. Anyway, she loved vegetables. Loved them to death. For her a salad was ambrosia. For me, ambrosia comes in the form of a Quarter Pounder, well any hamburger... make that anything fried. Consequently, I'm always at war with myself when it comes to eating.

Because I'd done lots of healthy things today and it had not been war to do them, I went to work happy. Because I love my job, I left work even happier. I work in what Koreans call a villa. Villa's can get quite tall, up to six or seven stories. It really seems to mean anything that is not a house and not an apartment building, though most have apartments in them. The build I work in is old which means the exterior is coated with red, clay shingles and we must use space heaters in the winter. 

But summer is on it's way. We had to turn on the air con-- this is what air conditioning is called all over Asia. However, by the time I stepped out into the kind of night that always recalls to me those muggy summer nights spent fishing, or at the fair grounds, or just sitting around a camp fire. There was a bite in the air though, enough to need a jacket, but it was humid enough at the same time to make a jacket uncomfortable. I've only experience this kind of night in Korea and I suppose it's like will one day recall my days here.

Earphones in , MP3 set to my "work out" play list, I strode toward my apartment, entertaining catching the bus and going for a second walk down by the river or hopping on the subway and going to Hauendae or Gwanali for a night walk on the beach. The air smelled clean and slightly electric like ozone.

And then I saw the man. From a distance-- I have no depth perception so distance is very difficult for me-- he looked to be in the road. He also looked like he could be a rock. There is construction going on in the area and the way people walked passed him gave me hope that it was just that. But as I drew closer my eyes were better able to define the spaces and then I was there, MP3 blaring in my ears, looking at the man lying in the road. He had fives and tens spread around him from passerby who had felt bad enough to pay for the guilt and kept on going. My happiness dissipated. My good day was not stolen by this event. It's just I don't keep going when I see someone who is hurt or might need help. In America I would ask him what was wrong and if there was any I could call. I would call 911 if he was too disorientated to answer. 

Here I don't speak much Korean. I couldn't really help him if he really needed help. I've seen some extreme begging and this form of it, lying with part of their body out into the road seems to be a thing. Not common, exactly, but I've seen it before. .

But even with that possibility, I was reluctant to leave him lying there. He might truly be hurt. Some students were nearby, saw my concern. I was the only adult who had shown any. But just my concern prompted all three of them to try to help him. Korean children wear uniforms and high school students get off at 9pm. It was a bit after 9 so these boys were probably walking home after a grueling day of school . When the crosswalk turned, I realized I wasn't as helpless as I'd thought.

There's a bakery on the corner that I sometimes shop at. I went in. After some gesturing I got him to get up and look. He was able to communicated to me that the police would come in five minutes I lingered, watching the man and watching the boys. I've always had this inclination to protect people. I wanted the boys and the man to be safe. Finally, the boys wandered off. A few seconds later the police arrived. The man jumped to his feet, gathered his money quickly, and bolted. The police officer dashed off in pursuit leaving an empty cruiser sitting on the side of the road, caution lights flashing.

I put my earphones in and headed home. But I still felt bad. I found myself wondering what had made him so desperate to beg this way? Not only is it dangerous but in Korea you are assumed guilty. You must prove your innocence.

I've been on vacation for the past three weeks. I'm an American but  I haven't been back to  the states for four years. Hence the lack of posts.

I got back just shy of midnight on Wednesday. State side this would be around 11 P.M. Tuesday.  Due to a combination of sleep deprivation (insomnia  respects time zones not) jet lag and time differences, all of Thursday involved sleep. I tried to get up, I swear. Friday involved unpacking.  Today  involved lunch with Lana and her friend Daniel. This turned into debauchery at some bars. I wore a pretty black dress with pink flowers, plenty of cleavage as this is one of my assets. Both Lana and Daniel are skinnier than me but as long as the guys are comparing the ladies and not at our waistlines, the I have a leg up on the playing field. The first bar was  warm up drinks and meeting up lots of people I didn't know.

Any good debauchery  starts with  plenty of alcohol. I 'm not a drinker-- my friends laugh at me because, as writer, my drinking habits are pitiful. I like to write  with a glass of cold diet coke. Anyway, after two tequila sunrises and Jager Bomb, I ordered a round of Bacardi Rum shots. Not what you expected right?  In all fairness I didn't know that Bacardi was rum. 

The night was  off  to a good start and as we wobbled over to the Blue Monkey for  more drinks and dancing. The music kind of sucked but I fixed that with a request  for Pit Bull and the three of us took  to the empty dance floor. I wouldn't call my friends and I trend setters but soon the floor began to fill  up and this seemed to put the DJ  in the mood for better song choices. Also, I soon had a handsome dance partner. By this time I was also drinking water.  I don't drink often but I've discovered significant tolerance. I could have had a few more safelyl. Probably my families German genetics. Even so, I've never been much more than buzzed-- why would anyone want to go home puking? Exactly.

So there we were dancing, having a good time.

"Can I come home?" Mr. Handsome asked.
"What?"
"I want to stay with you tonight."
"No."

Look,  I'm not coming from some place of moral conduct or religious virtue. But here's the thing about one stands. They suck. This applies to men as well as women. They almost always involved too much alcohol. Drunken sex? Oh, Baby, gotta get me some of that. (Insert eye roll.) But it's more than the guarantee of bad sex.

Are you throw away? Disposable? What about the person you're with? I'm knot talking about the act of sex, but the act of choosing how will are willing to be treated or to treat others. I have friends who have ended up dating their one-nighters, but the relationships never work.  Is it no wonder when their very first social contract involved at least one person thinking the other person was disposable.  Believe it or not first impression set the tone for how you're willing to be treated. Skinny, fat, short, tall. It doesn't matter. People treat you how you let them treat you. Maybe you're thinking "you don't know what I'm talking about."

The line in Apocalypse, (Midday Musings) about being punched by students in front of the teacher is not entirely fictional. I was picked on relentlessly and it took me the longest time to realize how much of it was actually a result of accepting the way I as being treated. At the time it didn't seem that way.

In case it isn't clear, I'm not really talking about one night stands-- that too, but use it as a metaphor for whatever you like and remember you are not disposable. You are valuable.  You're contribution to the world, whether it be telling story, or rescuing dogs, or raising your kids. This is true of parents, spouses. friends, and strangers  as well.

A lot of writers give the advice that watching TV is bad for authors. I do think authors should read as much as they can.  I happen to love TV and some how I find time for both. Plus not all TV is brain rot. While some programs stick to the same old tropes, I think there are also lots of shows that break the mold.

This is one reason why I think advice that tells writers to NOT partake in an activity central to people's lives is BAD ADVICE. Yep, I called it bad advice in all caps. TV evolves, changes with the times. Not watching TV is like purposefully removing ones self from important cultural elements. Plus, watching TV will teach you how to be a better writer.

Behind every show is a writer or a team of writers. For me, In Plain Sight is inspiration. I love the life lessons at the end. The stories maybe fiction, but the emotional truth is real enough. The script writers have probably pulled from their life experiences or those of people they know. It's fiction but there's a transference of knowledge. Ultimately, I think this is both what compels people to tell and listen to stories. I think its why everybody thinks about writing a book. The drive to share and receive information is instinctual.

Think of this way. If I walked up to you on the street-- a complete stranger-- and started telling you my life story, you'd think I was a nut. Hell, I'd think I was a nut. And when someone does it to me-- this happens to me a lot. I must send out some kind of vibe-- it's awkward. I want to be nice. But I don't want to know how you got crabs. Really.

I don't, however, feel the same awkwardness toward reading about how you got crabs. I mean, if the voice is there, I'll go pretty much where ever the writer takes me. The difference between a book and a person is I can pick it up or put it down at will.

On a side note, you can get crabs from a dirty hotel room. Someone must leave them there, but the can live in bedding until they find a new host or the sheets are washed. Whichever comes first. When this stranger told me this, I thought she was flubbing the truth but I looked it up out of curiosity. I wish I hadn't. I already had a certain fear of bringing home bedbugs.

Some women have a fetish for shoes. Some for hats. I have a fetish for trying software. If I've learned one thing, it's that companies have all kinds of tricks to sell software that sucks.

Buy it now! And you can try it for 30 days with a money guarantee.  This is like going to look at a car. The owner of said car makes you a deal. You can try after you buy it. If you're not happy then, they'll give you your money back. They'll even have a good reason like "insurance." 

Because I suffer for typo-syndrome, I actually bought White Smoke and the sinker that came with it. (Hangs head in shame.)  The program came with a virus, pop up ads to upgrade to the newest version, and a program that used all my system resources. I requested a refund a mere 8 hours later and three days later, and five days later. Promises to refund by x date which came and passed. I paid via Pay Pal so I did get my refund, but not with out some work on my part.

The moral of the story is, don't buy a car without test driving it and don't buy software you can't test drive either.

7 day trial! Whoowhooo!
This is like buying a horse. You arrive, the owner shows you how nice the horse walks on a lead, how well he ties. You're very excited. You can't wait to try this horse.

"I don't have a saddle," the owner says.

"You want me to ride bareback?" You ask.

"It's up to you."

Unless, you're a fairly good at riding bareback, you can't put a horse through all his paces. With seven day trials there are usually key features missing, ones standard in similar programs. The developers aren't giving  you the standard 30 day trial for a reason. For the average person, seven days is just enough time to like a program enough to buy it, but not put it through it's paces.

We're number one, rah, rah, rah! (We have adds everywhere, too!)
This is like Best of Show at a dog show. If a hundred dogs enter, the title is meaningful. However, when there are only five entrants or the judge was paid or the judge is your mother, it is meaningless.

What inspired this diatribe?
I recently downloaded Microsoft Office 2010 trial. I already the 2007 version. I was just curious about new features. My first impression was, bah, there's not much new. I won't upgrade. WRONG! There are lots of new features I love and old features I just discovered what they're for.  So, yes, before my 60 day trial is over I'm going to fork over the dough to upgrade. Note the 60 day trial.

Scrivener is also indispensable to my writing life and comes with a 30 days trial.

But there's also a note writers should take away from this, especially those who self-publish. Don't use schemes, ploys, or lies to get people to buy your work. If your writing is strong, you don't need your mother's five star review. You don't have to connive for people to like your work.

So, I announced way back when  that I was releasing two short story collections. The first is a collection of literary works. The second is a collection of horror. There are  several reasons that I didn't just throw them up on the internet.

One reason is that I'm queen of mistakes. If there is a way to get something wrong, I usually do. In keeping with this trend, I acutely published Midday Musings about a month ago but I didn't do it properly. The fact is, I forgot an important detail. My book needed a table of contents. Doh! I also misunderstood the instructions for Kindle. When you preview a book and don't get a preview, that means the writer didn't save the word file as a webpage. Finally, while I loved my first covers, I designed them with e-books in mind. I've never used Create Space before and didn't know about margins. I've learned a lot and the next one will go much more smoothly, assuming I can remember how to do everything.

Now lets talk about covers. I've not really seen many writers talk about this in depth. Yes, they say you need a good cover, but hey, how the heck do you make a cover?  I'll about them in order of left to right. Midday Musings are on top, Midnight Whimsy are on the bottom.Since the books are a kind of Ying to one's Yang, I wanted the covers to be the same.

My first two covers were designed using three programs. First, I posed the models in Poser and took a thousand shots. Then I imported the photos into Art Rage. After fiddling around, I decided I'd focus on the smudge feature. I wanted the very realistic Poser model to look more like it had been painted. I'm am really fond of the devil in for Midnight Whimsy. He's wonderfully maniacal. Finally, I uploaded the photos to Picnic and took advantage of their premium texts. However,the proportions are off for Create Space.

I wasted many days trying to fix it but because of the background in the first picture, not even the clone tool could help me. I no longer have access to Poser because the power cord is splat on my old computer which has the program and all the screen shots. I was unable to install Poser (as I was able to do with every other program I own) on my new computer because Smith Marco (software company) has policies intended to force customers to re-buy the program.

The next covers (Blue and Black) were done in Art Rage. I can't explain the reasoning behind the elements. It just kind of looked good. The operative words are 'kind of.' In Art Rage it actually looks a lot better but when you compress to .jpeg a lot of quality is lost. Mostly its in the compression of the text for Midday Musings. It's too blurry.

The next cover (Green Thing) was just one of many experiments gone wrong. I started with an orange background and then ran the background through several filters. I really liked the texture but insane green was the only color that popped. It's not quite right for Midday Musings.

The last image was created using Power Point. The smaller image is attractive, but click on a larger image and you'll want to pet it. While it goes against the norms of both Literary Fiction and Horror, I'm happy with that. I think it is also the most polished. I need to clean up the edges a little. That white isn't supposed to be there, but that's an easy fix.

Have you ever spent your entire life dreaming of something, only to wake up one day and realize you don't want it any more?

It started with a question I asked myself while I was walking the track behind City Hall. Americans will probably draw of images of a track at their high school or maybe a city park. This one isn't that large, more suited to walking than running. But it's nice with a lovely bunch of trees  and birds. I  will often go walking there before work. I'll do this until they start piping in the classical music.

I happen to love classical music. I even play the cello, but sometimes it feels like you can't escape the busyness. Sometimes I just want nothing. On days like that, I wrap my  headphones around my MP3 player and stick it my pocket. Sometimes I'll carry a tenis ball, bouncing it as I walk. I think all the time -- ideas, ideas. And sometimes I get so much up inside my head I can't stand it. I need stillness.

Out of this stillness came the question. It just popped into my head. What am I going to do now? I stopped dead in my tracks, forcing an 아줌마 (adjuma) to power walk around me. Adjuma's are Koran women of a certain age. In Korean society they are all powerful. I've seen many an adjuma walk across the middle of a four lane road, halting traffic as though that's the way it should be. Adjumas hustle about, elbows cocked and loaded, ready to nail you in the side if, heaven forbid, you get in their way. A 할머니 (grandmother) sitting on a bench gasped at my impropriety.

And to make matters worse, I didn't even ask myself the right question. It should have been, "What comes next?"

I made a bid decision this spring. I decided to stay in Korea for another year. I decided to stay because I love my job. I decided to stay because I've sold just enough stories to think I might have a chance at going somewhere with my writing. I decided to stay because deep down I don't know if I really want to come back to America. For a short time sure, but in the long run? I don't know. I would like to meet someone and start a family. But I don't I want the part about living in one place for the rest of my life. My job-- it started out as a job and now looks to be my career-- gives me the opportunity to work in any number of countries.

Here's the other thing. I am by no means rich. Back home my paycheck would amount to 18,000 a year. Not a lot of money. Yet, I've been able to travel the world, I have a  nice savings account even by American standards and I put about two grand away in pension a year.

The Korean pension scheme is very different. You pay in about 6% of your income a year. But it's only really 3% because your employer must pay the other half. When you retire you get a lump sum plus interest.  When I finally do leave Korea, it'll be like retiring. I'll get a refund for what I paid in. A good fried of mine gasped when I told her about how much that would be She's worked the same job for 30 years. Her pension is little more than double mine. The difference is, it only took me four years to earn it.

I love my country. I do. Sometimes, I want nothing more than to go home. The problem is, America is so damned expensive. I wouldn't have believed this when I was living stateside. But I know it, now.

I'm evolving. My future plans are evolving. This is a lot harder than it sounds. I have to let go of things I thought I wanted. Things that I thought I came to Korea to get. I've had a plan since I was about sixteen years old. Things got in the way. I overcame them. Now, when nothing stands in my way, I find the plan is what I want anymore.

Do you have a similar story? Please share it. In the notes or email me.