Julie C. Day (Essential Dreams Press) is sleepy

Islands O for God's sake they are connected underneath.

Muriel Rukeyser

Raise a glass. I finished the Meissen Eyes redraft and created a punch list of 11 items I need to cover in targeted edits, the selected the 1st three I'm going to address. I even dug up some notes I wrote in 2023 that and found a gem or two. It's time to stop for the day!

ICYMI, we're open to submissions by authors of historically marginalized backgrounds for this entire month!

We want to read more works by Black writers, Indigenous writers, disabled writers, gay and lesbian and trans writers, and other folks whose voices must be heard!

www.havenspec.com/submit/

Remember our mantra:

Don't Engage, Just Block.

This looks seriously cool! Check it out

This weekend I tackle the final chapter, and then it's targeted edit time, which right now sounds like a lot less fun. In other words, I'm having a grand time with this redraft. I really believe it's something special

Hopefully my mad science won't stretch readers too far!

I'm fleshing out this ending, which means I may be breaking the pacing and lovely prose. But so many new ideas are dropping onto the page! It's a thrill. (Quick reminder to self: tinkering with a rewrite is all part of the process and not something I have to worry about this afternoon!)

I haven't felt this "loose" while writing since Covid hit.

I've been playing with it for years. It was a short story in 2013 and a novelette in 2018. (Both of which were compelling but broken.) I guess I turned it into a novella in 2023, and then put it down when my dad's health spun into nightmare territory.

Meissen Eyes is now 33k. I'm on page 128 of 134 w/ a list 9 targeted edits I need to make once I reach the end. But it's tight, really tight, and I'm incredibly excited. It works! The arc, the characters, the science in the fiction.

I see the updates waiting to install & discover what I'm about to be hit with in real time? Is there a way I can turn it off or will I have to install Linux? I have a Mac I use for specific tasks, but my dayjob means I have yrs of Windows experience & haven't made the switch in my personal life

2) it needs to end at the penultimate chapter, which feels way too loose. The element of historical resistance would be lost.
I'm mostly just talking myself through "a moment." It's likely a targeted setup is all that's required, but 1st I have to talk myself off the ledge of major revision fears.

I'm on page 125 of 132 in the novella redraft (Meissen Eyes) and I've hit the bump that likely made me run. The ending needs either 1) an entirely new setup introduced from the beginning (and even then I'd have to adjust the ending for it to feel complete) or

Award-winning pain researcher here. This is not something that can be done. Hope this helps.

tanithleestoryteller.com “Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology is a lovely tribute, indeed. From the first tale to the last, a deep love and admiration for Lee’s life and work shines through in each authors’ interpretation of her distinctive style and voice. These sixteen stories capture the spirit of Tanith Lee’s fiction with their elaborate world-building, complicated consequences, and wild magic everywhere. It is a wonder to see how unique and yet how familiar this anthology feels.”--Nerdgoblin.com

“Storyteller: A Tanith Lee Tribute Anthology is a lovely tribute, indeed. From the first tale to the last, a deep love and admiration for Lee’s life and work shines through in each authors’ interpretation of her distinctive style and voice. These sixteen stories capture the spirit of Tanith Lee’s fiction with their elaborate world-building, complicated consequences, and wild magic everywhere. It is a wonder to see how unique and yet how familiar this anthology feels.”--Nerdgoblin.com

Two lovely reviews for Storyteller just showed up! I'll be on the Tanith Lee panel at the World Fantasy Convention later this month. If you haven't picked up a copy yet, you can find it at all the usual places, including tanithleestoryteller.com

Note: I'm pretty sure I mustn't have stuck the ending. I've only got 12 pages left to redraft. But I'm excited enough by the work that that doesn't feel insurmountable. I didn't stick the ending of The Rampant (I flinched for sure) but what needed fixing became obvious after a chat w/ a beta reader.

paper maché Waggis Carnival Mask ca. 1970s

The Museum of Cultural Masks? Yes, please! "Second Face is the only fully online ethnographic mask museum of worldwide scope."
www.maskmuseum.org/gallery/
#writingrabbithole

Fuck, I really like this story. I'm 90% done with the Meissen Eyes novella redraft. I have a few notes I've jotted down, but I'm racing toward the end before I deal with them. I hope my beta reader gets the same feelings from reading it as I do.

I might have discovered a missing scene. I'm going to continue forward with the redraft and just note it for now.

Release the Steinbeck werewolf novel!

Feeling confident enough to share first lines. Always a unreliable feeling, I know, when actively working on a draft!😂

I'm beginning to wonder if I just got overwhelmed by life (which was tricky the last time I worked on this story) and therefore saw bumps as mountains. (Fingers crossed that's true.)

I'm on page 99 of my redraft of my Meissen Eyes novella (79%), and it still feels really strong. All I can think is that I didn't stick the ending or it's missing some key setup I haven't hit yet. Not sure why else I'd think it wasn't close to ready. It's now at 32k.

Consumer-facing "A.i." makes up lies, reproduces the bigotry of its inputs, degrades the cognitive abilities of its users, and can be manipulated by its billionaire owners to reflect their biases. It's also based on theft and destroys the environment. It should have NO role in the classroom.

A tiny brownish mushroom of incredible delicateness grows tall from between hairy moss fronds. Teeny hair covers its stem in fuzz, and dew glistens on its cap. All photos by me

Here is a nice mushroom

A woman in a long white nightgown, standing on a narrow ledge with her eyes closed.

Just over 70% through the rewrite of my Meissen Eyes novella! I'm trying not to get all up in my own head. I still haven't hit any insurmountable problems. It's science fiction horror (or something along those lines). Here's The Sleepwalker by Maxmilián Pirner which was the initial inspiration.

Novel in a Year: First Draft with Juan Martinez - StoryStudio Chicago This is the year to write your novel Novel in a Year: First Draft is a unique opportunity to join a writing cohort, study novel craft, workshop key scenes, measure your progress, meet deadlines, and g...

Hi, everyone! I‘ll be teaching Novel-in-a-Year with @storystudiochicago.bsky.social in 2026. This will be my third iteration of the class, with first drafts as the focus this time around. Registration is now open and will close November 7:

www.storystudiochicago.org/advanced-wri...

@marthawells.com @csecooney.bsky.social @ethereallad.bsky.social @rinrocio.bsky.social @mythicdelirium.bsky.social @mayadeane.bsky.social @clhellisen.bsky.social @marisca.bsky.social @andyduncansf.bsky.social @nisishawl.bsky.social @theodoragoss.bsky.social @ktwagner.bsky.social

I hope ya’ll enjoyed reading it as much as I loved working on it and reading the amazing stories that showed up!