My latest short story (The Orchid) will make its appearance later this week in April Grey's Hell's Garden collection of short stories.Stories include:
- Round and Round the Garden by Jonathan Broughton
- Ten Minutes Till Deadtime by Mark Cassell
- When the Devil Came to Hell's Kitchen by Heather Holland Wheaton
- The Orchid by yours truly (Amazon)
- Compost by Eric Dimbleby
- Gunda's Gnomes by Rayne Hall
About the editor: April Grey
April Grey's urban fantasy novel, Chasing The Trickster, is published by Eternal Press. Her short stories have been published in such print anthologies as Demonmind's Halloween 2010, The Best of Everyday Fiction 2, Northern Haunts, Ephemera and Terrible Beauty, Fearful Symmetry. Many of these stories can be found in her collection, The Fairy Cake Bake Shoppe available through Amazon and Smashwords.She and her family live in Hell's Kitchen, NYC in a building next to a bedeviled garden. Gremlins, sprites or pixies, something mischievous, lurks therein. Someday she'll find out.
www.aprilgrey.blogspot.com and www.aprilgreywrites.com.
In other news, my oldest grandson will be turning eight next month and my middle grandson just turned six last month. Despite my best efforts to stop them they keep growing up and making me older.
Over the past six or so weeks, my job has kept me busier than the Affordable Health Care website developers. The sad part is that statement really isn't much of an exaggeration. The good part is that being so busy lately has helped a bit in my bereavement struggle, but the steps forward are still agonizingly small. Today makes twenty-five weeks.
I think I've finally come to a decision about The Bonding. I believe I'll take the self-publishing route for the Strands of Pattern series. I've been researching cover designers and have actually started contacting some. My compulsion to continually edit the thing prevents me from deciding on a release date, but I'm looking at maybe late 2014. We'll see. :-)
Congratulations on the short story!
ReplyDeleteBig step to self-publish your series. Keep us posted on the release date.
Will check out your guest spot at Nutschell's!
Yeah, big step indeed. Taking slow steps with that too. :)
DeleteNice job, Jeff! I am not sure how you do it all - keep the family happy, write, and work all at the same time. This is a great boost for you and I am very happy to hear things are moving the right direction for you. Take care!
ReplyDeleteHere lately, it's been more working all the time rather than writing all the time. Hopefully, a balance will return soon. :)
DeleteWay to go with the short story. I think it is really good! And I am happy you are working into making Strands of Pattern see the light. :) (Can you hear the dwarves cheering? Really loud.) Motion forward is good, no matter how small, as long as you keep moving. Dragon hugs.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite dragon! I'll jump through hoops to keep those dwarves happy!
DeleteI thought the Orchid was a dreadful story, enough to frighten the willies out of anyone. I mean dreadful in the original sense of being full of dread. I am sure it will fit right in with all the others in the anthology.
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you are "getting moving" with The Bonding. As Alex said, keep us posted with the release date. I know it will do well.
As the dragon says, all steps forward are good, just keep going forward. Grandmother dragon hugs.
My favorite grandmother dragon! :) Thanks for the votes of confidence, Jo!
DeleteWelcome back. Long journeys begin with single small steps. Now I'm heading over to peek at your space.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Carol. These small steps are the first in what will be the longest, most difficult journey of my life.
DeleteGood for you on the self-publishing route. I loved the story...can't wait to buy myself a copy!
ReplyDeleteHugs on your baby steps. My sister was widowed two years ago and this year I have finally started to see bits of joy re-emerging. I wish it was a pain I could just wave a wand and make disappear, but I can't, so I will send hugs instead.
That's encouraging, Elizabeth. Six months in and I'm still waiting for a glimmer of joy from someplace besides family and friends. But then, those are the most important sources. My thoughts and prayers for your friend. And the hugs are ALWAYS welcome.
DeleteCongratulations on your story, and the self publishing route.
ReplyDeleteWorking through grief is always slow. And sometimes forward steps are followed by a slide backward. Then the hard work of moving forward again begins.
Take care of yourself. And hugs.
I take a lot of comfort in that slide backward comment. I refrain from posting when I'm at my lowest or feel like I'm going backwards--which is more often than I like to admit. It's a continual struggle, but moving forward is the goal. My best to you.
DeleteYour work space looks like the Star Ship Enterprise Control Center.
ReplyDeleteSometimes it feels like I'm at the helm of the Enterprise too, Richard. Multitasking isn't quite as easy as it used to be. :)
DeleteSuch a pleasure having you on my blog today, Jeff! I loved seeing your workspace. All those monitors are pretty cool!
ReplyDeletehugs,
Nutschell
www.thewritingnut.com
Yeah, those monitors are now +1. The computer count hasn't changed though. The pleasure was mine. You're a fantastic host.
DeleteWTG on the self-publishing .. I foresee a few posts on the process ... and 'what everyone else said' about the small steps and hugs :D
ReplyDeleteWell thanks, Widder! And you're right. I'll undoubtedly do some posts about the process... providing I ever go through the process. :-)
DeleteAnd thanks for the encouragement and hugs. Always appreciated. Hope all is going well with you.
Has it really been 25 weeks??? Wow. It doesn't feel like it's been that long... and I'm not sure if it feels longer or shorter to you, Jeff. Or both. I really do think about you and Myra all the time. Your story has made an imprint on my soul and I don't think I'll ever forget. I'm proud of you, Jeff. Proud of your strength and resilience and even though I'm sure it's torture inside, you're doing it. You're living and making things happen. And that, is huge. Can't wait for you to self pub! You have many people waiting in the wings excited to support! :)
ReplyDeleteThose 25 weeks feel like 25 years, Morgan. It's almost like a different lifetime somehow and definitely a new reality. It's a grueling process, but I gave her my word.
DeleteCongrats on the short story, Jeff! The Hell's Garden anthology sounds awesome...
ReplyDeleteAlso, wishing you the best of luck with self-publishing! Very exciting if The Bonding ends up being released by the end of the year... :)
Thank you, Heather. Exciting...yeah, a bit. Frightening...for sure. :)
DeleteHi Jeff,
ReplyDeleteI'm really heartened for you with your short story, my friend. I do wish you well with self-publishing and I no you will be cautious.
Good sir, you are a marvel and an inspiration.
Gary :)
That's a humbling compliment, Gary. Thank you.
DeleteWow, so much great info in this post! Congrats on the story and the decision to self-publish. Now, off to Nutschell's!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Nicole. I now wish I had come to decision a year ago so Myra could have seen it. I think she wanted it even more than I did. :)
DeleteCongrats on the story in Hell's Garden.
ReplyDeleteIf you need any resources for self-publishing, there are a lot at the IWSG site. (That's the page I put together, so if you have any questions, let me know.)
Thanks, Diane. I'll be doing quite a bit of research. You can bet on that.
DeleteThe collection sounds great.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with your self-publishing venture.
Thank you, Lynda. I need all the good luck I can get.
DeleteWhat a great thing--your short story. I write mostly shorts. I also am at the point that I need to upload my A-Z compilation, Grim Tales of the Ruralhood. I just need to do it. I hired a professional copy editor and someone to put it into format for Smashwords. Now i just need to launch.
ReplyDeleteShort stories have a definite appeal. I rarely wrote them until just a few years ago. They can be refreshing breaks after spending weeks writing novel-length works. Be sure to let us know when you have your compilation available.
Deleteso so so glad to have you back, Jeff!!! keep popping up and being involved. I missed you!
ReplyDeleteaww shucks, Tammy, you're gonna make me blush. :) Seriously though, thank you. I've missed being active too. Feels like I've been gone a year.
DeleteI think being busy is good, especially when it means your making progress on your projects. I'm super stoked about the story collections and cheering you on! Enjoy those grandkids!
ReplyDeleteThose grandkids are my pride and joy. Thanks for the cheers!
DeleteEvery time I look at your profile picture I think he can't be fifty! I loved taking a peek at your writing space, Jeff.
ReplyDeleteFlattery will get you almost everything, Ellie! In the spirit of full disclosure, Myra took that picture of me a few months before I turned 49. Thanks for stopping by!
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