My Writing World 7/25 - 7/31

I had a better week compared to last week now that my dental problems are subsiding and I can focus on my work. I had another scare with the antibiotics, which made me just as nervous as the Tylenol 3 Codeine. I think any drug at or above four hundred milligrams is dangerous to someone with a thin body with no place for the drug to go but straight to the brain or the body's destruction. Once again, I flushed it out with six glasses of water and was all right. I've said this before: I can't take prescription drugs. On the lucky side of things, I didn't get a dry socket, so that's something to be thankful for.

I submitted a story to Necrotic Tissue for the first time and also sent one to the Halloween issue of Shroud, though I've already got one in with the regular Shroud issue (a piece I co-wrote with fellow horror author, Ro Van Saint), as I'm allowed one for both. I also worked on proofreading the first sequel to my first novel as I'm still waiting for a couple critiques before I can fix and proofread the newest first novel chapters as they come into the critique group's queue.

As I grow tired of my e-reader (just another way to read a book now), I wonder if signing with Amazon if you can't find an agent--or in J. A. Konrath's case, even if you have an agent--is wise in the long run. E-books going through the roof is starting to drop off according to a blog I read on www.ereads.com, so perhaps this is a temporary buzz. Don't get me wrong--they're still booming--just booming a little less than at the beginning of the year. This just reinforces my original belief, that I need a agent and a big-six publisher if I want the proper distribution of my tomes. I could be wrong (probably), but the e-reader isn't new to me anymore, and I'm starting to miss my paperbacks, especially the color covers, although they're fixing that.

On my playlist: Serpents of the Light by Deicide. I like this one and Scars of the Crucifix because instead of being focused on love for the devil, it's mostly just complaining about the hypocrites, something I can wholeheartedly understand.

What I'm reading: The Strain by Chuck Hogan and Guillermo Del Toro. This is a fascinating read by two very talented novelists, one of them responsible for bringing us the brilliant Pan's Labrynth.


I owe a debt for paragraph three of this blog to www.ereads.com, the Association of American Publishers and the International Digital Publishing Forum.