Val

The author of this site. Email me at valgryphin@gmail.com

Booking Through Thursday 11-3-11

Nov 032011
 

Booking Through Thursday

All other thing being equal, would you rather read a book that’s hard/challenging/rewarding or light/enjoyable/easy?

Actually I would have to say both. Generally I enjoy books for the quality and reward of the novel itself, and that can be either an easy or a challenging read. I don’t feel that a book has to be hard to make it worthwhile, there are lighter books that are rewarding reads. That being said, there are light and fluffy books that I read when I need a pick me up, and I call those my candy books – not good in large doses, but sweet and tasty in small amounts!

 November 3, 2011  Posted by Val at 1:12 am Booking Throught Thursday  1 Response »

It’s November first, and you know what that means!

Nov 012011
 

Yes, that crazy time each year when writers attempt to write 50,000 words in the month of November. That equals approximately 1667 words a day, and as many hours as it takes the writer to put out that amount of keystrokes. There are many people who achieve this goal year after year, and then others who never do, but keep trying again year after year. It’s not a contest in the traditional sense; rather each writer competes against themselves, trying to reach that mythical number that equals a short novel.

Personally, I have attempted NaNo several times, and won it twice. There are many writers who criticize NaNoWriMo as being a waste of time, that there is no quality writing being turned out, because after all the goal is quantity rather than quality. I disagree however that there is no quality writing – rough drafts are bad – they just usually are. The important part is to get it out on paper, to get it written down. Then you can go back and work on it, make it quality, make it “good” writing. What I wrote in my attempts was rough and jagged, but there was good stuff under there. One of my “winners” I put a lot of time and effort into revising and it is now a completed novel.  All writing is good writing, because even if you never “use” it, or make it into a finished piece you learn from every bit of writing you do.

Since I am not able to actually do NaNoWriMo this year I will blog about it through the month, and talk about some of the things I learned and took away from it in my years of attempting to reach that brass ring.

 November 1, 2011  Posted by Val at 10:20 pm NaNoWriMo , ,  No Responses »

To reprint, or not reprint, that is the question…

Oct 292011
 

I find that in my own publishing career I run into the question of what to do with works once they have been published. If they are still online to attract readers, than it is easy to leave them there. They also serve as an accessible way to show someone your work, either by giving them the direct address, or linking to them on your website, as I do. But what if it was published in an old print magazine? Or a website that is no longer in existence? I know some people retire their story and leave it be once it has been published, but I’m not a fan of that. For example, I’ll use three different scenarios I’ve come across.

  • One is a story that was published in a medium market in 2003. The story has been out of print for eight years, and the magazine no longer exists.
  • One is a story that was published in an online pay to view site that went out of business and the work is not longer available.
  • One is a story that was published in an online site that was up for  a good while and then went out of business.

All three of these I chose to try and have reprinted elsewhere. My logic behind each one was similar – the piece in the print market is no longer available anywhere, as are the two online pieces. With both of the online pieces they were up for a good amount of time, and a significant amount of time passed before I submitted them to other markets. One has been published, and the other hasn’t yet.

I tend to feel that the more accessible a piece is, particularly if it was published in a  small market, the more it can benefit me as a writer. It’s like being able to pull out a résumé on demand, and offer someone samples of my work. And of course the more visibility you have the better.

I should say though, I spend just as much time researching second markets for my work as I do for new market submissions. Having a piece reprinted in an unprofessional manner, or in a sloppy-looking format hurts more than it can helps your career. I don’t feel that having a piece reprinted is an act of desperation to get it into public again, rather it is a matter of finding the right place to give your baby some sunlight once again.

 October 29, 2011  Posted by Val at 12:03 am Uncategorized No Responses »

Quote of the week – Isaac Asimov

Oct 282011
 

“I write for the same reason I breathe … because if I didn’t, I would die.”

— Isaac Asimov

 October 28, 2011  Posted by Val at 12:30 am Quotes ,  No Responses »

Oh no

Oct 272011
 

Well, when you submit as much as I do you are bound to screw up, and I do, and this time I did!

I have a story out to a magazine that bumped it up for a second reading. All well and good. But I was looking through my rejection letters and realized that I submitted it to the same market last year where I received a personal rejection to it. Oh no!

So then the question was do I write and tell them I realized what I did, or wait and see how they responded? They are a super-fast market and I knew I would hear within a day or two.

I sent them a note apologizing for the mixup, and hopefully they won’t blacklist me. The market just looked like a good fit! Hopefully they have a good laugh over it and no hard feelings. I’ve made this mistake once before, oddly with the same story, and the editors were not happy with me at all – that time I didn’t know until they pointed it out to me. Not a good thing to annoy editors.

The funny thing it I use Duotrope religiously, and somehow missed in the tracker that it had already went to that market – and I am usually very careful about double-checking so I don’t do this.

Ah well, I’ll laugh at myself and hope the editor does the same.

 October 27, 2011  Posted by Val at 12:19 am Submissions , , ,  No Responses »

Booking Through Thursday 10/27/11

Oct 262011
 

Booking Through Thursday

What’s the hardest/most challenging book you’ve ever read? Was it worth the effort? Did you read it by choice or was it an assignment/obligation?

 

The hardest books I’ve read are ones that I haven’t yet finished. There are three: Don Quixote, Les Misérables, and Anna Karenina. (Sense a theme here?) I was not assigned any of these three for school, but was intrigued by them and chose to take them on. I still own them all, and I will finish them as they are like a red flag being waved in front of my face.

 October 26, 2011  Posted by Val at 11:29 pm Booking Throught Thursday , , ,  2 Responses »

Hint Fiction Artwork

Oct 262011
 

Last year I had a short-short story titled “Insomnia” Posted in a W.W. Norton anthology titled Hint Fiction: An Anthology of Stories in 25 Words or Fewer. All of the stories included were 25 words or fewer, and the authors ranged from very well known such as Joyce Carol Oates the very unknown such as I. It was edited by Robert Swartwood, and not only was it a fun piece to write, but the book turned out fantastic, and is in its second printing I believe.

 

Now a couple of months ago I received an email from Robert that some of the stories from the book were going to be included in a juried art show at the Columbia Art League in Columbia, MO. I didn’t think too much of it, assuming my story wouldn’t be one of the ones picked. However, about a month ago I received an email from Robert (who was flown out for the show, the lucky dog) that my story had inspired, not one, but two pieces in the show. And he sent pictures that I have his permission to post.

My story – which was also included on the website for the show (how lucky am i??) – was:

  Sleeping Beauty never minded the spindle prick. It was the wake-up kiss she hated.

 

The first artwork is by Inessa Morelock:

Insomnia by Inessa Morelock

Insomnia by Inessa Morelock

The second one was by Gennie Pfannenstiel:

Insomnia by Gennie Pfannenstiel

Insomnia by Gennie Pfannenstiel

 

Insomnia by Gennie Pfannenstiel

Insomnia by Gennie Pfannenstiel

 

BOTH were also featured in The Columbia Daily Tribune’s slideshow of entries!

I hope one of them wins the show!

 October 26, 2011  Posted by Val at 12:12 am Publications , , ,  No Responses »

Breaking in the new theme

Oct 252011
 

As you can see the site has quite a different layout then before. I’m not sure if I like it the way it is yet or not, but I don’t plan on spending too much time tweaking it as I want to get content in here. It doesn’t matter how good a blog looks if there isn’t the meat for the reader to chew on! Comments are appreciated.

 October 25, 2011  Posted by Val at 4:30 pm Website  No Responses »