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Chimera of the Past - Mainstream fiction
Mocha Memoirs, May 2002
Comments: I wrote this after I went to a jewelery store and bought expensive jewelery for the first time. The magazine, unfortunately, folded soon after this was published.
Necessary Evil - Fantasy
Vampire Dan's Story Emporium, 1997
Comments: I rubbed a First Reader the wrong way with my character name selection and got a rejection with some negative comments back. Sent it right out, and this magazine accepted it. In hindsight now, I should have relooked at the names.
Threads and Wishes - Fantasy
Lost Worlds, March, 1997
Comments: If you've seen my handle Garridon, this is the story it comes from. It's a character who is an antagonist in the story.
Blue Herons - Mainstream Fiction
Potomac Review, 1996
Comments: This story was originally published overseas in Japanese. The editor here removed the last sentence of the ending to better suit the magazine.
Lonely Voices - Military
Athena, Fall, 1995
Comments: When I returned from Desert Storm, it was a profound experience visiting a Vietnam War memorial. This story was a result of that, though the magazine folded about a year later.
Disfigured, Nothing More - Fantasy
Lost Worlds, March 1995
Comments: This magazine didn't even tell me they accepted the story. I'd all but written it off after a year, and then I got the contributor's copy in the mail.
Comments on the next three stories: I'd noticed in lookng at sample copies of this magazine from Japan that they had a lot of poetry and not a lot of fiction. The result was these three stories, published in English and Japanese.
Territory - Mainstream fiction
The Plaza, November, 1994
Blue Herons - Mainstream fiction
The Plaza, 1993
First Smile - Mainstream fiction
The Plaza, November, 1992
Military
Grateful for a 'Gift to Any Soldier'
The Washington Post, 2006
Comments: Everyone at work noticed this article when it came out in the Washington Post's Metro section!
Clarity, Voice of a Soldier: Operation Liberty, An Anthology of Heroism
Compiled by Margaret Marr, 2006 ISBN: 097700502X
Amazon
Comments: This project was an anthology horror story. The original editor received so contributions, she was going to create a second volume. Then she was in an auto accident and no one could get any information. We would have been okay with waiting, if we had been told that, but all we got was silence. So one of the writers went ahead and took the reins. This story was read at a DAR meeting on November 11, 2009.
Organizing a Novel When You're Right-Brained
Vision, a Resource for Writers, Issue 64, 2011
Comments: I wrote this article after taking Holly Lisle's How to Revise Your Novel and learned how much being right-brained influenced the way I write and organize. This turned out to be such a good topic that I'm going to write an eBook on it and go into more detail.
For the other Vision articles below, I will repost the links later. The Vision site is undergoing reorganization. I'm lazy -- I don't want to do work twice!
Critiquing for Omniscient Viewpoint
Vision, a Resource for Writers, 2010
Comments: I wrote this because of a critique I got, and I realized there was a need for an article like this.
Inside Writer’s Guide to Rejection Lessons Compiled by Krista Barett. 2007
"Strawberry, Vanilla, and Chocolate" Topzone Publishing
Comments: I'd given up on this one -- it had been submitted years before. I figured the anthology was never going to get published. Then, out of the blue, the editor contacts me.
On Critique Groups, The New Writer's Handbook 2007: A Practical Anthology of Best Advice for Your Craft and Career
Complied by Philip Martin
ISBN-10: 0-9765201-6-8
Amazon
Winner/Career, ForeWord Magazine's Book of the Year 2007 Awards Finalist, Reference, Midwest Independent Publishers Association (MIPA)
Comments: The article published in here was a blog entry on Backspace. The editor contacted me and asked to use it. I was greatly surprised when I saw the published book and who else was in it.
Thriller: Writing the Action Scene
Vision, A Resource for Authors, Issue 32, 2006
Comments: I love action scenes in novels and always disappointed when the author doesn't do them well.
The Joy of Thrillers
Vision, A Resource for Authors, Issue 29, 2005
Comments: I seem pick genres where there isn't a lot of information on what publishers are looking for. Thriller is one of those!
Comments on the two articles below: These reflect how much my writing has changed since I wrote it. I wouldn't do an article like this
today.
Consequences of Your Characters Actions
Vision, A Resource for Authors, Issue 17, 2003
Characters from the Soul
Vision, A Resource For Authors, Issue 13, 2003
Overcoming Writer's Block
Vision, A Resource for Authors, Issue 12, 2002
Comments: I still get annoyed when I hear people say, "There's no such thing as writer's block." It makes it difficult for people who have it to work through when people make sweeping generalizations like that.