Wednesday, February 5, 2020

IWSG - Coming Along, News, & Trading Card

It's time for the February Insecure Writer's Support Group post!


Created by Alex J. Cavanaugh, the IWSG servers to support insecure writers. We post our insecurities or our reassurances. Anyone is welcome to join. Just click on Alex's name and sign up on the IWSG tab. Then post and hop around to your fellow IWSG'ers to drop a note.

The co-hosts this month are:

The optional question this month: Has a single photo or work of art ever inspired a story? What is it and did you finish it?

I love to write off prompts, including images, but I don't remember having a finished, published story based on a photo/work of art. At least not off the top of my head.

Things are coming along for me in getting back to writing! I've started a spreadsheet to keep track of words written and edits done, so I can keep track. I always find it interesting when people post their words written at the end of the year, so I figured I'd try that out. Given, I just started that two days go, so there's a full month missing. Still! It will be fun to track.

The next collection is coming along. I've given a list of visuals/subjects to my husband so he can start playing with the cover. The Table of Contents is finalized. Now for final edits and formatting. I'm still hoping for a mid-March release.

If you've signed up for my newsletter (link in sidebar), you'll be the first to see the cover and TOC!

I had a new release this week!


Hello my Earthling! Hello my starling!
Hello my space-time alien gal!
It Came From Outer Space! is a baker’s dozen of tales about creatures from outer space who may or may not have boldly gone where they really shouldn’t have. Tales of aliens who test the creatures of Earth…tales of Earthlings who test the creatures from other planets…aliens who attack…aliens who defend…and aliens who are a little too close for comfort.
Prepare to discover realms at the furthest edges of human imagination.
From the depths of outer space…
To the depths of the sea…
To Portland…and beyond!
AmazonBarnes and NobleKobo • Apple Books • Universal Book LinkGoodreads

I'll be reading at a Women in Horror Month event on Valentine's Day: A Bloody Valentine. Cottonwood Center for the Arts is hosting us that night. I'm also a host and planner on the event. More information available on our Facebook event page.



Finally, I was interviewed at Superficial Gallery for Women in Horror Month, and I have another trading card! This is such a fun thing they do to support women in horror.


I haven't done stats in a while, because I was figuring out what stories to pull from submission, so here's the first one of 2020. January stats:

5 submissions
2 rejections (one that had been short listed)
1 withdrawn (magazine appears to be defunct)
1 acceptance
7 currently on submission
1 currently short listed

I'd like to get back up to 10 stories on submission (and above), so I'm jumping into edits. I've got several stories languishing as they wait for edits.

What are your insecurities? Are you working to improve on any of the causes of insecurity? Are you submitting? How are you celebrating Women in Horror Month? Any news to share?

May you find your Muse.


47 comments:

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

Congratulations on another anthology. You are the master of those.
Another blogger talked about Women in Horror month and lesser known authors needing the attention and I mentioned you.

Madeline Mora-Summonte said...

Well done on all of those accomplishments! And good luck with the new collection and its release!

Julie Flanders said...

Wow you've got lots going on! Congrats on the new release and happy writing. :)

Tamara Narayan said...

Congrats on all these accomplishments. I'm plodding through a second draft of a novel at a snail's pace.

Chrys Fey said...

I tend to keep track of the words I write, but not a total for the year, and I am doing that this year, too. I had a huge word count for January. Over 65,000 words on three projects.

Astrid said...

I love writing based on prompts too, but not images, as I am blind.

As for keeping trac of the words you’ve written, that’s an awesome idea. I’ll probably do that too.

L. Diane Wolfe said...

Congrats on the new publication and interview.

mshatch said...

Currently I'm querying a recently revised manuscript, working on something new, reading more than usual, and playing 7 Days to Die. Congrats on the acceptance :)

Helen said...

Congrats on your very productive start of a new year.

Karen Baldwin said...

LOve the cover! It's sooo 1930!

Loni Townsend said...

Grats on the release! That's awesome.

Yolanda Renée said...

Congratulations! I always start to record stats, then just get too involved in the story and drop it. I need to get better organized. I need to get more involved, thanks!

cleemckenzie said...

My spreadsheets always wind up looking like kindergarten doodles. I'm such a failure at linear record keeping. Well, except for my check book. And even that can be a bit rocky.

Olga Godim said...

Congrats on your new publication. Love the card!

Mark said...

Congrats on the new release! :)

Steven Arellano Rose Jr. said...

Congratulations on the acceptance of the one story you listed in the stats! Also the anthology that you're releasing this week sounds like a neat one and the cover is super! That 1950s-inspired sci fi is really my thing since I'm into atom punk and all that.

So far my first story submission of the year actually happens to be an atom punk short story. I haven't heard back from the publisher as far as a decision goes. It will probably be a while. We'll see what happens.

Hilary Melton-Butcher said...

Congratulations Shannon - you're certainly involved with lots of things and that inspires creativity. Excellent having your husband on board for those covers. Good luck with the new publication and other projects - cheers Hilary

Liza said...

I like the idea of tracking word count. Sometimes I scribble down word counts at the end of a writing day. It usually makes me feel pretty good. Any forward progress is a good thing.

Juneta key said...

Congratulations on all the accomplishments. You go. Happy IWSG!

Murees Dupè said...

Congratulations!👏 Multiple reasons to celebrate. All the best with the new release. That is a very cool card.😉

Diane Burton said...

Congrats on your new release, Shannon. Keep it up!

Shannon Lawrence said...

That's awesome! I really appreciate that.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thank you!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Good luck on finishing that second draft!

Shannon Lawrence said...

That's a crazy word count. Way to go! Was that the bulk of projects for the year, or do you foresee a significant amount more?

Shannon Lawrence said...

We'll make it a project! Good luck to you on getting those word counts in.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on your new publication! The Bloody Valentine event sounds like a great way to promote WIHM. Love the trading card!

Tara Tyler said...

great to see you writing again! and i like the idea of organizing words in a spreadsheet— i hope you stick to it all year, and good luck hitting a super number!

Tara Tyler Talks

Christine Rains said...

Congratulations! And wow, you're busy and super organized. :)

Damyanti Biswas said...

Congratulations on the new release!

R's Rue said...

Congrats.

Michelle Wallace said...

Good luck with the next collection.
I love your consistency, you always have a bunch of stories out on submission.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thanks!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Sounds like you're a good kind of busy! The reading is so easy to leave behind amidst everything else.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thank you!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Isn't it perfect! The guy who designs these is so talented.

Shannon Lawrence said...

We'll see how I do on this since it's my first time trying. I imagine there are plenty of things that will slip by (for example, if I write something on paper, I'm probably not going to bother putting it on there.)

Shannon Lawrence said...

I'm good at linear bookkeeping--on the page--but getting around to doing it can be tricky. I do my checkbook about every two months, and it would be SO MUCH easier if I consistently did it every week or something.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thank you!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thank you!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Good luck with that atom punk story! I've been wanting to get more into the various "punk" genres to absorb them more.

Shannon Lawrence said...

My husband is my biggest supporter, which I'm so grateful for.

Shannon Lawrence said...

That's what I'm hoping. A visual of my progress might pull me the rest of the way through to see I'm getting something accomplished, even if it's not what I hoped for.

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thank you!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thanks!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thank you!

Shannon Lawrence said...

Thank you!