I have a short story coming out in American Gothic, published by Flame Tree Publishing. I love the covers of their anthologies, and I really loved working with them. This is actually the first story of mine that’ll appear in a book.

I really need to write a lot more. A lot more. Short stories for sure, but I’ve got to finish a novel. I’ve been having a bit of a rough time in other parts of my life for a while, so there is an excuse, but I don’t want to use it. I don’t want to excuse myself for not working at 100%, but I don’t want to smother myself in guilt and self-criticism, either. God knows, I’ve done that at 100% in the past, and it doesn’t work. I don’t write more after a mental cudgeling, so it’s time to try something else:

Note the failure, note the whys, note the takeaways, and reboot. Start fresh, with notes for the next round and a piece of paper that says, “Write your way out of this mess!!”