Whatever bug is going around, it's pretty nasty. Every time I blow my nose, I feel like I'm losing a piece of my brain. Plus, I'm awake all night coughing so hard I feel like my chest is going to rip apart. Sheesh. It's been three weeks now. And It's not something that will go away with antibiotics. I just want it to be over with. Every time I start feeling healthy, it comes back two-fold to prove me wrong.
On the lighter side, Suspense Magazine will soon be going to print, something the editor has been working to do since I've known him...so, a big round of applause for Suspense Magazine. Also, the editor will be announcing the winners to the 2009 short story contest some time this month, so keep checking their website for updates: suspensemagazine.com. Who knows, maybe I'll be among the winners.
In life, the real world, we got a puppy several weeks ago, on Jan 2nd. Her name is Layla. She's an Australian Shepherd what looks entirely different from our other one. She's all black with tan and white markings...sorta looks like a really fluffy rotweiller. She's 13 weeks old and sooooo cute. We adore her and our first dog, Atreyu, also adores her. He's only a year older than she is, though, so that works. They have similar energy levels.
Hmmmm....interesting idea for a story. You know, people always say it would be great to be able to bottle up the energy and sell it...what if there was actually a way to do that? What effects would it have? See...I've got my sci-fi streak in me, too.
On the writing front, I'm still editing Women Scorned as planned. Things are coming along very well. So far, I haven't seen the need for any major changes. Thank goodness. The novel is fantastic, one of the best first drafts I've ever created...and I owe it all to using Randy Inglemason's Snowflake Method. Really. It's given me a level of organization and thoughtfulness I've never used in my writing before. I plan to use it again when I'm done editing Women Scorned and Sanitarium.
And for my next novel, Djinn: A Love Story, as talked about. I'm doing massive amounts of research for this book. My husband being from the Muslim culture has been a huge help since he knows the best resources for information on the Djinn. I'm so excited about this project and can't wait to get started. But, first, the editing needs to get done. Can't start writing new work until the old work is finished. Once I'm done with this novel, I'll write my half of the stories for Do Monkeys Dream?, the anthology Claire L. Brouhard and I are working on together. She's currently writing a novel for that one called The Monkey Is Real. It sounds amazing. She's using a character named Auri Stone...and let's just say she's got some incredible things in store for Auri. Claire plans on making a series based off this character. A supernatural detective of sorts.
So, lots of exciting things going on. Oh, http://jessenovels.wordpress.com/
this website is showcasing my story Lockdown, one of the shorts in Sanitarium, and will soon be featuring a Q and A from yours truly. I hope you all get a chance to visit this website. And be sure to check out my page on Suspense Magazine: http://suspensemagazine.com/angelaalsaleem.html since it is regularly updated. Right now, John is featuring my story Fog, another one that is among the Sanitarium.
Keep checking back for some more updates...and keep reading.