Freedom From The Mundane

February’s GDR Review

Monthly GDR Review

Fiction
* Write 20K words on BACCARA BURNING – part-done; 5k
* Write one new short/flash story per month – done
* Re-submit any rejected/recalled short stories – done
* Submit more fiction/poetry competitions – done

Poetry
* Write at least one poem per week – done (plus lots more)
* Complete MS for SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE VOL.2 – done
* Start preparing SP chapbook – done

Editing
* Stay on top of RR submissions – done
* Start preparing for March 10 issue – done

Freelance
* Get a few more gigs to review for NotW – none available
* Keep up all websites updated and relevant – done

Reading & Learning
* The Kenneth William Diaries by Russell Davies – IP
* On Writing by Stephen King – IP
* One Good Turn by Kate Atkinson – not started

Things That Turned Up
* Freelance article re-write assignment – done
* One Act Stage play – IP; stalled
* Eternal Press company buy-out; contract amendment
* FRINGE FANTASTIC entered into 2010 PSH Poetry Exchange

Submissions Made
* Short story to Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook 2010 short story competition 4/2
* Short story to Frome s/story competition 5/2
* Short story to Gemini Magazine 4/2 (encouraging rejection 28/2)
* 4 poems to anthology: The IRON Book of New Humorous Verse 5/2
* Flash piece to Flash Fiction Online 8/2
* Flash piece to Drunken Boat 8/2
* Short story to Grace Dieu Writers’ Circle Short Story contest 22/2

Outstanding
Barcelona Review 1
Spinetinglers 1
Flash Fiction Online 1
Frome s/s Competition 1
Identity Theory 1
Writers’ & Artists’ Yearbook s/s competition 1
Grace Dieu Competition 1
Drunken Boat 1
Be A Better Writer 1

Successes
The big success of February has been the amount of work I’ve got through. Just check out the amount of times you see the word “done” above. It’s been a good month for output and I feel it’s been building for a while. The main thing now is to keep it going and expand in the areas still lacking.

Two chapbooks have made significant process this month. SILLY POEMS FOR WEE PEOPLE VOL.2 is now ready and scheduled for publication in early April, and my chapbook on Edinburgh is growing with submissions by the week.

Part of this has been my deliberate attempt to write outside of my office. I’ve moved myself around a lot—the kitchen, the living room, etc. for a lot of fiction work—but the poems have flowed in coffee shops around the centre of Edinburgh.

I inadvertently picked up some freelance work from a company I thought no longer required my services a year ago. Good to be back with them but one wonders if I will get anything much out of them for a while. They still pay a very reasonable rate and they know I’m always happy to take on a gig or two!

Failures
Still struggling with BACCARA BURNING. Some days it comes out fast and slick and others I struggle to get down anything over 200 words. The characters are grating each other and the only thing that seems solid in the book so far is the story itself. Could the characters be sabotaging the book? I really need to get a grasp on this. One thing I have noticed is writing during the daylight hours doesn’t help much but writing at night does.

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