Writing, and Writing, and Reading

Things are going pretty well on the writing front. I've submitted three short stories in the past two weeks, two of which are actually old stories. I submitted "Waterspouts" to a general horror anthology, and I'm about to submit "Soul Putrefaction" (a zombie story) to a zombie anthology as well. I hope they're accepted. I want to find homes for my old stories.

I'm still proofing the third book of my series. Still no word from the two agents that were interested, but I'll keep you informed. I'm going to work on a few more short stories and then switch back to writing novels. I'm glad to say that the writer's block is finally almost over. Sometimes working on short stories for anthologies kick starts my imagination. It's like taking home a writing assignment from school. You have a deadline, along with guidelines about what the person running the anthology wants, and then you're job is to write something fitting in the time you're given. Sometimes I work better under a deadline, which is why I always try to set one for myself.

Currently, I've also started reading another novel. I really need to read more often and expand my horizons in terms of books. If I want to be a writer, I need to be an avid reader. I'm reading Shriek: An Afterword by Jeff VanderMeer. So far, it isn't bad. The prose is a little academic for my taste in fiction, but the story is interesting. The underground caves beneath the city of Ambergris are inspiring, since there are a series of underground caverns in my own work underneath Cimmerian City. I might write a more thorough review of it when I'm finished.

Well, that's about it in terms of writing updates. Thanks for reading.