Greetings from Sherman, TX
Hello there!
I thought it was high time I updated this. Since my last post, my roads have been many, long, and winding. Still, I’ve made do. I’ve had a great many developments, many residing in the realm of writing, others presiding in the domain of sites and sights seen.
Lately, I’ve largely focused on short stories. I’ve primarily focused on submitting to the Writers of the Future contest, but no more. At least, no more in focus. I’m presently working on several works, one of which is meant for WotF, another for Strange Pilgrims (magazine), and another for Factor Four (magazine). Each is due in reverse order; the latter is in final draft, the middle nearing the completion of a first draft, while the first is somewhere between the two.
I’m excited to say that my writing progress and prowess have continued to bound over top of one another in an ongoing game of leapfrog. It has all been so very delightful. As of late, I’ve dabbled in the realm of rhetorical figures. It’s an interesting and daunting topic, yet I can’t help but revel in the trouncing of the word trollops, the page becoming a raucous pen of play and mischief. I suppose such subjects always suited me and my pursuits. Yet, I didn’t anticipate the synergistic collision of style with that which I already wielded. And should one desire to know of what I’m referring, one need only look from this post to the last. I suspect the thread will be visible enough!
But all of this play is besides the point. There’s another point here to proclaim—a branding, an out with the old and in with the new. Soon, I’ll adjust things across the Sagaheim. Soon, a torchbearer will stand front and center. You’ll know when he arrives. He’s rather hard to miss!
In addition to this rebrand, I plan to take my writing in a more deliberate direction. Up until now, my stories cast a wide net. While there’s merit in such wide aims, it makes for a poor funnel when my readers seek more of what they enjoyed. I presently have a story submitted to WotF. I suspect it will do well. Structurally and technically, it’s very solid. I completed it a year ago, but withheld it because, should it succeed, its publicity would be along a narrow band I was not ready to focus along. But even should it not succeed, the WotF story I earlier mentioned should do the trick. It’s a story in the same vein. It was actually the story I intended to submit during the previous submission period. Alas, work said it was not to be. So I submitted what I did as a backup. I think it would prove quite delightful should a backup find a place among placements.
I’ll endeavor to post more frequently, and I hope to bring the Torchbearer to bear very soon.
Until then, happy reading!
JT
