2015 Haiga

Handling Rejections by Angela Topping

Very good blog post about handling rejections. I generally write prose not poetry, but I think her advice applies there too. Especially the part about revising. I had a personal essay rejected three times this year and then after some minor tweaking it was accepted by the next lit journal I submitted it to. I have another short story that has been rejected five times so far. Two of the editors wanted to publish it, but they didn't like the ending. So I made some changes and now have it out there again. Rejection letters shouldn't be inspiration killers. Instead, use them to inspire you to either make revisions or to keep submitting.

 

https://angelatopping.wordpress.com/2015/12/23/on-rejection/

Sol Invictus Eve!

Merry Saturnalia!!!

Jedi Blogging Tips

I realize it is a little ironic for me to post a link to tips for being a better blogger since I'm not much of a blogger myself yet, but there is some good advice in this blog and hey, it's got a Star Wars catch too.

http://positivewriter.com/13-jedi-tips-on-how-to-be-the-best-blogger-writer-you-can-be/

Too Hot for December

New Meme

Star Wars vs Star Trek according to Bill Nye

I guess I'm a bit of a Sci Fi slut. I like both of them. And I'm much more willing to suspend my disbelief for Sci Fi like Star Wars rather than almost all of the dreadful action movies Hollywood pumps out these days.

http://uproxx.com/gammasquad/2015/12/star-trek-star-wars-bill-nye/

666 page views

If I were Emperor Nero I guess I'd be worried.

Great Submissions List

Lots of links for submissions in this one.

http://entropymag.org/where-to-submit-december-january/

iAuthor

I haven't really done much with iAuthor other than loading my books on there quite a while back. This is a pretty good list of tips though. I might need to check it out again and see what's available there.

https://medium.com/@iAuthor/how-to-forge-your-author-brand-on-iauthor-8-insider-tips-e921608880ef#.i96mtrkmx

4th Attempt at Stand Up

I tried stand up comedy again this weekend. It was the fourth time I've been on stage. It was a rough crowd though and I really couldn't do much of my material. I had about 14 minutes of stuff, but gave up after 10 minutes. But I learned a lot and I think I have a much greater appreciation for anyone who does public performances. It's not easy and all of the time and effort put into it can be ruined by one or two bad audience members. 

Thanksgiving

I'm very thankful I'm living in Japan, a country that doesn't celebrate Thanksgiving. Squanto should have let them starve. And that also means no Black Friday. Such a dumb idea. Let's go out and by a bunch of crap we don't really need at 50% off just to celebrate some dude's birthday on the wrong day. If you wait until March most of the stuff will probably be 80% and you'll actually be celebrating at least in the right month.

France, Stand Up Comedy, and a bunch other random stuff.

I'm supposed to do another stand up routine next week, but with the attacks in France and all of the ensuing social media arguments and debates I've foolishly got myself into over the past few days I'm finding it real hard to feel and be funny. I guess anyone who tries stand up or any other type of public performance has to expect a few bad gigs now and then, but it just feels strange to go from such a high less than a week ago to such a low this week.

I've always been pretty hyper-aware of all the terrible shit in the world, how could you not be in cyberspace, and I've never been shy about expressing my opinion (far Left btw, if you haven't guessed from any of my previous posts), but this week it just all seemed so pointless. I realized once again that debating on social media even with links to endless believed facts is nothing more than a way to semi-safely vent your anger in real time.

And more often than not I'm flinging my anger at people that are supposed to be my friends. I'm seriously thinking about only posting shit about cats and food on all social media sites from now on. I'm tired of all the drama created by me and others. Nothing good every comes of it other than a bunch of angry endless pissed off posts.

I think I should take the good advice that is ironically posted on the various social media sites to take a break and shut the computer off for a while.

Alan Moore's advice on Pubishing

A little short on the details of "how to" and the pitfalls, but inspiring nonetheless.

http://io9.com/alan-moore-advises-new-writers-to-self-publish-because-1743575906?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

My Starbucks cup

Great Advice on Self-Publishing

http://publishedtodeath.blogspot.jp/2012/11/how-to-build-your-own-author-platform.html

Happy Veteran's Day

3rd Time Doing Stand up

I did a 10 minute stand up routine the other night. Third time I've been on stage. I got some laughs, so I think it went pretty well. I'm hoping to do some more in 2016. It was a little scary, but pretty fun as well.

X-mas music blues

X-mas music already playing in Starbucks???? The corpse of Halloween isn't even cold yet and they have to pull this out.

Happy Halloween and Samhain

Baltimore Review accepting submissions

Another good opportunity for the writers.

http://trishhopkinson.com/2015/10/29/paying-call-for-submissions-baltimore-review-deadline-november-30-2015/

Tips for Submitting

This is a really good article on tips for submitting your work.

http://trishhopkinson.com/submission-tips/

Pankhearst looking for Poetry and Flash Fiction

I like it. They are looking for poetry or flash fiction explaining why America is not the world. I think I'm going to submit either some poetry or flash fiction to this one.

https://pankhearst.wordpress.com/2015/10/09/submit-to-us-announcing-two-new-projects/

First Review

I should have posted this a while ago, but this is the first review I received for my collection of poetry.

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-us/ebook/the-dead-along-the-river-speak-to-me

Back to the Future Meme

A little humor on this fictitious historical day.

Short Memoir Contest

This one looks good for all the creative non-fiction writers out there.

http://trishhopkinson.com/2015/10/21/free-short-memoir-contest-200-prize-split-lip-deadline-nov-16-2015/

Motivational Meme

Cream City Review

Another literary journal looking for submissions.

http://www.creamcityreview.org/submit-2/

Trish Hopkin's Blog

This is a really good blog to follow if you are a poet. She posts links to literary journals looking for poetry submissions several times a week. And they are always lit. journals that pay!!!! I highly recommend it for any poets out there.

http://trishhopkinson.com/

Sycamore Review

I've decided to try and post more links to literary journals that are looking for submissions or that are hosting contests. I hope some of the writers out there that read my blog find this useful.

http://sycamorereview.com/2015/09/30/wabash-prize-poetry-fiction-open-oct-1st-nov-15th/

another meme

A really good book I just finished reading.

This is a small plug for a book I just finished reading. Really great read.



http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JIYNZVU?keywords=You%20can%27t%20lose%20if%20you%20don%27t%20want%20to%20win&qid=1444209305&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

Very Good Facebook Pages for Writers

I belong to many of these, but not all of them. I'll be checking them out soon. I hope the author writes an article about good G+ pages too.

http://thewritelife.com/facebook-groups-for-writers/

For the Creative Types Like Me Trying to Make A Go of It

tsu2????

This is a good counter argument to the first article I posted about tsu.

http://answerquestions.hubpages.com/hub/Is-Tsu-a-Scam

tsu????

So I joined tsu today, sent out some invites on twitter and g+, but was surprised when facebook said it was a blocked link. I did a little research (maybe should've done that before I joined) and found this article. I'm still not sure how I feel about tsu. I thought it might be another way to promote my writing, but it feels a bit like a pyramid scam in a way.


http://ayesh.me/no-tsu.co

Scams to Watch Out For

Some good info about self-publishing scams out there.

http://trinityroberts.com/2015/09/22/self-publishing-traps-are-sucking-authors-dry/

Train Ride Across the USA!!!

This is so cool!! I want to take my family on this trip someday. And for a few hundred bucks you can't beat it. Living in Japan I've really learned to love traveling by train. This would be a great way to finally see my own country.

http://dereklow.co/across-the-usa-by-train-for-just-213/

Reality Gut Check

Another reality check.  But, like the  last part of the article says,

"And here is the other thing that is absolutely true: Writers will write, says Roxana Robinson, even if they don't get paid for it."

ihttp://www.npr.org/2015/09/19/441459103/when-it-comes-to-book-sales-what-counts-as-success-might-surprise-you

The Numbers

This is encouraging and disheartening at the same time. Maybe one of my books will become one of those mutants that sells 2 million copies right out the gate.

http://www.kameronhurley.com/the-cold-publishing-equations-books-sold-marketability-love/

Query Letters

This makes me think I need to brush up and modernise my query letter writing skills.

http://jennybent.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/its-really-not-about-who-you-know.html

20 Helpful Free Tools

I use some of these occasionally. Great stuff for writers.

http://bekindrewrite.com/2012/09/07/20-great-free-online-resources-for-writers/

Is year novel really ready to be submitted?

Some great things to think about before you send your work off to the axe murders.


http://www.writersdigest.com/online-editor/7-fatal-flaws-that-told-me-my-novel-wasnt-ready-to-pitch

Social Media Promo Tips

Fairly similar to other articles out there, but a few useful tips in there.

http://www.selfpublishingadvice.org/4-top-social-media-rules-for-indie-authors/

Sobering

Seems Facebook isn't the silver bullet for self-promotion that a lot of online self-promotion gurus claim it is. I wonder how Twitter, Google+ and some of the other social media sites compare?

http://www.digitalbookworld.com/2015/why-facebook-cannot-help-you-sell-books/?et_mid=780778&rid=241006643

Kindle Scout

I'm glad they are attempting to give writers another way to possibly publish, but some of their terms regarding content seem a little restrictive. And it seems like writers that are not proficient at cover design, formatting, editing, ect will have to spend a lot of money before they can even submit their books.

https://kindlescout.amazon.com/about

30 Famous Writers Insulting Other Famous Writers.

Pretty funny to see the greats sling mud.

http://flavorwire.com/188138/the-30-harshest-author-on-author-insults-in-history

Very Useful Chart from Writers Write

http://writerswrite.co.za/a-fabulous-resource-for-writers-350-character-traits

Paparazzi Parenting: Flash Fiction 700 words (rough language and content)

"Jesus, you fuck Benny," Bogey thought. "You had to just up and die on me here in this shit hole."

He pulled the dirty sheet over Benny's rebar stiff body not disturbing at all the piles of rotting garbage, abandoned clothes, busted beer bottles, and moldy newspapers that surrounded it. He sat down heavily on top of of dark blue plastic milk cartoon facing his friend's dead body. The morning sun was just rising blood red through the bluish commute haze coming off the nearby freeway. The squat they'd been living in for the past two weeks was a derelict office building  just south of Oakland. The Mexican Brown was surprisingly cheap here despite being a long way away from the border. 

"Too cheap," he thought rubbing his arm. "Probably cut Benny's last dime bag with 70% strychnine."


He rummaged around in the pockets of his faded Army jacket. He pulled out a bent spoon,  a tiny empty white plastic bag, a lighter and three quarters of a cigarette.  He licked the inside of the bag for resin to take the edge off and then light the cigarette. For a brief moment he ran the flame from the lighter over the extensive scar tissue on his left forearm.  The large patch of needle ravaged skin was almost completely numb now. 

"But we had some times didn't we," he thought staring down at the corpse shaped sheet. How long since we did that show together Benny, what was it The Tweenie Bop Parade or some shit like that. Man, time goes fast. Can't believe we were only fourteen years old back then. Now you're dead at thirty two." 

Bogey rubbed the hard stubble on his sore jaw and noted the irony. "Hired me because of my smile originally, now almost all of my teeth are gone. Hair too." A pile of trash rustled behind him and Bogey turned cat quick at the noise. He saw a furry black rear end and a long pink tail dart under some newspapers. "Yeah, the rats man. I don't want to do this, but you know what rats will do to a dead body if they have the chance." 

He stood up from the milk crate still puffing away at the cigarette. In the back off the building there was a public bathroom. Someone had long ago ripped the door of it's hinges. White porcelain  from the smashed toilets littered the floor, though all of the metal fixtures, copper piping, and tile flooring had been neatly scavenged by desperate junkies at some point in the buildings sad down fall. The sink had survived and years of it serving as a makeshift meth lab had chemical burned it black. Bogey rummaged around looking for cans of lighter fluid, acetone, paint thinner from the huffers, anything that had a little bit of flammable liquid left in it. After collecting what he could find he went back to Benny's body. He set the cans down and used his pocket knife to open each one up length wise. He poured as much of the remaining liquid as he could over Benny. The outline of Benny's long pointy nose bled through the sheet and Bogey had to hold back a strong sob.

"I don't want to do this, but I have to," he said though tears. "Remember what old Vinnie use to say to us when we were inside for that two year stretch? Yeah, that's right Benny, always burn the body up with the building. It takes the cops longer to investigate it and you have time to get out of town. And I can't risk sweating out the junk in County Benny. You've been there before. You know what it's like."    

From his battered leather wallet he unfolded a faded old photograph. Two young boys stood smiling outside in a parking lot of a sunlight Hollywood studio. Tossing it onto Benny's body he took a long pull on the cigarette until the end glowed red. And then turning to go without looking back he flicked it onto the body. The flames had eaten up the east wall and ceiling by the time he hopped a freight train heading south towards Tijuana. 

10,000 Words Today!!!!

I took a 10,000 words in 30 days writing challenge on August 1st. Hit a little over 10,000 typo riddled (probably) words today!!! Yeah, I'm a sort of proud of myself. Check it out here.

https://www.wattpad.com/myworks/46149787-the-viper-guru

A Haibun I've been working on

I've seen plenty of homeless people before. Some of them I have even become friends with in a "Hi, how are ya, here's some change," sort of way. But this one standing with against a brick building in downtown Eugene spooked me. He wasn't large or menacing. He was even relatively well kept. But when I made eye contact to offer him some change, well, his stare stopped me cold.

eyes that have been insane
for a long long time
scare me to the quick

Bukowski one more time

http://www.brainpickings.org/2014/08/12/charles-bukowski-john-martin-letter/

Bukowski

http://www.bbc.com/culture/story/20150814-what-bukowski-taught-us-about-life-in-nine-quotes

Tablo

I put some my recent writing up here. Check it out it you are interested.

https://tablo.io/bookshelf#_=_

Books About Writing

Pretty great list here. I've read several of these and they all helped me a lot. I hope I have time to read the rest of them at some point.

http://www.iauthor.uk.com/theme/books-about-writing:33

Test Flights: My short story Free from Aug 12th-Aug 16th

Assuming Amazon has got all of their ducks in a row my short story Test Flights should be free for the next few days.

http://www.amazon.com/Test-Flights-Steve-B-Howard-ebook/dp/B00WR8ZCP6/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1439342975&sr=8-5&keywords=Steve+B+Howard

On making a Habit of Writing Every Day

A bit of an advertisement for the book, but some good advice on writing everyday whether you feel like it or not.


http://www.brainpickings.org/2013/05/22/manage-your-day-to-day-99u/

Another good source for submissions

I've submitted to several of these literary journals. Unfortunately, I can't say I've been published by any of them yet, but I'm working on it.

http://www.bustle.com/articles/34953-12-online-lit-mags-you-should-definitely-read-or-even-submit-to

James Patterson's Masters Writing Class.

I still don't think I'd pay for the class, but I like what this writer had to say about it.

http://observer.com/2015/08/an-accomplished-writer-takes-a-master-class-from-a-gargantuan-selling-writer/

Lots of very useful stuff for writers here.

I think most of my recent blog posts have basically been cutting and pasting links rather than actually writing anything original. I apologize for that, but I hope the links have been useful at least.

http://thewritelife.com/100-best-websites-for-writers-2015/#.p392au:RVhX

With You in Kyoto: Spring 2004

Something I wrote the first time I visited Kyoto with my wife.

With You in Kyoto: Spring 2004

Kyoto with its Golden Temple,

three story statues of fierce

Buddha manifestations, and

thousands of wooden Kannons

did not bring peace.

Instead sitting with you

gazing at a small moss garden

deep in the belly of another

massive temple, finally brought

the contentment I needed.

Thousand Blessings Child

you are my prayer answered.

I feel the we, the I, the now,

hand and hand here in the sun.

The Grinder: A free replacement for Dutrope?

This sounds interesting. It looks like a possible replacement for Duotrope, which use to be free.

http://thegrinder.diabolicalplots.com/FAQ.aspx

The Viper Guru: wattpad's 30 day 10,000 word challenge

I decided to take the wattpad 30 day/10,000 word writing challenge. It seems a little more doable to me than the NAMO. I'm hoping to get in at least 333 words a day if not more. Check out here if you are interested.

The Viper Guru

Kirsten finds what she believes to be the perfect Guru, but as time goes on she begins to learn that things at the ashr...

WATTPAD.COM

The Koala Cafe

Had a great time here last night. Great food and entertainment. Highly recommended it.

Koala Cafe & Grill Home

Aussie pub, cafe, sports bar at Kinjo Gakuin University in Moriyama-Ku, Nagoya

KOALACAFEGRILL.COM

Good source for novella writers

Another good one for the novella writers out there.

http://thejohnfox.com/journals-accepting-novellas/

More Great Advice for the Artistic Types

Lots of good advice for artistic types here.

http://99u.com/articles/34649/7-pieces-of-wisdom-that-will-change-the-way-you-work

The Hemingway(s)

I put the Steinbeck(s) up last week. Here are the Hemingway(s), though the pic isn't as good.

iAuthor

I added all my books to iAuthor today!!!

http://www.iauthor.uk.com/?view=searchresult&query=Steve+B+Howard

These look really useful!!!

Good article about where to publish flash fiction.


http://thejohnfox.com/flash-fiction-submissions/

Great Rejection Letter from Brain Mill Press

This is one of the best rejection letters I've ever received from a literary journal. I don't know if this is standard fair, but they do a pretty good job of making a writer feel better about their rejected work.

Dear Steve,

Thank you so much for your submission to the Brain Mill Press 2015 Driftless Unsolicited Novella Contest.

We received a highly competitive cohort of entries to this year's contest. Your submission compelled and interested us, and we were honored to read your novella. Every novella was read in its entirety, more than once, and it was enjoyable and humbling work.

We're honored you submitted your work, and though The Adamantine River Passage will not be included in the 2015 Driftless Series, we'd encourage you to submit to the series again, or to another Brain Mill Press call in the future.

Thank you again, and if you have any questions, please don't hesitate to contact us. Your entry fee will be applied to membership to the press, so you will continue to receive newsletters, announcements, and press discounts on titles. We have a mission at Brain Mill to build community, and we hope you'll continue to consider us for your work and to find good reads.

Respectfully,
Brain Mill Press Editors

The Black Eagle: FREE Short story

I put this short story up on smash words for FREE today!!!! Check it out if you are interested.

The Black Eagle: a short story by Steve B Howard

The Buddha at Four: short story I posted on Kobo books for free!!!

A short story I posted on Kobo Books and a few other places (Scriggler, Wattpad, tumblr) for free. This is on Kobo Books now for FREE also!!!!!

https://store.kobobooks.com/search?Query=The+Buddha+at+four

My new website and squarespace

Spent most of the day setting up my website. I really only wanted it to use as a landing page to start building an e-mail list of subscribers, but I wasn’t able to figure it out. Squarespace is supposed to be easy to use, but I’m finding it to be pretty difficult. Hopefully, I ’ll get better with more practice and tinkering. Check it out here if you are interested.

steve-howard-sfc9.squarespace.com

I guess being a writer has always been tough though.

Well this is depressing.

But it is in the nature of corporatism to externalise costs wherever possible. The costs of living as a writer get passed on – writers teach, edit, review, ghost-write, cab-drive, put out in myriad ways so that they may write the books that support the global corporate entity that is modern-day publishing.

http://www.irishtimes.com/culture/books/a-lament-for-modern-publishing-1.2292101

Steinbeck!!!!!

All my lovely Steinbeck novels on one shelf!! Well, almost all of them. I have two of his books on my ipod.

The Divine Director

I posted some flash fiction here today. Interesting site. Lots of free ebooks here.



https://www.wattpad.com/story/45334735

Fearing Santana

I published another short story on Kobo. It's free as well. I like that you can put stuff on Kobo and keep it free as long as you like. But, I think Kindle's formatting is a lot more forgiving. I guess I'll keep messing with it and see if I can get it to come out a little better.



https://store.kobobooks.com/search?Query=Fearing+Santana

All My Book Covers

Find them here!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=ntt_athr_dp_sr_1?_encoding=UTF8&field-author=Steve%20B%20Howard&search-alias=digital-text&sort=relevancerank

https://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-dead-along-the-river-speak-to-me

The Dead Along the River Speak to Me

I put this up on Kobo books last night. I decided to try Kobo instead of Kindle this time. And I can keep it up there fro free for as long as I want. Check it if you get a chance. Sample poem below the link.

https://store.kobobooks.com/search?Query=The+Dead+Along+the+River+Speak+to+Me

The Dead Along the River
There are no bodies

in the ground.

Japanese cemeteries

contain only headstones.

On the gentle sweep

of the river bank Kami wander.

Small pink flowers fight

through frozen dirt.

A sudden explosion of color

amongst the black mud.

This afternoon snow

will cover all.

More great advice for writers

Some more good advice for writers.

http://writerswrite.co.za/the-12-best-tools-to-use-before-self-publishing-a-book

AHA Program (Authors Helping Authors)

I stumbled upon this site today on twitter. Seems like it might be a great way to get the word out there about your books for free.

http://www.authorjd.com/aha-program/?subscribe=success#534

Great Tips for Indie Writers

Some good tips and an interesting read.

http://www.selfpublishingadvice.org/our-book-promotion-authorallichat-with-indie-reader/

A little poetry

Humidity and Mild Depression

Clouds like concrete entomb
this city in cancerous smog.
Milky skies face milky sidewalks.
A death step futility march carries them
to the relentless morning grind

and pulverizes
the salaried meat onto trains and subways.
Japan’s season of the furnace roasts
the un-acclimated and un-air conditioned.
My angry annoyance walks in step with
the rising Celsius.
Today I am the King of the Blackest Moods.