Following Joseph Haines' lead, I decided to start trying to have some of my published stories reprinted in other markets. I sent out "Unfulfilled Expectations," "The Things Outside," and "Grasping for Immortality" today. I'll be curious to see if there's any interest in them.

I rewrote an old flash fiction piece of mine that had a plot that has been written to death. It now incorporates some of my recent writing. I submitted it to Lenox Avenue, which guarantees a quick response.

I also wrote a new darkly humorous story of 1200 words last night. It received a positive response from Lenox Avenue, but it wasn't their kind of tale. So, I entered it in the 10th Chiaroscuro Short Story Contest. It probably won't do well there, but I can always hope.

As of today, I have 41 (3 of them are reprint attempts) stories and poems trying to find homes. It's becoming a challenge to find markets that don't already have my submissions in their slush piles. I have to say that it's a nice problem to have.

I need to send more of my work to pro 'zines. I think I've allowed myself to think that flash (which is mostly what I write) won't sell at the pro level. My only pro sale was a flash piece, though; so that's obviously not true.

Lone Star Stories submissions have slowed a bit over the past couple of weeks. I have several slots filled for the next three issues, but I still need more stories and poems. If Locus and Locus Online review the 'zine, my submissions should increase. I do have a month and a half before the next issue is due, so I don't need to worry yet.

Tonight I'm going to try and get through a plot block in my West Texas story. It's mired at 600 words. I have a 1200 word story fragment that feels like it should be a part of the West Texas story, so I'm going see if I can mesh them. Synergy would be nice.