Photo by Amy Tharp.

September 2023 Progress Report

from Jeff Baker

I Gotta Be Out Of My Mind Department:

First off, after last month and my swearing I wasn’t going to get under somebody else’s deadline again I found a submissions call that was too good to resist. The submission period doesn’t even open until mid-November and ends New Year’s Eve. Two-Thousand-Five-Hundred words in three and a half months. I can swing that. As of today I’m at over 800 words. That’s over 1/5 of what I needto write.

Now on to other stuff.

I’ve kept up with the weekly and monthly flash fictions as well as submitting stuff and I got some unexpected good news; a story I wrote that’s a continuation of one of the weekly flash fiction stories will be published next year in “Schlock! Webzine.” Wow! Didn’t see that coming!

Also, I’ve written up several of the Queer Sci Fi columns (I like having a backlog!) and am reading a book I’ll try to review for the November column. I have about six months worth of columns written or almost written.

I’m also doing a Goodreads/Amazon review of James Moran’s collection “Fear Itself.” I’d ordered a signed copy but after Darryl died he contacted me and said since I was having such a crappy year he would send me the copy for nothing. And he did!

I’ve been writing pretty regularly. Usually at the Riverside Coffee House in the afternoons or at the downtown Public Library usually on the second floor with a view of Exploration Place. I like that. I can take a bottled soda to the Library and I usually order a slice of pie at the Coffee House. Plus, I’m around people for a bit at both places (which I like!) and can shoot the breeze for a bit, especially at the Library where I know a few people. Both places with a spiral bound notebook and ballpoint pen.

I also do some writing in the early morning on “our” bed in my bedroom. I like privacy too. Besides, I don’t feel as alone on that bed as I did in the living room for a while.

Right now I’m doing the writing at 1:45 am on the big bed in my Brother’s basement guest room. I like writing in a house full of family. And I scrolled through some of these earlier reports on the blog. It’s a lot better to do them once a month instead of once a day.

And, as I said, I’m reading. I AM trying to read more. I read a few Kipling stories I hadn’t read yet, I have a stack of books (the TBR pile every writer has!) most of which I bought just to read one story! Also, I’m starting to read Steinbeck’s “Travels With Charley,” the book my Dad gave me ages ago when he’d finished it. I had just bummed through it but now I’m reading it in earnest!

I keep a big list of stuff I need to finish NOW and stuff I can write later, so here are a few of the titles from the “now” and “later” list.

“The Apostle Bird.”

“Wayfaring Stranger”

“The Mad Matzo Party.”

“Me And Eddie Birnbocker In the Grass In the Dark.”

“Hark! Hark! The Mummy Speaks!”

“One Dark Night, In the Middle Of the Day.”

I’m not bragging, I’m goading myself to finish these!

In addition to the review I have the weekly story to finish by Friday and it’s already in my head, so I’ll hop to it!

That’s about it for now!

—end—

Photo by Michael J. Mayak