I’m excited to announce today’s release of the August issue of Sirens Call eZine! My story ‘Avemwood’ is featured in this issue as  well as work by a bunch of authors I know and the art of Betty Rocksteady, who ran the Spider Romance Microfiction Contest I recently took part in.

I particularly looked forward to this publication since so many other people I work with by chance happened to be included in the same issue. It was great to see that happen. Not only are these people awesome at what they do, they’re some of the most wonderful people I’ve had the pleasure of knowing and working with.

I never started writing thinking it would be easy; I knew it would be difficult. But what I never expected from it in the beginning was the community. In all the years I’ve been writing I have yet to meet a writer I don’t like. The support and kinship in the writing community is amazing and if you’re reading this I thank you.

Be sure to check this issue out, as it’s full of great stories, poetry, and art!

It’s FREE to read! Just click the link below!

Sirens Call issue 28 “Terrifying Tales”

This week on Pen of the Damned read The Glory by Zack Kullis

You can also check out Zack’s blog HERE.

I’ve been working on a novel for a long time now. It’s taking longer to write it than I ever wanted or intended. Different things have taken time away from it, whether it be my dedication to short fiction or circumstances of life.

I thought a lot about it recently and asked myself some questions. Am I really going to finish this thing? How long is it going to take me? Do I really want to write this?

Of course I want to write it, I told myself. Why else would I have started it in the first place?

Then I thought about the first two questions and I realized it’s totally up to me. All I have to do is commit. I realized I’m in control.

So I set out to find methods to help motivate me and increase my productivity. First I had some artwork done of my two protagonists and the antagonist. I framed them and put them on the wall behind my desk so that whenever I’m writing they’re looking down on me, pushing me along to tell their story.

The next thing I did was start writing down my word counts each day. I didn’t set a specific goal per day or have any expectations of how much I’d write. I just put down how many words I was able to bleed out. Then I found myself wanting to beat previous word counts. I’d look at my averages and highest counts and feel the desire to do better, beat my top score.

Some days it works and I get a lot done. Other days I do almost nothing.

But it didn’t matter whether or not I beat my high score with well written prose or wrote a measly spattering of bad sentences. I was making progress.

That’s what mattered. Not necessarily how much I did each day, but the fact that I was writing nearly every day and getting work done.

This system has been working for me so far and it’s a no pressure way of getting myself to write. I didn’t like the weight of a specific number resting on my shoulders all the time. The easygoing approach to increasing my word counts makes me want to write more, not feel like I have to.

Different things work for different people, but this has certainly worked for me.

This week on Pen of the Damned read Iron Trappings by Thomas Brown.

Check out Thomas Brown’s website HERE.

The Season Finale of The Lift is here!

Plummet by Cynthia Lowman

This wraps up season one, but stay tuned for season two coming soon!

www.victoriaslift.com

Sometimes all you need is a little therapy…

This week on Pen of the Damned, ‘Therapy’ by Christopher A. Liccardi

This week on Pen of the Damned read Meat and Leather by Tyr Kieran. A wonderfully dark tale about obsession.

You can follow Tyr Kieran on Twiiter @TyrKieran