After a few dedicated and hard-won writing sessions, I put the finishing touches on the first draft of a story I’m doing for an anthology. Entitled “Damn, It’s Hard Out Here For A Brownie!”, it is a sometimes twisted tale about pride in one’s work, labor relations, and how one crazy person can fuck it all up for everyone.
It’s now in the hands of Caroline, the genius editor of Timid Pirate Publishing for a hard, critical look. Then line edits will follow over the next few days. If all goes well, I’ll have it sent off to its final intended destination.
And the funny thing is, this story almost didn’t happen at all. I came up with the title on a whim, and knew I wanted to do something with the little cobbler pixies, but no idea what. Instead, I was going to do a story about a Medusa in the modern world. I still like THAT story, and will probably write it for other markets. But when pitching it to the editor of the anthology I’m writing for, she was underwhelmed with the concept.
Not that she didn’t like the idea of the story. Just that it was not the best fit.
If I’ve learned anything with anthologies, it’s that the story has to be good, but at the end of the day it doesn’t matter how good it is if it doesn’t fit the editor’s concept of the anthology.
So, back to the drawing board. And those pesky Brownies kept coming back to me. Damned if I’m not happy they did. I ended up being really happy with the story. While not something I would have ordinarily written, it is definitely a Nathan Crowder story.
And in another month or so, I’ll be able to tell you if and when you can read it. 😉
Tales from the Ragged Edge 