Iron Writer Autumn Final! Votes, please!

Yes, it's on again! Another Iron Writer Autmn Open Final!
There are 3 of us in it this time, and my story, well, it uses all 4 elements to the best, so, hey, PLEASE go and READ and VOTE for me! :-)

"There's Danger in that Arena" by Dani J Caile

(4 elements: a hideous steampunk mask, a spider, a contract, a post-game media interview with a gladiator)

http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-130-2015-autumn-equinox-open-final-round/



Update: I'm up to 6500 words with my new book, I'm flying! :-)

Accepted! Short story in another anthology!

Yes!
I submitted a short story to a new publisher for me, Strange Musings Press, for the anthology 'One Star Reviews of the Afterlife 5'...5...wow, that means there were 4 before this...a funny story about the afterlife, and they rejected it. But this was different. The editor actually told me what he didn't like about my story. So, after a day or so of running around, getting upset, I sat down and thought 'hey, maybe I can fix this'. And that's what I did. I even added about 500 words which put me up into the second level of submissions (increasing any royalties). And you know what? They accepted it! Even with one typo (I sent them the correction just now).
So, I've got a story in another anthology! Coming out in the 2nd quarter of 2016. Watch this space...OK, watch it a bit later :-)

Extra news...today starts the Iron Writer Autumn Open Final, and I'm one of three writers who need votes! Link later.
Extra extra news...broke the 5000 word barrier with the new book :-) 10% done!

Two anthologies in one week!

This week I have two short stories in the 'Desert Bus'....one story is about a guy running from the authorities, another running from a past love...

And a sci-fi short story in 'Spectacular Tales II'...about a homesick astronaut stuck on an outpost...

Busy week :-)

I've also started the sequel to "How to Build a Castle in Seven Easy Steps"...
It's called "How to Sink a Ship in Eight Excruciatingly Tedious, Stinkingly Evil Nights"...
Getting back up with the old characters and moving them on :-) Watch this space.

WQ137 +

Waiting...
...for my new novella 'All For Love' to appear in some message somewhere, telling me it's close to publication, because it was edited and the cover was ready 3 months ago...
...for the Iron Writer Autumn Open to begin next week and the crazy collection of votes can start...
...for the October Firefly Magazine to come out...
...for the chance to continue with my 'collaboration' book with DL Zwissler which might help me reach a larger audience...
...for ideas to finish the 2nd book in the 'How to' series.

But now...
...I've had a go at the WQ137...
http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-weekend-quickie-137/#comment-244620

And just to help those with weary clicking fingers, here it is... :-)

137 – image of an empty rail track in the autumn, melancholy, nostalgia

Leaves fell as he lay there, strewn across the tracks.

"I remember when we came here, anytime we could. We sat beside this track, blanket down, basket out, holding cheese sandwiches and our glasses of Chardonnay, and we watched as the 3:20 from Bexhill whizzed by."

The tracks began to vibrate, upsetting those leaves resting on the smooth, worn steel rails.

"You'd laugh as I choked on my last gulp of wine, and I wouldn't mind. To be with you was...everything... Those were the days... and now, now that you have left... now there is an emptiness, a melancholy, a bottomless pit of despair. The blanket is down, the basket out, but there are no sandwiches for two, no glass of Chardonnay."

He took a last swig from his Jack Daniels bottle and threw it into the woods.

"I wish for those days again, to relive them, to breath them, to feel them... But it cannot be. Those days have gone forever."

The rumble of the train grew louder, the tracks coming alive.

"And so I say farewell. To you. To the memory of you."

The train's horn blew long and hard as it sped along the tracks.

 

Two stories in a NEW anthology! Desert Bus

Yes, today "Desert Bus" was published, and I have 2 short stories inside :-)
This is the paperback version, but the ebook will soon be out...
http://www.amazon.com/Desert-Bus-Line-Lion/dp/1940938597
It's a collection of stories about characters who need to escape, be somewhere else, or just experience a trip on a bus driving through the desert.

AND...
I got through to the Iron Writer Autumn Open Final, thanks to you!
Next week the Final will begin, and I'll need your vote :-)

AND...
I have a plan for the next book in the "How to" series...oh yes, be afraid, be very afraid...

Manna-X #FREE ...and WQ136

Yes, Manna-X is #FREE again! I've gotta people to read my work and this is the way...if any of you pick it up, please read and review! Please!
http://www.amazon.com/Manna-X-Dani-J-Caile-ebook/dp/B00D94CWF0

I'm also doing quite well in the Iron Writer Autumn Open Prelims, 5 days to go...

http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-129-2015-autumn-equinox-open-homer-bracket/

And I did Weekend Quickie 136, a good one :-)

http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-weekend-quickie-136/

...but here it is, anyway :-) Hope you like it!

136 – image of Chinese baby in tub, Precocious, Nonplussed

When she opened the door, I was taken aback.

"Hua?" Her face was pale, her eyes like two black pools. She said nothing, only gesturing me inside. "Not getting enough sleep with the new one?" I hadn't been around since the birth of their daughter.

"You could say that," replied Hua, shuffling in her slippers. I followed her into the kitchen.

"Sorry, I couldn't come around earlier. How's the...?" I stopped in my tracks, and Hua moved past, towards the cooker. In the middle of the floor was a baby, resting in a small tub of water, with a towel over its head. It looked so... confident. Strange. I bent down to greet the girl. "Well, hello there..."

"Bow when you address me!"

I fell backwards in surprise, nonplussed. "Wha...?"

"I said bow when you address nobility!" The baby pointed her finger down forcefully.

"I...I..."

"I am Empress Jia, reincarnated! Bow, peasant!"

I looked over at Hua and she was already on the floor, bowing away. Empress Jia? I'd done my history, I knew who that was, but the baby? Incredible. The baby was speaking.

"Now, get me a towel! I believe I have bathed enough for now!" The baby stood up and turned around, her arms held horizontally, readying herself. Hua passed me a towel and I put it around the baby's shoulders.

"She's a bit... precocious, isn't she?" I whispered to Hua.

"Silence! Otherwise I will call the executioner!" Chang, Hua's husband, walked in holding a sword...

Autumn Open Prelims 2015...Voting fingers!

I'm in the Iron Writer Autumn Open Prelims and as usual I've written a good ol' story about two losers called...
"Losers United!"
...original, huh...well, the story is, especially with those elements!
Please, go check out the elements, the stories, and vote for the best!
http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-129-2015-autumn-equinox-open-homer-bracket/

If you're in need of a little more reading, there are also two other brackets, where some good ol' writer friends have their stories, for example, DL Zwissler, Mathew W Weaver...
http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-129-2015-autumn-equinox-open-edward-abbey-bracket/
...and my mates Richard Russell, Mamie Pound...
http://theironwriter.com/the-iron-writer-challenge-129-2015-autumn-equinox-open-doug-adams-bracket-2/

AND...big news...the FIRST EDITION of the Firefly Magazine will be out very soon! Keep you posted...