Because I’m too exhausted to write anything original, here’s a neat post from Wil Wheaton’s blog.

I think it’s interesting that he has so many hangups about his fiction, and that when he started out writing he felt like a fraud. Writing fiction is the one thing that feels authentic to me. Everything else I do seems like pantomime, at times; like I’m going through the motions. Doubly so when I’m unmedicated. When I’m writing, I feel more myself than at any other time. Even during the years in my twenties when I wrote almost nothing and didn’t seek any kind of publication or recognition, I still considered myself to be a writer. I was telling stories before I could write them; it’s the Thing I Cannot Help Doing (you have a Thing too, so don’t look at me like that). Director Kevin Smith addresses this issue adroitly in this blog post, where he proves that the Thing He Cannot Help Doing is making movies. He didn’t want to be a filmmaker, he simply was one, from the beginning, even when he didn’t know it.

So, dear reader: What is the Thing over which you obsess? I’ve showed you mine, so now you show me yours!

…and incidentally that snippet of a story on Wil’s blog has definitely whetted my appetite! For $1 I’ll certainly read the rest when it’s ready for consumption.

So I guess when I said that I was taking a little break from story writing this month what I meant was that I’m going to write a couple of stories for upcoming deadlines. Hey, blame it on the unexpected snow day on Tuesday, which allowed me to churn out a 5,000 word story in one afternoon because I didn’t have to worry about work or school.

The story I finished Tuesday, then edited and submitted yesterday, was a submission for Candle in the Attic Window, another anthology from Innsmouth Free Press. I really enjoyed working with them for the Historical Lovecraft Anthology, so hopefully they’ll like this story too.

I’m also working on something for The Red Penny Papers. I think I might just edit and send them an old story of mine that just happens to suit the casual, almost whimsical tone they seem to like. The story is also really short, and they seem to prefer bite-sized stories.  A part of me thinks that my writing is not up to par with the work of the other authors currently published in this quarterly, but there’s really only one way to find out whether I’m correct. I’m terrible at judging my own writing anyway, so I really shouldn’t listen to my own Doubting Thomas of a brain.

In convention-related news I’ve sent in my panelist info for Millennicon, in March, and I’m working on completing my form for MARCon, which happens in May. I will be reading my story from The Crimson Pact, Volume 1, at both conventions, hopefully along with other contributors to the anthology. These will be my first fiction readings at conventions, so I’m excited!

I’m also considering attending Origins and GenCon, the former because it’s convenient and the latter because it apparently has a really excellent Writer’s Symposium that is recommended by Steven Saus (I have found that it is generally a good idea to take Steve’s advice, where writing is concerned, anyway). It would also give me the opportunity to meet Paul Gennesse, editor of the Crimson Pact Anthologies, which would be neat, so I’m going to try to fit it into my schedule.