Another sad quarter of writing. Let’s dive into the numbers.

• Words written = 335
• Submissions = 20
• Rejections = 22
• Acceptances = 1
• Shortlists = 1
• Publications =0
• Rewrites = 0
• Withdrawals = 0

Yep, that’s the fewest words I’ve written in a quarter since I started this writing journey in 2017. At least those went to two existing stories. Both are on the longer side. For one of those, I’m finishing up incorporating comments from my critique group. For the other, I added a little while editing the story in preparation of submitting it to my critique group.

The submissions and rejections are about normal these days. Can I get another 32 submissions per quarter the rest of the year to make my 100 submission goal? Though I’ve submitted that many numerous times, I doubt it. Twenty a quarter seems more realistic at this point.

I did have one acceptance and one shortlist this quarter. Unfortunately, the shortlist did not turn into an acceptance. One of those close-but-no-cigar scenarios that are often part of the short story writing biz. The acceptance was of a flash fiction piece by the Virginia Writers Club Journal, which will be out later this year. This is the first addition of the journal to include a dedicated flash fiction section.

What’s on tap for Q3? I’m still slowly working toward releasing my next short story collection. I was so much further along at this time last year. I do already have a tentative cover in the works, and I’ve been working on the non-story components (intro, acknowledgments, back matter). I need my critique group to provide comments on the story I mentioned above, which will be the anchor story for this collection. Then the manuscript is off to my editor. Then its reviewing those edits. Then its formatting. Then it’s more formatting after uploading it to KDP. In other words, I’m real close. *sigh*

I’d also like to attend more meetings of the Northern Virginia Writers Club. Other commitments have kept me away. I always feel invigorated after spending time with my local authors and would like to get back to that. I also hope my family’s vacation this quarter results in a good story idea. I usually get at least one out of these trips.

That’s it from me. What did you work on last quarter?