Preparing for NaNoWriMo! Have my schedule on my calendar, have annoyed my wannabe writers group to no end about it. I've selected my "zombie" book as the one I'll be working on, mostly because of how the overarching mythology to the "monster world" has come out.

I've been reading up on the Writers of the Future anthologies and I have to say, if I haven't previously, that it's intimidating. Some very cool stories there. I'm torn between submitting The Boyfriend from Hell and To Return to it. I suppose I can always submit both, but which one do I pick first?

I've reread them both now and aside from minor tweaks I'm pretty happy in how they turned out. I might just flip a coin. I think both have that mix of dark humor with gory horror that I've come to enjoy, both reading and writing, but the backstory and future of The Boyfriend falls in quite well into the monster world. Whereas To Return is basically just an idea off a writing prompt, on the fly. It would need a lot of thought to flesh out. 

What would I even do if I was miraculously selected, anyway?

One thing that I took to heart from the Writing Excuses podcast is that as writers, we are basically contractors. We have a product that we wish to sell, and honestly today I have some cakes in the oven but nothing I would present to an agent I would hope to represent me or a publisher to take a chance on. I need to work, work, work.

I've been visited lately by really creepy nightmares/intense dreams that wake me up at 2-3 am. I've taken to writing these down as some of them might make cool short stories. I used to have this idea about doing a collection called "My Wife's Nightmares" because of how often she would go through the same thing, but sadly I never wrote any of the dozens of dreams she had down. This was years ago.

Speaking of things in ovens... Scared, excited, anxious, overjoyed... that's impending parenthood so far for me. I really can't wait to meet my son. It's crazy how much you can love someone that you haven't even met yet, just seen on a screen, felt through my wife's belly when he kicks, whose heartbeat you can listen to anytime. Thrilled feels too small, I think. I can't wait to traumatize him through my best intentions, like every parent out there. 
I assume I'll be getting my handbook at some point, right? The one that explains that now I immediately know that I'm right about everything I say at any given time? Or is that just my impression of my friends with kids? 

I kid. Not all my friends who have kids are like that. 

Really, I'm not talking about the two of you who might read this.

Next year is going to be a doozy, but I can't wait for it. That's why I need to get better and start to make a living at this. I need all the money I can get for all the dinosaur and Star Wars things I need to buy. For him, of course...

- Chair...