Tag Archives: Benjamin T. Smith

Submission Sunday – Week Ending 02-09-14

Posted on by
Reply

Well, this past week hasn’t been very productive in terms of new writing. I’ve been working on some concepts, but no rough drafts have been written at all. This was a combination of work interference, snow interference, automobile interference, and general laziness. I have a bad habit of tacking one big thing and then being done for the day.

Anyway, today I spent a lot of time getting a bunch of stories resubmitted. Here we go:

Summary: 0 New, 9 Resubmissions

Resubmissions:

“False Light” resubmitted to Daily Science Fiction.

“Flickering Freedom” resubmitted to Flash Fiction Online.

“Sand” resubmitted to The Dark Magazine.

“Familial Obligation” resubmitted to Apex.

“A Necessary Sacrifice” resubmitted to Asimov’s.

“Water Cursed, Earth Atoned” resubmitted to Lightspeed.

“Subroutine” resubmitted to LORE.

“Beneficent” resubmitted to the Intergalactic Medicine Show.

“An Unquiet Peace” resubmitted to BuzzyMag.

Submission Sunday – Week Ending 02/02/14

Posted on by
Reply

Starting today and continuing each Sunday I will post a list of submissions completed for the previous week.  This will serve as a form of accountability for me, as when weeks go by where I submit nothing (Either new or resubmissions) I can now be publicly shamed over it!  Even with writing happening, if nothing is getting submitted it can’t be considered a productive week.  From a short story standpoint, anyway.

So, without further ado, here are my submissions for the week:

Summary: 4 New, 0 Resubmissions

New Submissions:

January 29th, “Starting from Zeroth” submitted to Penumbra Magazine.

January 31st, “Supply Chain Management” submitted to Crossed Genres.

January 31st, “False Light” submitted to On the Premises.

February 1st, “Paper Planet” submitted to Unlikely Story.

“Lost in the Mail” Deemed Acceptable

Posted on by
Reply

The fantasy short story “Lost in the Mail” has been deemed acceptable for printing in the Third Flatiron Publishing March 2014 issue.  The theme is anything involving “Astronomical Odds” and “Lost in the Mail” fit the bill, apparently.

It’s a short story about a summoner who is at risk of losing his license to practice and his new workshop due to some mail of his becoming lost in transit.  For anyone who’s ever had issues with the post office or any bureaucracy, this is for you!  It is based on a true story, minus the involvement of magic.

“Second Thanksgiving” Rewrite Request

Posted on by

A few months ago I sent a flash fiction piece called “Second Thanksgiving” to Anassa Publications for their “Existence on Mars” anthology (Photo below taken from their site, done by MK).  It was basically a retelling of the First Thanksgiving where the Pilgrims and the American Indians met and found a way to coexist, at least for a time, but the native Martians are not what you expect…

Anyway, I just heard back today that they want the story to be rewritten, but that they will otherwise accept it.  This is an interesting challenge, as I’ve never been asked to rewrite something before.  Minor edits, yes, but major scene changes?  I’ve got to get to work on this, but it could be fun!

Photo by MK (solely for inspiration)

“The Littlest of Sparrows” is Deemed… Honorable?

Posted on by

IFWA

My science fiction short story “The Littlest of Sparrows” won itself a place in the 2013 “In Places Between” Contest hosted by the Imaginative Fiction Writers Association (IFWA).  There were more than a hundred submissions and, in the end, a total of eight winners.  The story ranked as one of the five Honorable Mentions, which is a great accomplishment for the tale.

Thank you very much, IFWA!

 

Short Story Rough Drafts

Posted on by

All right, as of 07/15 I have finished six short story rough drafts.  That is since July 4th, so on that is roughly a short story every two days.

These short stories range anywhere from 1,000 – 4,000 words each, and they are all very, very rough.  I intend to revise them beginning tonight with the first entry for the NeaDNAthal anthology.  They’re allowing for two entries to that, so I will see if I can get another one out.  The first is a futuristic sci-fi tale, but I think the next one (If there is one) will be back in the past.  A steampunk tale, maybe.

Here are the working titles for the six rough drafts and where they are bound for:

“Subroutine” – Penumbra‘s Hitchcock theme.

“For All Mankind” – Wily Writers‘ Military theme.

“A Well-Ordered Garden” – Wily Writers‘ catch-all speculative theme.

“The Future in the Past” – NeaDNAthal anthology, entry number one.

“The Re-Gift of the Magi” – Crossed Genres‘ “Gift” theme.

“Enough” – Not sure where this is going just yet.  Happened to just spit it out one morning, so it needs a lot of refinement.

July 2013 Goal Progression

Posted on by

So far, the rough drafts of three short stories have been finished.  Also, between the two novel ideas I was floating around I’ve settled on the older one of the two.  The world is a little bit more established and should give me plenty to work with as I try to speed through the rough draft process.

Things have been off to a bit of a rocky start this month, but we are picking up steam.

I will also need to make time to re-submit some tales (Such as “Code Amaranth”) to new markets.  For most of my tales (With the exception of “A Tuberous Anomaly” and “The Little Red Survivalist”) it is a long journey down Rejection Alley before arriving at the Hall of Acceptability.

“Code Amaranth” Rejected in Final Selection

Posted on by

Back in April I submitted a short story titled “Code Amaranth” to the Future Embodied Anthology.  There were around 250 submissions total and the story made it to the final round of selection before being dropped.

While disappointing, it is heartening to know that the story did so well given the quantity of tales it was up against.  Here’s hoping it finds a home elsewhere!

“A Tuberous Anomaly” Deemed Acceptable

Posted on by

The Fringeworks has some interesting anthologies coming out in the future, from high seas piratical tales to nazi zombies to, you guessed it, potatoes.  I wrote a Star Trek-inspired tale for this anthology called “A Tuberous Anomaly”, which features a human starship taking a shortcut through a star system with three suns.  Things are all rosy until somebody forgets to completely seal the ship from the suns’ light rays, and then the potatoes go trinary.  Think “Attack of the Killer Tomatoes”, but on a less violent scale.

It was deemed acceptable earlier this evening, and is supposed to be published later this year.  I’m looking forward to what other stories are included in the anthology!