I’ve been head down writing for the past few months.

Projects tightening. Contests opening. New ideas showing up at the wrong hours. Dreams that don’t leave when morning hits. All of it working at once.

First things first.

The new short story collection is close. Very close.

There’s one story I’ve been moving around, testing placement, seeing how it shifts the weight of the whole. I think it’s finally where it needs to be. Next step is editing—both creative and technical—followed by a round of beta readers to sharpen the edges.

If you’re ever interested in reading at a beta level, feel free to reach out.

I also submitted work to Nightmare Magazine.

One of those pieces is a longer story I keep coming back to. It’s tied to a micro fiction that placed with Tales to Terrify last Halloween. If it doesn’t land there, it will find its way into this collection—or stand on its own later.

I entered a piece into Elegant Literature as well.

That one leans heavily on dialogue. I’ve been pushing that part of my writing more—letting conversation carry tension instead of leaning on description. It works. Or at least, it feels like it’s getting closer.

If it doesn’t get picked up, I’ll expand it. There’s more in those characters than I gave them room for.

Most recently, I entered Writing Battle’s Verdant Owl contest.

It’s a 2,500-word sprint built from random prompts over the course of a week. Fast, focused, a little chaotic. The community there is sharp. Active. Worth staying around for.

I may enter another round.

Or I may not.

There’s always that tension. Enter more contests or finish the collection. You already know the answer.

So what’s next.

If any of these pieces gain traction, I’ll start looking at publishers. Maybe an agent. That path is there, even if it’s still a few steps out.

Until then, the work stays the same.

Write. Refine. Push the next piece further than the last.

I can feel another level coming. Not finished yet. But close enough to see.

Postscript:
Oh my god, I had forgotten to mention I submitted a Novel Beginning to Pro Writing Aid – First 5000 words of your novel in the works. I pulled one of my really old ones out of the folder. Dusted it off. Rewrote it. I love this story a lot. Now, it has legs that are sprinting forward. The other night I woke up with ideas on my characters and story arc and could not sleep until I wrote them down. Hell yes. A Communion of Whispers… is all I will say for now.