Laird Barron is one of my favorite writers, and one of best short story writers in the business (I'd say he and Caitlín R. Kiernan tie for first place). So when he says something nice about my writing, I stand up and take notice. Scroll to the end of this post, and you'll see it. FYI, he's one of the few people (only four) who's read my as-yet-unpublished novelette "Horses", which I consider to be my best writing to date. I'm crossing my fingers that it'll be published this year.

And while we're on the subject of ME, several readers on a Livejournal community called lastshortstory have some good things to say about "The Four Hundred Thousand: here and here.

However...

A few positive blog comments aside, professionals in the industry still aren't reading and officially reviewing my work - and it's not just because there are just too many thousands of stories to choose from. It's because I'm not good enough yet. I need to become better. That's all.

I've crossed several things off my January Goals list, but I'll post an update next Monday. What's been most difficult has been trying to balance writing time with reading time - I absolutely must read a specific stack of books before I start "The Girls of the World", and I'll admit I'm beginning to panic a bit. I don't like to do research then rush into a project. I'd rather let it sit in my brain for a while before I start using it. But in the real world, time is a luxury, not a right. So I guess I better STFU and get back to work, right? :)

Labels: reviews