Gimme your Paragraphs

Arrgh, seems like whenever I have a deadline, I go off into the wilderness, leaving my blog in a neglected state. (Arrgh? What am I, a pirate? “Avast, ye salted peanuts!”)

This week I am rushing two projects – well, three if you count a submission for an anthology – before I can even start on finally finishing Malaysian Dark. I am admittedly a little frantic. Well, the cool, calm, collected kind of frantic, ahem.

Usually in this state, I can only sleep four hours a day with little naps in between. It about evens out to six to eight hours of sleep, right? Right? It’s like my body automatically wakes up after the fourth hour.

Before I head off to sleep now, I thought I’d post my humble submission to Paragraph Planet, a fun website that accepts 75-word shortfics. Every day, they feature a new piece from authors who send in their contributions through this nifty programme that helps you count down to 75 words. I was elated they took in fantasy! It’s actually a ghost of an idea I have lurking in my head too, so perhaps I will develop it into another series one day. After  Malaysian Dark, after Prince of Engmar, after…

Yeah, better get right on it.

Here is my Paragraph Planet bit 🙂

Saldane watched without emotion as they crowned his brother King. When their new ruler rose, Saldane too knelt. He sensed the eyes of the courtiers burning into his back. They thought he’d made a mistake. They believed he should have seized the throne. It pained him for his brother to be so little loved. The people remembered Ienlund as the youth who beat a servant to death. He remembered a brother who protected him from Father.

On the job front, no word yet. I did however start printing dumbed down versions of my CVs and have so far distributed it to three outlets/retail outlets.

I also have two possible work stints lined up, if I play my cards right. Neither of them probably pays well, but every little bit helps. One is for an assistant’s job helping this copywriter who is currently swamped with work. He posted an ad on gumtree and he ended up being again swamped with over 200 replies. He had no idea so many would respond (tell me about it).  I bid for the role and was one of those he contacted. Odds are against me but I am supposed to send him a reminder this Sunday – the amusingly witty fellow is, like me, tackling the jobs he needs doing first.

Another job is, oddly enough, acting as tutor for this man who needs basic computer lessons. Surprisingly he called me yesterday after I answered his gumtree ad. Seems decent! The man lives in West End but I would prefer to meet him in public, for now. He also hinted about how he has an ancient computer, which brings all sorts of interesting story ideas. I have no idea how much I should ask for an hour if he does hire me. Ahh for the days when I used to teach my dad how to burn a CD, or when with bleary eyes, as the cyberassistant of a Malaysian internet cafe, I watched a group of friends stagger in at 2am to play multiplayer Starcraft.

Fingers crossed that someone sends a job offer my way soon! Maybe I could leave my CV at the bookstores…

PS Meanwhile, making some progress with that short story for Beastly Babes. Now at 1,300 words. In a few hours me going to a narrative viewpoint workshop where the Edinburgh Trio will go over our own work!