I heard back from the editors at Heroic Fantasy Quarterly over the weekend. Return time was ~2 months. They felt the beginning was “too talky” for their tastes. That’s the second comment about the start of the story, so I took a hard look and did end up cutting a couple lines of dialogue that [...]
Too much talking makes Relvan a hard sell
Filed under Market Report on February 1, 2010
Tagged: Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Relvan's Rescue, submissions
Relvan returns from Black Gate
Filed under Writing Journal on November 25, 2009
Tagged: Black Gate, Relvan's Rescue, submissions
I heard back from Black Gate today on “Relvan’s Rescue”. Return time was about 6 months. John O’Neill, Publisher and Editor of Black Gate, was nice enough to send a personalized email, which included an apology for the delay (their stated return time is 3-5 months). Fellow author Marcy Rockwell often comments about the nice [...]
Heroic Fantasy Quarterly publishes first issue
Filed under Market Report on August 25, 2009
Tagged: Black Gate, ezines, fantasy fiction, Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, Relvan's Rescue
I think I’ve found the next market I will submit “Relvan’s Rescue” to, barring acceptance from Black Gate. Heroic Fantasy Quarterly, an ezine that began accepting submissions back in February of this year, published their first issue at the end of June. (I just heard about it last week via Grasping for the Wind.) HFQ [...]
Choosing a fantasy fiction title
Filed under Tips & Tools on June 2, 2009
Tagged: fantasy fiction, Relvan's Rescue, titles
My stance on beta readers and critique groups isn’t as contrary as my last post made it seem. I use beta readers. Sometimes, it’s just my wife. Sometimes I’ll seek out subject matter experts or other genre writers. I’m very particular about who I solicit input from, and what input I’m interested in.
I used beta [...]
Beta reading before submitting
Filed under Writing Journal on May 12, 2009
Tagged: beta readers, critique groups, Janner Kohl, Relvan's Rescue
I finished the rewrite of “Relvan’s Rescue” on Friday. The manuscript sits just shy of 11,400 words. That’s almost 4,000 words more than the original version I submitted to several markets a year ago. The story is in the hands of some beta readers, one of whom has been tasked with trying to find ways [...]

