The BIG GESTURE

I just finished reading Acheron by Sherrilyn Kenyon. It was touching, with a very satisfying ending. A friend of mine told me that, as he was reading it, he wanted to get to the end to see if Ash got his revenge. I wanted to see if he found love.

He needed to find someone that he could love and trust. The "no strings attached" kind of love. And by the end of the book, he found it in Tory. The ending was so perfect that I cried.

Afterwards, as I was getting ready for bed and cleaning the cat box I realized something. In books and movies there is always something that a character has to do to prove their love. I call it the "Big Gesture." Tory had to do it for Ash. In the movie American Pie 2, Jim had to do it for Michelle. It always pops up. Some big thing that the guy/girl has to do to prove how deep their love is.

And I realized that no one has ever done this for me. Ever. Maybe it's just a fictional thing, like vampires and werewolves. The BG doesn't really exist. It's just the climax of the book that will make the reader get teary eyed and go "Aw!"

What would life be like if the BG was real? Would there be less divorces? Less affairs? Would husbands not beat up their wives (or vice versa)? If people had to do something big to prove their love, what would the world be like?

It's an interesting question, one that I would love to know the answer to.

Two Acceptances from FLASHSHOT

"Lilies" and "Fictional Truths" have been accepted by FLASHSHOT for publication in the near future. I'm so happy!

Dates: TBA

Fade to Black

My novella, Fade to Black, has been accepted by Eternal Press for publication. I have no publication date as of yet. I am so excited about this. I'm getting things together, making up a marketing plan, and creating temporary cover art until the real cover art is made.

This is what I've got so far:

I'm not too sure what I will do with this image yet, but I'll figure out something!

WOOT!

Space Cops accepted "To Walk Among Dreams" today.

For two years I have tried my damnest to get this story published, and have a nice pile of rejections to show for it. Not any more!

And hopefully this is a sign that my dry spell has ended. The drought is over, the rain has come, and the land will thrive. Or the rejections have stopped and accpetances are on the hoizon.

Hopefully.

Realms of Fantasy

I have a list. On that list, there are my goal markets. The ones that I HAVE to get in before I die. Here's my goal list:

Realms of Fantasy
The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction
The First Line
Sword and Sorceress
Black Gate
Fantasy Magazine
South Carolina Fiction Project

I discovered at the end of last month that Realms of Fantasy is closing. I feel like every time I turn around, yet another print market is closing its doors. With the economy sucking as bad as it is, online markets such as Every Day Fiction seem to be thriving while print markets like Realms are suffering. It makes for a dismal future for writers like us. With my goal list is my ultimate goal: to walk into B&N and find the magazine/book that my story is in on their shelves. Out of my goal list, only three markets now fit this ultimate goal; The Magazine of Fantasy and Sci-Fi, The First Line, and Sword and Sorceress.

I wonder, how long will it be before none of my goal markets lead to my ultimate goal?

Preditor and Editor Poll

"The Final Goodbye" has been voted onto the Preditor and Editor Poll. This is just too cool!

I was also going to complain about my writer's block, but I just finished a very nifty, dark story. I hope to widdle 200 words off of it so that I can send it to Everday Fiction. And maybe the SC Fiction project unless I can write something better, and not so dark, for it.

In personal, not writing, news:
My son was born on Nov 19. He's smiling now and is just too cute. Being a mother is VERY time consuming and I hope to find a balance between that and writing very soon. Sadly, I never remember to update this blog (obviously) but I do update my Myspace and Facebook accounts. Feel free to add me on there!

August Updates

"The Death of Zeke" is offically up at AlienSkin Magazine. It's cute, and features one of my favorite fantasy critters...the weresquirrel. On August 26th, FLASHSHOT will have my story "A Lover Scorned" up on their site. Other than that, there are no new writing updates. I really do need to start writing some new stuff. I have three stories that are out and about, but that's it. And with my next story not coming out until February ("Dalamar's Quest" in Flashing Swords), I need to do something.

I got my diploma the other day. I finished college at the end of June, and was waiting for my school to contact me to let me know when I could pick it up. Discovered something interesting though. My history major was a Bachelor of Science degree. I have a BS. How weird is that?

My updates are going to be few and far between through the end of the year. With only three months left until Cameron is born, I've got a lot to do.

Updates and such

I can't believe I haven't updated this in so long. So much has been going on. Baby plans are going great. I'm 13 weeks along and should find out the sex of my baby by mid-June. YAY! because I really really really want to know what I'm having.

I've added a Reviews section to my main page. I discovered that there were several reviews of my works out there, and decided to share them with you.

NEW Forthcoming Works:

"Miscommunication" will be in The Drabbler 11: SETI Calling on June 1st.
"The Death of Zeke" will be in AlienSkin Magazine in their Aug/Sept issue.

What gets you in the mood?

I have to do a total rewrite for my story "An Unexpected Love." I sent it though Critters.org a while back, and noticed that almost everyone had the same things to say about it. After the 9th or 10th repitition of the same thing, I realized that the only way to fix all of the problems and hopefully get it accepted somewhere was to totally rewrite it. Keep the characters the same, the foundation, but all the bloody insides had to change. Technically, I have to write a newish story.

Something that I dread to do. Why? Because I have read through it so much while editing that I have it almost memorized. I love the characters within it, but I feel like I'm almost sick of them. It's like a friend who has overstayed their welcome. You still like them, still are friends with them, but you just want some time to spend with other friends.

I have no motivation to work on this, especially when I've got so many ideas swimming around in my head. So my question is, who do I get in the mood?

Acceptances and Rewrites

Aphelion has accepted another haiku from me. "Full Moon Pulls at Him" will be up in April. Every Day Fiction has requested a rewrite for "Fire and Brimstone." I must say that it was the kindest, most confidence-lifting letter that I have ever gotten. It made me feel all fluffy inside. Hopefully they'll like my changes!

Aphelion

Aphelion Webzine has accepted "Swirling Gray Storm Clouds," a fantasy haiku. It should debut in March.

The Change

"The Change" is currently up at Tuesday Shorts!

I would say more, but I've got a week of catching up to do. :o)

Micro and Silliness

FLASHSHOT has once again accepted several of my flash pieces. "To Have and To Hold," "The Magic Word," and "Allure of the Net" have all been accepted for future publication. You can go here to see the dates.


Also two of my limericks, "Wayward Magic" and "Tone Deaf" are going to be in the Silly Fantasy/SciFi Anthology. Which makes me a member of the Silly Club. Click here to learn more!

Pen Pricks Valentines Issue

"Happily Ever After" will be in the Valentine's Day Issue of Pen Pricks! As I have said before, February is so going to be my month!

Ruins Metropolis TOC Announced

Ruins Metropolis TOC

Cover Art (c) by Debbie Hughes

The stories are set in the ruins depicted in this cover art. In each story, the woman in the image is the protagonist. How similar are the stories? Ah, that was the experiment. You decide.Coming soon . . . .Ruins Metropolis

Adele Cosgrove-Bray "Old World Magic"
Ahmed A. Khan "End"
Alycia C. Cooke "Sumari's Solitude"
Anna D. Allen "Mrs. Kelly's Ghosts"
Barton Paul Levenson "City of the Dead"
Brenta Blevins "A Haunting in Giza"
C.L. Holland "In Search of Camanac"
Camille Alexa "Veilsight"
Chris Benton "For Sale: One Gold (plated) Eye Of Horus"
Christine Poulsen "The Eye of Re-Atum"
Erin M. Hartshorn "By the Pool of the Blue Lotus"
Gene Stewart "The Name and the Shadow"
Gerri Leen "Seeker of the Dead"
Gianna Robbins "Goddess Reborn"
H.F. Gibbard "Chamber of Illusions"
Heather Kuehl "The Final Goodbye"
Jacqueline Seewald "Amulet"
Jennifer Moore "The Return of the Queen"
Jonathan Shipley "When Love Dies"
Jude-Marie Green "Dancing On the Corpse of the World"
K.L. Townsend "Convergence"
Kari Livingston "Kehmet's Curse"
Kate Kelly "In the precinct of Amun-Re"
Kimberly Vandervort "The Librarian of Talimbourne"
Leslie Brown and Sarah Totton "The Amulet of Passages"
Lyn McConchie "Children of the City"
Meg Swanton "The Memory"
Megan Arkenberg "Panthanatos"
R.F. Long "Carrying Keptara"
Ransom Noble "Qui's Contract"
Rob Rosen "The Great Sleep"
Sarah Wagner "The Tomb of Setankan"
Stephen Graham King "Burning Stone"
Victoria Kennedy "The Deserted City"
Willis Couvillier "Haroeris's Favor”


The line-up looks awesome! From what I have heard, the stories are quite diverse. My story, "The Final Goodbye," is set in Egypt and discusses the one question that everyone has to the dead. What is that question? Well you are just going to have to read Ruins Metropolis to find out!

P&E poll results and Ruins update!

The final scores are tallied for the Preditors and Editors Poll and " The Wicked Deed" has placed 22nd, along with 28 other people. Not bad, seeing as someone has to vote it on in the first place. Hopefully next year goes better.

If everything goes as planned Ruins Metropolis will be out around the end of February. I've seen the TOC and it looks awesome. The full list of stories should be listed here within the next couple of days.

Preditors & Editors Poll

I just found out that someone voted my story "The Wicked Deed" onto the Preditors and Editors Poll! It's a little too late to do anything about it now, since the voting ends at midnight tonight, but it's still an honor to even be nominated.

Thank you.

Fastest Acceptances EVER!

At 7:54 I emailed two of my mirco fiction stories to MicroHorror.com.

By 7:59 I got them accepted. Wow!

"Back to the Beginning" and "The Price of Utopia" are both up on MicroHorror. It's taken me forever to find "Back to the Beginning" a home, and I am happy that it's with MicroHorror. As for "The Price of Utopia," once you read it you will see why it was a hard sell. But it does make you think.

You can either view them on the Free Fiction part of my website, or through the link below. Enjoy!

http://www.microhorror.com/microhorror/category/author/heather-kuehl/

Ruins Metropolis

Ruins Metropolis plans on accepting my Amythist Dyier story entitled "The Final Goodbye." This is so exciting, as it will be my first anthology sale. Finally, something tangible that I can hold and flip through! Here’s their website: http://www.hadleyrillebooks.com/

*happy dance*

So someone did see it

I Googled my name today and saw this. It's a list of the stories that she had read this year, and I am listed as number 2390.

It means that people are actually reading my stories... YAY ME!