Obviously it’s been a while since I posted a Small Step, but hopefully the flash-fiction-related posts in the interim have kept you entertained.

So. Catching up:

One of the reasons I’ve been off the radar is that late last week through the middle of this week we had friends in town from LA. Five different friends here for three seperate reasons over the same weekend. It was really great to reconnect with our LA family and get a chance to celebrate a couple birthdays before we all parted ways again. My friend Tavis, a talented songwriter and screenwriter, was among them. It was a real blessing to spend time with someone who knows me creatively (he and I are co-writing a screenplay, though it’s currently back-burnered by both of us). It was like being able to skip the first three fourths of a conversation and jump right into the good stuff. That was nice.

Business-wise, I have my Viper contracts…I just still need to read, sign and mail them out. I’ve already delayed a week because reading contracts can be a numbing business. But let’s face it, it’s also a vitally important one. Also, I submitted THE SLOW SHRUG OF STONES to Apex Digest. I came across them because they’re currently holding a subscription drive in order to raise their pay rate for contributors. This would also make them a “pro” or “semi-pro” market and hopefully increase the quality and amount of their submissions. In these times of the writers’ strike, it’s good to see someone finding a way for both creators of content and the delivery system to (hopefully) prosper together.

Speaking of the writers’ strike in personal terms, I think My Leap Year may actually be benefitted, if nothing else by it simply giving me some time to work a few things out. If you’re a writer and you’re not paying attention to the strike, you should be. This is a very important issue. How I’ll be paid for future work when I reach my goal of being a working writer is being decided right now. For an informative look at the situation, watch this video. For a funny look, watch this one. For scary greedy double-talk, this one. Two great sites for staying on top of strike news are http://unitedhollywood.com and http://deadlinehollywooddaily.com.

I’ve also been doing a good deal of thinking about what I want my career and body of work to look like. While I’ve always leaned toward a quantity + quality stance, I think I’m shifting toward a quality > quantity viewpoint. I’m sure there are some more places to go with this thought, but it’s still new, so that’s it for now.

This update comes from little notes I’ve made to myself over the last week or so. I had one more note, which simply read “two people in magic,” but I can no longer remember what it means. Maybe it will come to me. In the meantime…two people in magic.