Things have been quiet here in the Serial Distractions underground bunker/bar-and-grill of late.  Here’s a brief run-down…

• I still have three stories making the rounds (“Hope and Rejection Tour 2010”).  I have one for which I’ve exhausted any “pro” markets (those that pay $0.05/word or more), so it is now travelling in the “semipro” field. This is a little disappointing but not entirely unexpected. 
• I’m currently working on a new story.  My hope is that it will be the love child of Akira Kurosawa, Sergio Leone, and John Carpenter.  We’ll see what happens.
• I have also begun working as a reviewer for Shroud Magazine.   Hopefully my work will make it both into their book review blog and their print magazine, but (once again) we’ll see what happens.  This is very exciting for me and I’m looking forward to the arrival of my first selection.  BTW: There is now a link to Shroud’s book review blog in the sidebar under “Online Fiction, Reviews, Etc.” 

I also want to point out this great blog post on dialog from author Craig Clevenger (“The Contortionist’s Handbook“), posting on Chuck Palahniuk’s website.   Dialog is something I struggle with as a writer; I discussed this a bit in one of my past blog posts.  Clevenger provides a blow-by-blow example of how make your dialog much more snappy and how you can convey so much without clunky descriptors.  Very good stuff.

So that’s a brief snapshot of my writing world right now.  I also want to announce that if you’re a blogger and are following me and would like a guest blogger, I’d definitely be interested.  Also, if you’d like to guest blog for Serial Distractions, I’d consider that as well.  Feel free to contact me at serialdistractions@gmail.com or via the “Contact” link at the top of the page.