Randal Eldon Greene

Scentless Dreams

I’ve been waking up at 3a.m. all week long. It’s horrible because inevitably I end up falling asleep at some point for at least an hour-long nap. I’d rather not nap and just write straight through till lunch. I again woke up at 3 in the morning today, but I work my two 16-hour shifts today and tomorrow, so no napping for me. Maybe this will let me reset my circadian rhythm.

Last week was also my days at the gas station. That is not a way I want to spend my evenings. There’s nothing fulfilling for me in that line of work. If there were opportunities for meaningful personal growth there, I sure couldn’t find them. Yes, I could work my way up in management, but is that truly fulfilling? For me, ~~not so much~~ not at all.

I have now exactly what I want: time to write.
I’m not desiring much else. Perhaps just the elimination of the stressors of student debt. That’s my next goal, but I’m not working another job to reach it. I’ve only got one life, and I’m not wasting it slaving for money. I don’t mind making money, but I’d rather make it doing something that challenges me in a way which makes me grow as a person.

Listed as the story of this week for my weekly writing challenge is Scentless Dreams, a story concerning a talking dog who asks a group of kids to share their fish.

child and talking dog

Image from Pixy (free for commercial use, no attribution required)

Pocket Chicken

When your employer accuses you of pocket chicken.

For my weekly writing challenge, I wrote a story with a little bit of humor in it. One thing I’ve often noticed is that funny stories are harder to sell to a publisher, yet it’s often the stories that make me laugh (at their absurdity, their situational irony, their word play) that stay with me after others have faded from my memory.

I do write and publish humorous pieces, like H, a story about a horny high schooler, or Everything in Its Right Place, recently published in Iowa’s Emerging Writers, a story that made my mom say, “Oh Randy, you’re so funny.” She loved it. Thought it was ridiculously hilarious. Even though it wasn’t slapstick or even David Sedaris funny, she saw the humor in the situation, in rage of the rant.

My novel-in-progress has a ton of fun parts in it. While humor is harder to sell, I know that a publisher is more likely to take my book if it makes them laugh. Truthfully, just finishing the book (not finding an agent and landing a publishing deal) is all I’m focused on. The humor is so integral to my novel that I wouldn’t sign a deal with a publisher whose editor wanted to seriously change it. And I doubt an editor who didn’t find it entertaining would pass along a book contract to my future agent .

For you writers out there, let me know in the comments if you write humor? If it you do, is it what you normally write? Do you find it harder to publish humor?

For you readers, do you like humor? Prefer humor? Would you rather read a story like The Old Man’s Rocking Chair is Moving Slower, Boy or something funny, like H?

Keep it wordy, Bookworms.

Iowa’s Emerging Writers

My story-in-dialogue, Everything in Its Right Place, has been published in an anthology: Iowa’s Emerging Writers. This is my fifth dialogue to be showcased by a publisher, and the first one available in a print book. You can pick up a copy of Iowa’s Emerging Writers or find your own state’s showcased authors by following this link.

Thanks to anyone who buys a copy, as it helps me out just an a bit.

Take it easy, bookworms.

Chip You Away

The latest story for my writing challenge is Chip You Away, a dialogue of self-talk, self-healing, and self-destruction.

It’s been difficult writing these stories without most of my weekday evenings free. But I’m past the halfway point and intend to keep going despite the lack of time. It’d be easier if I set the novel aside for even a day, but no future fans of mine would be pleased to hear I put off the novel even for this collection, I’m sure.

Another one of my dialogues is getting officially published tomorrow, so expect another post to follow this one. Until then, read on, bookworms.

Image source Pixabay, geralt.

Weaves of Web and Cloth

weaves of web and cloth

Another day, another dialogue. Well another week, another dialogue. This one is a little back and forth between two unnamed characters. It’s a more philosophic bit than some of the plottier pieces I’ve been doing. I’m not sure where I’ll send this little gem, but I’m sure it’ll find a home.

I do have news, but I’m thinking of putting that 411 into essay format. So I’ll leave you two things.

1. My dialogue Everything in Its Right Place is forthcoming in the Iowa’s Emerging Writers anthology. You can order it or buy a book of your own state’s emerging writers by clicking this link.

2. My story Conclave at the Tea Table, has been accepted for upcoming publication in Story Shares. What I find interesting about this one is that it’s a venue for Young Adult (and also younger) writing. I don’t think I really write for young adults, but the story has fantasy elements in it and a young protagonist, so it’s gotta be for kids, right? At least this is why I think most of the places I first sent it to rejected it, and the first YA publisher I sent it to accepted it.

It is one of the first fully flushed out short stories I ever wrote. So maybe Conclave simply has the marks of an immature writer. IDK, but I’m happy it’s found a home at long last.

UPDATE 10/27/18: I’m calling this one out as a false acceptance. It was accepted and also had a chance at winning a contest. Here’s the notice verbatim

“Conclave at the Tea Table – Status: Changed From Pending to Accepted. Your story will have the opportunity to be published in the Story Shares library and may be a contest finalist! Finalists will be announced on September 10th.”

I didn’t win the contest, but I’ve been awaiting further information and still haven’t heard anything about this “opportunity to be published.” So is it being published? It’s accepted, so does that mean it will or maybe will be considered?

I tried contacting people at Story Shares without success. I’m guess that they aren’t going to publish my story. Looking over their website, I figured out a little too late that just about anyone can write a story for them. So, yeah, I’ve pulled Conclave at the Tea Table from the forthcoming list and started marketing it again today. I’m just glad their confusing “acceptance” didn’t make me pull it from any pending potential publishers.

The Carnivore and the Vegan Sit Down to Dinner

Despite the second job, I’m continuing to write. This week I wrote one dialogue: The Carnivore and the Vegan Sit Down to Dinner. My weekend goal is to type up from of the dialogues I’ve penned out recently. Type them up, look them over, and print out copies for Mike (my bestie) and my wife. Together these, my first editors, will get them in shape for sending out to potential publishers.

To learn more about the dialogues, visit this page.
Have a good weekend, bookworms.

Image remixed from Pixabay.

What’s the Point of What Hayden Saw?

This week’s story was written last Saturday while at work. There’s a wedding at the conference center attached to the hotel today, so it’s been too busy to write. But I’ve had time to read a couple of chapters of After the Banquet this morning, my first Yukio Mishima novel. So far, I like it.

What’s the Point of What Hayden Saw? is a short story in dialogue about Hayden who can see the future and heavenly visions, but when he dies tragically young, it leaves the bereaved asking, “What’s the point of what Hayden saw?”

Hopefully this new dialogue from my weekly challenge will be published soon. The truth is I’m pretty far behind in typing up my stories. It’s just so much more fun writing than typing. And, also, the second job takes its timely toll. If you haven’t checked it out, head on over to the The Green Light Literary Journal which had the balls to publish Viagra for a Pariah. I’m proud of the editors; those two have a great little gem of a publication.

Let me know your prescient visions and nihilistic reveries in the comments below.

The Green Light (new publication)

I am happy to announce that another story from my 2018 dialogue writing challenge has found a new home in The Green Light Literary Journal. The story is Viagra for a Pariah. You can read the whole short story at this link: https://thegreenlightliteraryjournal.wordpress.com/fiction-randaleldongreene/

The Ghost of Yesteryear

I just received yet another acceptance letter for one of my dialogues. This time the story is Viagra for a Pariah, and it’s appearing in the upcoming issue of The Green Light. A Lover’s Dwelling is coming out in the Flash Fiction Addiction anthology in the near future. The third dialogue I wrote, Everything in It’s Right Place, is appearing in the Iowa’s Emerging Writers anthology, which you can pre-order on this website.

I think it’s just amazing that all these small presses are taking on my words, telling their readers that this thing I wrote is worth reading. That means a lot.

The piece I wrote this week is titled The Ghost of Yesteryear. It’s about a young man whose recently deceased father tells him to continue his love of nostalgia. You can find a list of all the dialogues (plus a list of all the published dialogues, and links if available, here).

Thanks for reading, bookworms!

The Nihilist and the Strangler

This week’s dialogue for my 2018 writing challenge is The Nihilist and the Strangler. This creative conversation explores the fundamental meaning or lack thereof of life and the ever after.

Nihilism sort of brings up the absurdity of working for money, an abstract and transitory thing, when you’re going to die someday, having worked a good majority of your own finite existence here on earth for $$$ instead of actually living a meaningful life.

Well, I’ve been living, just without free weekends, for almost three years now. I feel like I played the system. I wasn’t free, really; I just found a way to make time and money work for me. But the system is harder to escape for the working class artist like myself than it is for those who run the system at the top. This is especially true when you have crippling student loans like my wife and I do. Other things compounded and caught up to us (things like a new A/C and new tires for the car) and here we are with me picking up a second job just to keep us afloat.

I don’t plan to hold two jobs permanently. At least not two non-writing-related jobs. And like I said in my last post, I’ll be using my precious free time wisely to finish my novel. Like any millennial worth their salt, I value the quality of life. So two dead end jobs aren’t a permanent solution. But that doesn’t mean I’m not willing to work to get to where I want to be. And work hard I will at the hotel, at the gas station, and at my writing.