That whooshing sound you just heard might have been the huge sigh of relief I just let out after finishing the last of my three articles for the 2009 Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market. I had like six months to write these things; why did I have to wait until the last two weeks of December to even start trying to work on them? Note I say trying; work in earnest didn’t really begin until three days ago. And here I am finishing up right at the deadline.

If you’re interested, the three articles are:

• 21 Blogs Writers Should Be Reading
• Beyond the Guidelines: 25 Ways You Might Be Annoying Editors and Not Even Know It
• SF/Fantasy Editorial Roundtable with Gordon Van Gelder, Sheila Williams, & Susan Marie Groppi
   

The titles are subject to change, but the ones I have there pretty much let you know what the articles are about, so no further description is necessary, I reckon. You’ll have to wait at least until August to read them in print. And I’ll attempt to sell them elsewhere as reprints, but if no one wants to reprint them, I’m sure they’ll end up here on my blog. Meanwhile, enjoy my article "Speculative Fiction: The Next Generation," which I wrote for the Novel & Short Story Writer’s Market 2008.