The Philosopher's Stone

MAJOR UPDATE - FEBRUARY TO APRIL:

Well, it's been three months since my last update, so I guess it's about time for a new one, and boy is there a lot of material to cover:

February was crazy, with me getting a cold that lasted nearly two weeks. In addition, my washing machine went haywire and flooded my basement. As such, very little writing got done in February. In addition, I had to spend a week in Sacramento, California, for work. Here are the stats on story submissions for February:

• Four stories submitted
  
• Six stories rejected
  

March was a recovery month, as I tried to catch up on the various things I'd let slide during February. I had a hand surgery and I sprained my ankle, including an awkward step a week later that caused a re-strain. In addition, a number of work deadlines began to bombard me, so I got very little writing work done. The March stats are:

• Eight stories submitted
  
• Four stories rejected
  
• Notified that I had been selected as a candidate for the position of About.com Physics Guide
  

April, however, was something of a recovery period for me. I began work on the About.com Physics site and got accepted, which focused my attention on writing yet again. I also began to work heavily on "Poor Richard's Fire" and finished it in time to submit it to an alternate history themed magazine just under the deadline. April's stats are much more impressive:

• Training and acceptance as the About.com Physics Guide
  
• Extensive work on the About.com Physics Guidesite
  
• Five stories submitted
  
• Seven stories rejected
  
• Two previously-accepted stories released to find a new market, due to publication difficulties
  
• I received word that there would be no finalists in the Writers of the Future anthology for 2005, which means that my story "Salvage" will not be included and is free to be shopped around to new markets.
• Completed "Poor Richard's Fire," with a total of approximately 7,500 words. I was startlingly impressed by the quality of this piece, as I was really worried about getting the colonial language right, and I think I did a very fair job at it.