"If you haven't heard back from the editors by now, then I'm sorry to say that you won't be hearing back from the editors at all."

I don't think he was sorry...

So it did not take me very long to fail at my self-set task of at least one blog entry a month, but nevertheless: Welcome to the third installment of Fan F(r)iction, my blog about my journey to become a professional author via the cunning plan to get my foot in the door through the Black Library, purveyors of all fiction of a Warhammer-bent.

I had submitted two stories to the Black Library during their open submission window last May. Unfortunately, despite high hopes and immense pride in my work, I was unsuccessful in my bid for publication with them at this time.

One of the unsuccessful stories, Honour Paid, has been uploaded to my main blog if you'd like to have a gander (I would welcome the feedback)

The other story is being...repurposed, but more on that at a later date.

Anyhoo, this was obviously hugely disappointing for me, as I really did believe my work was of a quality that stood alongside their existing published works. However, I am not one to let soul-crushing-depression-because-I-was-rejected-and-oh-god-why-won't-someone-give-me-the-approval-and-ego-stroking-I-so-obviously-crave get me down, so I continued on with writing, deciding to do something a little bit different and aim for other, smaller publishers and/or contests. I figured I would not have the greatest of chances at succeeding considering I had written so little original fiction, but that the practice would be handy and keep me sharp until the next BL window rolled around.

Then I wrote a horror short story and submitted it and got accepted for publication. In a book.

An actual, physical, book.

I'm not looking to go into shameless self-promotion here (ok, I am desperately resisting going in for shameless self promotion here), so I will provide a few, scant details:

‘Der Teufel Sie Wissen (The Devil You Know)’ is a horror story set in Berlin during the dying days of World War 2, and will be published in Fading Light: An Anthology of the Monstrous, edited by multi-published dark fantasy and horror author Tim Marquitz, and to be published by Angelic Knight Presson the 1st of September, 2012 (TBC)

This is naturally a huge opportunity for me, and I couldn't be more excited. The really hilariously awesome thing about all this is I will officially be considered a professional author (not that that really means a huge amount of course), having arrived there after writing a story on a whim in a genre I had never even considered writing in before.

So I guess if there's a writing lesson from this one, it's don't be afraid to work outside of your comfort zone. The internet has brought about a wealth of publishing opportunities and contests for people interested in any form of fiction, and short stories have quickly become a very large market again after languishing for years. I'm glad I took the advice to expand my horizons and do some searching online, and I heartily recommend that all budding writers do the same.

Now to decide if I'm going to use a pen name...hmmm

In Gaming News:

Mass Effect 3 is great, but the news of ending DLC has made me hesitant to pull the trigger on starting the last mission. I find it weird that everyone is flipping out over the ending the way they are, but I'm not going to get all soapbox-y about it here.

Overall I think the game shows many signs of being rushed to market, but the strong dialogue and interesting major events make up for it to a large extent. Shame the side quests and other trappings are piss-poor.

Otherwise, my gaming time has been pretty limited. Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective on iPad continues to be phenomenal, and has made me somewhat reconsider my unreasoning hatred of everything gaming-related that comes out of Japan due to how amazing it looks and how charming it is.

Also, Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is really freaking interesting. I love the style and the music, and even the mellow exploration is great in short bursts. Perfect for a train trip or a quick game before bed, but I'm reserving my final judgment until I'm further in.

Excerpt (because hey, I want to sell books to you in the future):

Honour Paid

They drifted silently toward the end of the world.

Matte black, invisible against the void, the unpowered Thunderhawk Grind-Two-Eight rotated gently along its axis, almost imperceptibly, one downturned wing lifting to allow the passage of a piece of hurtling debris.

Staring at the external sensor display, Veteran-Sergeant Fenan Husq of the Executioners grunted as he saw the twin-headed eagle of the Imperium etched into the detritus flash past, a mere whisper from ripping a hole in the side of the gunship.

“Close,” muttered Kruss from his seat opposite the Sergeant, the words buzzing through his damaged vox. The burly assault specialist, one of the First Company Vanguard, cradled a huge power axe across the knees of his battered, bastardised armour. Kruss, like the rest of the infiltration team, had daubed himself in Codex-approved swirls of white and blue, the better to suit the icy hellhole they flew toward. Read More

Final Word:

I'm getting married in just over a month. Everything has come together surprisingly well, and I can't wait to leave Sydney on the cusp of winter to head to (hopefully) sunny Hawaii for the honeymoon.

Been hitting the gym to ensure that I don't look like an albino beached whale by the time the honeymoon rolls around, plus I want to look as sexy as possible in my kilt and fly plaid for the wedding (especially since I've lost about 15 kilos since the last time I wore one as a groomsman), to ensure that the wedding photos don't show my gorgeous bride standing next to a tartan-coated meatsack.

Life is really fucking weird.

http://timsweeney.net

Tim the Corsair on Steam or XBLA

@TSPSweeney on Twitter

Or just send me a PM.

Hope this was interesting to somebody,

Tim ‘the Corsair’ Sweeney (maybe T S P Sweeney as a pen name?)

Congratulations on the publishing.

Hoping to reach that point one day so I can call myself a writer too!

Was your fiction about the Imperial Guard, or about something else? Because if it wasn't about the Imperial Guard, I don't have to worry about missing out.

Also yeah, Ghost Trick is totally fantastic. It's okay, you can like it without changing your general view on games from Japan. It's an exception.

@Still_I_Cry: Thanks mate! What sort of stuff do you write?

@Veektarius: The two that I submitted were Space Marine-centric. I do enjoy writing Guard, however, and have both a short story and novel pitch about them in the works for the Black Library window that is currently open. I'm also working on an Inquisitor-themed story, and a few more Space Marine ones.

Cheers for the reassurance about Ghost Trick, I thought I'd have to apologise for all the comments I've made on here about how fucking dumb the names of most Japanese games are (Dragon's Dogma?!)

@Tim_the_Corsair: Try to write poetry. I have become better..at least it isn't really the shit I am embarrassed to admit I wrote. It's still shit, technically at least, but I am trying to improve that, finding my style. I believe I have at least found my own style :) ..

@Tim_the_Corsair said:

@Still_I_Cry: Thanks mate! What sort of stuff do you write?

@Veektarius: The two that I submitted were Space Marine-centric. I do enjoy writing Guard, however, and have both a short story and novel pitch about them in the works for the Black Library window that is currently open. I'm also working on an Inquisitor-themed story, and a few more Space Marine ones.

Cheers for the reassurance about Ghost Trick, I thought I'd have to apologise for all the comments I've made on here about how fucking dumb the names of most Japanese games are (Dragon's Dogma?!)

Inquisitor falls under the Guard category, in that it still contains actual human beings who act like human beings. I don't always hate Space Marines novels, but the dudes are too stoic to make for good drama.

Your writing is bad and you should feel bad. (joking)

I'll be totally honest with you though, I'm not just saying that to troll you or anything this time. After forcing myself to read through that blog post, I can clearly see why the Black Library rejected it. In a nutshell, you somehow manage to be overly descriptive and hopelessly simplistic at the same time. It's comes across as being woefully underdeveloped. Out of interest, how old are you? I ask because you seem to be writing along the same lines as an eighth grader who has just started to explore writing and has gotten way ahead of himself. There's a kind of juvenile arrogance to it.

If you really want to improve, and are dead-set on going down the descriptive route, you might want to read some stuff by F. Scott Fitzgerald. It would be interesting to see how you might go about developing that style in a fantasy setting. Do some research- whilst you may find other writers start to infect your own work, that's a good thing to begin with. You may also want to look for alternative publishing houses to the Black Library. Keep in mind, most of their stuff is written in-house (a bit of an old boys network really) and is designed from the ground up to be sensationalist fan fiction- sometimes it can be very well written sensationalist fan fiction but that's still essentially all it is. Why? Because that's what sells. Given the fact that they're a niche market, they have to continue to pander to their rabid fan base in order to survive. You'll be doing yourself a major disservice as a novelist in the long run if you decide to work with them. In the real world, most Black Library authors are no-names who are forever tied to the one company. You don't want that.

@Tim_the_Corsair: Thanks, I need it. Also, I wouldn't consider myself a poet :P

Also, cool site. I will try and read some of your stuff when I get a chance.

You should be honored! Nah, I'm joking. I only say this, "I will try and read some of your stuff when I get a chance" because I am currently studying for a fucking Spanish quiz.

Hope you aren't dissuaded easily :P

@Tim_the_Corsair: Fair enough. Good luck to you then.

@Tim_the_Corsair: Thanks, I need it. Also, I wouldn't consider myself a poet :P

Also, cool site. I will try and read some of your stuff when I get a chance.

You should be honored! Nah, I'm joking. I only say this, "I will try and read some of your stuff when I get a chance" because I am currently studying for a fucking Spanish quiz.

Hope you aren't dissuaded easily :P

@Tim_the_Corsair: Ha, ok.

You could look if you are feeling particularly masochistic, I posted a few as blogs.

Thanks, foreign languages are my Achilles heel D: