If you visit The Harrow to check on one of your published stories or poems and the file doesn’t show up when you click on the link, please let me know in email; as we unglitch the site, we’re finding some files that are there but, for some reason, aren’t displaying externally. We’re working to resolve that problem, as well.

Now, if I can only get the Yaoi Research Wiki up and running again….

My problem is deadlines — too many of them coming up too fast. A Jan. 2 deadline for getting all my permissions to use manga images secured and the final draft of my BL paper off to the editor. A Jan. 20 deadline for getting all a new public speaking class developed and all my syllabi written before the new university semester begins. An “as soon as possible” deadline for getting comments about the yaoi book’s MSS off to the authors, an “as soon as possible after that” deadline to get revisions back from the authors, and an end-of-February deadline for getting the manuscripts formatted and off to the publisher.

Is it any wonder I jerked awake this morning, my heart pounding, seized by a sense of impending doom?

Last year I took on too many projects, and these deadlines are the fallout. So this year I’m going to try to give myself more breathing room.

I’ve only made two resolutions this year: to write more fiction and to lose the extra pounds that crept up on me last year while I shirked the gym in favor of long hours in the office and collapsing in a quivering heap on the sofa once I got home.

But in order to keep those two resolutions — and deal with this whole anxiety issue — I need to make some other changes, too.

For one thing, as you’ll see if you visit The Harrow‘s January issue, I’m going to put The Harrow on hiatus this summer. I’m not the only one on staff who needs a break, after ten years of nonstop publication — and setting it aside for a while will eliminate one of the constant deadline pressures in my life so that I can concentrate on my writing and my fitness.

I’m also going to try to shed some other deadline-producing responsibilities this year. After spring semester ends, I should finally have finished serving a position at the university that added three meetings a month and a whole lot of miscellaneous duties to my schedule. It was an honor to be chosen for it, but after three years, I’m ready to pass it on to someone else! Similarly, I’m going to try to avoid taking on any extraneous responsibilities for a while — I need to finish the projects in front of me before I agree to tackle anything new. I expect that it’s going to be hard to say “no,” but honestly, I don’t think I have a choice any longer. Waking up to a new year should be a joyous experience, not a fearful one!

For years I’ve been simplifying my finances and my possessions. It’s finally time for me to start simplifying my responsibilities, too. I’d rather do a few things calmly than lots of things in a panic.

…But first, I have to grit my teeth and get through the next few months of deadlines…!

image by biewoef.

If you aren’t participating or need a break from writing, check out the November issue of The Harrow!  Fiction editor Michael Colangelo has been working hard to seek out imaginative and unusual stories for each issue, and he’s doing a great job of choosing work that provides a broad spectrum of narrative styles and themes while maintaining a consistently high quality. Take a look, and if you’re a horror or fantasy writer, consider sending us some of your work…!

We’ve got quite a variety of fiction lined up for you tomorrow, though love seems to be a central theme. “Tyn & Adia” by Jonathan T. F. Weisberg is a thoughtful narrative fantasy about two fabled lovers and the sacrifices they’ve made for each other.  “Mermaid Shells” by Matt Larkin is a tale of love and betrayal, while “Through a Glass Darkly” by Scotti Matics features love and, er, murder. On the not-so-loving side, we have “The Gladys Report, by Doctor Howard Tilman” by Brian Douglas Graham, a tale of repressed memories and unfortunate goings-on in an old fishing village; “The Hatbox” by Peter W. F. Clines, a first-person tale of soulless science 19th-century style; and “Escalation” by Timothy M. Roberts, which is all about feeling like one of the gang.

Check out The Harrow tomorrow to read the April issue!

I’ve also edited and HTMLed all of Feburary’s stories, so that the authors can get the proofing underway before I return.

Kfir and I were going to issue a call for stories for The Harrow’s third anthology in January — The Harrow Press’ second — but we’re both so busy, and I’m going to be gone for so long, that we’ve decided to hold off. We’ll probably put out the announcement in February.

Gosh, I feel like I got a lot accomplished today! If only I were always so efficient.

After 10 years of publishing this thing, I suppose I should stop being surprised that despite all the last-minute emails and proof checks, the chaos behind that pretty white screen you see when you visit The Harrow always manages to morph into coherence and an issue magically appears on the 1st!