All Systems Go

Writing: check
Editing: check
Networking: check
Wedding planning: in progress!

Life has been a whirlwind. I'd like to start making sure to update once a month. I missed February, so my March entry might be a bit longer. After this post, I'll be sure to check back in April, too.

My work toward my writing goals has been pretty amazing lately.
-I have been writing short stories each month for the Confabulator Cafe.
-I have written a couple of narrative passages for work. I did write a total of ten listening passages over a few months, and now they're having me work on narratives.
-My novel, Monsters of Lawrence, is out to beta readers right now. The initial alpha readers thought it had real potential, so my goal for this novel now is to get it cleaned up and into final draft mode during the month of May so I can start submitting it. Scary stuff!
-I'm signed up to do Camp Nanowrimo in April and July. I'm going to try to keep throwing words at the Monsters of Lawrence sequel, Towers of Kansas. It's a tough one to draft, because I've been working on it on and off for the last few years. The continuity is a little off. It's also tough because things in the first novel are still changing and evolving. But, a lot of that will be fixed in the revision process. Right now I just need to keep putting down words so that the story is there. Once it's written, I can tweak it until it's right.

My editing work is taking off, as well.
-I finished editing Transmonstrified, and it's doing really well. I should get a sizable bonus for that at the end of this year.
-I finished editing Jack Campbell Jr.'s All Manner of Dark Things collection. That should be available for sale next month.
-I finished editing the stories for Sean Demory's Slow Boat to Fast City anthology. Hopefully that will be available for purchase soon!
-Projects for my special projects editing gig at Luna Station Quarterly have started flowing again. They are working on putting out a Best Of for their first five years. Pretty cool stuff.

Upcoming stuff:
-This week, I'm traveling to Pittsburgh to attend the American Copy Editors Society conference for work. My first work trip ever. I'm excited to learn about freelance editing and network.
-I might be interviewed about freelance editing by the Johnson County public library for their blog.
-I will be editing R.L. Naquin's first book in her new Mount Olympus series in April. We're hoping to get it out sometime in May!
-May is also ConQuest, and that feels like it's just around the corner. I've been reading everything Brandon Sanderson possible, and I'm excited to meet the brilliant writer. Hopefully I will get to be on and/or moderate some panels this year. I'm not optimistic about that, but it should be a good time regardless.

And yes, Jack and I are planning our wedding. We have the venue booked, our honeymoon planned, and we're hashing out details like how to feed everyone and how the reception is going to go. I am having wedding dress meltdowns, as well as guest list freakouts, and I'm also having a hard time reconciling the idea of myself as a bride. But things are coming together, and I know it will be nice. I don't care too much about the wedding. I'm just looking forward to being married.

So that's me the past two months. I promise not to stay away so long next time!

A Look Back and a Look Ahead

It's been awhile. I've shifted from a writing focus to an editing focus over the last couple of years, which is why it's been pretty quiet here.

I recently set up a website for my editing endeavors, though, so that frees up this space for a focus on my writing pursuits. If you are interested in following me on my editing journey, look me up at selundberg.com.

As I mention in my "about me" section, I do have goals to have a novel published eventually. It's not as high of a priority these days as it used to be, but since I've made a great deal of progress on the editing front, it's time to start thinking about my writing again.

To look back at 2014, here are some noteworthy writing accomplishments:
-I won the Story-in-a-Bag short story writing contest for the amateur horror category at ConQuest
-I won third place (and $200) for the Writers Weekly 24-hour story contest in the fall
-I completed my tenth year doing Nanowrimo, sixth year as Municipal Liaison
-I started writing passages at the new job

To look ahead at 2015, here are some goals:
-Write a short story a month for the Confabulator Cafe
-Participate at the professional level for Story-in-a-Bag at ConQuest this year
-Participate in panels at ConQuest this year
-Start to submit short stories again
-Edit and send out Monsters of Lawrence to beta readers
-Haunted Mansion writing retreat in California in September this year
-Talk to Jack's sister's young adult book club to encourage young writers

I haven't decided if I'm going to participate in Nanowrimo again this year or not. Having done it every year for the last decade, I'm feeling a little run down and burnt out. My fellow writing group members encourage me to still participate even if I don't ML. We'll see how I feel when November rolls around. I'm ok with the idea of retiring. I know I can write a novel, with or without the help of the month-long competition.

It is kind of a relief to switch this blog back to Prospective Writer. I need a place to keep track of my writing progress separate from my editing. They are two different sides of my brain. It's nice to have to completely different spaces to play.

Besides, here I get to brag about the books I'm reading, share any awesome quotes I've heard, and talk about what I'm writing.

Time to get back to basics. I'm shabby and out of practice being a writer. I'm relying on this blog to help me get back on track.