February Update: My overflowing plate

Things have really picked up since my last update. I made it through developmental edits for Monsters of Lawrence. It's currently on the cooling rack before I do one final pass. And then I will start submitting it. So I need to research publishers and agents and figure out how to write a query letter and synopsis.

But my editing load has also picked up, so I'm not sure when I'll do that. I have a short story and a novel coming from Rachel, Kevin's debut novel, beta reads for two friends, and a new client starting in June.

In there, I have a work trip to Portland for the ACES conference, ConQuest, and an audition for Listen to Your Mother.

I have an overflowing plate.

On top of it all, I've been trying to make headway on Towers of Kansas, the sequel to Monsters of Lawrence (and the second book in Diana's trilogy). I wrote a new beginning for it, reorganized scenes and rewrote some more, and then tore it apart and reorganized it again. I'm still not sure the scenes are in the right order, but I have it pretty close, I think. It's like one of those slide number puzzles. Every time you move one of the tiles, it changes where all of the rest of them are. But I've got it close enough that I think I can start writing forward now. I've added around 8,000 words to it, although I've also taken away at least a couple thousand.

But I feel like it might have to take back burner while I make it through my paying editing jobs. Which, don't get me wrong, I'm excited about. But it's also hard, because over the last two months, when I haven't been busy at work, I've been working on writing and editing my own stuff. It's exciting and terrifying and also a little sad, because I know it'll probably be at least another decade before I can quit the day job and follow the dream of being a full-time writer and freelance editor. If ever.

I'm also still writing a short story for the Confabulator Cafe each month. I've stopped submitting short stories for publication now, deciding that my time is better spent on novels at this point. I'm also relieved I put the collection on hold. Bottle Cap isn't doing a table at ConQuest anymore, which was a majority of the reason I wanted to do it in the first place. That was a solid decision.

I also started a reading blog with a fellow writer. We're doing a re-read of the Shannara series by Terry Brooks. If you want to read along with us, we do about five chapters a week. Check us out at The Paranor Review!

I feel incredibly lucky to have so many fun things I am a part of right now. True, it's exhausting, and sometimes I spend a few days introverting and goofing around without working, but those days help me recharge. I am also fortunate enough to have an amazing group of writing friends who make sure I get everything I need, from emotional support to idea sounding boards.

Living the dream, friends. Halfway to my end goal of being published by the time I'm 40, and I feel like I've made hella progress. It's been a fun ride. This year has been huge, and looks like it will continue on out of control, picking up speed, until it's a runaway train.

Rachel did promise me a Crazy Train to Awesome Town. Here we come!

January Update: Seasonal Depression and Changing Goals

While I've only been regularly updating for the whole last year, the one reoccurring theme over the last five years this blog has existed is my eternal struggle with winter. I've finally admitted to myself that I suffer from pretty acute SAD (seasonal affective disorder). The dark, cold months at the beginning of the year send me to an even darker place inside of me. Half the time I don't even realize I'm there. One of the biggest challenges with this mood downturn is it affects my motivation, not only for day-to-day things like chores, but fun stuff like hanging out with friends and writing.

The first week of January was lost to this mood, until one of my good friends checked in on me, and the rest of my friends helped dig me out. I'm doing better now, although I'm still fighting with a cold, hoping it doesn't turn sinus infection.

In the midst of this low mood, I dug into Monsters of Lawrence, as I had planned to do this January. That first day was terrible. I skimmed through the first paragraph of the first twenty or so chapters, and was shocked and sickened by how mundane and downright poorly written it was in so many places. This is not a novel that showcases my writing talent. So during that day, I almost quit. This novel needed so much more than the quick cleanup job I thought it needed.

However, the next day, I tore into it. Ok, so it needs more work than I expected. I know what it needs, at least. With my sharpened editorial skills I've honed over the last two years, I began intensive surgery. I cut apart chapters, I spliced chapters together, I breathed new life into dead scenes and sentences, all the while working to implement the changes I had discussed with my beta readers.

I've been working on it nearly every day for the last week now. It's slow going, folks. But, I already feel a thousand times more confident about it. It's still a mess. I compared it to cleaning a closet: you have to pull everything out, creating a gigantic, disorganized mess before you can start to put things back in a more organized, logical way. It will take at least another pass once I'm done tearing this draft apart to clean up any scars I've left, make sure I didn't leave any surgical implements inside the body. But it should be better, faster, stronger when I'm done rebuilding. The bones are good. Most of the second half of the book only needs minor adjustments.

In light of this project, though, I got to thinking about my collection. The little collection that could. My sad attempt to be part of the cool kids table at Conquest. It's not meant to be, friends. I examined my reasons for wanting to put it together, and the work doesn't justify the end result. So, for now, I will continue to write short stories each month for the Cafe, and maybe someday, once I have a novel or two published and some fans who like me, I'll self-publish a collection.

The only thing I lament after coming to this decision is that it will be that much longer until my gorgeous cover sees the light of day. So I am sharing it here, so at least it is out there. Enjoy, friends. You saw it here first.

December Update: Year End and Year Ahead

Well, I stuck it out through NaNo last month and reached the end of my manuscript. I'm glad I did. While it's really more of an outline (like the outside edges of a puzzle, some people have said), I am really happy with the finished product. It gives me another marketable novel/series I can work on.

I've spent the weeks since NaNo going back over old manuscripts. I now have a plan of action as far as the top three novels I want to clean up and try to sell. Monsters of Lawrence is obviously first. My new Druid Wars book is next (it needs a new title: the current one is terrible). And the third, believe it or not, is my other book from 2011, Online Dating for Demons (also needs a new title, but that's sticking for now). I hated that book so much when I was done writing it, but reading back over it, I was absolutely entranced. It needs some work, but it's got a solid foundation and it has already been through beta readers.

I am still kind of poking at the first Druid Wars book, but once I get past the holidays, I will hit MoL revisions hard. After that, I may try to clean up the Druid Wars book for beta readers before diving into ODD edits.

That's the novel plan. Hah. Novel. Get it? Novel?

Ehem.

I am also going back over every short story I've ever written to decide what goes into my collection (the title for that will be Those Who Wander, and it will be put out by Bottle Cap publishing sometime in May 2016). I'm figuring out which ones are good, which ones need edits, and which ones should never see the light of day again. I'm writing at least three new short stories for it, as well. I had to pull two of them, because they were accepted for publication in other places. Which is fine. Kind of exciting.

So yeah, that is my plan for next year. At some point, maybe after ConQuest (where I will hopefully not only join the Bottle Cap Publishing table, but also speak on a handful of panels), there will also be Verdancy Publishing to think about. Maybe do something with. But I can only think really seriously about the next six months right now. Even that is a little overwhelming.

But, then I just look back at this year and all of the stuff I have accomplished, and it doesn't seem completely insurmountable.

Because in 2015, I:
-Wrote 10 short stories for the Cafe
-Had three short stories accepted for publication
-Wrote a 50,000 word novel
-Cleaned up MoL and sent it to beta readers
-Made a plan for (and started writing the next installment of) the Adventures of Sally Prescott serial
-Spoke on two panels at ConQuest
-Won honorable mention for the fall 24-hour short story contest
-Bought a cover for my short story collection
-Bought the domain for a publishing company
-Made notes for a choose-your-own-adventure zombie novel
-Successfully managed the Lawrence Region for Nanowrimo
-Edited two full-length Muse novels for R.L. Naquin
-Edited a science fiction anthology
-Proofread a horror collection
-Edited all of the short stories in Jack's collection

On top of that, I also got married, adopted a puppy, and ran eleven out of twelve monthly writing meetings.

I'm really doing this, guys. I'm living the writing and editing dream. Sometimes the drudgery and rejection are hard, but I've accomplished so much. My whole writing group, and Jack, we've all accomplished so much. I have this feeling that next year will be even better.

These monthly accountability posts have also helped a lot. It not only helps me keep revisiting my goal, but also revising them to be more realistic. And man, it's cool to see how much I've accomplished.

Thanks for sticking with me this year, if anyone still reads. I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday season, and I will check in with you sometime during the first month of the new year!

Bring it on, 2016. I'm ready for you.