Hi everybody!
Last night I was hit by a sudden inspiration in the shower… cliché I know, but that’s how it happened. An idea for a new story clobbered me over the head, so I jumped out and spent about two hours frantically typing. By then it was 11 pm and time to go to bed, so I reluctantly put it down and subsequently spent half the night tossing and turning thinking about it. I have to say, I’ve been in a bit of a slump the last couple of months. I hadn’t written any new fiction, only worked on older things. Editing, polishing… over polishing. So, it felt really good to get into a flow and get the fingers going again.
New Steps
I posted a new article on Medium two days ago. This one was a very serious, personal one. It was about my short comings and a very specific part of my personality I am trying to work on. To check it out head over to my page on Medium.
As stated above, I started a new story last night. It is a fantasy, same-sex romance… like many of the others I write. The working title is Brother Draconia. I have a feeling this one will be steamy, but I’m not sure yet. There will definitely be a lot of inner conflict and mushy love stuff.
I am putting the finishing touches on my story Desert Love for the Summer deadline of the Writers of the Future contest. I haven’t heard about my Spring submission, The Reservoir, yet, so fingers crossed. I am currently researching pubs for query for my previous submission The Professor’s Apprentice.
And last but certainly not least…
I can finally announce that I am digging back into my novel. Book one of the Sets of the Earth series, Sets and Soldiers. It is an urban fantasy novel, kind of a cross between the Iron Druid and the Black Dagger Brotherhood series. I finished the first draft back in the winter and set it aside to let myself divorce from it a bit before I went back in with my editor cap on. I started reading it several weeks before the move happened and put it down again when things started getting hectic. I am finally ready to pick it back up. I have to say lots of work ahead of me. Because I’m a total pantser, right now it reads more like a series of scenes rather than a cohesive story. So, once I read it and finish making all my notes, I imagine I will sit down and try to bang out an actual plot and then start writing again. It’s the first novel I’ve ever written and at least fives times longer than anything (other than my thesis) that I’ve attempted, so I’m learning as I go.
The Breakdown
Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing
An oldie but goody, I am only thirty pages or so into this, but I can already say this one will be up there with Stephen King’s On Writing for me. The writing in this is so beautiful and the teachings profound. I can only guess where it will take me. I’ll keep you posted with final thoughts later.
Living Life
Still looking for a job… so yeah.
The good news is I’ve been writing/editing quite a bit. The bad news is I have been staying up way too late and sleeping in. I just can’t sleep at night. I think it is my natural rhythm getting back into swing since I don’t have an externally imposed schedule on me right now. This happened once before when I was in grad school. I had a year when the universe conspired against me and I ended up without a job for a year. I spent it agonizing about (and if I’m being completely honest, avoiding) my thesis. That experience taught me I do not do well without an outside factor to restrict my schedule. I end up procrastinating and screwing around way more than if my time is limited. I am bound and determined to not let that happen this time. This is the longest I’ve gone without a job since then, and I refuse to let the opportunity for more writing time pass me by.
I’m not too nervous about the not-having-a-job part yet, but check in with me in a month if I still don’t have one, and I’ll let you know.
That’s it for this week. Hope everyone is doing well and as always, check out my social media if you are so inclined. I’m trying to post more frequently. Slow progress.
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