False Spring
It’s February. A month ago I posted about an ice storm that had me homebound for five days. Today the sun plays peek-a-book with a bank of steely, rain-laden clouds. I witnessed a magnificent rainbow just outside my window mere minutes ago. It’s gorgeous, blustery, green and gray day. In February. It also happens to be the Super Bowl, which I care little about. I’m staying home instead of attending the traditional family gathering, so the house is mine today. As of this writing, I’ve already revised fifty-one pages today and plan to do an additional 45 pages before I call it a day. I’ve spent time with my writing friends, co-working via a Discord video call, and I’m hoping I can FaceTime my mom before the afternoon wears on much further. And of course, I’ll read a bit and maybe do a chore or two before my evening work…
The Ice Storm Days
I haven’t left the house in five days. For some folks, I know that can conjure feelings of claustrophobia. Feeling stuck or trapped or hemmed in. But as I sit in my home, watching the thin snow solidify into a dangerously slick pack of ice, I’m feeling grateful for this pause. If you’ve read my more recent posts, then you know 2023 was a rather trying year for us. There were a lot ups and downs, with very high highs and the lowest of lows. And I’ll be honest – this is my first year in a LONG time where I didn’t have at least a week off at the holidays. With both Christmas and New Years falling on my normal weekend, I was feeling more than a little toasty rolling into 2024. But, this arctic storm has brought a sort of relief. Five unexpected and uninterrupted days off. I’ve…
2023: The F*ck Was That?
When I say this year was a lot… This year was A LOT. The first seven months were incredibly stressful, which I think will reflect in things like word counts once we get to them. So, what the fuck happened this year? Let’s break it down: January – 12,043 words This is my peak depression month. I do not make life decisions in January and February. But January 2023 was worse than usual, because my spouse was in a car accident that totaled his car. The good news is that he was completely unharmed. The Kia Soul did everything right and protected him when he was t-boned. But, we were suddenly a single car household after each having our own cars for over a decade. We were also a single-income household at the time. After taking most of December off from writing the book, I’d picked back up and made…
December Daze
Hello, there. It’s been a minute, hasn’t it? As promised, I went dormant for awhile, burrowed deep into my novel to get that first round of revision done. I sent the second draft to some beta readers last week. I’m proud of the book it’s become, and am excited to see what Laura and Dale think of it. It’s substantially different than when I started revising it, that’s for sure. Over the two months of revision, I cut almost 14k words, and wrote just short of 17k new ones. The book is big. Bigger than I’d originally planned. 96,053 words. Over 430 pages. But, it’s off my desk. Its files closed. This Ravenous Country is a concern for 2024. I have decided I’m not allowed to think about the book until after New Year’s. Then I can continue working on the query letter and synopsis. Then, when I get feedback…
2023 Awards Eligibility
It’s that time of year. The holidays are upon us, and the publishing world begins its wind down into the New Year. With that comes a slew of Awards Eligibility posts – writers, editors, and publishers sharing their 2023 publications eligible for the various awards ceremonies in 2024. I’ll be honest. I don’t fully understand SFFH awards, how nominations work, or how a work is or isn’t eligible. I think the only true requirement for eligibility is that the piece be published within the given year. Which means I have four eligible pieces: The Stories “In the Librarian’s Garden” (F, 4,781) – Issue 6 of Tree and Stone Magazine (Feb./Mar. 2023), ed. by Kevin M. Casin “The Lament of Kivu Lacus” (SF, 4,180) – Life Beyond Us: An Original Anthology of SF Stories and Science Essays (Apr. 2023) ed. by Julie Nováková, Lucas K. Law, and Susan Forest, pub. by…
Fall Update
This post should be a Goals Summary or even the belated Monthly Recap, but I’m gonna be real honest with you – I don’t have the energy for all of that right now. Fall is here, the weather is dark and a little dour. I’ve been off my ADHD meds for about a month and I’m exhausted. What energy I do have is getting divvied up between my home, family, work, and the book. That’s it. For those things to go well I have to let the blog and Newsletter go for now. I hate that, truly, but also, the amount of relief I feel at admitting it tells me everything I need to know. Putting my online presence/activities on pause is the right call. So, what does this mean? Basically, don’t expect much regularly scheduled content on the website until December, maybe even the new year depending on how…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #41
The rain is back in full force today. But after some morning yoga, iced coffee, and listening to a podcast from my favorite youtubers, it’s feeling pretty sunny in my office right now. I’ve got a list of chores that should feel overwhelming, and yet I’m settling down to write with a smile on my face and Jason Mraz playing in my headphones. Point is, life is good today. Let’s see how last week compares. Last Week Finish scene rewrites Start scene splices How’d I Do? Finish scene rewrites Yes! Start scene splices Yes… technically. I did, in fact, splice a scene together, but I didn’t make as much progress as I wanted. Weekly Word Count: 3,404 These goals are broad, deceptively simple, and very big. Two little bullets, six words that encompass a giant task, and I’ll admit I felt a bit daunted by them. But, I rewrote the…
Research and the Historical Novel
All right. So, I’m gonna channel my best Mediocre White Man™ and write on this topic as if I know what the fuck I’m talking about. Ok, I mean, I kinda sorta know what I’m talking about. I’ve done research for a historical novel, and plan to do it again (like some kind of dummy). I’ve also written more than my fair share of research papers in college, and I work in libraries, so I have a decent set of research skills. But I feel I really need to clarify that I am talking about lowercase r research here. The sort of sprawling book-learning that one does for themself in order to become more knowledgable about a given topic. Not capital R Research that involves science and math and peer review. No amount of research for a novel is going to make me an actual expert on the subject. And…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #40
It’s a gorgeous fall day, and I spent the morning weeding the garden. Trevor went to get coffee from our favorite coffee shop, and now I’m listening to the new Staind album thanks to a very excited text from my mom. Yes, my mom is listens to Staind. What I’m getting at is, it’s an absolutely lovely day so far. So let’s talk about goals! Last Week Start revisions Update website Send newsletter Edit and schedule podcast How’d I Do? Start revisions Yep! I’ve re-written the entire intro, reorganized some scenes. Nothing too major yet, but I’m just revving up. Things should get grittier in the weeks to come. Update website Yep 🙂 Send newsletter It’s in your inbox if you haven’t read it yet. Edit and schedule podcast Yes! Have you listened to the September episode yet? Weekly Word Count: 1,560 For revision, that’s a stellar word count. Those…
Revision, Again.
Revision is a complex topic. It’s a complex part of the writing process! And that process is different for every person and every story. No lie, it’s that last bit that frustrates me most. WHY does it have to be different for every story? I’ve done this before, can’t I just slap the same methods and processes on it and call it a day? No?! Now, I’ve been on this precipice before. In the Valley of Death is not my first novel. Depending on how we define “novel” it’s my 6th or 8th novel-length work. And with those earlier projects, there were other, earlier, more youthful and naive and blissfully innocent posts about revision. You can read my most recent one, about Something Sulfurous (aka Tavi) here. Or you can go way back and read this one over on the old blog. Point is, I’ve been around this particular block…