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…
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…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #39
Well, hello there, October! It should come as no surprise that I’m rather fond of the Spooky Season, and even the moderately cool temperatures that come with it. I’m looking forward to wearing my jean jacket and my doc martens, to watching The Crow and indulging in a Chai Latte every now and again. But before all of that, lets talk about the last week of September. Last Week Finish the book Prep newsletter Record podcast How’d I Do? Finish the book YES! Which you probably already know if you read yesterday’s Monthly Recap. Prep newsletter Yep! It should be in your inbox now. If you haven’t signed up, now would be a great time. You don’t want to miss out on book reviews and original fiction direct to your inbox, do you? Record podcast Yes! And I got it edited and scheduled already. It’ll be live on Friday! Are…
The Recap – September 2023
It’s officially October, the spookiest of seasons, when my goth little heart is happiest. Yet today the sun is out, the temps just north of chilly, so it seems summer and autumn are still doing their waltz, trading leads as they see fit. I’ll cling to these last few sunny days, before winter settles in to smother me once more. September Goals Finish Novel Complete at least the first revision Keep up w/submissions and queries How’d I Do? Finish Novel YES! YES YES YES YES! The rough draft is finally, wonderfully DONE! Complete at least the first revision HA! No. Keep up w/submissions and queries Yeah. Things are slow in September as publishing shakes off the last of its summertime slump. But, I made sure things went out as rejections trickled in. Total Word Count: 11,442 That word count should be a pretty clear indication of how I feel about…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #38
Fall is here. I welcomed it with a date night to our favorite restaurant. We had the walleye special, which was incredibly nostalgic for me as I grew up eating fried walleye, and had a couple of my favorite adult beverages (caipirinha – kinda like a Brazilian margarita, but BETTER). Then we went home, I cut a few sprigs from my herbs and used them for my bath. Now, I am not typically a bath person. There’s a lot of reasons for this, but largely I just get bored. Bubbles only entertain me for so long, I don’t trust myself with a library book near water, and I don’t sit still well. Baths are actually the opposite of relaxing to me. But, I wanted to try an herb bath. I was relaxed from the cocktails and I’m reading an ARC right now, so if the book gets damaged, who cares?…
Goals Summary 2023 – Wk #37
I’m thinking a lot about symbols today. Obviously, symbols are important in writing – they offer subtext and deeper meaning to the story told on the surface of the page. But symbols are important in our daily lives too, and today I’ve found myself tripping over a lot of symbolism. I’m feeling a bit mired today, low energy and with a sciatica flare up that has me stiff and sore. But I promised myself that 11a-2p on Mondays is writing time. So I stepped into my office and was met with the physical manifestation of my psyche. I haven’t truly cleaned my office since we got the house back. Boxes of bathroom supplies, hampers of blankets, and a box of keepsakes from my last job pretty much stuffed any and all floorspace. There was a path to my desk chair and that was it. Even getting to my house plants…
Goals Summary – Wk #36
Ok, so this title is a little bit misleading. I didn’t have any goals last week, so I won’t exactly be summarizing them. I had goals the week before that, which I could talk about, but other than managing to send out the Newsletter, not a whole lot happened this past couple of weeks. What happened was a lot of gaming, as the spousal unit and I splurged to get a PS5 so we can couch co-op Baldur’s Gate 3. Hence, no progress last week. We’ve been gaming for 3+ hours each night after dinner, and I have no regrets. So, I let myself take a little breaky break and enjoy our couch and tv and just generally having the house back to do these sorts of things. Comfortably. It’s been delightful. But, I still have a ticking clock on this novel, and I’m getting very close to finishing it.…
The Recap – August 2023
Well, hello there! This post is late, but not so late that it’s embarrassing, right? That’s what I’m telling myself this morning. I’ve had a lovely walk with the dog, got coffee out as a treat, and done some of my “chores” for the week ahead. Seems like a perfectly good time to get back to blogging, don’t you think? August Goals Complete 1st revision of the novel Submit “King Tide” Get the Podcast back on schedule How’d I Do? Complete 1st revision of the novel Lol. No. Submit “King Tide” Yes! It has since been retitled “Like Fractured Seashells”. More on this in a second. Get the Podcast back on schedule Yes? And not quite. There was definite progress toward this, but I didn’t quite reach the finish line. Total Word Count: 4,924 I feel good about last month. I know enough about myself that any change to a…