You might think by the title that my summer has passed by too quickly but that is not the case. Instead, I am left wondering what happened to the hazy, hot and humid days of summer, the days where the pool (or beach) is beckoning, when the air conditioning is running and ice cream is more than a sweet treat but a relief from the scorching day. On Long Island, where I am, our summer was reduced to a few weeks of heat, occasionally blasting into the 90s, while most days after the calendar flipped to August were temperate and cool and un-summerlike.
Still it was summer, and I made some a lofty goal for myself at the beginning. I wanted to arrive at the end of a large section of book two, ready to write the climactic chapters (you do know that my endings are not short or abrupt, but longer and more ‘cinematic’ in a way, right?) and call this first draft done. I did not quite get there, but I am nearly done with that chunk of story. I am in the last chapter of that section with all the dialogue mapped out and the big reveals for that part outlined. If I had two more days, it would be done. So I am not unhappy with my progress, and I am still on track to finish before the end of the year.
Can you guess why I did not finish that section? Come on, you’ve been reading these posts for a while now. I’m sure you know.
That’s right, I’ve started work on a separate project, a short story that came together very quickly. But this one has a purpose. You know by now how much I love being a part of the We Suck at Comics series – the books are amazing, the guys who produce them are awesome, and the themes and style of the anthologies push me to try new things. And so here I am again, working on my idea for volume three and its theme of “errant adventures.” I have a crazy and fun idea for that. I even ran some of it past my writing group yesterday, and they were enthusiastic and entertained by the bits I shared. But just like volume two – if you don’t have a copy yet, then stop reading and go get one here – I need to find some way to make it stand out. I have a crazy, weird, and artistic piece I am going to try to pull off. Will I be able to? No idea. But stay tuned!
My family has started a new tradition of sorts now – every August we take a long weekend trip to Connecticut where we shop, relax, and spend a day at Terrificon, a big comic convention. They always have great guests, a massive dealer’s room, and some great costumes. This year we got to meet Karen Allen, Ke Huy Quan, and Doug Jones (again, but he’s awesome). We had such a great time. They were all so much fun, we even took a picture with Ms. Allen and chatted baseball for a bit.
More importantly, we spent some time with the guys from Wayward Raven Media, Alex and Mark, and signed a few copies of volume two of We Suck at Comics. It was a special moment for my awesome wife, as she got to sign her first ever autograph. There’s a video of us signing copies on Facebook too.
Last thing for this month – I am still in the process of querying agents. Armed with my cleaned-up synopsis, I am keeping five queries always open. I have had a few rejections, but this was to be expected. It gets disheartening when the email arrives and I see “unfortunately” somewhere near the top, but I remind myself that it is just a part of the process and I keep moving forward. At least the process is much simpler than it was when it was all through the mail. Many agents list on a couple of websites and you can submit directly through those. I have been using QueryTracker and it has made the process very easy.
I really am horrible at keeping these things short. Sorry about that. Anyway, here’s the list of goals. It has not changed since last month, but it keeps me motivated to post it at the end of every month.
1 – I want finish editing book one of my YA series to the point that I consider it good enough for publication (it probably won’t be, but I want to get it as far as I can take it). Even though I am sending this out into the world now, I am still working on tweaking this book and trimming it down a little.
2 – I want to begin querying agents to see if I can publish that book, and its sequels, traditionally. Queries are out. Five rejections so far. I am not giving up despite the disappointment. If you can’t handle rejection, don’t become a writer.
3 – I want to finish the first draft of book 2 in that series and go through at least 1 round of edits. I’m a little behind, but I feel confident this will be done.
4 – I want to have a completed outline for book 3 with an aim at starting the writing process this year as well. I have a list of things to research and prep and a firm grip on the story. I am feeling good about this one.
5 – I want to have at least two short stories accepted for publication. This one has become tricky for me. Usually I search for prompts and write to them, but none that I have found are inspiring me to write (except Errant Adventures for volume 3) so I am left with trying to find homes for stories I have already written. It’s a bit harder that I would have thought, but I’m still working on it.