I will try to keep this update short. I have thirty-one days left to accomplish my goals for the year, and I really should be working on my assortment of projects. After a (somewhat) rejuvenating Thanksgiving weekend, I’m ready to plunge headlong into the chaotic twelfth month.
I fired off my submission for the third volume in my favorite anthology series – We Suck at Comics. As I mentioned last month, my submission is far too long for their requirements, so I have altered my approach and even come up with a potential compromise in case they feel they cannot break the rules as much as I am asking them to. For now, I have enlisted the help of a real artist – not me, in other words – to help me sell this story to them. I love my story, and the artwork that is coming my way is far better (and faster) than anything I could have done. There are other ideas to go along with this one, as I am once again challenging myself. I am trying to get the layout just right, but I submitted a rough mockup before the holiday to make sure I got in before the book was full. I am hopeful, but if they decide it is too long, I will understand.
I do have an acceptance to share, but I am holding off until the publisher gives me the okay to do so. But this will help with my goals for the year. More about that when I can!
Book 2 is chugging along at a steady pace. I am writing the lead-up to the climax now, and though I am tweaking some of the dialogue for the last couple of chapters (I changed the story to accommodate a better version than my original plan) I have the framework in place to get to the end or right up to it by the end of the month. Cross those fingers, throw an extra coin (not a penny, too valuable now) into the wishing well, and wish me luck.
For my writing group’s November meeting – our last of 2025 – we all had visual prompts. I love writing off an image, and the one I chose led me in a different direction than what I thought of when I first saw it. Mnemosyne’s Gift is longer than I typically aim for with these pieces (I try to keep them short because they are read to the group) but I feel that it is still tight. I left out a great deal that I had planned on doing with it – I can replace those cuts later – and tried to keep the story flowing. I did something strange with the narrative that necessitated a bit of verbosity. I was not sure if I had pulled it off. When I gave it to my wife to read, I gave her specific instructions (not something I normally do) to read without a pen to make corrections, just take in the story and give me honest feedback. She came back with an enthusiastic response and liked the ‘a-ha’ moment near the end when my strange decision pays off. My group of writer friends were similarly impressed and glad I did not go in a traditional direction. They agreed that a lot was missing and that filling in the missing pieces, making it closer to a 5,000 plus word story, will help it feel more complete and address the issues my slimmed down version has.
That was shorter than usual, right? I didn’t touch upon my frustration at my lack of agent acceptance or my plans for book 3. I’ll save that for my summative post and 2026 goals. Do I really need to put my 2025 goals here again? Might as well keep things consistent. Have a great holiday 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). I will do one last pass on this book now that I have not read it through in months.
2 – I want to begin querying agents to see if I can publish that book, and its sequels, traditionally. Say it with me – rejections! But I continue to try. That’s all I can do.
3 – I want to finish the first draft of book 2 in that series and go through at least 1 round of edits. I have the first two-thirds printed as I start writing the climax. I plan on editing & proofreading in the times writing is going slow.
4 – I want to have a completed outline for book 3 with an aim at starting the writing process this year as well. As I wind down book 2, this is coming more into focus. I might not have a full outline ready, but I will have a map of the story completed.
5 – I want to have at least two short stories accepted for publication. One down, one to go!