It is the end of October. The greens of summer have given way to the golds and reds of autumn, the acorns are piling up higher than the mound of Halloween candy my son came home with, and my least-favorite day of the year – the first Tuesday of November – is a short time away. But that also means that Thanksgiving is approaching, one of my favorite days because it means good food and a great day with family.
November is also a month when many writers challenge themselves to complete a novel – or at least 50k words within the 30 days of the month. But given the controversies that surround the group that has organized this event in the past, I have chosen to skip the writing challenge that NaNo sponsors. I have instead chosen January as my month of intense writing. I did not make this decision randomly – there are a lot of factors involved, but I swear the extra day did not figure in my choice – and although it will mean I will not achieve all my goals for this year, I think it is for the best.
But October was a busy month as well, highlighted by the annual celebration of all things nerdy and fun – New York Comic Con. I had an absolute blast this year. I got to meet a lot of super cool people, add a few awesome autographs to my collection, and spend some time with one of my favorite publishers – Mark, Alex and Steve from Wayward Raven Media. It is always great to see them, and I will always be grateful for them giving me my first break into being a published writer. It was my pleasure to sign a few books for them (like anyone cares if I signed their book).
I also got to meet Katherine Blakeney, author of Napoleon’s Starship. And it was an absolute pleasure to finally meet her. She is a delightful person and a wonderful creator. If you did not get a copy of her premiere graphic novel during the Kickstarter, I highly recommend that you follow this link and grab a copy.
But that was only one weekend. I had a lot of writing time this month and I tried to make it productive. I wrote a short story based on the simple prompt of ‘good and evil.’ Titled The Sinner, I refer to this 2k word piece as my Halloween story. I am thrilled with how it came out, especially considering I wrote it with minimal preparation, and all the people I shared it with had good things to say about it. I must also say that my writing group had some nice minor criticisms that tightened up a few small details and I am grateful for that! We are a small group, but we are all passionate about our writing and it shows with the variety of fantastic writing I get to hear every month.
When I was not working on that short piece, I spent a lot of time chipping away at the YA books that remain my primary works in progress. With my plans for a massive sprint through book 2 delayed until January, most of the work for that has been dialogue. I am around two-thirds of the way through on that pass. I found a spot to trim down in the oft-problematic major piece of act II, which is very helpful because I can already see this book running way too long. I have also spent a lot of time doing my out loud pass of book one and found several places where it needs work.
I have to say this to all writers: before you submit a piece anywhere, before you present it or let anyone else see or hear it, read it aloud to yourself. Pay close attention, read every word that is on the page, and hear the voices of your characters. Mistakes happen. Clunky phrasing and occasional mistakes will slip through. Reading out loud is a fantastic way to find issues.
My journey through October – and the last few years – has been fueled by a great many things, but it is my words, my writing, that have led me on this adventure. I have met a lot of amazing creators and artists, I have grown as an author (not just a writer anymore) and as a person, and I have accomplished things that I had only dreamt in the past. I have no idea where this adventure leads. I know where I want to go, but that it for me alone. No matter the stops along the way, the adventure has been wonderful.
For now, my adventure has taken an unexpected detour away from my planned path (which is why, though I am a Plotter by nature, I do not try to plan where these things will lead), I am being forced to rethink my 2024 goals. I will not get to complete them all, but I am at peace with that. I will get as far as I can with what I had planned to accomplish, and that will be reflected in my last post of the year and my goals for 2025.
Thanks for reading along with me on my journey. I still have a long way to go!
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). Substantial progress has been made. I may not get this 100% of the way done, but I will be damn close.
2 – I want to begin querying agents to see if I can publish that book, and its sequels, traditionally. My query letters are as good as I can get them. I may shell out a little money to see if I can get some professional assistance with this. (I may write a short blog post about this goal in November.)
3 – I want to finish the first draft of book 2 in that series and begin outlining book 3 with an aim at starting the writing process this year as well. Sadly, I know this one will not be completed. I have postponed my private NaNo to January. But I do have some ideas for book 3 that are simmering.
4 – I want to have at least 2 short stories accepted for publication (not ones I submitted in 2023). Success! Blade of Glass and Repercussions have both been accepted, which means this goal is COMPLETE! Wow.
5 – I want to extend my visibility as far as social interactions and publicity goes. The Facebook needle is pointing in a positive direction. This goal was vague, since I don’t know how to measure it except by “followers” and that number has grown since the beginning of the year. So I will say this goal will be met by the end of the year.