As I sit down to write this, it occurs to me that the last month has gone by very fast. People are already talking about Thanksgiving and Christmas (too early for the latter in my opinion), wondering if they bought too little or too much candy (I’m starting this the day before Halloween), and discussing the various indicators that (if you believe in random and unreliable tidbits of folksy knowledge) will predict the severity of the upcoming winter. Personally, I am happy that the month is over, but only because Election Day is close at hand, which means the end of the mudslinging, fearmongering, out-of-context sound biting, he-said/she said commercials that clog up the airwaves, attempting to sway voters who have already made up their minds.
It also means that one of my favorite events of the year – New York Comic Con – is now behind me as well. I had a blast at this year’s show, an exhausting and exhilarating weekend of conversation, endless lines, seeing friends, and meeting people whose work I admire. My wife was able to join me for one crazy Saturday of autographs, book-buying, and exploring the massive space of the show floor. We got to hang around with the awesome guys at Wayward Raven Media – I know you have bought the anthologies by now – and scribble our names in a few copies of both volumes of the We Suck at Comics series.
Speaking of which – I am hard at work on my entry for volume 3. I have run into a snag – my story is much too long for their liking – but I am hoping that by taking a more visual approach to the project I can submit it like a graphic novel and not as pure prose. I loved writing my story, titled (for now) Just One More Thing. I got to let loose a bit, do some weird things, and have a lot of fun. Probably too much fun, since the word limit is 2,500 and it clocks in at 8,000 words! I drew inspiration from a lot of things I enjoy – from the Myth books by Robert Asprin (and later Jodi Lyn Nye) to M*A*S*H – and crafted an adventure that, and I say this as humbly as I can, is one of the best things I’ve written in a while. I hope I can convince the folks at Wayward Raven to accept it as a longer artistic piece because I really want it to be seen.
What else have I been up to? It’s been an incredibly full month. I wrote a short piece for my writing group (a collection of awesome people and talented writers) that fulfills my new trend of writing a spooky story for Halloween. It’s more spooky-adjacent, if I am being honest, a stab at an old monster legend, just without the monster. That little piece is called Prisoner, and they all enjoyed the twist at the end, so that made me happy. Oddly, my November story will probably be scarier than the Halloween one. I have another story I want to tell, sort of a Valentine’s Day tale (but not a romance; that’s just not something I write) that I want to do something different structurally with. I’ve already written the first couple of paragraphs (sometimes starting is the hardest part) and have an outline of what will likely be an 8-10K word story.
You do know that brevity is not something I am good at, right?
So back on the YA book project. Book 1 continues to float around on the desks and screens of agents only to be rejected. I continue to shrug it off. When it is right, when the time and people and stars align, it will be the right fit. Meanwhile, I am still hard at work on book 2. I am almost completely at the end of the dialogue, I’ve reached the end of Act 2, and I am gearing up for the climax which will have a big cinematic sequence and a more personal sequence of events to really tie up the action and emotional aspects of the story. There is a lot that happens in the final act, which will be around 4 chapters long. Not as much as, say, Robert Jordan’s A Memory of Light (fantasy fans know what I’m talking about), but still a big chunk of story. I’ve begun the editing process as well. I printed up copies of the opening chapters and I am slowly picking through them, looking to tighten it up.
So while I will be spending as much time as I can trying to finish book 2 before the end of 2025, I also have some artwork to complete, two other stories in the works, and inspiration always sneaking up on me, ready to throw another idea into the mix. It sounds insane, somewhat impossible, and maddeningly chaotic, doesn’t it?
I love it!
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. Oh look, another rejection. It’s okay. I continue to try, and I am forming new plans in case I reach a somewhat depressing conclusion with this idea.
3 – I want to finish the first draft of book 2 in that series and go through at least 1 round of edits. Approaching the home stretch on book 2. I may not have time to do a full round of edits, but I will try.
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 done a ton of research, made a lot of notes, and I am basically ready to start planning the plot beats for this book. I’m holding off only because I want to focus on book 2.
5 – I want to have at least two short stories accepted for publication. Still waiting . . .
(Hey what happened to #6? Wasn’t there something here about visibility and social media? Yup. I tossed it in the trash. I have admitted defeat. I am not a social media person. If the day comes when I have no choice, I will do my best to change. For now, I’ll stay away.)