Howdy, folks!
Been a while – again – but this time it was primarily because my day job is in retail and 2019 was the first holiday season I’ve had to deal with in a Big Store rather than a little one. Boy howdy did it ever beat my stamina to a pulp and leave it for undead. All kinds of things fell by the wayside – art, writing, social media presence, heck even Dawnbreakers had to go on hiatus for about a month. The plus side is that in trying to get my feet back under me I’ve been able to suss out some things that I Really Want To Do, some things that I Really Don’t, and a few test-strategies to get things going and/or situated.
CoSine 2020 was an awesome time, and I learned a lot there that I didn’t know but should have. You’d think someone whose dad has a doctorate in social media would know how it actually works but Nope! So I’m adjusting due to new information and fresh motivation: This year I was actually on panels for the first time ever and it was so much fun! I stepped out from behind my dad’s shadow a little bit, so now I’m not as scared about sticking a flag down on the internet. It wasn’t even something I was really aware of, but now that I am, I can deal with it.
Plans:
With any luck I’ll be doing a “Story So Far” recap for the Dawnbreakers’ Saga at the end of the month, and from there out do shorter “what happened this month” recaps. I plan for mid-month “what am I working on that isn’t Skyrim” updates so that we’re all on the same page, and both of those will be cross-posted to my new Facebook Group! (Which is one of the things I learned at CoSine – I had a Page but they don’t work they way I think they do.) And hey! Since it’s slightly after the middle of the month…
What Am I Doing?
Barbarian, Book One: Hostage – Cowriting this one. I’m in charge of the steppe nomads, and the other writer has been waiting on my half of the story since the middle of November. I’m at 41k for word count on the first draft and my “protagonist” is fighting me. (He’s not exactly a Good Person.) With any luck I’ll have the first draft done before the end of the month.
All’s Well in Asgard – First draft done! My plan was to sit on it and let the words fade while I work on Hostage, and then do a first pass while it was with my cowriter’s editor. Obviously that has taken a lot longer than I expected, so the Gray Horse crew will just have to be patient. (Loki is getting antsy, I can feel it.)
The Raven-Friend’s Saga – Gate Strider got stuck while I finished All’s Well, and Blackbird is in a similar situation. They’re still on the list, and I suspect I’ll pick Gate Strider back up when I’m done with Hostage. It’ll be a long while before we get back to Esper’s story but we will get there eventually. At a stretch, I think I’ll end up alternating Esper’s books with other things, depending on how said other things go. No promises.
Paperbacks – I’ve currently got a proof copy of Redgate: Old World waiting to be covered in red ink. (I kid, mostly.) I’m going to paper those ones before the Tales from Liserna, because they need significant work, and if I remember correctly, the Redgate Chronicles are pretty clean. I can even keep the covers!
So there’s an example of what’s on the way in the future. My next step is to set up an e-mail list (like, a real one this time) and actually finish my half of Hostage so that we can whip that one into shape. I may also see about getting my genre looked at – I met a guy at CoSine who was doing really well promoting his books as YA despite being a little more mature. I know the guy who pushed him in that direction, and that may be worthwhile for at very least the Redgate Chronicles and All’s Well in Asgard, should I ever get that one out. Just thinking out loud here.
Alright, shocker, I made a long-winded post. See ya’ll next time!