It has been another month and much has happened since last time I posted.
Chuckanut Writer’s Conference
The biggest thing being the Chuckanut Writer’s Conference. This was the first writer’s conference I’d ever attended. I made a handful of new writer friends and met a few published authors. I attended quite a few wonderful talks, a couple of which were way over my head, others were amazing and ultra inspiring.
The highlights of the conference were the sessions involving author Jonathan Evison. I’ve not yet read anything by him, but after hearing his infections energy-infused sessions I feel like I could tackle and succeed at any number of novels. I ended up purchasing his book, West of Here and made sure to get it signed. He mentioned that this particular book has a divided audience. People either love it or hate it. I think I’ll like it since it is a century spanning story taking place out in the Olympic Peninsula. I’m always reading up on the Peninsula for my own story research, it’s one of my favorite obsessions.
Open Mic
I also achieved a major milestone at the Chuckanut Writer’s Conference. It was the first time I’ve ever read my own work, out loud, in front of an audience. I did this at the fiction open mic held after the end of the conference. The audience was small, and I don’t think any of them were really into my dark fantasy story setting, but I still consider it a success. Melissa and my son came to support me, and Melissa said I sounded good. I even felt like I did alright reading it. It felt nice to finally get over the hurdle of reading my work for an audience, and I sort of look forward to doing it again in the future.
Current Projects / Abandoned Projects
So, I’m just about done working on my short story for submission to the Village Books Writer’s Corner Anthology. I finished off the next revision yesterday and sent it off to the editors. I feel pretty good about it, and, if it doesn’t get in, I will definitely submit it to other publications.
My post apocalyptic future short story is also coming along. I sent my first draft to the rest of my friends who are also publishing in this joint self-published anthology. I’ve received critiques on it from my fiction work-shopping group and plan to start going through that feedback next month.
There is bad news though. For a couple years now I’ve been slogging away at a horror novel. I’m about 35,000 words in, which does not feel like very much at all. I think that my interests have changed since I started writing that story. Also I think I may have taken on too many main character arcs, especially for a first novel. And so, I am currently planning on setting that project aside indefinitely. I’m keeping all of the notes, just in case I get the itch to give it another go in the future.
Camp Nano
Now that I have officially announced the abandonment of my first real attempt at a novel, I need to start a new project. After attending the conference I am itching to give a new novel a go. But I do not yet have a real idea of what it will be about. Right now the plan is to set it in the same universe as my post apocalyptic short story, as I have quite a bit of world building to work from. By the time you all read this I will be diving in, as I plan to write the first 30,000 words of this new project in the month of July for Camp Nanowrimo. This is like a mini Nanowrimo, but you don’t have to commit to a full 50,000 words and can set your own goal instead. A few of my local writer friends are doing joining in on the fun, and have also set themselves goals of 30K. So, after this month, hopefully I’ll have an update for you on the beginnings of a new novel.
Other News
In other news, I turn 35 this month. I think that officially counts as ‘middle-age’. I’m not really sure what that really means to me yet. Does it mean that I should be wanting boats and fancy cars? Because I don’t really have the urge to buy those things. Right now I’d really love to just have all of my student loans magically disappear and for us to own our dream home. But those things take time.
I think there is something more attainable for the shorter term. To be published. I mean, there is a high chance that I’ll have a couple short stories published soon in a couple anthologies. And that will be wonderful, my work will be out there. But, for one I’m pretty sure there is no payment, and for the other, I doubt there will be a ton of sales.
Really, all I want is to get my writing out there, and possibly make a little money from it. Not a ton of money, I know that the chances of striking it rich as a writer are slim to non-existent. Just a little bit would be nice. So, this year, I will focus on producing and submitting my work to different venues. We’ll see where that takes me.
Wish me luck!
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