People are starting to post lists of what they've written & published over the past year. I haven't had the urge to do that yet, mainly because I'm thinking of my schedule for 2008. Just a few days ago, I sat down with my trusty Excel spreadsheet, and plotted out what projects I wanted to write next year. I have a lot of half-finished stories, and I spread them out over the months, also giving myself chunks of time in case I needed to slip in a story for an anthology or the like. It was a solid, doable schedule, and I was quite proud of it.
Of course, yesterday I threw it all out the window. But that's not a bad thing. A publisher (not one of the behemoths, but a very high-quality market with pro rates) expressed interest in the Tacoma Steampunk novellas. I confessed that they hadn't been written, but that I could deliver them later in the year, and in the meantime I could finish my in-progress novella "The Girls of the World" and deliver it in March. They said yes (as in yes please send everything when it's ready, not yes we'll publish anything - just want that to be clear).
So: my new schedule for 2008 will be to write a story for an anthology (not quite an invite, but I've been given the go-ahead to submit), and to write four novellas. I worked on my little Excel schedule chart this morning, and got everything spaced out properly, with time for research, writing, and edits/revisions before the delivery dates. On top of that, I'll still be working on The Ruins of Love - it's not abandoned, but will now proceed at a more leisurely pace, maybe a page a day or more until it's finished. Stories will be on the backburner as well, unless I get an anthology invite or decide there's a market/anthology I really, really want to write for.
I'm very excited. It's one thing to love what you write, but when people in the industry want to see what you write, and when there's the possibility that they will pay you (and pay you well) for your work, it makes it that much better. Yes, it's validating. And frankly, I can't imagine what will happen if the novella trilogy is accepted. Just that, it will be a very big deal, and possibly open up some new opportunities for me.
But: I'm getting ahead of myself. For the rest of December, I'm going to work on finishing at least one more story, and go over the outline and what little I've written for the new version of TGOTW. I'll probably post that "what I did in 2007" list closer to the end of December. For now, though: three weeks to go, and I still have a lot to do.
Of course, yesterday I threw it all out the window. But that's not a bad thing. A publisher (not one of the behemoths, but a very high-quality market with pro rates) expressed interest in the Tacoma Steampunk novellas. I confessed that they hadn't been written, but that I could deliver them later in the year, and in the meantime I could finish my in-progress novella "The Girls of the World" and deliver it in March. They said yes (as in yes please send everything when it's ready, not yes we'll publish anything - just want that to be clear).
So: my new schedule for 2008 will be to write a story for an anthology (not quite an invite, but I've been given the go-ahead to submit), and to write four novellas. I worked on my little Excel schedule chart this morning, and got everything spaced out properly, with time for research, writing, and edits/revisions before the delivery dates. On top of that, I'll still be working on The Ruins of Love - it's not abandoned, but will now proceed at a more leisurely pace, maybe a page a day or more until it's finished. Stories will be on the backburner as well, unless I get an anthology invite or decide there's a market/anthology I really, really want to write for.
I'm very excited. It's one thing to love what you write, but when people in the industry want to see what you write, and when there's the possibility that they will pay you (and pay you well) for your work, it makes it that much better. Yes, it's validating. And frankly, I can't imagine what will happen if the novella trilogy is accepted. Just that, it will be a very big deal, and possibly open up some new opportunities for me.
But: I'm getting ahead of myself. For the rest of December, I'm going to work on finishing at least one more story, and go over the outline and what little I've written for the new version of TGOTW. I'll probably post that "what I did in 2007" list closer to the end of December. For now, though: three weeks to go, and I still have a lot to do.
Labels: "the girls of the world", tacoma steampunk
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