Here, There, Everywhere

A happy MLK Day to everyone!

Up to now, when a new year begins, I’ve opened with a grand new project, be it a single novel draft, an anthology of short works, or at minimum lengthy outlining for either, all within the first month or two. This year, however, I’ve decided to shake things up a bit: Instead of a set project (or several in sequence, in the case of anthologies), it’s all about whatever story or scene appeals, for the next several months (until the end of March, or even April, according to the much looser schedule I have in mind for this year). Most of the work, as mentioned in last month’s post, will likely concentrate on the drafts once intended for my “Divided Worlds” and Civil War anthologies; I may still release one set or the other as a collection, at some point, but the aim right now is simply to write, be it in one category or another, or an entirely different project.

The foremost work at this point is the last scene of “Ballots and Barricades”, my contribution to Sea Lion Press’ Alternate Elections anthology; these should be finished within the next week or two. When I’m not working on that, the top contenders for other work in this period are the final section(s) of my Civil War short work “World Emancipator”; more/better opening material for “Hill Country Commune”, from the same batch; and outline work for a series of Hist. Fiction short stories, revolving around a U.S. Marshal-turned-private Union agent during the Civil War. As for the “Divided Worlds” tie-ins, I’m currently mulling whether to invite other writers into this project, to avoid too much similarity between stories or plot arcs, and possibly see some of the stories put together in better form than I originally envisioned. To celebrate this change, and properly kick off the new year, “Divided Worlds” itself is back on sale as of this week; check out/pass along the link below–and, if you’re a writer and feeling daring enough, message me about joining the tie-in work!

Nor is this the only big writing news for 2024. While NNWM (National Novel Writing Month) has always been a joyously grueling experience, the difficulty of balancing this thrill ride with the ever-growing demands of the Outside World became especially great during the round this past November–enough that even though I passed the 50K word count mark yet again, the excitement was more muted than ever before, and I was left far more exhausted. Becoming a full-time writer (or at best being able to reliably support myself in good part with writing) remains my ultimate goal, yet this will only happen if the pleasure that I’ve gleaned from writing doesn’t fade…or worse, turn to revulsion, as I sometimes felt creeping around the edges amidst the final work and edits this past December and late November. Therefore, I’ve decided that 2024 will be the last year I pursue the usual NaNoWriMo 50K. I’ll still take part in NNWM, through its “Camp” competition during the summer months, starting next year, but after this November (marking the 15th time I’ll have taken on the challenge–and won, never fear!), I’m finished with that traditional endeavor. The draft I have in mind will be another outside-the-genre choice, for me (a noir-esque murder mystery) tentatively titled “School of Whacks”; hopefully I’ll have a much better title by the time outlining starts in late Sept-early Oct 😀 .

Must sign off here; another round of Outside World demands is teeing up, so serious rest is needed. I’ll catch you all again in February; stay warm and stay safe!