In Which I “Do Words Good”

So, I kinda, sorta announced this already, but figured it ought to have its own post.

I got my first professional sale!!!

“The Lament of Kivu Lacus” will be in Laksa Media’s Life Beyond Us: an Anthology of Original SF and Science Essays, forthcoming in Fall 2022. My story was one of two stories selected from the open call for submissions — the other 28 stories are all by authors invited to submit (including heavy hitters like Mary Robinette Kowal, Premee Mohamed, Bogi Takács, Tobias S. Buckell, and more). What’s even better is that this anthology is partnered with the European Astrobiology Institute, and each story will be paired with an essay addressing the science presented in the work of fiction!

There are a lot of reasons to celebrate this sale, the obvious being that it’s my FIRST PROFESSIONAL SALE! I know that, ultimately, that doesn’t really change anything for me or my writing. I’m still going to get rejected. A lot. I will not suddenly be contacted by agents and editors begging for my manuscripts. I will not become an overnight award winner or a contributor to a Year’s Best Anthology. Okay… that last one isn’t AS unlikely as the other two, but the other two are literally not going to happen so…

The point is, this professional sale sure is validating. I do words good and someone else thinks I do words good too!

Another reason to celebrate is the fact of the sheer numbers I was up against. Only two stories were selected out of 250 submissions. That’s… not insignificant. The selection process is a difficult one — I’ve been there as a slush reader for The Audient Void. You know what stories won’t make it, but it isn’t always so clear which ones will. And, submitting to magazines is so subjective. There’s a lot that can factor into an Editor’s decision. Is this the third story about space whales they’ve read today? Are they a monster who hates cetaceans, even earthly ones? Did they skip breakfast and they’re grumpy? Who knows, man? Certainly not us!

But another reason to celebrate is this: the submission guidelines specifically said that stories about [REDACTED] would be a hard sell because they already had a story about that. I almost didn’t submit because of that one line in the guidelines. But, I thought about it, considered the weird, wonderful, heart-wrenching story I had written, and thought, “don’t self-reject.” I also honestly believed that whatever story they already had would be wildly different from my strange little tear-jerker. It was worth submitting.

And guess what, Dear Reader? It was. It was so, so worth it.

BZ

Braindump Follow Up + November!

Sooooooo…. I left the blog in a pretty bleak spot for awhile there, didn’t I? Sorry, I guess. I should mention that after writing that post and feeling really shitty for a few more days, I made an appointment with my doctor to see a Behavioral Specialist. It was nice just to talk to someone and have my feelings validated. We came up with a care plan and I check back in next week to see how I’m doing.

So, how am I doing?

Okay? Mostly better. I’ve been really socially active lately, which has helped. And I started taking my vitamins again which I’m sure has also helped. But, I’m still agitated and my energy levels are still all over the damn place. Some days I just can’t stop and I’m productive and hyper and just through the roof. Other days getting out of bed to lounge on the couch feels like an achievement. I’m not really following the care plan we made, but I keep telling myself that’s okay because I’m doing (insert random creative thing) instead.

So, better. But still not good. I’m still angry underneath all this energy. Still completely disappointed with my community and my work, and generally unhappy in those regards. But, my social and creative lives are at least on the mend.

What I really wanted to talk about today is actually writing related! WHAAAAT?! It’s a November Miracle!

Basically, my brain kicked into writing mode in the last-ish week of October. I wrote over 4k words in that week alone, which is more than I wrote in any other month this year. And now it’s November and we all know what that means. Say it with me, “NANOWRIMO!”

National Novel Writing Month is here and I am off to an… okayish start. I’ve written almost 4k words on a new novel and have plenty of opportunities this month to get back on track. It’s No School November which means I have lots of bonus days off to write. I’ve joined Willamette Writers’ Author Cohort, which is a month long program that supports wrimos with a few workshops and weekly write-ins. I missed my first write-in because it was Trevor’s birthday, but that was 1000% worth it.

(I made French Onion Soup and a from-scratch Coconut Cake, complete with Coconut Buttercream frosting. I had never made a cake before and for some ridiculous reason felt starting with a three-tier cake on a weeknight was a sane idea. I felt like I was a contestant on The Great British Bake Off, and I even waved a cutting board over my “sponges” at one point. But, it all turned out delicious, even if the kitchen hasn’t quite recovered yet.)

Back to the book. It’s a brand new project that I am very excited about. It’s epistolary which I am learning is QUITE the challenge. I’m going to need that Author Cohort support group to get to “The End”.

Today I had a virtual meeting with WilWrite and then have a Walk ‘n’ Talk with a writer friend this afternoon. I’m hoping to get some solid writing time in the few hours in-between.  I also FaceTimed with my mom and am about to eat lunch. All in all, a chill Fall Saturday.

Oh. There’s also news. I GOT MY FIRST PROFESSIONAL SALE! 

 

My story The Lament of Kivu Lacus will appear in a Science Fiction anthology in Fall 2022! It’s an honor to share space with some of the amazing authors included in this collection and I am SO excited to see how this book comes together! As I learn more about the book and the release details, be sure that I will be screaming about it. I’ll keep you all updated – pinky promise.

Anyway. That’s what’s up. I’m hungry and it’s almost 1pm. Time for lunch!

Later, Bloggarts!

BZ

My Process™

Here’s a detailed bullet-point list of my process, for those interested. Because, c’mon, you know you are. Just a little. Please remember that this is not prescriptive. My whole previous post was about how very unique each writer’s process is. I’m sharing mine because people seem to love hearing about writing processes, and because it’s kinda fun to talk about every now and again.

Ahem. On to the list.

1. Get a weird idea for a story. Usually a line of dialogue or an image in my brain.
   1. For instance, the upcoming Pioneer Oregon Weird Western was born from my brain showing me a woman in a leather rain slicker on a horse in the middle of the Santiam Canyon getting drenched and looking rather unhappy about it.
2. Ignore it for awhile.
   1. Stories need time to percolate. The longer I can ignore the siren call the better prepared I’ll be when I actually sit down to write the thing. It’s cooking and it needs to be left to its own devices for a bit.
3. When the time to draft is getting close, start doing any necessary research.
   1. Usually about a month or two before I sit down to write a book, I’ll dive into pretty serious research.
   2. Short stories don’t typically require much research, so I can skip this step for most of them.
4. Make a playlist.
   1. This may seem silly, but this is a very important step for me. Every story, big or small, gets a playlist. I spend a few days searching for songs from all kinds of genres. Songs are usually not only lyrically related, but tonally as well. They sound like the story. I don’t know how better to describe it, but there’s a vibe, okay?
   2. This step helps me cement the tone/atmosphere of the story. But it also becomes a sort of psychological conditioning. I listen to the playlist whenever I work on the story. It becomes the soundtrack and hearing it helps me settle down to the work that much quicker. This is an absolutely vital step in the process for me. It’s my version of prewriting.
5. Write.
   1. This is the Wild West of the process. Every story is different. Some write themselves in a handful of sessions while others are arduous and painfully slow.
   2. Stories take the time they take. Some short stories take a week to write, dumping out over the course of a few days. Others take months with only a few writing sessions here and there. Novels tend to be a much steadier process for me, with dedicated (some would say obsessive) work over a span of six-ish consecutive months.
6. Ignore it again.
   1.  When I reach “The End” I save it and close the document. I get away from it for as long as I can. For short stories a month is usually long enough. For novels… well, they live in my head longer so they require a lot longer to gtfo.
   2. I haven’t perfected the timeframe between the rough draft and edits for a novel. I’ve only done it a few times and each one was different. This current one had a lot of mental health issues to contend with. I was laid off the summer I finished it. Then I started a new, very stressful job. Then there was that whole global pandemic, and then a LOT of political and social unrest.
      1. My novels might not take place in the real world (very often) but I am a person living in the world and I am not immune to its effects. All of this plays into the process too.
7. Revision, Round I
   1. Ugh. This round is all about reading the book. I print out the entire manuscript and read it in one sitting if I can. I take notes if anything good or bad stands out to me. I dread this moment of reading the book for the first time, but so far I’ve always been pleasantly surprised.
   2. So, I’ve got notes. I make goals based on those notes, and then I go back through the book and meet all those goals. This is typically big picture stuff. Scenes that don’t work, holes in the plot, restructuring scenes, etc.
   3. Try not to line edit, but inevitably do. Put all on-paper changes into the computer.
8. Revision, Round II
   1. Read it again. Print it out and take notes again. Note if any of the previous revision’s changes don’t work as planned.
   2. Make goals based on this read-through’s notes. These goals are still fairly big picture, but they’re getting smaller. More specific.
   3. Try not to line edit, but inevitably do. Put all on-paper changes into the computer.
9. Revision, Round III
   1. Read it again. Print it out and take notes again. Note if any of the previous revision’s changes don’t work as planned.
   2. Now, at this point, it should be pretty solid. If there aren’t any major notes, this is the point when I’ll give it to some trusted readers for feedback. Probably some sensitivity readers too.
   3. Try not to fiddle while I wait for feedback. Fail. Make changes in the computer too.
10. Revision, Round IV
    1. Gather feedback and decide what I agree with and what I don’t. This can be tricky because stories are subjective. I live by this quote from Neil Gaiman: “When someone tells you something is wrong with your story, they’re almost always right. When someone tells you how to fix it, they’re almost always wrong.”
    2. Make changes.
11. Revision, Round V
    1. Yep, still reading. Print it out. But this time, it’s less about notes. By now I’ve made all the big things work. I’ve done all the tough stuff and tweaked scenes and pacing and filled plot holes and added emotion where it’s needed. Now, it’s the fun stuff!
    2. LINE EDITS BABEYY. Now, knowing me, I’ve been doing some line editing all the way through because I can’t help myself. But this is where I get to wield my red pen like it’s a scalpel and just shave the book into something… glorious. Powerful.
    3. I love this step of the process. Can you tell?
12. Submit
    1. So, I come off the line edit step of the process and jump feet first into the Submission step. I send it out and let that editing high carry me into the abyss of publishing.
    2. Start the whole process over on the next project. It makes the next step a bit easier to bear.
13. Wait.
    1. Publishing is SLOW. Very, very slow. So, we wait. Often for months. The doubt trickles back pretty damn quick and I start to think I am an idiot for doing this and why would anyone ever want to read what I wrote?
    2. Ignore the doubt monster and keep working on the next thing.
14. Rejection.
    1. Look. This is part of the process. The more you submit, the more you’re rejected, the less it matters. Rejections don’t hurt anymore. They are simply part of the process.
15. Submit again.
    1. Keep throwing that story spaghetti at editors’ walls until something sticks!
16. Acceptance?
    1. This is never guaranteed. As a writer, I have absolutely ZERO control over which stories get published and which don’t. But, with persistence, I have a decent hit rate.
    2. If I do get an acceptance, I celebrate. I reward myself with dinner or a drink. No matter how small the magazine, a publication is worth celebrating.
    3. Tell EVERYONE. Scream about it into the void of the internet. That’s the whole point of publishing, right? For people to read what you wrote? To share it with the world? Why wouldn’t you promote your work? PROMOTE YOUR WORK!
17. Start again.
    1. I am always in the process. It looks a little different for each story, but I’m still always in it. Even when I think I’m not. And you know what? I find that oddly comforting.

BZ

It’s Monday.

I haven’t started my week with a blog post in a very very long time. I don’t have a ton to say today. There weren’t any writing activities over the weekend since we were at the coast partying it up with a good friend for her Bachelorette Party.

I have received some feedback on Abbie from my Elite Reading Group™. Nothing concrete that I can make edits from, but some general “It’s really good!” and “I liked it a lot” and even an “It’s so different from your other stories!”. And while that’s all fine and good, I need to give them all a little nudge to give me something a touch more substantial.

Now is about the time where I worry about where the heck I’m gonna submit this story. It’s quiet. So so quiet. The fantasy element is very thin, just a sprinkling of spice. I know at the start of the pandemic there was talk of a magazine being put together that would focus on these sort of stories… but I don’t know if that every truly came to be. I have a feeling this is going to be a very long submission process.

*sigh*

In other news, the newest episode of the podcast is OUT NOW! Give it a listen, and prepare yourself for another episode this Friday! We’ve been busy little library worker bees and have lots of good books to share with you!

Other than podcast editing, I’m going to start back on Tavi this week and see if I can get this very big ball rolling. I’ve got ~3 months to get it DONE. And I mean, done done. Like… start sending it to agents done.

I think I need to do some deep breathing exercises…

Anyway, that’s where I’m at. That’s what’s on the plate for this week, revisions of all kinds. I’ll pop in every now and again, either to tell you about all the progress I’m making, or to avoid all the progress I’m NOT making. You know how it goes.

Until then,

BZ

Goals Summary?

It’s Tuesday. It’s a weird week because Trev is off for our anniversary, so any routine I might have established is out the window. There’s a lot of non-writing things to do, both fun and necessary. I’m feeling restless while he’s still asleep, so I figured I ought to come blog about it. Y’know, like a writer or something.

I started my morning with iced coffee and Willamette Writers. Every Tuesday and Saturday they have zoom meetings (called, Coffee at your Kitchen Table) where members can pop in and discuss writerly things for an hour or so. Over the winter I co-led the Saturday meetings, but with spring and the outdoors calling, I bowed out of that responsibility. But, I still like to attend whenever I can, especially the smaller, calmer Tuesday morning session.

So, I did that today. We were practicing our novel pitches ahead of the conference this weekend. I don’t have a novel to pitch right now, so I just listened and took notes about what should be included in a good pitch. I’ll need that info sooner than later, hopefully.

Normally I would volunteer for the conference, but a friend of mine is having a bachelorette weekend getaway, so I’ll be out of town. And while the conference is virtual again this year, I don’t want to split my time between my friend’s celebration and the conference duty, so I had to ix-nay the conference. Sad day. I hope everyone has a great time and wish all the success to folks pitching their work to agents/editors this weekend. It’s such a scary thing to do, so kudos to you all!

After that, I picked up dog shit so the yard guy doesn’t have to work around it. I know, riveting stuff this Tuesday.

But, after this post I’m going to sit down to revise Abbie, aka In the Librarian’s Garden. Then, once Trevor’s up, we’ll spend the day cleaning house and the garage in preparation of our trip and the installation of a new HVAC system next week. So, it’ll be a busy busy day today.

Tomorrow we’re going to snorkel the river and hunt for agates, which is always a blast. Thursday is a free day until the evening, when we’re officially celebrating our anniversary (which was yesterday), and then we’re off to the coast for the weekend.

Somewhere in there I also need to edit and upload a new episode of the podcast.

Like I said, busy busy.

My biggest goal is to get this story polished and sent to my circle of readers for their thoughts. I want it to be mostly done before we leave for the weekend. Then I get to tweak and shine it up next week for submission. Once it’s sent out I can pivot my focus to Tavi and the monstrous job of revising it. I’ll have two-ish months to make it as good as I can. It’s going to take some pretty aggressive goal-setting to get that done.

Maybe next week I’ll actually post a real Goals Summary… Who knows? Certainly not me.

Until then, Bloggos.

BZ

State of the Author

Good morning, Blogland.

I’ve been thinking a lot about my writing since I last posted. Like, a lot a lot. So I figured I should jot it all down and give you all an update as well.

Current Projects:

• Bell Biv Derailed
• In the Librarian’s Garden
• Sanura Trine
• Twins and the Haunted House
• The Shadowboxer
• Tavi
• Top Shelf Librarians Podcast

(Please note that these are all working titles and no I am not taking criticism at this time)

Bell Biv Derailed: I finished the rough draft of this story on Wednesday. I first got the idea in 2018 when we visited Munich and rode the metro every day. I finally sat down to write it in March of this year. That was one writing session. Then one while I was in Seattle, and then Wednesday. A total of three writing sessions and almost 2k words. The story is not remotely anything like the original idea, but I really like how it turned out, even though it’s super weird. The bones are quite good, I just need to dip into the horror a bit more and work on tension control. It’s a horror/comedy which is always tough to write AND intended to be Flash Fiction (<1,500 words), so we’ll see how it turns out. For now, I’m letting it marinate while I work on some other revisions.

In the Librarian’s Garden: I’ll be revising the second draft today. I spent most of yesterday afternoon revising the rough draft and feeling pleasantly surprised. This is a story I started at the beginning of the pandemic, when we were first really locked down. I put it on pause to focus on Tavi, and when that went south, I came back to it in September. BUT, that’s when my school district caught on fire and one of the major plot points of this story is that a school burns down soooooo that felt bad and I put the story in a mental drawer. Then November came around and I decided that, instead of writing a novel for Nanowrimo, I’d write short stories. I had enough of them lying around unfinished and I figured I ought to do something about that. So I finished the rough draft of this piece (and others). When I read it in January I hated it (and the others too) but looking back at January I kinda hated everything so I’m glad I didn’t pitch it in the bin. It’s actually a lovely, quiet little cottage-core piece of fantasy fiction that gives me warm fuzzy feelings when I read it. Dunno where the hell I can possibly submit it, but that’s a concern for when revisions are done. Today’s goals are tightening things up (it’s a bit meander-y) and upping the emotions in order to earn the ending.

Sanura Trine: This is another story I wrote during Nanowrimo. And honestly…? I don’t really remember much about it. I mean, I remember what happens in it, but I don’t really remember the writing. I remember being frustrated by it and feeling like I was treading water when I wrote it. I felt lost and disconnected from the piece and really struggled with it. I don’t know if it’s good. I do know it’s entirely too long (like 7k words or something ridiculous like that). So, I’ll take a look at it see what needs to happen. I remember liking the intro which was very sarcastic and anti-corporation but that tone vanished once the characters started interacting, sooo… We’ll see where it ends up. This story is not a super high priority for me at the moment and will probably sit for awhile longer.

Twins and the Haunted House: Another of the Nanowrimo projects. This thing is a beast. Another horror story (obvs), this one plays with overlapping First Person POVs and unreliable narrators. An unreliable narrator is something I’ve ALWAYS wanted to write, but it’s so damn hard! Especially because I’m more of a discovery type writer. I have to write the rough draft to figure out what the hell is going on, which makes writing a big fat liar on the first go-around pretty much impossible. I only have about 2k-ish left to go (I’m very close to the end) but it’s still HUGE at over 8k words as is. I don’t have plans to return to this right now. It’s a horror piece set in the dead of winter — middle of summer is not a good time mentally for me to sit down to this one. Consider it on pause until Christmas break probably. Since it’s seeming like it might reach novelette or novella territory instead of short story, I’m not exactly eager to get back to it, haha. More words = more revision.

The Shadowboxer: This is another weirdo story. I’m beginning to wonder if I have any other kind? It’s a story that asks what evil is, how does it manifest? It’s a story about women, victimhood, and taking their power back. It’s also non-linear, features a POV from a floating cloud of sentient evil mist a la Lost, and a HUGE gap in time. Again. As a discovery writer, this is VERY HARD. There are three POVs one distant past, one near past, and one present and they all will intertwine to tell the story. In theory. That’s the goal. I put it aside last summer because I was struggling so much. I think this is a story that requires me to level up a bit. I also think that with this many POVs, it probably isn’t a short story and I’m kidding myself by approaching it as such. But, I’ll worry about that when the draft is done. Which won’t be for awhile. I would put this farthest down the priority list. It’s the hardest, I have the least words written for it, and I want to read more non-linear narratives before digging back into it. Consider it paused.

Tavi: Man. This book. I love it and it really is quite good, even in its second draft. But revising it is just SUCH a big job. I honestly think that’s what all the above is really about. I’m procrastinating the big scary project. Which, as far as procrastination techniques go, writing more fiction is the BEST ONE EVER! But, this book is the best thing I’ve written. I truly believe that. This is a book that I could query with, that could push my writing life into the next stage. And I think that has me running scared. So… we all know what I gotta do. I need to sit down, reacquaint myself, and get back in the trenches. My original goal was to have Tavi query ready by October 1st. I think that timeline is a little tight now. But, I think if I get started on it by August 1st, I can have it JUST about ready by November 1st. Take November off to draft a new project for Nanowrimo, then finish any remaining edits by January 1st. I’m spitballing here — I don’t really know how long it will take me. It turns out, I’m really bad at revising novels. My last novel revision attempt turned into scrapping the whole thing and rewriting it as a novella series. But that won’t happen with Tavi. She’s too complete, too strong of a character. This book feels very real, and not too far off from something I might pick off a shelf. I just need to make it the best I can and stop being such a chickenshit about it. This is my top priority after I finish revising In the Librarian’s Garden.

Top Shelf Librarians Podcast: Yep, we’re still making the show. We are actually recording tonight so expect the June episode sometime next week. Sorry it’s late, but I’ll get into why in the episode so stay tuned!

Stories Currently on Submission

• Lifelike
• A Lullaby for Mattie Barker
• The Lament of Kivu Lacus

Lifelike: My oldest story. I got the idea for it when I was still at community college taking creative writing classes. So… pre-2012. But I finished it in like 2017 or 2018. It’s a flash fiction piece about a haunted painter. It gets to the final round of consideration frequently, but no takers so far. I’m beginning to lose confidence in the story, mainly because I’ve been subbing it for so long and it doesn’t really reflect the quality of my work any more. I have leveled up well past it. I guess I could rework it, bring it “up to date”, but I don’t have any inclination or motivation to do so. I’ll keep sending it out and it’ll either eventually stick or eventually find its way to the Yuck Trunk folder. *Shrug*

A Lullaby for Mattie Barker: A much more recent piece that I finished in summer of 2019. It went through some extensive revisions in December and I submitted it to a local writing contest. It was a finalist, but did not place. So now it’s out, looking for a home. It’s another hard one to place. It’s a ghost story, but not horror. It’s historical fiction set after WWII, but also features an LGBTQIA+ main character. It’s quiet, not a lot of action. But it’s poignant and lovely and good. I just don’t know who wants lovely, quiet, heartbreaking ghost stories about queer characters.

The Lament of Kivu Lacus: This is the best short story I’ve written so far. It is a 2nd Person narration about marital issues, isolation, terminal illness and grief. I love this story so so much. It makes it to the final round of consideration consistently, so I just need to find it the right home. Again, another hard piece to place. The Science Fiction element is subtle, more setting than science, and 2nd Person is not a popular POV choice. But it’s my favorite bit of writing I’ve done. I love it very very much.

Recent Publications

• That Which Illuminates Heaven
• Unforgettable
• The Cost of Rain

That Which Illuminates Heaven: A story about a sentient space ship that plays matchmaker for her Pilot and Chief Engineer.

Unforgettable: A feminist retelling of Samson and Delilah in fewer than 300 words.

The Cost of Rain: An old woman and her horse traipse across a desert to make a deal with the devil.

Upcoming Projects

• Hunting Dr. Squatch

Hunting Dr. Squatch: Look. The title is dumb and makes me laugh and probably doesn’t even have anything to do with the story. It’s my Nanowrimo project, an all new novel, and it’s a Pioneer Oregon Weird Western. All I know is that there are monsters, a badass frontier lady, and a gay guy. I just got a mountain of books from the public library to start research this summer, so if my goodreads starts to look a little funky, that’s why. It’s still pretty nebulous up there, but I have my main characters starting to make some noise and clamoring for my attention, so I think I’ll be ready to start by November. Which means I REALLY need to get to work on Tavi.

So, yeah. That’s where I’m at. That’s what I’ll be working on and thinking about pretty much through the end of the year. I’ve also scoped out a potential writing conference to go to in October, specifically about women writing women in the west? Seems pertinent given my Nanowrimo project. We’ll see.

Also, I thoroughly enjoyed hunting down gifs and images for each project. Now then, I’ve wasted enough time. I need to do some revision and then hopefully get the office cleaned up before we record tonight.

See ya around, Bloggarts!

BZ

Goals Summary 2021 – Wk #10

Uhhhhhh… Whoops?

Look, we’ve been down this particular road a lot lately. Life’s crazy. We’re mid-pandemic, school is slowly making a return, and my writing life is in constant need of resuscitation. I’m happier than I’ve been in a while, which is good. I’m thinking about writing more than I have in a long time, which is also good. I’m reading a TON, which is really good.

I’m not gonna make any promises, because we all know how that’s gonna go. But, I’m here tonight. I can say hello and let you know I’m still around, at least some of the time.

I didn’t revise Abbie. I didn’t prep Tavi. I wrote a little bit in January, and wrote even less in February. I still have four short stories out on submission. It’s March 8th and I’ve finished reading/listening to three books! I’m catching up on house chores and dreaming of hiking. It feels like sticking my head out from the cave I’ve spent all winter in and wondering if it’s safe to come out yet.

The jury’s still undecided.

The podcast continues. We launched our second episode on Friday so if you haven’t had a listen, now’s your chance.

And yeah. That’s that. I’m working, reading, considering writing, and dreaming of hiking. Basically my whole life is a parade of gerund’s — passive as fuck.

Anyway. Good chat. I’ll see ya when I see ya.

 

BZ

The Recap – November 2020

Hahahahahahahahahaha. What even are goals in this shit-heap of a year? I definitely didn’t set any (official) goals going into November. But, I still managed to get quite a bit done. Let’s talk about it. I basically have to thank Willamette Writers for all of my success in November. I signed up for their Month of Mastery program, which was a virtual community support for Nanowrimo. Basically, throughout the month of November they offered three workshops and weekly “cohort” meetings. There were several cohorts with various themes that met at different times each week, and you could go to any of them. This meant that I was thinking/talking about writing at least three days a week, and actively writing two days a week, beyond any discipline I managed to dredge up myself. Now, I didn’t have a novel to write this Nano, and I didn’t want to do a Nano Edmo (editing/revision month), so I decided to set a custom goal for the month. I had five short stories in various states of doneness. I wanted to get at least three of them done and/or write 20,000 words. Thanks to Willamette Writers, I achieved both of those goals! I finished three stories and very nearly finished a fourth. Plus a little bit of fanfiction sprinkled in.

Total Word Count: 20,795

Thankfully, Willamette Writers is considering doing more of these Months of Mastery, so I look forward to participating even more. I made writing friends and acquaintances, and even have a new weekly writing group, where we join a zoom call for two hours just to write together on camera. It’s awesome! All because I was willing to spend a little bit of money to get my writing butt in gear again. And it seems to have worked.

So, thanks Willamette Writers!

What else can I catch you up on? I have a story being held at a pretty big name magazine and I’m slowly dying from the anxiety of waiting to hear back about it. Like, the fact that it’s made it to the Editor-in-Chief’s desk (“awaiting final assessment” was what the email said) blew my mind. This is a magazine that has published Rebecca Roanhorse and Sam J. Miller (among many many others). A magazine that has won awards, and so have the stories its published. I. Am. Freaking. Out. But in a very very calm way. It’s all internal. Outside I am the coolest of cucumbers. So, in order to stop thinking about this, let’s talk about December!

December Goals

• Revise Nano Stories
• Submit to The Timberline Review
• Work on Santa Sarita
• Keep Reading!

Yep. You read that right. I’m working on my giant Mass Effect: Andromeda fic series again. I’ve already written two new chapters, so I’m hoping to just keep busting those out until I can finally put Sara and Reyes to bed. That way I can get back to Dragon Age, haha. I have about 500 words to cut from a short story to get it in shape to submit by the end of the month. I’m making good progress and expect to have it done by the end of the week. I’m basically giving myself a week with each of my Nano stories to revise them and see if there’s anything worth submitting. Kinda fun. I also only have another scene or two in another short story and it’ll be done drafting. I’ll be able to revise it in January. So lots of writerly things happening! And I have less than two weeks left of work until winter break!!!!! Hell yeah! Things are looking up, Blogland! Until next time. BZ

Goals Summary 2020 – Wk Who the Heck Knows?

Can I just say something? I really hate the new WordPress editor. I don’t want to have to select the “Classic” block every damn time I want to write. It’s WORDpress motherfuckers. Let me do the thing with the words!

Anyway I’m here to talk about some goals I set for myself, quite unofficially last week. 

Wk #???

• Write
• Read The Silent Patient
• Enjoy my birthday!

How’d I do?

• Write
  • Yeah, a little. And a little is better than none.
• Read The Silent Patient
  • Yep! Got it done in like two days once I actually sat down with it.
• Enjoy my birthday!
  • You know it! It was a wonderful weekend full of loved ones and relaxation.

Weekly Word Count: 324

Well, will you look at that. I did things. Writerly, readerly things. That’s… novel. 

(insert eye-roll gif here)

Yeah. I’m sorry about that one. I couldn’t help myself. Anyway, I’m being productive again for the first time in a long time. Or, at least consistently productive. I’ll have another post up soon talking about November and December goals, but first — what’s going on this week?

This Week

• Edit A Lullaby for Mattie Barker
• Write
• Read something

So, yeah. Keeping things simple. I want to submit Mattie Barker to The Timberline Review by the end of the month, but I need to shave off about 500 words, so I have my work cut out for me. I cut over 200 so far tonight, so it’s going well. 

I’m working on Santa Sarita again, which was wildly unexpected. I’ve written two chapters in the last week and hope to hammer it out and finally put a big ol’ DONE stamp on this fic series. You know, so I can get back to writing Dragon Age fanfic. 

Reading-wise I’m a little adrift at the moment. I just finished a craft book, and now have a couple of weeks before I need to pick up The Ten Thousand Doors of January for my work book club. I should finish reading Harrow the Ninth, but for some reason I’m hesitating. Probably because I want to read anything and every Dragon Age at the moment, because I am OBSESSED and need serious help. Also, I’m waiting to get Sam J. Miller’s new book delivered so I might pick that up instead. Who knows. Point is, I’mma read SOMETHING this week. 

So, yeah. That’s where I’m at. Nothing too crazy, nothing too ambitious. Just around, typing things and crossing out things until it all gels into something vaguely story shaped. And reading things. 

Until next time Bloggarts,

 

BZ

 

The Recap – May/June 2020

All right. I’m not gonna waste time pretending I know what the hell happened in June. There were a couple of frantic work weeks and even more emotions. I numbed out with some serious video game bingeing and reading. So, instead of breaking down the goals from May, lemme just sum up where various projects are at.

• Tavi is on pause. I have a lot to think about with this book. My mindset in regards to the entire project has done a 180 and I don’t really know what to do about that. So, until I’m feeling a little less shreddy toward it, I’m going to work on other things.
• The Shadowboxer is back on the front burner. It’s an extremely ambitious story and it’s demanding a lot from me. I’ve maintained for a while now that every story requires something different from me, some more than others. This one wants me to basically re-invent the wheel when it comes to my “process” and I’m struggling with that. I’m going slow, climbing this story mountain one rock at a time and doing A LOT of outlining. The joys of non-linear narratives!
• The Bahn Hexe has reappeared in my imagination, so maybe that will come next. I dunno and it’s silly to even think of “next” when I’m still hip deep in the rough draft of something else.
• I also have a new novel idea (I may have mentioned that) and I think that will be my Nanowrimo project this year. It’s percolating.
• Three short stories are currently out on submission. Fingers-crossed, as usual.
• The Cost of Rain is OUT NOW at Corvid Queen! It’s a Speculative Western(ish) that has some serious Folklore vibes. I hope you like it!
• I’m reading #aStoryaDay in July and tweeting about them as a little challenge to myself. If you have any recommendations, please share them in the comments or @me on twitter.

The fact that I’m here, talking about projects and thinking about goals for July is a win in my book. This is the most work I’ve done since school “ended”, which I shouldn’t feel so bad about, considering it was only like two weeks of vacation. I seriously need to learn to chill.

But, since I obviously don’t know how to chill (yet), let’s talk about July!

July Goals

• Write every day
• Read a short story a day
• Keep reading (novels)!

So, yeah. That’s where I’m at. The Shadowboxer is my main focus this month. I’d love to get the rough draft finished before August, but I don’t feel very hopeful about that. I’m grappling with it a little too much at the moment to feel confident about a completion date. It’ll get done when it’s done and not a moment sooner.

I’m reading The Stolen Throne right now, but think I’m going to put it down in favor of the mountain of new books I got from curbside pickup at the library. There’s some really good titles in that stack that I’m much more interested in reading. Besides, The Stolen Throne is a reread and it did not age well.

I’ll be back on Monday to talk a little more formally about goals and progress. Until then, Bloggos.

 

BZ