I'm about 100 pages into my rewrite of Kepler Falling. That's probably about 1/4 of the manuscript. It's going to take me the rest of 2017 to complete the third revision....
I'm also working on revising Nordic Sun. That will take the rest of the year to complete, too. However, my poetry chapbook, Lies I Was Told, is now complete. Both it and Half A World Away need to eventually published....
Regards,
Blake
Sunday, July 30, 2017
Monday, June 12, 2017
Recent writing...
Sorry for my blogging lapse. I've spent the previous months getting manuscripts ready for publication and taking some writing workshops. Most of the work I've submitted has been rejected. I need to find new short story and novella markets for my speculative fiction.
I took a workshop called The First Five Pages by Jeffrey Ricker. I found out I needed to completely rewrite my novel, Kepler Falling. That project started in May 2017. I should be done with it by the end of the year. I'll need to go though and then line and copy edit my work. That's another 3-6 months worth of work....
Needless to say, I've been rewriting since then. I haven't had time to write anything new. I spent several months reediting novellas and a short story. They are need of critiques from my local writers group. It will take the next six months to get through two novellas. Right now, I'm working on editing a chapbook of poetry.
I've also been reading. I signed up for a reading challenge on Goodreads.com back in January 2017. I'm 2/3 the way through my book pledge. I need to read more each week in order to clear my book pile by the end of 2019. That is the goal. Whether that happens remains to be seen...
Blake
I took a workshop called The First Five Pages by Jeffrey Ricker. I found out I needed to completely rewrite my novel, Kepler Falling. That project started in May 2017. I should be done with it by the end of the year. I'll need to go though and then line and copy edit my work. That's another 3-6 months worth of work....
Needless to say, I've been rewriting since then. I haven't had time to write anything new. I spent several months reediting novellas and a short story. They are need of critiques from my local writers group. It will take the next six months to get through two novellas. Right now, I'm working on editing a chapbook of poetry.
I've also been reading. I signed up for a reading challenge on Goodreads.com back in January 2017. I'm 2/3 the way through my book pledge. I need to read more each week in order to clear my book pile by the end of 2019. That is the goal. Whether that happens remains to be seen...
Blake
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Completed renewed editing on Kepler Falling....
I spent the past week completing renewed editing on my novel, Kepler Falling. The manuscript is now in need of Autocrit.com, a website that will edit and suggest grammatical and structural changes to your manuscript. It's a paid website. I'll see about using it this summer. I'll use it for my other novellas that haven't been critiqued by WUTA.
I'm working on Eternity's Edge. I don't think it'll make it into a novel. Novella, maybe. More like short story. Damned my luck....
Blake
I'm working on Eternity's Edge. I don't think it'll make it into a novel. Novella, maybe. More like short story. Damned my luck....
Blake
Sunday, February 12, 2017
Recent work has been short stories and novellas...
My recent work has been short stories and novellas.
I'm not sure why. I don't know if the time I'm giving myself to write has something to do with it. Or whether my muse has betrayed me into writing shorter fiction works. I've spent a good part of the year editing a current work, Kepler Falling. I finished the rough draft of my steampunk novella, Johannesburg Passage, in December 2016.
I also work a short story called Vanishing Point. It was about a French MD who goes aboard an interstellar expedition to a tropical water world, only to be hijacked in space. Which brings me to my current project, Eternity's Edge. It is a sequel to Kepler Falling. I'm about 2,000 words into it. I have more to write this morning. I hope it will lead into another novel. My luck would be a novella...
Speaking of which, I've written four novellas in the past two years. Those being Johannesburg Passage, Tales from the Red Planet, Ganbaatar, and Nordic Sun. Tales from the Red Planet is the only one to be critiqued and ready for publication. I also have Price of Command and the Desmon Singh stories, too. They too have proved to be without a publisher also.
The only thing gaining traction this year is my poetry. I have one chapbook ready for publication and a second chapbook in the process of being revised. My poetry has always been one of my strong suites getting published. Recently, it hasn't proven to be the case. I keep my rejection letters organized to see where I submit. However, literary journals haven't been kind to me...
I'm not sure why. I don't know if the time I'm giving myself to write has something to do with it. Or whether my muse has betrayed me into writing shorter fiction works. I've spent a good part of the year editing a current work, Kepler Falling. I finished the rough draft of my steampunk novella, Johannesburg Passage, in December 2016.
I also work a short story called Vanishing Point. It was about a French MD who goes aboard an interstellar expedition to a tropical water world, only to be hijacked in space. Which brings me to my current project, Eternity's Edge. It is a sequel to Kepler Falling. I'm about 2,000 words into it. I have more to write this morning. I hope it will lead into another novel. My luck would be a novella...
Speaking of which, I've written four novellas in the past two years. Those being Johannesburg Passage, Tales from the Red Planet, Ganbaatar, and Nordic Sun. Tales from the Red Planet is the only one to be critiqued and ready for publication. I also have Price of Command and the Desmon Singh stories, too. They too have proved to be without a publisher also.
The only thing gaining traction this year is my poetry. I have one chapbook ready for publication and a second chapbook in the process of being revised. My poetry has always been one of my strong suites getting published. Recently, it hasn't proven to be the case. I keep my rejection letters organized to see where I submit. However, literary journals haven't been kind to me...
Wednesday, December 28, 2016
Completed my latest rough draft of a steampunk novella
I completed the latest rough draft of a steampunk novella set in South Africa during the Boer War today. I went through and did line editing. This is the last manuscript I'll write. My writing has been cursed turning into novellas. I wanted a second novel length manuscript. All I got was three novellas. I started to bring the first sci-fi novella, Nordic Sun, to the weekly WUTA critique meetings. Its my longest piece at 32,000 words. I have another historical/fantasy work called Ganbaatar It's set during the Mongol invasion of Russia in 1223 and is 19,900 words. I also the steampunk novella called Johannesburg Passage. It's a wartime tragedy. It's only 12,000 words.
These works need weekly WUTA critiques in order to be revised properly. I'd also like to take them through WUTA Big Books for a more thorough critique after they've been revised a second time with suggestions from WUTA's weekly critique group. I figure it will take all of 2017 in order to get the novellas reviewed.
I also have poetry at our Maya Cafe sessions to be critiqued, too....
These works need weekly WUTA critiques in order to be revised properly. I'd also like to take them through WUTA Big Books for a more thorough critique after they've been revised a second time with suggestions from WUTA's weekly critique group. I figure it will take all of 2017 in order to get the novellas reviewed.
I also have poetry at our Maya Cafe sessions to be critiqued, too....
Sunday, December 4, 2016
Year end resolutions and promises...
I didn't notice how fast December 2016 crept upon me until I looked at my monthly calendar. A lot has happened. I had surgery to remove basal skin cancer on my right arm back in October 2016. That was successful. But my arm is now scarred because of it.
Unfortunately, I spent a month without reading or writing in November 2016. I vowed to get back to both this month. One problem I have is the amount of books I've accumulated. I have 43 hardbacks waiting to be read. I also have another 20 e-books on my NOOK reader to start, too. I been spending my free time taking of my remaining parent. I can only write and read when I have time. I restructured my time this way:
Sunday:
1) Read first fiction book - 50 pages.
2) Work on my own painting.
Monday:
1) Read WUTA Big Books manuscript.
2) Write 250 words.
3) Work on painting commissions.
Tuesday:
1) Work on my own painting.
2) Write 250 words.
3) Attend weekly WUTA meetings for writing critiques in evening.
Wednesday:
1) Write 250 words.
2) Revise and edit WUTA manuscript corrections.
3) Work on my own painting.
Thursday:
1) Write 250 words.
2) Read nonfiction e-book - 75 pages.
3) Play WH40K at a local hobby store.
Friday:
1) Read second fiction hardback book - 100 pages.
Saturday:
1) Read second fiction hardback book - 100 pages.
I want to get back to WUTA Big Books in January 2017. I'd take a sabbatical from the group this past year. I'll eventually will have my final novella done sometime in the winter of 2017. I'll be done with writing active material. Most of my remaining writing time will be spent on editing/revising and writing query letters for my first novel. Though I'd like to finish more of the backlog of books that now sit on my shelves...
Unfortunately, I spent a month without reading or writing in November 2016. I vowed to get back to both this month. One problem I have is the amount of books I've accumulated. I have 43 hardbacks waiting to be read. I also have another 20 e-books on my NOOK reader to start, too. I been spending my free time taking of my remaining parent. I can only write and read when I have time. I restructured my time this way:
Sunday:
1) Read first fiction book - 50 pages.
2) Work on my own painting.
Monday:
1) Read WUTA Big Books manuscript.
2) Write 250 words.
3) Work on painting commissions.
Tuesday:
1) Work on my own painting.
2) Write 250 words.
3) Attend weekly WUTA meetings for writing critiques in evening.
Wednesday:
1) Write 250 words.
2) Revise and edit WUTA manuscript corrections.
3) Work on my own painting.
Thursday:
1) Write 250 words.
2) Read nonfiction e-book - 75 pages.
3) Play WH40K at a local hobby store.
Friday:
1) Read second fiction hardback book - 100 pages.
Saturday:
1) Read second fiction hardback book - 100 pages.
I want to get back to WUTA Big Books in January 2017. I'd take a sabbatical from the group this past year. I'll eventually will have my final novella done sometime in the winter of 2017. I'll be done with writing active material. Most of my remaining writing time will be spent on editing/revising and writing query letters for my first novel. Though I'd like to finish more of the backlog of books that now sit on my shelves...
Monday, September 26, 2016
Attacking the bookpile: part I
I didn't accomplish much today. I read and finished Proxima by Stephen Baxter. That was about 90 pages. I wrote a review of the book and put it on my other blog.
What's so special about Proxima? It was my first fiction Ebook. It took six months to read. I started it in April 2016. I finished it tonight. I've only been reading four chapters a week. I've spent my time assaulting my slush pile of books by reading four books a week.
Today was Proxima.
At this rate, I'll never get my Ebooks read in a reasonable amount of time. I have lots of Ebook. I probably have about 20 to read. I have another 20 hard copies of speculative fiction on my book shelves. Followed by another 20 hard backs concerning military history, The only way I'll ever get through my slush pile is to up the reading I do when I peruse a book.
This is what a "typical" week of reading might look like:
Sunday:
50 pages of fiction hardback A
Monday:
50 pages of fiction Ebook A
Tuesday:
50 pages of fiction hardback A
Wednesday:
No reading.
Thursday:
50 pages of nonfiction Ebook B
Friday:
100 pages of fiction hardback B
Saturday:
100 pages of fiction hardback B
This assumes I'm not wasting my time watching sports. Television is a dangerous game, my friend. And a real time vampire, too. Hopefully, I'll read my Ebooks at a faster rate than one every six months!
What's so special about Proxima? It was my first fiction Ebook. It took six months to read. I started it in April 2016. I finished it tonight. I've only been reading four chapters a week. I've spent my time assaulting my slush pile of books by reading four books a week.
Today was Proxima.
At this rate, I'll never get my Ebooks read in a reasonable amount of time. I have lots of Ebook. I probably have about 20 to read. I have another 20 hard copies of speculative fiction on my book shelves. Followed by another 20 hard backs concerning military history, The only way I'll ever get through my slush pile is to up the reading I do when I peruse a book.
This is what a "typical" week of reading might look like:
Sunday:
50 pages of fiction hardback A
Monday:
50 pages of fiction Ebook A
Tuesday:
50 pages of fiction hardback A
Wednesday:
No reading.
Thursday:
50 pages of nonfiction Ebook B
Friday:
100 pages of fiction hardback B
Saturday:
100 pages of fiction hardback B
This assumes I'm not wasting my time watching sports. Television is a dangerous game, my friend. And a real time vampire, too. Hopefully, I'll read my Ebooks at a faster rate than one every six months!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)