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...  

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....

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...

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! 

Editing and writing projects - August 2016

After deciding to shelf Kepler Falling, I went ahead and am doing a final edit on the manuscript.  It's looking like it will be my only full novel length project. 

My current writing project, Johannesburg Passage, is turning into another novella.  I'm only 5,500 words into it.  However, I outlined everything in order for things to make sense.  It's a steampunk/alternative history story set during the Boer War.  I think it will be last writing project for a while.  I have several novellas in need of marketing/critiquing. 

I thought I'd edited another sci-fi novella called Nordic Sun.  I couldn't find the latest copy.  I went back to my previous copy and doing the editing all over.  That's two weeks worth of work.  Ugh.  It needs to go through critiquing at WUTA in the coming months. 

So much for my poetry... 

New writing project....

I'm doing a final edit of Kepler Falling.  Afterwards, I'm shelving the manuscript.  There are several reasons for this.  One is the subject of the novel.  Second is what happens during the conflict and how different groups might perceive thing.

Given today's political climate, I felt best not to get the manuscript published.  Maybe sometime in the future when cooler heads prevail...

However, I'm working on a new writing project.  This involves a steampunk story set during the Boer War.  I'd like to get at least 50,000 words out of it.  It'll be a short manuscript.  That's okay.  I'd outline the story back in January 2016 and then shelved it and the plot outline until this month.  I started working again on things last week.  I have 2000 words so far.  I'd like to write 500 words per week.  4 times a day week for 2000 words per week.  That means I'll have a manuscript completed in about six months...

Getting back to Kepler Falling.  I'd been working on the manuscript for ten odd years.  It was my baby.  It's hard to be objective and know when to let things go.  This is one of those times, unfortunately.

Blake

June 2016 reading....

I spent the month finishing Small Favor by Jim Butcher.  The book is the 10th installment of the Dresden Files.  It was somewhat formulaic and predictable.  Harry Dresden is a battle wizard in Chicago, IL in an urban fantasy.  He gets pulled into a conflict with fallen angels and military arm of the Catholic Church.  There's also the Italian mafia and the fae.  Dresden moves from one battle to another.  The books is non-stop action.  Enjoyable, but predictable...

I'm also reading Proxima by Stephen Baxter and The Last Stand of Fox Company. 

Proxima is about Yuri Eden's settlement on Proxima Centauri c. an Earth-like planet orbiting a red dwarf.  There's intelligent life on the planet.  I'm getting to the part of first contact between the remaining humans and native life-forms. 

The other nonfiction books is The Last Stand of Fox Company.  It's about a US Marine Corps company during the Korean War at the Chosin Reservoir.  I'm at the point where a Chinese Peoples Liberation Army infantry battalion is attacking Fox Company on a cold winter's morning...

That's what I'm reading right now.  I'll move onto another hard copy of The Lost Fleet:  Beyond the Frontier series by Jack Campbell.  I'm making more progress with the hard copies than I'm with my ebooks, right now.