I haven't blogged about any of my writing projects for a while, so this post is just to let you know which ones I'm focusing on right now. If you have any questions, I'm happy to answer them in the comments.
YA Novels: Near the beginning of the year, Star Swans took a backseat to The Binder's Web. TBW comes first, chronologically (same world), and I needed a break from SS. I'd reached a point where I wasn't improving SS so much as I was changing it, and it wasn't turning into what I wanted it to be. Right now I'm nearing the end of my 7th draft of TBW, and I'm hoping to squeeze in an 8th before the holidays. I still like the changes I'm incorporating, and I feel more confident about revising SS (once I have TBW ready to query).
For those of you who remember my NaNoWriMo draft from three years ago, I did print it out in August to see if it's worth salvaging. Set in the 1990's (because the rise and fall of the ratite industry threads through one of the subplots), it's more contemporary than historical. This story is probably the funniest thing I've ever written, and yet the shiny is pitted with darkness. It's also NOT speculative fiction, which makes it a bad choice for my debut novel, since most of my story ideas ARE speculative fiction.
And speaking of story ideas, my next first draft will be loosely based on a fairy tale, though I would rather not say which one. Not yet. It's based as much on a nursery rhyme as it is on a fairy tale. Once again, the sequel idea came first, but the ideas I have for that will make the fairy tale very much my own. I'm not allowing myself to start writing yet, but I have been thinking an awful lot about what the world and characters are like. :o)
Picture Books: I am querying agents with one of these right now, and I'm hoping to polish two of the others once I have TBW off to my critique partners next month. My biggest problem with picture books is that my mind wants to spin them out into novels. I complicate them, and then I have to simplify them.
Poetry: I also have one poem out on submission and another that I just need to write a cover letter for and put in the mail. We've had a lot of sickness at our house this past month, and I haven't made it to the post office at all this week.
So what have YOU been working on lately? Have a great weekend!
YA Novels: Near the beginning of the year, Star Swans took a backseat to The Binder's Web. TBW comes first, chronologically (same world), and I needed a break from SS. I'd reached a point where I wasn't improving SS so much as I was changing it, and it wasn't turning into what I wanted it to be. Right now I'm nearing the end of my 7th draft of TBW, and I'm hoping to squeeze in an 8th before the holidays. I still like the changes I'm incorporating, and I feel more confident about revising SS (once I have TBW ready to query).
For those of you who remember my NaNoWriMo draft from three years ago, I did print it out in August to see if it's worth salvaging. Set in the 1990's (because the rise and fall of the ratite industry threads through one of the subplots), it's more contemporary than historical. This story is probably the funniest thing I've ever written, and yet the shiny is pitted with darkness. It's also NOT speculative fiction, which makes it a bad choice for my debut novel, since most of my story ideas ARE speculative fiction.
And speaking of story ideas, my next first draft will be loosely based on a fairy tale, though I would rather not say which one. Not yet. It's based as much on a nursery rhyme as it is on a fairy tale. Once again, the sequel idea came first, but the ideas I have for that will make the fairy tale very much my own. I'm not allowing myself to start writing yet, but I have been thinking an awful lot about what the world and characters are like. :o)
Picture Books: I am querying agents with one of these right now, and I'm hoping to polish two of the others once I have TBW off to my critique partners next month. My biggest problem with picture books is that my mind wants to spin them out into novels. I complicate them, and then I have to simplify them.
Poetry: I also have one poem out on submission and another that I just need to write a cover letter for and put in the mail. We've had a lot of sickness at our house this past month, and I haven't made it to the post office at all this week.
So what have YOU been working on lately? Have a great weekend!
