Isolation, Day 11: Delays Are Inevitable

Well, my editor politely messaged me to ask if she could have more time to work with the new novel. No worries on my part, since she is suddenly having to deal with two kids and a husband sharing her working space. A little extra time to publish won’t hurt me, and it will help her.

Means all you good folk will probably have to wait an extra week or so for the book to be available on Amazon, but I hope that’s okay! And it gives me more time to work on my current novels so that one of them is ready to go by the summer (I’m thinking it’ll be the next Tintian novel, since that one is currently flowing better). 10k words on the first draft done in the last 3 days, which is a pace I really hope I can keep up or improve in the short term! 30 days for a novel sounds quick, but since this is a lovely, extended period of time where I don’t have other pressing concerns, I really need to make the most of it!

In other news, happy with that progress, and getting some feedback on a silly little story I wrote for the podcast I contribute to. Still planning on doing 2 or 3 more quick little stories for them, but the priority right now are the novels. If i want to get 4 done this year (and I do!), I really need to keep the foot on the pedal.

Anyhoo! Nothing else really major going on in my life at the moment. I think tonight we’re going to watch some Shaun the Sheep episodes, which will be nice! And I think I may make perogies for dinner. It’s a hard-knocked life, I tells ya.

Isolation, Day 10: Online Learning

Well, all my courses have moved to online-only, which, under the circumstances, is perfectly reasonable.
And super annoying. I don’t learn well through online means. I don’t know why, but I really struggle with just being presented the information visually. Plus, I really love engaging with professors and TAs (and occasionally fellow classmates), and losing all that… sucks.

Flip side? I’ve written so much in the last 10 days… not enough, but way, way more than I expected to at the beginning of March. So we’re going to call that a win!

Still, these are definitely “interesting times” in the Chinese-curse sense (“May you live in Interesting Times”). A lot of people scared, concerned, financially threatened… I still feel guilty for how much work I’m getting done.

Now, if I could just sell the books I’ve written (or am writing!), things would be great! But I’m blessed, and so I’m not going to complain about a little hardship.

Tomorrow I may venture out early-ish to pick up a few more weeks of groceries. Did really well with the last run, should be able to get another few weeks worth of food without too many issues. Still have lots of staples, but running low on veg (aside from frozen spinach, which I have a metric tonne of) and fruit (a few bananas, but otherwise pretty low). Maybe pick up potatoes and bread… no, axe that, I’m going to get back into baking bread, so I don’t need to pick that up. Anyway, it’s a weird and wonderful time to be alive, despite the stress. Hope everyone is staying safe!

Isolation, Day 7: Who Needs a Plan Anyway?

So I think I’ve mentioned in the past that I’m not, by default, much of a “planner” when it comes to writing. My general style is very much “pantsing” as opposed to “planning”… I usually just have a vague idea of where I want a story to start, and where I want it to end, and then I let my characters direct me in how the story will evolve as we go along.

Downside to this style of writing is that it usually takes five times as long to edit a “pantsing” novel than a “planning” novel. A lot of the stuff that occurs later has to be artificially injected into the story earlier, and then everything cleaned up to maintain a coherent, consistent story at that point.

But the upside is the sense of wonder and flow tends to be stronger. A lot of the time the surprises to the audience occur because they were also surprises to me! And that’s pretty cool.

That stated, I have spent the last three days on the outline of the next novel I’m going to write (“Tintian and the Chimera’s Secret”). Which is a very long time for me to work on an outline. But since this is a mystery (sorta) adventure (sorta) sci-fi (definitely) novel, that underlying effort should pay off in making sure that everything makes sense and hangs together cleanly when I’m done. And besides, I certainly have the time to make sure the outline is correct!

But today, I start actually writing. The outline is nice and all, but at the end of the day, it’s the writing part that really matters, and today I get to start that. Looking forward to it!

In other news, isolation is still amazing and I’m loving it. Hope everyone out there is staying healthy and safe!

Isolation, Day 6: Whee!

Well, I’ll be honest, the plan for today initially was to take it easy and step away from the computer for the day. However, I didn’t do as much as I wanted yesterday, so I’m going to try and get more work done today to compensate. I think I’m going to set myself a goal of 3k words for today… not as rigorous as my usual weekday writings have been during the isolation, but about 3k words more than I expected to write for today.

We’ll call that a win.

It’s been interesting to read people’s suggestions about how to deal with isolation. The two best I’ve seen was a navy submarine crewman, and Chris Hadfield (Canadian astronaut). Both of them are rooted in schedules, basically making sure you set time for yourself to do very specific things (eat well on some days, eat less on others, exercise every day, schedule in free time and privacy but also schedule work periods and rotations, etc…). Useful advice! I haven’t been “suffering” under the Isolation I’m in, but by the same token I don’t know how long this will last and treating it as if it will last forever is probably unwise. Making sure I have some normalcy in my schedule should make the eventual conversion back to “the real world” easier.

How crazy is that: everyone else is worrying about when they can go back to their “real” life, and I’m sitting here dreading having to stop writing. Selfish of me, I know. But this is where we are.

Hope everyone out there is doing okay, keeping healthy and watching out for each other!

Isolation, Day 4: How Different Is Different-Enough?

One of the things I keep coming back to with my homage of Herge’s work is just how different is different enough?

I mean, my protagonist is a young female ex-Spec-Ops living hundreds of years into our future in a post-scarcity society, so that’s pretty different from Tintin (although money never seemed to be an issue for him). Millesabord, Tintian’s stalwart companion hews closer to Haddock, despite the gender-swap… swearing, drinking, violent, but capable with a wicked sense of humour.

The general broad-brushstroke storylines have been similar, if not the same, with science substituting in for a lot of the pseudo-mysticism that Herge often relied on.

The reason I ask is that the newest novel seems to be following the Tintin equivalent closer than usual. I think to some extent that’s because “The Secret of the Unicorn” was a pretty complex story, whereas I had to inject complexity into the older stories.

Anyway, just idle thoughts for now. I’m happy with how the novel is shaping up thus far, and hopeful that I can have the first draft done by next week (ambitious, I know, but why not?).

Other than that, might watch the “Shaun the Sheep” movie tonight. Just ‘cause.

Isolation, Day 3: New Novel Work!

Well, at least I won’t have to worry about coming up with new titles for my blog posts for a while!

Everything is still great, as much as I am lightly ashamed to admit. I have been presented with an opportunity to do the work I love (and, if I may say so, that I do very well) by the universe, and by Jove I’m going to do that.

I switched tracks from doing Novel 5 for a little bit to pivot into the next Tintian novel (I’m about due for one), that I am currently calling “Tintian and the Chimera’s Secret”! This one will be based loosely on “The Secret of the Unicorn”, and possibly fold in “Red Rackham’s Treasure” as well, although we’ll have to wait to see about that. I’ve written out the start of the story’s notes, beginning to lay down the foundations for how the story will parallel the original, and how it will be different.

One big difference is going to be the concept of “treasure”. Modern “treasure” is money, plain and simple… sure, there are the usual “Maybe the treasure was the friends we made along the way” tropes, as old as time itself, but really, modern treasure is monetary power. The Tintian universe is post-scarcity, post-money… it uses credit for luxuries and calories over one’s allocation, but everyone is on more-or-less the same playing field when it comes to what they can buy. One of Tintian’s eventual enemies is going to be a business-and-media mogul who uses influence and military power as currency, somebody who believes very firmly that hierarchy is necessary for society and is pushing to reinstate it despite the harm it will cause. But what does “Rackham’s Treasure” really mean? Will it be military power? An old ship, maybe loaded down with banned weaponry? Biological technology that allows people to never age? Instant knowledge programs?

I’ll have to think about it. But it will be fun!

Anyway! Things are great here, and I hope everyone out there is staying safe, checking in with your friends and family, and doing well!

Isolation, Day 1

Well, I made the call and let my boss at the game store know that I wouldn’t be coming in until the situation is under control. I hope he understands (I suspect he does, he tends to be pretty understanding).

And as it stands: super excited. My monetary situation isn’t great (as an artist, that shouldn’t surprise anyone), but stable enough, my family seems to be more-or-less paying attention to the government (wise), and I got so much stuff done today. It was lovely.

The night is still relatively young, but the rest of it will be spent between homework (reading “An Enemy of the People”, a play for “Literature and Crime”) and finishing up a few touches on a short story I’d like to submit.

Won’t be doing these updates daily, I suspect, even with the additional time I have suddenly, but for now, spirits are high and I’m busy as heck.

Dinner will probably be pasta with cheese sauce. Because why not!?

Anti-Social Isolation...?

Wow, incredible how much things can change in a week.
Now, let’s get the good news out of the way first: I’m still healthy, I still think we (as Canadians) are going to emerge from this recent pandemic more-or-less okay (although no question a lot of people are going to suffer, and a lot of people are going to die before their time because of either thoughtlessness or idiocy), and nothing particularly massive has happened to anyone I know.
That stated, the fear in my local community has definitely ratcheted up. There has been some hoarding going on, and I’m hoping people put a lid on that soon, and a large number of people beginning to self-isolate for the good of the community. Which is excellent news, really, but a little weird.
All of this to say: I’m actually pretty happy with how this has impacted me personally, because I love having time to do stuff like write! The mandatory shutdown of retail hasn’t hit Ontario (yet?), but if/when it does, or if/when somebody I know gets sick and then I choose to isolate myself for two weeks…

Oh man, am I ever ready for that moment. I have stacks of books to read, work to write, models to paint. It’s going to be amazing!
I mean, one of my yearly vacations is basically isolating myself for a week to write anyway! This is just going to be more of that! I am going to get SO MUCH STUFF DONE!

Anyway. Not all sunshine: my trip to Adepticon was cancelled (more specifically, Adepticon was cancelled, and that sucks), and my partner is super stressed about her job and how this is going to impact a lot of her friends. I get that. I’m not, in any way, trying to imply that this global pandemic is a good thing. Just… ya know… I’m going to get a lot of writing done, and hopefully get several books published. Silver linings.

All that stated, I hope everyone out there is washing their hands way more often, and watching out for each other, being careful and cautious and all that. Let’s make sure to be good members of our communities and rise to this challenge, folks.

Off To the Editor

So Novel 4 (which I am still unhappy with the title of, which is why I keep calling it “Novel 4”) is heading off to my editor tonight. With any luck, I’ll have it back in a week or two, which will give me time to implement final changes into the story, get some cover art, and put it out for everyone to enjoy!

Means today is being spent cleaning up a naming issue (I switch between using first and last name for the main character throughout the work, and the most consistent feedback I’ve received is to not do that, so I’m going to pick one and stick with it). A little thing, but a significant thing.

And finishing up some school work, of course, but I’m done most of it already. I like being ahead of the curve… I have to finish reading “Neuromancer” again, but it’s not a difficult read (and it has been interesting going back to a novel I loved as a younger reader to see what parts hold up and what parts aren’t as strong as I remember… Molly, in particular, is somewhat problematic when viewed through a modern lens).

Anyway! Lots of stuff to do, never enough time to do it, but that’s okay! It’s really nice to be busy with writing work, rather than other work. And if I’m really, really lucky, I might even be able to get a few thousand more words done on Novel 5… which should be ready to go by late June! Four novels in 2020… four GOOD novels in 2020, of course!

Back to work! Hope everyone is having a lovely March thus far!

Into March!

Well, a new month has dawned, and with it new opportunities and new perils.

Mostly, I’m excited to be publishing Book 4 in a few weeks! It needs one more pass (mostly to clean up some naming conventions and a few edit-delete-issues), and then off to my editor for her to give it a critical appraisal, and then cover art and boom! Available to everyone.

I’m happy with this one… I think it’s got some interesting hooks, some nice twists… it’s a bit of a departure for me stylistically, but it’s still light sci-fi with powerful characters and laser battles. This was a very seat-of-my-pants writing style story, one that I wasn’t sure how it was going to end until I got there, and as a result I had to go back and clean up a few lingering issues in the edits. Very Agatha Christie of me, if I do say so myself (although, obviously, not as well done!). But writing a mystery was interesting, and I hope I get the chance to revisit these characters and this universe again in the future… who knows, maybe Marshal Morcos will become my most popular character some day? I think she’s pretty cool…

Anyway! That’s for the future. For now I should get back to finishing up these edits so you can all read her story soon!
Thanks again! Hope everyone is having a great March!

Quick Update on the Run!

Just a lightning fast update to say that:
1. Sorry for missing posting earlier in this week… I really want to post at least once a week, and ideally twice. New habits are hard!
2. Writing is going well! I am getting the final polish on the short story I’m going to send out to market early next month, and the novel I plan to self-publish for the end of March is approaching completion.

Added side-note: I’ve been reading a lot in my work towards my English degree… and man, there are a LOT of super-depressing works out there right now. I hope my work inspires, more than it depresses.

Anyway! Gotta run, longer update later! Okay bye!

Back at It

Well, it’s good to be home. I got about 30k words written in the 5 days I had away, and that was lovely (including completing a short story I hope to submit before too long to a specific market… I’m a little unhappy with the ending right now, but I think I can work out the kinks).

But now it’s back to work, school, and writing, and vying for every moment of my free time. And that’s okay. While writing full time is definitely the dream and the goal, it’s okay to have to work while working towards the dream.

I mean, I hope so. It would be far better to not have to, but we do what we can with what we have, right? Right.

The new novel is coming along really nicely, and I’m happy about that! I think it’ll need a fair amount of cutting eventually, but that’s also okay. For now it’s just getting that first draft out there and done, and then focusing on the specifics later. I have a kernel of a really cool story, and I think I can eventually polish it up to be a beautiful gemstone, for now the goal is just getting enough material that I have something to chip away at eventually.

Anyway, you get the idea. Progress is nice.
Also have a paper due early March that I want to finish this week (nothing super exciting, but I think I need to get a couple drafts done so I can make it better before it’s done), and I submitted some paperwork to help the Writers Group I run become a bit bigger and hopefully more engaging to its members. One of the members of the group just got accepted to do their PhD work at Carlton U, and that’s amazing, but we are going to miss Ari and their contribution.

Retreat!

Ah, this is my favourite time of year. A week where I get to sit in a little cottage in the middle of nowhere while everything is cold, frozen, and completely abandoned around me, and just write. One of my few writing retreats.

It’s been fantastic. I finished the first draft of a short story I plan to submit to a market on Thursday or Friday (after I get some feedback and editing help), and am working on the novel now. I’m hoping to be close to 70,000 words before heading home on Tuesday, which leaves me with about 15,000/day.

Probably a lot to do, but I think I can manage it. Or at least close. But the glory of waking up, having a humble breakfast and coffee, and then writing straight until I am ready to make dinner, followed by more writing until I to bed… it’s incredible.

If there’s a downside, it’s that time like this (which happens only twice a year) reminds me how much happier I would be if I could manage to write full-time.

But that’s okay! Super happy for the next several days at least, and I’m going to lean into that.
Hope everyone is having a good start to February!

Record an Audio Story, I said. It'll Be Easy, I said...

I have nobody to blame but myself, really. I finally finished recording all the audio tracks for the next short story I sold, but of course actually getting it DONE has proven extremely difficult. I thought it would take me an hour, maybe 2 to put everything together… it’s going on 8 hours and I’m not even halfway done.

Woo.

And normally I wouldn’t mind, but I have deadlines! A short story due on Tuesday, as well as a presentation in one of my English classes and an assignment in the other… and every minute I’m spending on this audio story is a minute I’m not spending on one of the dozen OTHER things I need to be doing.

Oh well. It’ll get done. I’ve gotten it down to a pretty good flow, and that’s the important part.

Going to try and write (and get feedback on) a short story for a freshly opened market. I was really hoping to get it done by the 1st (yesterday), but I suppose if I have it done for tomorrow that’s almost as good.

But in the meantime, I really need to get this audio editing done! Back at it!

So Much to Write, So Little Time!

So I’m working on the next novel (technically, the NEXT-next novel, since the next novel is just awaiting editing). And in the meantime, I see a short story market is opening up Feb 1st that pays professional rates and is accepting stories like the kind I write (a little less military sci-fi, but still big-sky soft sci-fi, and I love writing that stuff). So I spend several hours reading their backlog of stories that have been accepted (some really good stuff!), and realize that I can totally write something these good people will accept.

AND THEN I realize I haven’t written any Infinity-related short stories in almost 6 months (not that long, granted), and I should write up a bunch of those for the “White Noise” podcast. And then I start recording audio for the last story I sold them (Black Cacophony Episode 2), which reminds me how much fun it is to do that… and, of course, I have tests and assignments due for my English degree (light workload thus far, but I have to have about 2 novels read by this time next week, and I’d really like to keep ahead of that work curve).

Which is all wonderful. It really is. If it weren’t for the staggering lack of money in all this, I’d be extremely happy. But that’s okay! This is a process, and I’m working towards it being a more profitable process. And part of that, of course, is due to fantastic, wonderful Patreon supporters (hopefully like you!) that are helping me pay for editing and publishing costs! If you’re already a supporter, thank you! If you’re not… there’s a little button in the top right corner of the screen if you can afford it, but if you can’t I always appreciate reviews on my books. Helps more people see ‘em, helps more people know about ‘em, helps more people trust that I can do this writing gig.

Speaking of which, I have a day today where I have to get a tonne done, so I should get back to it! I’m thinking AI-meets-human love story for that new market… although I’ve done one of those already (quite successfully, I think!), there is definitely a deep well there.

The Joys of Appropriate Terminology

One of the reasons I am most excited to be studying English is that it’s giving me the vocabulary to talk about stories the way I’ve always wanted to talk about them. For example, for the last week I’ve been trying to wrap my head around the difference between “Narrative” and “Story”, a distinction that’s purely academic but at the same time very significant.

Basically, the “story” is what happens, and the “narrative” is how you tell what happens.

See? Simple. But little things like this make me very happy. The ability to talk critically and intelligently about my work with people equipped with the right vocabulary to help me improve my work is amazing! Or will be, when we get to that point… as it is I’m just getting the foundational stuff laid out.

In three days, the summer term courses become available to enroll for. I’m hoping to do another 2-4 classes over the summer, depending on how Laurier breaks up the terms. At least 2 more courses, though. And with a couple first-year courses completed, hopefully I can do some of the more advanced stuff for the summer. Oooh, exciting!

I’ve also decided that for the rest of the semester, when I’m not doing homework between classes, I’m going to write short stories. It’s a format I still struggle with, and that usually means doing more practice. My current novel has a bit of poetry in it, and that’s been like pulling teeth, but at least I’m trying.

Anyway! Hurray for having the right words for the things I’m trying to do!

First Chapters

I’ve think I’ve talked about this before on ye olde blog, but I always find the first chapter(s) of a book to be the hardest to write. For starters, it is by far the most important part. If you can’t hook a reader by the end of chapter 1, then you’ve probably lost all but the most dedicated readers.

But more importantly, trying to find that balance between giving readers enough information to feel comfortable in your new world and just dumping info on them… that’s tricky. And an art I usually screw up until the third or fourth edit. Which is fine! But it still means that I spend way more time on the first three chapters than I do on any comparable section of my books.

AND, to add insult to injury, I often go back and cut the first three chapters entirely. A lot of the time they’re just there to give me a mental bookmark for where the story is, and isn’t really needed in the final work. Ah, such is the life of a writer!

Anyway, I’ve started classes again, and ready my first book for one of my courses (“Indian Horse” by Richard Wagamese). It’s neat to be reading for something again, rather than just pleasure. It’s a hauntingly beautiful book, although definitely not my kind of work (too depressing). But he does an incredible job, no question. It took me about 3 hours to get through (although I’ll obviously have to go back to it in the coming weeks to make sure enough of it penetrated). And at the very least, the way he wrote about hockey is almost poetry.

Off to a Good Start!

Well, I’m happy with how 2020 is moving along so far. Good progress on my next two novels, a lot of foundational work for school and writing done, and even some artistic progress on various projects.

All in all, 2020 is shaping up to be a solid year! If I can maintain something close to this pace for the whole year, it will be a major accomplishment!

So I’m committed to publishing 3 novels this year, and I’m going to strive for 4. A lot of this hinges on setting aside enough money for school ($1,500/semester, which is every 3 months) and editing costs ($1,500 per novel, which is every 3 months), so I’ve got to save up about $1,000 a month for the entire year.

That’s slightly less than half my salary (after taxes) at the store I work at. Sooooo… a LOT of saving.

Now, I’m already a bit up. I have some savings put away that if I fall short by a bit, I should be okay. And, of course, hopefully the book sales will pick up a little and that will contribute to things like cover art and incidental expenses (advertising, at some point). So it’s not quite as dire as it appears, but it is going to be a tonne of work for the near future. And I started off by spending $500 on a new laptop to make sure I don’t risk my “work” laptop at school (my work laptop is an older Macbook Air, but I really like it and it has served me faithfully and successfully for many years, so I don’t want to risk losing all the stuff I have on it unless I have no other choice).

In addition, I still have a bunch of short stories to write and submit to places, and some audio versions of stories to record. Loads of work, is what I’m saying.

But that’s okay! As I said, things are off to a solid start! Here’s hoping I can keep it up!

Starting 2020... The Calm Before the Storm

Well, we successfully circumnavigated the sun. Arbitrary, sure, but a benchmark nonetheless.

Last year I sold two short stories and published one novel… and 2020 is going to see me doing at least four times that amount! Heck of a lot of work, sure, but I’ve already finished the second draft to the first novel, and should have the second novel’s first draft done by the end of the month. Second of first, first of second. Clear as mud and all that.

Means a lot of work, but that’s okay. I really am trying to view all of this through the lens of building a path. All of this work is getting me closer to my eventual goal.

Of course, it’s also all going to cost me multiple thousands of dollars, but that’s okay. Hopefully my side job will continue to pay enough to allow me to build a foundation for my future writing.

Anyway! Happy New Year, everyone!

A Few Days of Rest and Wars in the Stars

Not a lot to say this post. I finished the final sprint of total insanity, and the store will start slowly calming down over the next few weeks. During that time I will have more time off (read: any), as well as returning to school, so all told things should return to a more manageable pace.

Went and saw the most recent Star Wars movie last night (The Rise of Skywalker), and it was a joy to behold. No spoilers, but I was completely satisfied by it. It wasn’t perfect, of course, but nothing ever is, and for a movie about space wizards and laser swords, it did a remarkable job tying up all the loose ends from the series.

Not that anyone really cares, but as an academic exercise for myself, rating all the Star Wars Films would probably be:
6 (Return of the Jedi)
7 (Force Awakens)
Rogue One
9 (Rise of Skywalker)
8 (The Last Jedi)
4 (New Hope)
Solo
5 (Empire Strikes Back)
1 (Phantom Menance)
2 (Attack of the Clones)
3 (Revenge of the Sith)

Now, that stated, with the exception of the first 3 movies (Phantom, Attack, and Revenge), I will happily sit down and watch absolutely any of the Star Wars films with joy.

Anyways, one more day of rest before I return to work tomorrow, and I have to work again on Sunday this week (last one for 10 months or so), but at least I will be getting enough sleep and not stressing out as much for the next several days.

Happy holidays, everybody! And soon, a new year and a new decade… full of hope and promise!