A Step Back

Wow, it's been a seriously long time since I've done a purely personal blog entry. I guess that's a good sign - it means I have tons of other material to cover!

If you prefer not to read my ramblings and updates, feel free to stop reading and come back next week (when I will continue the MGOC on Fantasy Series). But if you don't mind my craziness, don't hesitate to read on!

I figured it was time to take a step back and examine what I've accomplished so far this year and what's ahead of me for the rest of 2011. It's always good to assess, as it can help refresh what still needs to be done.

The big accomplishment: completed another revision/edit of The Mind Behind the Mind. I think it cleaned up quite nicely! Not to mention it is currently sitting in the slush pile of a publisher who requested to see the full manuscript. This still excites me, and it reinforces that my first 50 pages aren't drivel - ha! So, what's ahead for this manuscript? I wait for a response back from the publisher. If they want to sign me, I celebrate (and panic about writing the sequels). If I get a rejection back, I already decided where I want to send it next. Good to have a plan. ;)

In other news, I have been running the monthly Writing Quest for over a year now! Yup, it started back in June of 2010. You can always find the event for each month on my Facebook author page. Come join us for Writing Quest - June! I feel this monthly challenge has been quite successful.

As for other writing, I mostly still have a lot to do. I'm still sending short stories out to slush piles, I still have the Dead As Dreams rough draft to finish, and I have many short stories that need to be revised. I hope to be able to work on those in the next couple months, but other things will come first.

What other things? Well, my crazy choice to go back to get the F to shove between the M and the A. I start full-time in less than two weeks! Residency starts on June 21, and after residency is over, I'll need to concentrate on a new thesis project. Daina's Dance has been on the back burner for ages, and I really want to work on it with my mentor because it's a lot of juggling (it's a working title - feel free to suggest any different titles in the comments). Here's hoping I can also finish Dead As Dreams while working on Daina. That will be quite a challenge for me! I also have another Readings in the Genre class starting in August. My main goal for the rest of the year is to survive. =D Then I need to survive the first half of next year. =/ Can't think about that right now.

So, I feel like I've been productive on many fronts at least, and I know I still have a lot of work ahead of me. Time to get out the battering ram to keep it all in place. What have you all completed this year so far? And what do you have left for the rest of 2011? Don't be afraid to take a step back, suck in a deep breath, and examine everything you've done and that you still plan to do.

Happy writing, all! Oh, and don't be afraid to add more to the chain story we started a few weeks ago: Luca's Story. I was going to end it, but unless everyone wants it to be a dark, gruesome wrap-up, someone else better add to it! It's back to reading for me now. =)



UP NEXT: A new entry in the MGOC series on fantasy from David J. Corwell!