What Now?

I've got a lot of projects eating up my time...

It’s December 3, and NaNoWriMo is behind me. The level of writing I do during November is accelerated… other things get sacrificed so that I can put more energy into writing.

But just because NaNoWriMo is over doesn’t mean I stop writing. I don’t even want to slow down, really, although that will necessarily happen. There are too many household chores—some everyday things, some seasonal—that need to get done. Dreamspinner patiently waited for me to finish NaNoWriMo and now I’m ready to continue my proofreading. The other thing on the horizon (besides the holidays, which are always busy) is that my old employer called and asked if I would come back and teach a class this Spring semester. I said yes.

In the past two days, I did write, revise, and submit a 1,600 word short story for Felt Tips, an office-supply-themed anthology of erotic stories edited by Tiffany Reisz. It’s called In the Closet, and prominently features an artificial intelligence.

I had made a note to myself back in November to submit Give Me Your Answer Do to an anthology, but the deadline for that was December 1. Also, although I love my little Steampunk Mermaids story, I need to read more Steampunk before I can do it justice. What I might do, since Synaesthesia’s last post is this coming Monday, is finish up Give Me Your Answer Do over the holidays, and then put it up one chapter at a time starting sometime in January.

I have my faith-based stories I want to finish/write… Mascots is going to be called The Sojourner’s Guide to the Galaxy. The next book will be The Chapel at the End of the Universe, and then Faith, the Universe, and Everything. If you’re a Douglas Adams fan, you get the idea. 🙂

At some point in the next few months, I need to go back and finish About Damn Time, which is supposed to be the first book in the Kingdom Come series. (Overshadow, this year’s NaNoWriMo story, is book number 2. Last Year’s NaNoWriMo would end up being something like 5 or 6.) But where my brain is, and what I want to do, is to completely pants the novel that comes after Overshadow.

In the end of Overshadow, the main character appoints a county, which is a very traditional eight way marriage. The next story would be about these eight people, focusing on just one or two. The only things I know about the story are that the FMC has been told by the seated county that she and seven specific others will be their successors, even though the seated county does not have the authority do to so. It is the White Duchess’ (the FMC in Overshadow) job to arrange noble marriages. The FMC is uncomfortable with being told that she will be a contessa, when the people telling her this have no such authority to make such a promise. But she nods and smiles and continues to do her job. When the White Duchess does indeed appoint her, but not the others, she is under pressure to refuse on principle.

If I don’t pants this story now, it won’t ever be pantsed. I’ll start overthinking it, and it will get unwieldy. I’ll spend just as much time cutting back on the unnecessary twists and I’ll lose the basic story.

In the big scheme of things, I need to send out a query letter. To do that, I need to finish About Damn Time. If I have semi-polished versions of the first three books finished when I send out a query (with ADT being as polished as it can be) I hope that I can successfully launch the books as a series.

The nice thing about writing several books all together is that minor points come up in one book that may affect another. If these changes can be made while all the books are still in the editing stage, it’s an easy adjustment. I wrote three KC stories last year during/after NaNoWriMo. Three stories this year, along with the miscellaneous ideas that come along in between, and I’m well on my way.

…if I ever send that query letter.