Nothing for All

I'm plugging away at the novel outlining process for HOMEFRONT. Characters are being fleshed out, world is being defined, plot points are starting to snap together into place. I actually have some momentum on this project, and I'm keeping to my self-imposed scheduled.

So, we all know what that means, right? Story mugging. A new story (or at least stringy bits of it) popped into my head last night and I wrote three quick pages. Hopefully I can knock this thing out fairly quickly and still stay on track with the novel.

This isn't exactly bad news. It feels good. Like maybe I'm finally coming out of the no writing hole I've been in for a while now.

Of course, the story could totally suck...

I just finished up a new story I co-wrote with Samantha Henderson. It's about hunting dirt angels in post apocalyptic West Texas, and there's a fair amount of maiming, bloodshed, and tomahawk fighting.

Right on.

Now to polish the thing up and inflict it on editors.

I haven't posted a writing update recently, so here goes:

1. Prepping for Armadillocon this weekend. I have panels, readings, etc. scheduled, and a fun filled time should be had by all. Come on by.

2. Homing in on the end of a new collaborative short story, and kicking the tires on another one. Apparently I do still write short stories. Who knew? I wish I could write them as easily and frequently as I used to, but the novel bug keeps biting.

3. Speaking of, madness has overtaken me again and I've started outlining my next novel. For future reference, this one has a working title of HOMEFRONT and features a lot of WWII goodness. More to come as this takes shape.

4. Still waiting on word regarding RAW POWER, contemplating revisions on the still untitled COLE novel and mulling over the next step with ALAMO RISING.

I'm gonna write something new...seriously...real soon now. Probably.

I just finished writing a new novel. Whew!

It weighed in at a little over 100,000 words, though I'll clip some of that as I make another pass through the manuscript. I'm going to go back through it to edit for consistency, etc. then it's off to the agent and the first readers for their advice / ridicule.

I still don't have a name for this one, but I've been calling it the Cole Novel during the writing process. That'll do for now.

It's good to be finished!

The novel is rocking. Words are coming quickly and things are coming to a head. I like this part.

Just wanted you to know why it's been quiet here.

Head down, writing...

I'm a week or so behind on my self imposed novel writing schedule due to a computer crash, but I'll be back in the saddle tomorrow and expect to catch up. I WILL have this novel finished no later than my birthday in mid March.

Then, I owe a collaborator some words on a short story, and I have a few others brewing. I'd like to knock out 2-3 stories before diving into the next novel. We'll see how that goes.

Apart from that, I have a few stories I'm marketing so hopefully I'll get some bites.

Overall, I think Feb's been a pretty good writing month. What about the rest of you?

Haven't posted any writing updates lately, but I'm plugging away at the novel in progress and I've passed 80k words. I've got the end in my sights!

My agent liked the requested revisions on Raw Power and it's time to start shopping the thing. Fingers crossed.

As for shorts, I'm working on a couple. Both are moving slooooooowly.

Have a great Saturday night, everyone!

Pretty swell weekend overall. Some of you may be aware that I have more than a passing interest in the fate of a couple of football teams. Nice to see my Horns smack down the evil ones from north of the Red River. Nicer still to see them leap to the number one spot in the country, though hanging on to it may be tough.

As for the Cowboys...ugh, the less said the better. And to add injury to insult, Romo is out for a few weeks with a broken finger.

Beyond that, I finally picked up the rest of the Replacements reissue CDs and became the last human on the planet to see Dark Knight for the first time. Good lord, it was awesome.

No writing this weekend, but I'm nearing the end of that story that's been giving me issues. Shouldn't be long now...

Writing the last few weeks has been painful. I was making headway on a novel then got mugged by a story idea that had to be written RIGHT THIS MINUTE. Then what seemed like a straightforward, knock it out kind of story started kicking my ass.

Thankfully, I had a breakthrough today! After circling and circling, stalking the plot, all the pieces finally clicked into place and the solid writing can commence. I'm about 4500 words in and I estimate that's about halfway through. Unless something else in the story jumps up to bite me, I should be through with a draft later this week or early next week.

This is the hardest story I've ever written, so hopefully that means it'll be good. We'll see.

Oh, and did I mention that it's science fiction???

I'm still wallowing in the "I just finished writing a novel so what do I do now??" mire. But writing things are happening and I have a plan going forward. Here's what's on my plate next:

1. Write the YA Book w/ samhenderson (And yeah, it's gonna RAWK!)
2. Finish the Cole Book (Seriously, it's not THAT far from being finished.)
3. Write the C A novel that folks have suggested I write (I figured out another missing ingredient this weekend and it's just about ready for plotting)
4. Write some more short stories (finishing up a new one Any Time Now)

So, yeah, I'm actually pretty slammed on the writing front. I never thought I'd have two novels making the rounds with three more in the queue to be written and a slew of other ones begging for attention behind those.

Hopefully one of these novels will find a home one day. Right now the book I wrote w/ lonfiction (tentatively called Alamo Rising) is torturing our first readers. Can't wait for feedback. And my other book is trying to befriend an agent. Fingers crossed on that one too.

Anyway, just a random update so you don't think I'm slacking.

Yeah, I'm a little quiet, but it's because I'm being productive and stuff.

lonfiction and I are racing toward the end of our collaborative novel. I boldly predicted a couple of months ago that we'd finish by the end of July, and in mid June that prediction seemed laughable.

But due to some outside encouragement and a self-imposed deadline just three weeks from yesterday, we're going to make it happen. Really, we are. Don't laugh. I did around 20 pages last week (and a few more on a short story...)and I expect I'll do more than that this week. And Lon is locked away at a writers' retreat doing nothing BUT writing this weekend, so likely he'll outpace me. Also, I'm going back through and revising the book for consistency and Lon will make a second pass when we're done.

Within a few of weeks, we should have a very nice first draft, and then we'll send it out to first readers to see if it's worth inflicting on the world.

Wish us luck...

PS -- Only two of you will know what I'm talking about, but poor Mr. Marin has met his maker. And it wasn't pretty. ;)

It's been a while since I've posted a writing update, so here goes.

My short story output has still slowed, but it's largely due to writing on other projects. I wrote story notes and another story for the forthcoming collection in September, finished up (mostly) a collaborative story with Samantha Henderson, and wrote bit pieces on two other stories I'm working on.

I've been away from the novel in progress, but I'm about to get back into gear with it. I'm still writing another book with Lon Prater and I've written a couple of segments on that lately too. That's a fun one and I can't wait to finish and find it a home.

My first novel is seeking a home with an agent and a publisher so fingers crossed. As for pending publications, there's the "Can't Buy Me Faded Love" collection coming later this year from Wheatland Press with plenty of new stories, and "Blood and Oil" coming in early 2008 in Realms of Fantasy magazine. A few other stories are making the rounds, so hopefully they'll end up somewhere cool.

So this gist of this post is I'm writing so many different things that I haven't finished much lately, but I'm having fun on all of these projects.