Derailed
Now that November's over, I've had some time to pause and reflect upon the many goals I couldn't accomplish this past month. Ironically, the majority of these were beyond my control.
Firstly, as I may have mentioned I'm working on a book that isn't part of the Chronicles of Parthalan. It's a YA-ish dystopian fantasy, set in a world where magic has been outlawed for the past 15 years. The main character is a girl who wears her magic on her skin - literally - and has spent the last decade and a half desperately trying yo seem ordinary. Magic finds her anyway, and all hell breaks loose. I call it Copper Girl.
I intended to have it finished - rough draft, at least - by December 1. Well, we had a blizzard and lost power for 7 days, and wouldn't you know it my laptop doesn't work so well without electricity. Once power was restored I was busy doing things like handling the laundry pileup, cleaning up all the soot that we generated cooking on the charcoal grill, and other such things. So Copper Girl's wordcount is languishing around 30,000.
My marketing plan for The Chronicles of Parthalan also suffered due to the power outage. I haven't contacted half of the outlets I'd meant to, though the few bookbloggers I did get in touch with were receptive. Also, I have a few short stories that need submitting.
Aside from the natural disaster and all, I accomplished great things in November. I was almost a panelist at Anthocon, an awesome new convention in New Hampshire. (A scheduling conflict meant that the panel happened on a day I wasn't there. Oh, well.) Even without being on the panel, I sold some books and had a great time.
I also had a reading at The Spiral Bookcase, an awesome indie bookstore in Philadelphia. To date it's the farthest I've traveled for a book-related event, so I got to showcase my work to a whole new group of people. The shop has a parlor in the back where patrons can munch on cookies, have coffee, and read the day away. If you're in Philly, I recommend stopping by.
Now that the Month of Derailment has ended, how am I going to get back on track? Glad you asked.
1. I've set the completion date for Copper Girl at January 31, 2012.
2. The fourth Chronicle of Parthalan (yep, still churning those out) has an estimated completion date of 01/31/2012, and the fifth 04/30/2012.
(Yes, I work on multiple projects at a time. No, I don't think I'd work faster if I concentrated on the one. I pick up each as I'm inspired, then move on.)
3. I have three completed short stories i need to submit somewhere - one horror, one a reworked fairy tale, one fantasy. I'm going to research markets in December, and hopefully get those puppies out the virtual door in January.
4. Finally, the light at the end of the tunnel - Arisia! It's an awesome convention held in Boston January 13-16. There will be a launch party for UnCONventional, and it promises to be an awesome time. Stay tuned for details.
So you see, I refuse to let a tiny thing like a natural disaster get in the way of my work, and neither should any of you. It's all right to hit those bumps in the road - just pick yourself up and get going again.
Firstly, as I may have mentioned I'm working on a book that isn't part of the Chronicles of Parthalan. It's a YA-ish dystopian fantasy, set in a world where magic has been outlawed for the past 15 years. The main character is a girl who wears her magic on her skin - literally - and has spent the last decade and a half desperately trying yo seem ordinary. Magic finds her anyway, and all hell breaks loose. I call it Copper Girl.
I intended to have it finished - rough draft, at least - by December 1. Well, we had a blizzard and lost power for 7 days, and wouldn't you know it my laptop doesn't work so well without electricity. Once power was restored I was busy doing things like handling the laundry pileup, cleaning up all the soot that we generated cooking on the charcoal grill, and other such things. So Copper Girl's wordcount is languishing around 30,000.
My marketing plan for The Chronicles of Parthalan also suffered due to the power outage. I haven't contacted half of the outlets I'd meant to, though the few bookbloggers I did get in touch with were receptive. Also, I have a few short stories that need submitting.
Aside from the natural disaster and all, I accomplished great things in November. I was almost a panelist at Anthocon, an awesome new convention in New Hampshire. (A scheduling conflict meant that the panel happened on a day I wasn't there. Oh, well.) Even without being on the panel, I sold some books and had a great time.
I also had a reading at The Spiral Bookcase, an awesome indie bookstore in Philadelphia. To date it's the farthest I've traveled for a book-related event, so I got to showcase my work to a whole new group of people. The shop has a parlor in the back where patrons can munch on cookies, have coffee, and read the day away. If you're in Philly, I recommend stopping by.
Now that the Month of Derailment has ended, how am I going to get back on track? Glad you asked.
1. I've set the completion date for Copper Girl at January 31, 2012.
2. The fourth Chronicle of Parthalan (yep, still churning those out) has an estimated completion date of 01/31/2012, and the fifth 04/30/2012.
(Yes, I work on multiple projects at a time. No, I don't think I'd work faster if I concentrated on the one. I pick up each as I'm inspired, then move on.)
3. I have three completed short stories i need to submit somewhere - one horror, one a reworked fairy tale, one fantasy. I'm going to research markets in December, and hopefully get those puppies out the virtual door in January.
4. Finally, the light at the end of the tunnel - Arisia! It's an awesome convention held in Boston January 13-16. There will be a launch party for UnCONventional, and it promises to be an awesome time. Stay tuned for details.
So you see, I refuse to let a tiny thing like a natural disaster get in the way of my work, and neither should any of you. It's all right to hit those bumps in the road - just pick yourself up and get going again.
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