Back to Being a Writer
As things are turning out, this week is a transition week of sorts. The first run of newspaper ads for Flesh Wound is going to print this week. Here is the publication schedule for December:
Wednesday, Dec 1:
Royal Purple (royalpurplenews.com) UW-Whitewater
Thursday, Dec 2:
Wisconsin Gazette (wisconsingazette.com) Wisconsin's LGBT Community Paper
Advance-Titan (advancetitan.com) UW-Oshkosh
Wednesday, Dec 8:
Royal Purple (royalpurplenews.com) UW-Whitewater
Thursday, Dec 9:
Advance-Titan (advancetitan.com) UW-Oshkosh
Thursday, Dec 16:
Wisconsin Gazette (wisconsingazette.com) Wisconsin's LGBT Community Paper
I'll be traveling to Whitewater and Oshkosh on publication dates to replenish posters and pick up a copy of the papers with Flesh Wound ads in them. Hopefully the ads will generate interest in the website, and the students will pursue Flesh Wound as relaxing holiday reading during their Christmas break.
It will be the middle of January before the students return to campus, and at that time I'll have another batch of posters up and a list of student organizations to contact to propose a book discussion of Flesh Wound. But until then, I have around a six-week window of time. How best to fill it? By returning to what I like doing best: writing.
This morning I pulled out my notes for Rubbed Out and immersed myself in becoming familiar all over again with the story. I'd had an idea for a parallel plot line that I wanted to develop and weave into the current chapter outline, and spent the morning doing just that. I love how the book is coming together. I introduced another character today, and developed his backstory and how he'll interact with Faye and Ae-Cha, and how their stories will intersect later in the novel. I expect to make significant progress on the book in the next six weeks, and my goal is to have a first draft of the novel complete by the end of February. But we'll see how it goes – I'm going to keep an open mind and make promotion of Flesh Wound a priority. I am confident things will unfold in the best way possible. My job is to go with the flow.
I hope November is finishing well for you and life is good! Read something today that makes you feel warm inside! Thanks for reading. -Jon
