A Writing Update

It’s been a bit since I let you all know how the writing’s going, and seeing as how the main reason I started this blog way back when was to do that, I suppose I better get on it. There are a number of writing projects I have up in the air at the moment. Let me just run them down one by one.

  • UTOPIA, an as-yet unnamed science fiction book I’m working on, is going well. I should pass the 70,000 word mark today, and I’d imagine I have around 10,000 words left to go, give or take a few thousand. It will be the 15th book I’ve finished a complete draft of. It’s definitely been an interesting experience. For one thing, it’s my first science fiction book. For another, the voice is very unique. My main character isn’t exactly playing with a full deck of cards, and it’s written from his viewpoint. The best way I can describe it would be “YA Clockwork Orange.” Which doesn’t sound pretentious *at all*, does it? I had TRC read the first 40,000 words a while ago, and at first he came to me and asked if I’d messed up when I was writing it. I explained about the character and told him to stick with it and see if the voice still bugged him. He got hooked, and he keeps coming back to me now wondering if the book is finished. When I reread those 40,000 words, I found the same thing: the voice took a bit to hook you, but once you did, it felt very natural. I have no idea what my agents will think of it, though I did show one the first 5,000 words or so before I really dove in, and he was intrigued enough to let me continue. We’ll see.
  • MAGIC AT 30,000 FEET is still with my second agent. I hope to have feedback on that ready for me for when I’m done with UTOPIA. No idea if that will be extensive or not. I’d like to have this book submitted to editors by the fall, if possible. But that depends on getting a second greenlight on the manuscript.
  • OUR LADY went out on submission back in December. It was very well received, but not well received enough to get any takers just yet. We have yet to hear back from about a third of the people we sent it to, but I anticipate sending it out to more editors soon.
  • THE MEMORY THIEF is coming out in a little over 2 months. I should have some updates about it over the next while, so keep your eyes peeled for that. At this point, the writing is totally finished, so I just have to wait for it to hit the shelves.

What else do I have in the pipeline? After UTOPIA is finished, I’ll do the MAGIC AT 30,000 FEET edits. Ideally, I’ll start working on another book then before turning back to UTOPIA to give it a second draft before I send it to my agents for their input. (I know the book has some structural issues. I can feel it. So I want those taken care of before I get professional opinions. I don’t think it’ll be an extensive second draft. Mainly just tuning it up to get it where I want it.)

What will that new book be? Beats me. I’ll be having lunch with my agent in August. Perhaps something that comes up there will inspire me. Or maybe I’ll return to one of the books I set aside and never finished. Or maybe I’ll brainstorm up something new. It will feel good to have my current ideas down on paper and drafted, though. I’m excited to see what I come up with next. Never really worried about it, though. Ideas are cheap in my book. Sort of like going out for a walk on the beach and looking for something cool.

There’s always something to find . . .

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