May 2023 in Review

Hello Funny People.

The merry month of May was quite an eventful one. A few new firsts and a few fresh milestones, as well a few disappointments. I could stop there, but where would be the fun in that?

Boltstone art by Devora Johnson 

Report from the Short Fiction Front

I've said it before, but I'll say it again. Short Fiction hasn't been my priority since the start of the new year, but I've kept my hand it. And it's paid off in small ways.

A few weeks ago, as of this writing, I managed to not only complete the revisions for an upcoming Open Call from Todd Sanders' Air and Nothingness Press, but I also managed to complete a first go at an editing pass through the story. No guarantees that the story will pass muster with Todd, of course, but I'm confident it fits the anthologies theme enough to merit consideration. It's even well under the word count ceiling of 3000 words, so it'll only be the story's quality that makes or breaks its selection.

Additionally, in a first for me, I received a hold notice for a story I've been trying to sell for now over a year from a magazine. Technically, it's the second one I've received period (the first being from Todd for "Urtext Redux" last July), but this is the first.time I've gotten one from a periodical. As my colleague Ray Daley points out, hold notices don't always pan out to a publication acceptance, which I understand. There are no guarantees, only opportunities in the freelance life. Naturally, I've sourced contingencies, should this one not pan out, but I rather hope it does. The market pays pro-rates, so having that kind of sale would certainly help boost my confidence.

Finally, there's still the upcoming 2nd submission window for Wyngraf this year. I haven't looked over my R&R story for a few months, so I'll be taking time go review it again before the first week of July. I'm confident the story is still good, perhaps good enough to merit publication, but we shall see.

#AmWriting

The current novel WIP is ticking along marvelously. In fact last month (or rather, yesterday as of this writing), I managed not only to conclude Part II of the book, but I've already made decent headway into Part III. 

As it stands, two chapters and one interlude stand drafted, and it was after finishing the draft of the interlude that I had a sudden insight into how to make the novel snap together as a cohesive whole. 

Part 3 of the book, unlike Part 2, has been pretty ordered in my mind for a long time. It's essentially the events of a single day, the day of a long tournament with lots of fight scenes (not my favorite thing to write, but I'm getting better at them. Thank goodness for revision), that eventually gets interrupt with a bang.

The mostly unseen, but frequently alluded to true antagonist of the book finally appears. However, given my propensity to feel my way through a book, trying to weave the foreshadowing to make this work has always been difficult for me. Again, thank goodness for revision. I've figured out how to use the interludes to better do this, as well as one other element I plan on adding come draft two.

This is going to be fun.

#AmQuerying

Very little to report on this front of thing, unfortunately. Nothing but a retinue of rejections, with the occasion serving of silence.

I did get it into my mind, however, that the reason this might be the case is due to A Sword Named Sylph's opening. I'll admit, the first 8 chapters are a slow burn, with little magical happenings going on. I did that on purpose and don't want to change it.

So, I committed myself to committing the unforgivable sin of modern fantasy writing: adding a prologue. I managed to finish a draft of it, a single 2k word scene that fully establishes the things to come, I believe. It's an old trick, but this book is rather out of step and old fashioned in many ways, so it's apt.

I'll keep y'all posted on any further developments.

Miscellaneous

I've been waiting a long time to show this off. A few months ago, I commissioned my first piece of concept art for one my characters. In this case, it's a picture of the MC of my character, Boltstone. Largely I did this to understand the process of commissioning art (for future reference), and found I really enjoyed it.

Here it is, truncated:

1. Find an artist whose work you like

2. Pitch them your image

3. Pay them a retainer fee (usually half of their fee)

4. Wait for the drafts.

5. Comment on drafts, offering suggestions for ways the art can better reflect your vision

6. Repeat steps 4-5 until you're satisfied

7. Receive art

Devora Johnson, a great artist I came across a few months ago, recently completed this full body portrait of my character with an infinite amount of patience. I was very persnickety about certain details being right, and to Devora's credit, she kept going back and fixing them until I was content. The result of course ended up being so good that it was as if the character had stepped out of my imagination onto the page.

If you have the funds and are looking for social media banners, custom avatars, concept art, or even book covers, I'd highly recommend Devora. She frequently advertises on the bird app, so check her out there.

Until next time Funny People, stay safe, stay healthy, and take care.