November 2023 in Review

Hello Funny People,

For the first time since the dumpsterfire formerly known as 2020, I was super active on here, nearly posting a blog a week. Then again, this last month, to my surprise, gave me a lot to write about—truly a November to remember.

First, Some Apologies and Congratulations

Before we get into to the important stuff, I'm sorry for having so much crap to say on this platform over the last several weeks. A lot happened, a lot that got my mind working, and when that happens, my only recourse is to write. Otherwise the thoughts turn into like mind-goblins that torment me. And y'all wouldn't like me when I'm tormented (I certainly don't).

That said, let me also take this opportunity to anyone reading this who successfully completed NaNoWriMo last month. It's no easy feat producing a 50k manuscript, let alone doing it in 30 days (or less). However, it's also only the beginning. The hardest thing for anyone to do in this writing world is getting a first draft done (I've done it multiple times now, so I know). But even though you've gotten over that massive hump, there's still lots of work ahead. A first draft only has to exist, and if you intend to see your project through to publication, it'll take editing, revision, and feedback to get you there.

But the last decade has seen plenty of NaNo novels make it into bookstores. Bestsellers like Kite Runner. Water for Elephants, Ancillary Justice, and last year's MVP of books (imo), Legends and Lattes, all began life as NaNoWriMo projects. And look at them now. Bestseller-dom and award-winners across the board for those titles and their authors.

So congratulations on finishing, but now the real work begins. After that, who knows? You might have written some reader's next favorite book.

Report on the Short Fiction Front

I hadn't expect to give y'all any major updates in this area, but, as one of my posts last month indicated, I had a bit of good news.

My story "The Dragon Guide's Diary," a fantasy flash fiction that's been in my files for several years will finally see print next year. You can read the full details of this on the post I did about it, but needless to say, I'm pleased. That piece had faced rejection a total of 12 times before finding a home, and while I'm not pleased that Androids and Dragons Magazine uses Substack to host, I am glad y'all will finally get a chance to read it.

Counting my publication on The Angry Noodle this past August, "Dragon Guide," marks my 5th sale this year, breaking my record for number of sales set last year (3) for a second time. Not too shabby kid.

In other minor news, I also received my second ever hold notice for a story from another magazine. While I admit, this is a small thrill, I'm not holding my breath. Like my colleague Ray Daley warned me when I got my first hold notice back in the summer, they often don't go anywhere except disappointment. So, while another acceptance would be great, I'm not expecting it.

I also received a second Silver Honorable mention from the Writers of the Future Contest. I'd hoped for a higher placing, considering my submission was a revised version of a story I'd previously submitted, but at least the story wasn't made worse by my efforts. I hope soon (preferably in the near future), I can "pro-out" of this contest by making two more pro-sales to add to my sale to Air and Nothingness Press last year.

In truth, I don't expect much to happen the rest of the year, short fiction-wise. I've submitted my entries for Air and Nothingness Press' We Are All Thieves of Somebody's Future, Zombies Need Brains' Familiars anthology, and Lost Boys Press' Insurgent anthology. All I can do now is wait.

If I get even one acceptance from any of these major submissions, I will consider that a win. Of course, equally likely is a failure to place any of them anywhere, which could suck more than a leech. The possibility it there though, so all I can do is hope for the best (and expect the worst).

#AmQuerying 

While I admit I made a hash of querying A Sword Named Sylph earlier this year, I still plan to try again in the new year. (I used one of the sad form rejections I got to make the "blackout poem" you see below.)

I've revised my query, thanks to help from both Jonathan Maberry's and Ann Leckie's online resources as well as my friend Diane Callahan, and plan to make another attempt in the new year. 

Interestingly enough, I may also now have the help of a fellow writer to look forward to. My friend [name redacted] who recently had a book titled [title redacted], offered to vouch for me by urging their agent to pass along my query to one of their colleagues when I finally decide to "make my move." It's rather surreal to have someone make that sort of offer of help, but at the same time it also makes this dream feel a little more tangible.

#AmDrafting

The space opera I got to work writing in earnest back in September is still in progress, but recently, as I reached the 3/4s mark of the plot, I decided to complie every piece of work I'd done for it into a pair of documents to get a sense of the thing's present total work count.

As of November 17th, 2023, I'd managed to push this project over the 54,000 word mark. It's a heck of a lot shorter than I'd expected, but even with that smaller word count (especially compared to both word counts of my two fantasy manuscripts), this thing is still definitely a novel. And I'm not quite finished with it yet, so things may changed. I'm sure it'll end up surpassing 60k before I'm finished.

Miscellaneous

I finished reading Jonathan Maberry's Son of the Poison Rose, and thus I am eager to read The Dragon in Winter, the volume set to conclude the Kagen the Damned trilogy. I'm bit behind on my reading at the moment. I still have to get through Bookshops & Bonedust, Gator Country, and The Fragile Threads of Power. It's very unlikely that I will before the end if the year, but who knows? I might need to reread another old favorite before I start another new book.

Like many, I was not happy to hear that Shadow and Bond likely will not get a 3rd Season to conclude the original Grishaverse trilogy. It always seems that Netflix cans any show I find myself enjoying, and it's really starting to piss me off. I've been keeping abreast of the ongoing online campaign to lobby Netflix ro bring it back to round out the story of the original Trilogy. Last I checked, the online petition has over 150k signatures, and is still growing. Changedotorg, the host site for the petition, also happened to name it as a favorite project on their site. It may get results, but it may not. Similar online campaigning did lead to Sense8 getting a final film conclusion at least, following its two-seasons and done cancelation. Hopefully, something similar happens for this fun IP.

Finally, I hope all of you Funny People reading this had (if you celebrate, like my family does), a Happy Thanksgiving. The holiday season is now in full swing, which of course means considerable amounts of stress and fun. Here's hoping that the fun outweighrs the stress this year. 

— IMC 🙃