Live on the Gryphon Rose

Sorry I've been so quiet lately. This time, though, I had an excuse! I was out of town! jendaby and I took the kids down to New Orleans for the week to see my dad and his lady friend for Thanksgiving.

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It doesn’t look like I’m going to manage NaNoWriMo this year.

I’d hoped to participate again. I had a middle-grade book to do in October but it was due at the end of the month (and turned in on time—a day early, even). So my plate was (relatively) empty.

I’d wanted the outline for the next novel approved in time to start it on November 1st, which would have been perfect—but that didn’t work out. No significant problems, just some delays, but it threw off my intended timetable.

Then I thought I’d work on my mystery novel, the one I started for NaNoWriMo two years ago, and finish that—since I won last year I’m “allowed” to work on something I’ve already begun. But other projects have appeared out of the woodwork, and I don’t think I’m going to have the time to devote to that novel. At least not this month.

Instead I’m currently finishing a YA nonfiction book. Then finishing a middle-grade storybook. Then writing another YA nonfiction, though this one’s a bit different from the usual bios.

In the midst of these, I’m writing sample chapters for a fantasy novel a buddy and I are shopping around.

And then there’s Thanksgiving. We’re going to New Orleans for a week to see my dad and his girlfriend, which should be a lot of fun. I don’t think I’ll be getting much writing done, though.

So, yeah. No NaNoWriMo for me this year. Sigh. Good luck to those of you who are participating, though! I will happily cheer for each and every one of you, and congratulate you as you cross the finish line!

Saturday was an interesting day all around, but the night blew me away.

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I haven’t done a proper update in a while. And today, being my birthday, seems like a good time for one. :)

So what have I been doing in the past two months? [Wow, two months since a real update? Sorry about that!]

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Both the publisher and Amazon have finally put up info on the first of the novels I wrote this summer, which means I can now reveal that it is a Stargate Atlantis novel! Check it out here!

I just discovered, completely randomly, that Amazon now has my next junior novel listed. This is the one I wrote at the start of the year, and it won't be out until the start of *next* year, but at least now I know what the cover looks like. Neat.

Seeing as how this has been posted over on the Paizo board, I guess there's no harm in announcing it here. This is the new RPG I'm working on. It's my first original setting since Chosen back in 2001, so I'm excited and having way too much fun. If other gamers enjoy it half as much as I am it should do very well. My playtest group seems to be having a good time thus far, so that's always a good sign.

Some of my friends, I know, have it set up so their Twitter posts get collected and reposted on their LJs.

I'm considering it.

Since you're the people who would wind up seeing it, I leave it up to you: yea or nay?

Yesterday I posted on Twitter that I had “mailed a contract for a book I've already finished—and an agreement that changes my professional life in a great way.”

The agreement was for literary representation.

Yes, I now have an agent: Robert L. Fleck of Professional Media Services.

Bob lives and works in Las Vegas (yes, that was the business lunch I had when jendaby and I were out there last month). He’s a great guy, knows tons of people in the industry, has years of experience, likes the same genres I do, and has very similar beliefs and attitudes about publishing, writing, and contracts. It’s an excellent match.

I am very excited about all this. I’ve always said that my biggest flaw as a writer is my inability to sell myself and my work. I’m just no good at talking myself up—too self-effacing, too cautious. Now I have Bob to handle that end for me, and to make sure any deals are handled properly and professionally from start to finish.

It feels like I’m finally about to begin the next phase of my professional career. Color me ecstatic.

Yes, I realize it’s been a month since my last substantive LJ post, and you’ve all been on tenterhooks. My apologies.

I blame Twitter. Well, okay, it’s not entirely Twitter’s fault, but it bears at least part of the blame. Y’see, I signed up for Twitter a month or so ago, figuring it would be a good way to market my books as they came out. (I’m at gryphonrose over there, in case anyone’s interested.)

Then I discovered that a lot of my friends are Twittering a lot more often than they’re posting on LJ.

Then I finally got Twitter to synch with Facebook, so my Twitter posts automatically update my Facebook status.

And suddenly I was Twittering far more often than I was posting on Facebook *or* LJ. Only a few times a day, and only 120 characters each time, but it sort of took over my “updating friends” timeslots.

Sorry about that.

So what have I been doing in the past month? Let’s see:

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My buddy daytonward mentioned this on his LJ, and it looks interesting: the Hint Fiction Challenge.

You’re supposed to write a story of twenty-five words or less that suggests a much larger story. Hence the name "hint fiction."

Anyone can submit up to two hint fiction stories (sent in the same email, so only one email per person). The deadline is August 31. Then the best 100-150 will be selected and published in an anthology, currently set for Fall 2010.

Oh yes, and they pay $25 per story selected. Pretty good for twenty-five words or less!

If you blog or Tweet about the challenge before August 15, you can even submit a third story (in the same email). You have to linkto it as well. Why look, I just have. :)

Sounds like fun!

I am, as they say, chuffed. I just got author copies of my first junior novel! It’s called Bandslam, and it’s based on the movie by the same name, which opens August 14th. Check it out!

I’ve been remiss again. Though in my defense I’ve also been really busy. And jetlagged. And sleep-deprived.

Anyway, we are back from the whirlwind trip. It all went well. For those who enjoy more detail, read on:

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Yes, I’ve finally succumbed. I am now on Twitter. I’m at gryphonrose, of course. Follow me if you dare.

I finally have a schedule for Shore Leave! For those interested, I'm on the following panels:

Saturday:
Dr. Who: What Hath Rusty Wrought?
10am-11am
Hunt

The Young Gun Writers Ride the Range
11am-noon
Hunt

Writing for Novels vs. Anthologies
1pm-2pm
Derby

Old School vs. New School: Changes in Tie-in Writing
5pm-6pm
Salon A

Sunday:
Stargate
Noon-1pm
Salon A

Plus there’s the Meet the Pros party in the Hunt/Valley foyer, Friday night from 10pm to midnight. Stop by and bring books for signing! Preferably ones I wrote. :)

Looks like I’ll be busy!

In other news, Shore Leave updated my guest bio, which was woefully out of date. And if you read it to the end, you’ll discover the identity of the first summer novel I wrote. Go on, look it up. I’ll wait. :)

Do you like zombies? Do you like games? Do you like zombie games? Check outThe Zombie Game Experiment. I think it’s going to be a lot of fun—but then I’m probably a little biased. :)

Ah, the waiting game—part and parcel of every writer's life.

I hate it.

Right now I’m stuck waiting on outline approval for my second summer novel—I revised it and turned it in a few weeks ago but still haven’t heard from the editor and the licensor (except to say they got it and would take a look at it as soon as possible). The editor’s already promised me a new deadline, which is good because even at my writing speed there’s no way I can turn in the first draft by the original deadline, not even if they approve the outline today.

I’m also waiting to hear back on two different middle-grade projects, and waiting for details on a third.

So what have I been doing in the meantime? Well, I got offered a rush junior novel so I went ahead and wrote that already, even though it’s not due for another month. I’ve worked up a full outline for the YA tie-in trilogy (now approved) and a more detailed outline for the first book. I’ve been playing with a new RPG setting, which will constitute my first original RPG project since Chosen back in 2001. And I’m about to write up sample chapters for two series pitches because the editor already has and likes the proposals.

What else is going on? The talk at the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County went very well—around fifteen people attended, I think, and I spoke for three hours. jendaby and I are getting ready for ShoreLeave and the rest of our summer vacation. My daughter has new glasses (see jendaby’s post for details) and this is her last week of school. We’re now down to Harper’s Island and True Blood as our only remaining shows, which is fine since we’ve started doing Movie Nights again and we both have writing to do and books to read. We’re trying to find at least one new babysitter, but not having a lot of luck so far. Work is okay, and they’ve definitely pushed the move back but haven’t told us when, exactly.

I think that’s it. Back to waiting. Anybody got a magazine?

Hm, I haven’t made a substantive post in a while, have I? So let’s see, what’s been going on here the past few weeks or so?

We went to my youngest sister’s wedding the end of last month, which was great. The drive down and back was fine (got to drive a brand new Chevy Malibu—handled very nicely, had decent space, and I refrained from Repo Man jokes throughout), the wedding itself was gorgeous, and it was great hanging out with my dad and his SO, my younger sisters, my uncle and his SO, my cousins and their kids, my now-brother-in-law, his whole family, and a whole lot of family friends. We managed to go to the Smithsonian on Friday, so the kids got to see the Natural History Museum there and had a great time, and on Saturday seventeen of us trekked out to hit the zoo, which was crazy. I also got to meet and spend time with my middle sister’s boyfriend, who seems really nice and fit in with the family nicely. All in all it was a really nice trip.

jendaby and I are busy finalizing details for our next trip—a portion of which will be kid-free! We’re going down to ShoreLeave in the middle of next month, and from there to Miami, where we’ll meet up with my dad and his SO. Then jendaby and I will fly out to Vegas! We get five days there, just the two of us, while my dad and his SO hand our daughter off to my middle sister for a fun week in Orlando and then drive or fly back up to NY with our son. We’ll meet all of them up there, and hopefully have a few days with everyone before they have to return to their respective homes as well. It's our first vacation, just the two of us, in six years, so we're very excited.

On the day job front, things are fine. We’re supposedly moving our entire division to another building on July 1, but they haven’t given us any details yet and it’s already approaching mid-June so they may push that back a bit. We're back on summer publishing hours, which is excellent. Get in at the same time as usual in the morning, stay a little later in the evening, and get half-day Fridays as a result? I'll take it!

Writing-wise, things are good. Busy, though. I turned in the latest YA project last week, a few days ahead of schedule. Today I turned in the first tie-in novel of the summer—much thanks to slothshaman and Peter for reading it over and providing useful comments, including both catching the same plot hole! I’m waiting on outline feedback for two different upcoming projects, neither of which I can talk about yet beyond saying that one’s the second tie-in novel of the summer and the other is a YA tie-in trilogy. I’ve got pitches and sample chapters out on an original YA project and a WFH middle-grade project, plus an original fantasy pitch from a buddy and I out with an editor. I’ve also got sample chapters to write for another middle-grade pitch, and I’m waiting for details on a new children’s book project. I think that’s about it for now. :)

Otherwise—not much. I’ve got my writing schedule mapped out so I can get work done but still have time to spend with jendaby, the kids, and our friends. We’re going to be starting Movie Nights up again soon—everyone local, take note. We haven’t gamed the past two weeks because we were out the first Friday and Mook was out this last time, but hopefully we’ll be back to that this week. I need to make plans to go see G.I. Joe and Transformers 2 in the theaters—both are films I want to see on the big screen. I’ve got that speaking engagement with the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County this Saturday. The kids are good, though our son broke our daughter’s glasses this weekend so we need to get those replaced. I’m making an appointment to see my doctor, both for some recent neck pain and for some recent sleeping issues. All our TV shows are now done for the year, except for Pushing Daisies and Harper’s Island, so we’ll probably be catching up on movies this summer as usual. My daughter also has only three weeks of kindergarten left—it’s going to be a crazy summer!

Okay, I think that covers it. Hope everyone else is doing well, and that your summers are starting out nicely!

Another thing I keep forgetting to post about: next Saturday, the 13th, I will be a guest speaker of the Science Fiction Association of Bergen County. I'll be talking about how I got into writing professionally, some of the projects I've worked on, some of the projects I've got going on now, etc. The event will be at the Borders Books at the Interstate Shopping Center, 235 Route 17 South, in Ramsey, New Jersey. It starts at 7pm, and I'll be speaking at 8pm. If you're in the area, stop on by!

I'm terrible about remembering to mention these things, but hey, at least this time it's still six weeks away! Anyway, I will be a guest at ShoreLeave again this year. I need to get them to update my page, which I think may be the same one from last year, but they have time. jendaby and the kids will be with me. And I'll post my schedule once I know it.

In other news, the first novel is done and ready to be turned in once I (and hopefully one or three others) have given it a quick readthrough, the second's outline is being revised, the current YA project is almost finished, I've got some minor changes to make to the previous YA book, I think the children's book is good as-is (no word on revisions yet), there's another children's book and a junior novel on the horizon, and I apparently just got copies of one of the projects I did earlier this year. Busy, busy.

We're also getting ready because we leave tomorrow morning for my sister's wedding. We're driving down--it's in D.C.--and it'll be great to see everyone, hang out together, get to meet cousins I've never seen, and of course celebrate my sister's marriage to a really great guy. I am bringing the laptop but I don't know how much writing or going online I'll manage while I'm there. Which is fine by me.