What I'm Writing

When I shut down the Ranch, one of the reasons I gave was that I wanted to spend some of the time I spent on blogging working on my fiction. I wish I could say I had a great breakthrough when it comes to that stuff in the past year, but nothing's popped up as of yet. But I have been, as the kids might say, "working it."

As for novels, I've currently got three in some level of prep, each arisen from National Novel Writing Month contests. I didn't bite off NaNoWriMo in 2010, as K and I spent a week in St. John during November, which made deadlines and writing targets kind of meaningless.

• 2007's project, My Year of Living Magically, bombed out before the month was out, but I've sort of recast it in my head in a way that I think will really work. So, I'll have to go back and work that one up. 
• 2008's project, Plausible Reliability, sits largely where it did in 2009, unfortunately. It is badly in need of an edit, which my father has been good enough to provide, tho' I haven't had a chance to dig into it. 
• 2009's project, The Water Road, is proving to be the most difficult, but I'm winding towards a finish of the first draft. It will need massive revisions. I only realized the other day that it's the first big work I've done set in an entirely different world from our own. That leads to a certain amount of continuity issues because I am, in the parlance of the craft, "making it up as I go along."

Things are a little further along when it comes to short stories. I've got several now that are out in the world, submitted to publishers to be shot down. A quick run down:

• "Jury Duty" - A man's technological backwardsness throws a monkey wrench into the gears of the criminal justice system. This story actually won me an honorable mention in the 2010 West Virginia Writer's contest (in the "emerging writers" category). 
• "Fine Print" - How much would you pay for a cheap supply of boundless energy? Better read the fine print.
• "Last Man On Mars" - Space exploration as PR exercise goes awry. 
• "The Last Ereph" - A thief in a fantasy world finds religion. After a fashion. I've also repurposed a few old bits from the Ranch and thrown them in the mix, too.

Wish me luck!