Tag: WIP

Give Me Liberty…

Three Years in the Making

… Con. Give me LibertyCon. It’s been too long since there has been one. I’m not going to bother explaining why there hasn’t been an in-person LibertyCon for a few years. If you’re an alien without the context of the past couple of years, you’ll need to reach out to me directly for an explanation. For the rest of you, you KNOW.

This has become my favorite convention. The sheer number of literary professionals in attendance is a big draw, but so is the fact that its the only place where I get to share a long weekend with literally dozens of my best friends, sharing a common experience.

This year will be a little different for me. Not just because it’s been so long, but because I’m finally published (in a small way) and have started really putting my head down to understand tradecraft. This will be the first time I’m seeking that sort of knowledge in such a deep pool of knowledge. I want to learn from the best and there’s not many places to do so better than LibertyCon.

While during the day I’ll be attending panels, soaking up information like a sponge, in the evenings I’ll be enjoying fine cocktails and conversation at the room parties. One of which I’ll be hosting. The Completely Random Cocktail Hour.

It’s not random because of the drinks served, it’s random because of the hours of operation. I don’t want to be tied to my room all night, so if I feel like I need to wander off… I’ll do so and temporarily shut the doors. It’s something I’ve been doing at cons for close to two decades and its part of what I enjoy. Other people seem to like it too.

What’s New

Making slow progress on my science fiction novel WIP. During my #fridaynightwrites session last night, I think I know what I want the title to be. If you’re reading this, you’re in a select club of people who know.

CONSEQUENCES

I’m interested what your thoughts are on the working title. What would you expect from a science fiction novel with that title. Let me know! If you’d like to be a part of my early reader team… Let me know! If you have any other questions for me… Let me know! (There’s a theme here…)

Beyond that, I’m waiting patiently to find out if I’m a finalist in the Baen Fantasy Adventure Contest. Nineteen days until they announce. If my name isn’t in the list I get to add one more story to the “learn from this and make it better” pile.

What’s Next

After LibertyCon I’ll be knuckling down to improve my weekly word count on Consequences and sometime in the next couple of months, I’ll be reworking some short stories in the Fellblade universe for submission to next year’s FantaSci anthology and potentially working on some additional shorts in anthologies that, if they spin up, I’ve been invited to write for.

It’s all very exciting.

WHAT I’M READING

It’s been a while since I last posted, so I’ve had an opportunity to read a lot. I know that I don’t have enough fans to complain that I’m reading instead of writing, I can honestly say that I am reading for research into what makes a good story as well as reading for enjoyment.

Legacy of Heorot and Beowulf’s Children are classic science fiction from the literal masters of the craft. Good books, solid reads, and written in a style that I don’t know that I want to replicate, even if I could. It’s what’s needed for the tale of man vs. untamed planet though. I really recommend these.

Salvage System is another of Kevin Steverson’s books that sells really well. He’s found an audience in space opera and it’s worth reading for the story and for how he’s done it.

Bill Webb write military fiction. A lot of it. There’s ways to describe battles that I need for what I’m writing. I definitely get that from Shadows. It’s also a story that takes place in Chuck Gannon’s Caine Riordan universe, which I’m heavily invested in as a reader. You should be too.

Talons and Talismans is another short story anthology by New Mythology Press, the publisher of Fellblade in Keen Edge of Valor. The story that I submitted for this anthology (and that got rejected) is one that I plan on reworking for next year’s FantaSci anthology. The talent in that anthology was off the hook and I needed to see how I could learn from them.

Finally, Abbott in Darkness. I really like DJ Butler’s stuff and this is a wonderful story – the kind about a protagonist that isn’t much different from you or I. He’s a good person who risks everything to do the right things the right way and the story is about the consequences for doing so.

What’s Next and What’s New

I’ve climbed the mountain of getting the first short story and first publication to done. Following the advice of a lot of other (successful) authors, I’m hustling to keep my name in front of people, Keen Edge of Valor selling and getting reviews, and building my relationships with my readers and my peers.

Most importantly though, I’m continuing to write. Since the submission of Fellblade, I’ve been making progress on a novel (Title TBD) set in a science fiction universe of my own creation. I’m drawing inspiration from the life of William Marshal, one of the greatest knights to ever live.

At FantaSci a few weeks ago, I was given some amazing education (Thanks Kevin Ikenberry and Monalisa Foster) on plotting and proper use of character voice that helped me understand why certain parts of my work in progress made me uncomfortable when writing. I’m at about 31k words with it, almost done with the first act, and will go back and edit it with what I learned in mind.

BUT I’m putting that on pause right now. The Baen Fantasy Adventure Award Contest submission window ends this month and I’ve got a great story idea for it. I can’t say too much about it because it’s possible that one or more judges may read this blog and I don’t want to disqualify them from reading my submission. I’m at 13k words out of a max of 8k for that one.

What’s New?

What I’m Reading: Last Week, I finished reading Salvage Title by Kevin Steverson. It’s fun, mil sci-fi in a universe that has expanded to include a number of books by a number of authors. I’m looking forward to reading more in this series.

I just finished Valor’s Child By Kal Spriggs. It was surprisingly punchy for such a short, YA targeted novel. What seemed like a “boot camp” story turned into something a lot more about relationships and growing up than I expected. It was a pleasant surprise. I will be getting more books in this series.

I’m currently reading, for enjoyment, Servants of War By Larry Correia and Steve Diamond. I’ll post more on this one later, but it’s starting off strong.

Professionally, I’ve been reading through the Author Fundamentals books by Chris Kennedy Publishing. The books are relatively short, the advice concentrated, and the chapters digestible in small chunks. If you’re looking to get started as an author, these are a really good resource that doesn’t require dedicated attention from you to plow through because of the organization. They’re also easy to reference later.

One More Thing

Each blog, I want to provide one more thing for my readers that might make a difference for you and your loved ones. This week: Go For A Walk. The TLDR here is that for every thousand steps you take in a day, your all cause mortality is reduced by 12%. Get up and move.

Comment Below and let me know what you’re reading, and if you’re doing the “one thing.”