Monday, February 1, 2016

A New Year, a New Daunting List

If I ever make this a regular thing, I’ll be surprised. But what can I say? I want to be profound, and in the time I take for blogging, proper profundity fractures into slivers of trite pomp.

This is what’s coming for 2016. (Remember, I think big, and time usually ends up a lot smaller than it looks on my calendar, or perhaps I move a lot slower?)

The Novels: The hope is to publish 2-3 books this year. Let’s see.

Kip the Quick  - a fantasy heist novella about a witty orphan thief that wants nothing more than to be done with the arid wasteland town of his home. In the process, he runs across a payday he can’t ignore, that will test his mettle like no other. This is a fun project, even as it has infuriated.

Felling Abberfaun is a mostly written epic fantasy with a pacifistic forest people, a blood thirsty church, a besieged king, and a young woman fighting against the responsibility she was born with and the implications that come with it. There is magic, wonderful friendships, a foray into the dark side of people that have been twisted by something in their past, and this all takes place in the same world as Hammerblood, though the time and land are different.

Book 2 of Hammerblood has a lot of concepts in place, some outlining, but I need to hit the ground hard with some proper blueprints. I’d like to say it would be on the stage for 2016, but it needs a lot of work. Call it my stretch-goal and let’s move on.

And then there is Veil of a Warrior, my first novel. This is tricky, I really want to go back and tweak things. So far, I’ve resisted, but I want to relook, snag a new cover, pop in a map and all the bang-whiz stuff of a proper epic fantasy novel. I’d also like to fly on a dragon.

Seeking the Veil, is on the board to be combined into a single novel, with a new cover and a side story with a focus on Dietra and Orangebeard.

Short stories: I have two that are mostly done
Essence, is about a boy and his father, a duel gone sour, and a magical elixir that is worth a fortune, and worthy of fear. At 10,000 words, it’s a little long for a magazine, but it’s a polished story that hits strong. Going for a traditional publish credit would be good, and I’m not sure where I would put it in my arsenal anyway.

Child of Iron, is my first completed work, and the beginning shows as rusty. I’d like to pull this together and do something with it. Question is what? A magazine feature would be awesome, but I’m wondering at the kernels of the story, and if there isn’t more, ready to burst forth.

Going Pro:
I’m looking to find a professional editor this year, and have already set up a design contest with 99 Designs to do a book cover for Kip the Quick. The monetary investment is unnerving, but I know it’s worthwhile and a necessary step toward taking the work to a new level.

Building the e-mail list. All of the experts tout it is the secret sauce, and now I have a complete novel split into 3 parts to offer for free for newsletter sign-ups. If I can only find a way to properly market this.

More goals lie scrambled across my project timelines, we shall see what the year brings.

2016 will mark 3 years in the Pacific Northwest for my family and more job stability than I’ve had in years. It will be a year of financial change. I will go from being newly published to someone that might look like they know what they’re doing.

And my daughter will continue to grow. She has moved onto Beverly Cleary books, and I have to wonder what it will be like when she one day (hopefully) reads my books... I may not be Abercrombie or Martin, but it makes me think I need to start writing about furry kittens and nice princesses.

Thankfully I have a few years, but then again, I read Asimov in the Fourth Grade.

Scary.

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