New Ideas and Revelations

Well, I looked at "Blood Rain" again and found that, though the character is a young adult, it's not young adult fiction.  I came to this realization after one of my test readers pointed out that there are some very graphic and disturbing scenes that either need to be changed or revisited before it can have a young adult audience.  I was thinking that might be the case as well, so I've decided to market it as pure fantasy rather than young adult fantasy and reread it later to make sure that's what I want to do with it.

However, even though "Blood Rain" isn't suited for young adult fantasy, I'm positive that my story for "The Gelfling Gathering" is perfect for it.  I just hope that those reading the entries think the same.  I feel good about what I've written, but I don't know if it's what they're looking for.  I've come up with 7,500 words and the first few chapters of a potential novel.  It was very fun to write and I was pretty enthusiastic about the project which is generally a good sign.  Still, I need to polish the story a little more before it's ready for submission.  I have a few months, though, and I think I should have it ready before it's even time to enter the competition.

I have a new idea for a fantasy story.  It isn't quite fleshed out yet, but I had an idea for an opening scene that I can't get out of my head.  I'm going to start on it very soon, but before I get too far into a new novel, I'm thinking of looking into the anthology market again.  Even though I've gotten into various horror anthologies, I think that if I'm going to focus on fantasy I need to try to get a story published in that genre as well.  Plus, even if my story isn't picked, it'll be a good opportunity to practice and to get other ideas that can potentially be expanded into an epic fantasy novel.  Wish me luck.  It's been a long time since I submitted anything to a magazine or anthology.

So, anyway, that's my writing news for now.  I'll keep you posted if anything changes.  Once I finish the introduction of the new fantasy novel, I might post it here.  We'll see.  In the meantime, keep reading and writing.

DragonCon

Hello All,

Well, I am exhausted from my one day at DragonCon, but it was definitely worth it.  That was more walking than I've done in a very long time.  I was lucky that we finished registering just in time and I got to attend the Mighty Men of Fantasy and SF panel to listen to Kevin J. Anderson, Jim Butcher, and D. B. Jackson speak.  It was very informative and fun.  It gave me a better idea about the personalities of some of the writers I admire and there were some useful tips about writing that I picked up on as well.  Next time we go we're hoping to have a longer weekend.  The problem this year was mostly money and a lack of enough days to take off.

Even though money is tight, we're considering buying the tickets early while they're on sale and going ahead and planning to go next year too.  I hope that we can.  While I can't afford going to most cons, I might be able to afford this one.  If I'm going to be serious about getting published, I really need to keep up with my connections from the writing class last year and anyone who is willing to help me on the road to success.  At the very least, I should be placing more business cards about my website around where people can see them.

I hand delivered a letter to Jim Butcher when I went to get his autograph later in the evening.  Honestly, the main reason I wanted to go (other than spending time with my sister, which I need to do more often...) was because I really wanted to meet Jim Butcher and to see the kind of person he is in reality.  My friends got to go and get his autograph about a year or two ago and I was very disappointed that I didn't get to go with them.  It seems like whenever I try to attend some sort of writing event, something unexpected comes up.  When I went to attend Neil Gaiman's writing tour, I suddenly came down with flu like symptoms and had to stay home.  I didn't want the same sort of thing to happen again.

I wrote the letter to Jim Butcher because I wanted him to know that he's one of my favorite authors and that I respect him and read all of his work.  I was also hoping that he could give me some advice on finding an agent and taking the next step in starting my career.  It occurred to me recently that I've been writing for well over five years now.  I've finished seven novels and am about halfway through three others, and I haven't had any luck finding an agent yet.  I understand that the first one that I pitched definitely wasn't ready for it, but I have to admit that I'm disappointed about the lack of interest in "Everburn" and "Blood Rain."  I really could use all the help or encouragement that I can get, so I ended the letter with, as a joke, "Help me Obi-Wan Kenobi.  You're my only hope."

I hope he reads the letter and I get some advice.  If any of you have any advice, please feel free to share it.  Right now, I'm just going to take the advice he gave at the panel.  I'm going to write everyday.  I'm going to find the time again, somehow.