Running On Fumes: An Update

With a heavy heart, I announce that summer is officially over. School has begun and I welcome with open arms the class of 2016 into my bosom. It's still a science fiction number in my head and I think that when, in 4 years, I welcome the class of 2020, my mind just may implode. There's lots to complain about when it comes to the start of school, but the purpose of this blog is not for me to lament on and on about the ills of working in education at the dawn of the 21st century, but to talk about writing, so I will.

It's been over two months since my last entry and what a two months it's been. Thanks to the surgery, I've dropped about 60 pounds and I'm feeling pretty darn good. Last week I was finally given a surgery date to get my damaged hip fixed, which in and of itself is a massive weight lifted off my shoulders. (December 6th if you are wondering, almost a year to the date that I decided to get my stomach surgery.) Summer wasn't nearly as productive as I would've liked it for it to have been, but it was productive nonetheless.

I scrapped on project and started work on another. I had to back burner that project (ROAD) to work on a second rewrite on a previous project (SISTERS). My agent felt SISTERS was a good story, but it needed some depth, so I set about working on that bit by bit, making August a darn fine writing month, but school came up and kind of put that aside. Couple that with the start of school and September is usually a month I don't write much since I am, as the title of this post suggests, running completely on fumes the first month of school. But I'm pressing on.

So what are my plans, you ask? Here's what I'm thinking the rest of 2012 is going to hold for my writing:

I'm going to give a real go at the SISTERS rewrite once I get the routine of school down. It's the fourth new schedule we have in four years, so every year there is some new adjustment time. I'm about a third of the way done with the rewrite and I think that I can make a run at fixing the draft and making it better. SISTERS is an epic flavored adventure story and the first in a series that I've always imagined as being standalones....but I think they may have to change some of that to make it salable. I guess I can compare it to Arthur Slade's "Hunchback Assignments" series in that they stories are connected but stand alone-ish. Good thing the fourth book is coming out this week to help guide me.

After that, I've got some choices to make and I'm going to have to talk to Bob (my agent) and see where I should focus my energies in the coming weeks. The best part about the surgery is that I'm going to be out for the entire month of December, which means I'll be writing my butt off. (I hope!)

I want to make a run at finishing my SPACE PRINCESS book and then I'll be free to move on to a new project, either ROAD, the last SEASONS book, the EPIC CHRISTMAS book I've been planning for years OR a big huge traditional epic fantasy book. Who knows?

Plus, there's always the chance that the first two SEASONS books sell and they become a priority.