I didn't proofread this

My post content

Good morning/evening/day/night/morrow/Satursday the 4th!

I would like to duck in here and give a quick update on where my writing sits. As a side note, I have not had any short stories published since last I wrote here, however two are out waiting for a response. The first I don’t think is very likely to get published, but I have high hopes on the second. Now, on to the update!

WIP 1: Virulent Venus. The bane of my existence. The apple of my eye. When last I wrote, I was nearing the end of a rewrite of the second draft. Well, I finished that, let it sit, and dove back in for another round of editing. Something wasn’t sitting quite right with me. Now, if I haven’t mentioned this before, Virulent Venus is book 1 of a planned six book series. This is a multiple POV science fantasy epic that is already spiraling out of control. This first book has 3 main POV’s. I broke these down to look at one character at a time and realized the reason the book wasn’t working is because there wasn’t enough room for these characters to grow. At 90k words, three characters just don’t get enough scene time. Giving each of these characters the time they deserve would end up as a 150k book if I’m lucky. That’s not a selling point for a first time author, right? So, I’ve made the difficult decision to break these arcs down into three books on their own. I’m shooting for each story to be between 50k and 60k words for a quick easy read and kick out these first three books one after the other. This plan could change at any time, and I continue to edit the first of these three books. Let me know if you think this is a good idea.

WIP 2: Utopian Hell, working title. The first draft is finished. This is the story that draws my attention away when I’ve thought about WIP 1 until my heart hurts. I have a basic outline and some notes and I’m ready to dive into the second draft. This is a time travel science fiction book, and I’m really excited about it but also fearful that the storylines are too convoluted and won’t work. I often hesitate on VV and consider doing this smaller and easier project before tackling that monster, as its just one, but I’ve been able to stick to VV so far. Do you think I should finish this first?

WIP 3: This one is my first pure fantasy book. It almost feels wrong that I only have one planned book here. This one has a solid outline and most of a first draft. If I remember correctly, I put this down to give VV another shot. This story may be more viable than UH, and I’m sure there is much more story I can explore in subsequent books.

WIP 4: This might be my oldest viable idea aside from VV. First draft, outline, and notes are done, plus some great ideas on an ending. A lof of options here. This one was written as a science fantasy but could easily just be fantasy.

WIP 5-9: Yes, these are my short stories in various stages of completion from a paragraph outline for one all the way to submitted and waiting for a response on two of them. I’m starting to lean towards horror stories for my shorts. This feels like a natural progression for me because my very first short story, the one that received attention in high school and set me on the path as a writer, was horror and the subsequent stories for my high school literary magazine leaned that way too. Maybe those will be a little more successful for me.

That’s all for now. Wish me luck on those two submitted stories and rest well knowing I don’t have any more hair to pull out in frustration over my beloved Virulent Venus. Until next time.