Welcome to the grand illusion!

I said I was going to talk about this month’s writing goals, didn’t I? And here it is, already the 7^th. (Also known as the 33^rd anniversary of the release of one of Styx’s best-known and best-loved albums, The Grand Illusion. But I digress.)

First, last month:

• get an overdue story to the editor (who kindly allowed me a few grace days) – decided, reluctantly, to let this one go. Among other reasons, the story was insisting on becoming a novella. So now I have an erotic steampunk novella to write at some point!
• get everything done for Out of the Frying Pan and back to Teresa – DONE! Of course, then she got it back to me, and I did more work on it, and we have another confab in an hour…
• do the edits/rewrites for Waking the Witch and get them to the editor who requested them – DONE!
• write Chapter 3 of Seasoned With Danger and submit it to the first wave of publishers – Nope. Never got to this. It’s now scheduled for the end of this month.
• do a brief polish through What Beck’ning Ghost (because I wrote it 20 years ago (holy crap!) and I want to make sure nothing’s extremely dated in it), write a fresh proposal, and submit it to the first wave of publishers – Polish done. Proposal written and sent to a couple reviewers, who sent back the exact feedback I needed, so now I have to rewrite it and get the package out to editors.
• write a story for the Mountain Magic anthology – Alas, no go on this one. Something had to give, and I needed to focus on novels.
• write a story for the Crossed Genres anthology – after some consideration, decided to let this one go, too. A balance of research time vs potential payment…and in the end, novel work won out.
• write a story for Alison’s Bondage anthology – In progress.
• write (or at least start) a story for Kristina’s Dream Lovers anthology – In progress.
• pitch rose beads article to Renaissance Magazine (if time) – Not yet.
• prep “In Her Hands” for Kindle, etc. (if time) – I decided on a cover photograph (with help from some folks), and the file itself should be good to go. I have to design the cover, sign up at Amazon as a publisher, etc.

As I mentioned, we’re doing a fair amount of traveling this month, so my goals are not quite as crazy:

• keep working on Out of the Frying Pan revisions
• finish “’Golf’ Spelled Backwards” for Alison’s bondage anthology (this week)
• finish story for Dream Lover anthology (this week)
• revise What Beck’ning Ghost synopsis (ideally this week)
• finish market list for What Beck’ning Ghost and get the proposal circulating
• write Chapter 3 of Seasoned With Danger and do market research (to mail in Aug)
• write story for Lesbian Cops anthology
• write story for Indecent anthology

I know I’m not going to have time to work on the “In Her Hands” cover or the rose beads article pitch, so they’re officially bumped to August.

Okay, back to work with me!

An embarrassment of reading riches

I have been a reading fiend lately, in large part because I have a list of books to read for the upcoming Mystery Structure Workshop. So far, I’ve read… 

• The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency, Alexander McCall Smith
• The Big Sleep, Raymond Chandler
• Hark!, Ed McBain
• Black Echo, Michael Connelly
• “The Simple Art of Murder,” Raymond Chandler
• The Moving Finger, Agatha Christie
• The Guards, Ken Bruen (on the “if you have time” list)

 …and I still have to read… 

• A Caribbean Mystery, Agatha Christie (because the assignment was to read a Miss Marple novel, and Miss Marple didn’t show up ‘til the end of The Moving Finger, so I feel like I should read another one)
• Talking About Detective Fiction, PD James
• Tunnel Vision, Sara Paretsky (on the “if you have time” list)
• Death Du Jour, Kathy Reichs (on the “if you have time” list)

 …thankfully I’d already read…

•  A Dangerous Road, Kris Nelscott (although I wish I had time to re-read it)

 …but I’m not going to get to… 

• L.A. Requiem, Robert Crais (because I didn’t realize a different library branch had it, and I don’t have time to wait for the transfer)

 …meanwhile, I’m chomping at the bit to read several other books that are in my hot little hands, but I just don’t have time for yet…

• Under Heaven, Guy Gavriel Kay (I usually buy and read his books the millisecond they come out, so argh argh argh!)
• Arcadia Falls, Carol Goodman (I had it on hold at the library, but it’s a 14-day checkout, and I knew I wouldn’t be able to read it before I left for the workshop. So I asked if I could be put next on the list, and the lovely man checking me out [er, checking my books out for me] said nobody else was on the list, so he let me have an extended checkout, sssshhhh, don’t tell anybody, and I’ll hammer through it once I get home because Carol Goodman’s books are like crack to me and what I really want is to curl up with it and have someone bring me food and not bother me until I’m done.)

Oh, and I also have four other books on hold at the library. And about 200 books on my To Read bookcase. And I know I’ll be going to Powells while I’m in Portland (and then shipping the books home, because they won’t fit on the bike).

I’m comfortable in the knowledge that I won’t die for a very, very long time, because I have so many books left to read.  :-)

My work in a college textbook!

Somehow I missed this the first time it came ‘round (February), and then another writer/friend blogged about it and I tagged it to follow up (June), and now I’m getting around to actually posting the news…

The anthology Frenzy: 60 Stories of Sudden Sex, containing my story “The Heist,” was chosen as a textbook for a college class! Alison Tyler, the editor, posts about it here. Apparently it’s being used at Binghamton University, which is part of the SUNY system (as is Plattsburgh State, where I graduated). Alas, I don’t know what course it’s for…I’m dying to find out!

And I wonder what the students think of my double-crossing bank robbers?  :-)

Braced for the insane fun

Ken and I just spent a few minutes going over calendars and plotting and planning for the busy month ahead. We’ll be away from home for about 13 days total, and will have company for 2 days. Add in packing, unpacking, cleaning, and other projects (curtains for the kitchen, trip to the garment district, new heraldic tabard [that’s really Ken’s project, though], putting my seat back on the bike [also Ken’s project, obviously]), and it’s going to be…fun!

So with all that in mind, I’ve also been putting together my writing calendar for the month. It won’t be quite as aggressive as last month, obviously, although I’m going to a 4-day Mystery Structure Workshop in Oregon that will have me writing like a fiend.

Let’s see. Next weekend is CP Prize, which is down in San Diego. We’re heading down the day before (because we are Very Not Morning People). Not sure if we’ll leave early enough to do anything down there, though. And I can always take the laptop and work in the hotel room Friday night. We’ll get home late Saturday night.

Then, on Monday, we hop on the bike and start heading to Oregon. We’ll stay one night with my sister in Monterey, and arrive in Portland sometime late-ish on Wednesday, with plans to stay with our friends Lev and Gayle on Wednesday and Thursday nights. I’m trying to arrange a joint reading/signing up there with fabulous writer Shanna Germain, but I’m hampered by the distance, unfamiliarity with all the bookshops up there (Lev and Shanna have given me some ideas), and lack of time.

Friday I head off to Lincoln City; the workshop starts that night. Ken is planning to give his BMW talk in Portland and Seattle over the weekend, after working at his client up there on Thursday and Friday. My workshop ends on Monday, and Ken will pick me up in Lincoln City and we’ll start heading south, staying again at my sister’s on Tuesday night.

We’ll get home Wednesday evening and then Thursday head down to Anaheim for Queensrÿche’s Cabaret show, which I am anticipating with an unholy glee. Then a day off to recover, then maybe Lyondemere Anniversary (right now we’re thinking not, because of work and everything, but it’s on the calendar just in case), and then my darling Meglet visits for two days.

Only then do we have a few days “off,” which of course are “Ack! So much work to do!” days. Along with a  hair appt and a dentist appt. The final Saturday of the month is our local Shire’s Pirate Tournament, hurrah! but of course the official premiere of Hard Miles 2, the DVD about the 2009 Iron Butt Rally, is that night in Santa Ana, so we’ll have to leave early, throw on bike gear, and dash down there. Because Ken’s in that DVD, don’tcha know!

Thankfully, August will be a bit quieter. Two Styx shows, including a trip up to Saratoga for my 100^th show (!!!!  *\o/*  !!!!) and a visit from Sara R (she’s going to teach me how to make origami boxes, and we’re going to watch The Breakfast Club, and and and…!).

Other than that, Ken may run a rally or two, and Crown Tournament is in there, too, but it’s not that far away. So August will be back to an aggressive writing schedule.

I’ll ramble about July’s goals later, because now I have to post this and go dig around the sewing room for a few things! and then get back to work.  :-)

What are your plans for the weekend, and the coming month?