Thursday, March 31, 2011

Ad Astra Coming Up!

Toronto's annual science fiction convention is coming! I will once again be there to sell and promote myself and my stuff, and good times are assured.

For one thing, I will be sharing a table with my good friend Mike Bryant. He's a multi-talented man who writes very funny stories when he's not busy being lead guitar for his rock band, Nanochrist. He and I have collaborated on some interesting projects in the past, so hanging out with him for the con will be fun.

Also, this year I was asked by Ad Astra's programming people to come as a professional panelist! For me, that is quite an honour. So far I am signed up for four panels - I'm hoping to do a few more, if possible.

Between now and then, I have some flyers to make. I still need to get the word out about my books, especially since The Cupid War comes out in August!

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

Progress, Or Pothole?

My trouble with picking a suitable novel project would seem to be over. I've started work on something I call I, Suicide, a spin-off from The Cupid War. It's about a girl who becomes a supernatural entity responsible for creating dark feelings in the living. It will be a first-person POV, and in spite of the dark content I'm hoping to make it as funny as Epoch or Evil.

All that sounds well and good, but it doesn't mean I'm out of the post-project woods yet. I still have to see if this project will take off, so to speak. I've already taken one crack at it, an effort I then proceeded to crumple up and throw out. It wasn't working. I've started again, and like the new version a bit more, so I'll probably go a couple of chapters to see how excited I get.

It would be a great story to write, and I could say even more about mood disorders than I did in Cupid War. Lots of good reasons to write this book. The real question, however, is how much to I want to see this story finished? I wish I knew right away, the way I did with Epoch and Evil. My own mood disorder has been getting in the way far too often in the last couple of years. I'm way behind on my editing, and all my projects take twice as long.

I need to get better, and soon. This is, after all, my career.

Monday, March 14, 2011

Still Searching...

Still no breakthrough on the new project front. I have a few ideas, but I'm not ready to commit. Whatever I choose, however, will likely be a sequel.

I have lots of good ideas for a follow-up to Epoch. I even have a title: After. I also have some plans for an Evil? sequel (tentative title: More Evil), and I have two chapters written. The trouble is, I don't know if my publisher will want a second volume for either book. Nobody at the company has asked for one. I don't want to go to the trouble of writing either book only to have them turn it down. I've already been there and been burned with the sequel to Attack of the Intergalactic Soul Hunters.

I have a good idea for a sequel to The Cupid War, but that book isn't even out yet. I don't know if readers will respond to that one as well as they did to my previous books. I am, however, seriously considering a spin-off, with new characters in the same universe. This idea is currently at the top of my list.

I have a few non-sequel ideas, too. So far, though, none of them have emerged as a winner. There has to be some pull, some excitement about it that gets me to the page. I need a story I can't wait to tell, one I can feel slightly naughty about for writing it at work.

I hope I find that idea sooner rather than later. I get so bored without something to work on.

Friday, March 11, 2011

Book Done, Now What?

It's been a few days now since I finished the first draft of my latest novel, Rytis Maxwell and the Wer-Pigeons of Ottawa. I'm glad to have it done, but I also feel kind of adrift. I'm into that dreaded period between novels, when I don't quite know what to do with myself. Longtime readers of this blog will remember me saying similar things at the conclusion of other projects.

What should my next project be? Something light and funny, or dark and serious? Or dark and funny?

Should I go for a first person POV, like I did with Evil?, or third person, as I did with the upcoming Cupid War?

What do I want to write? What topic is drawing me in? What kind of characters, plots, settings do I want in my next book? I've still got plenty to say about religion, metaphysics, bullies, abuse of power, and the supernatural. Just to name a few.

I hope I come up with something soon. I need something fun to do at work. Doing surveys over and over loses its appeal very quickly, but having a project to work on really helps pass the time in-between calls.

Until I find a great story idea, I'm going to be booored.