It occurred to me as I sat turkey-drugged and lethargic in front of my computer that I hadn't posted here in a while, so figured it was time for a quick update. Now that all the short-story-related craziness has died down, there isn't much to report on the publishing front. Which isn't to say nothing's going on. I've spent a lot of time getting queries out, and I'm happy to say there's been some interest, though discretion being the better part of valor, that's all I'll say about that. What I will talk about, at least briefly, is the Next Book.
Right now, the Next Book consists of about a dozen pages of barely legible notes in a legal pad, countless Post-its filled with ideas good and bad, and the first five pages of what is proving to be a rather detailed outline. And then there's all the research: e-mails back and forth with folks more knowledgeable than I, a laundry-list of URLs, and maps galore.
The Next Book has a title, too, but names have power, and I'm not ready to let this one out into the world just yet. Soon, maybe.
In not too long, the writing will begin in earnest. Fine by me. It's been just two months since I finished The Angels' Share, and for my money, that's two months too long.
3 comments:
Two months! Gasp!
Trollope wrote in his autobiography that he would begin the next book the day after finishing the previous one. He was ready and raring to go.
Yeah, I know. Sounds obsessive. I've never been able to do that, either. But it does sound kind of appealing in theory, just plunging in like that.
But then, he didn't have to spend time sending out queries. I assume he just sent the completed ms. off to his publisher by messenger lad and didn't worry about whether it would be acceptable.
Gasp indeed. Though the months weren't spent lollygagging; queries aside, I spent some of the time poking around a possibly untenable project, discovering that yep, it's still pretty much untenable. If there's one thing I've discovered (and there may only BE one thing I've discovered, if that) it's that in writing, momentum for the sake of momentum is a good way to write vast sections of uninspired, easily cuttable text.
Oh, and I had a birthday during those there months -- which means a fresh batch of books to read, including the new Susanna Clarke, A Hard Case Crime reissue of a classic Richard Stark, and a little something about Sherlock Holmes and time travel...
Happy birthday.
Someone you know has great taste in birthday gifts!
(I was going to try posting this anonymously, but good sense prevailed.)
Some sf writer, possibly Frederik Pohl, used to say that he had a little man in the back of brain, named Bob or something like that, whose job was to reject bad ideas. The writer would come up with endless story ideas and toss them back to Bob, who would keep saying "Nope." Except for every now and then, when Bob would say, "That one's worth pursuing."
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