The big high (and biggest distraction from writing) has been the new job I started back in February. I finally took the first step on the long journey of my career as a librarian. I found a niche job hiding in the basement of the central branch of a public library. What do I actually do? I catalog and process new materials. But hiding in the basement sounds more mysterious. I don't have to interact with the public aside from the rare occasions on which I venture out from my basement abode to help upstairs. The last time I did so, I ended up manning the teen desk amidst a horde of 7th graders on a tour of the library. Yikes! But for the most part, my position is an introvert's paradise. Books and hardly any people around!
To be serious, I have quite enjoyed my new job even though I had to put writing and publishing plans on the back burner for most of the year while I wrapped my head around the massive change in routine and location (moving to another city is not easy, regardless of the size of the move). However, I was finally stable enough to pull that back into focus in the fall of this year. That led to a retargeting of my publication plans towards the short story series "The Salon of Enchanted Beauty" while pushing back the "Märchenverse" series till a later date. Novels take so much more time than short stories to edit and I am terribly slow at editing to begin with. If I wanted something published before next spring, a short story it would have to be.
In November, I attended, virtually, the 20booksto50k Las Vegas conference. Virtual only after plans to go in person fell through (drat cars and how expensive repairs can be!) It was highly inspiring and has only solidified my determination to attend in person next year. I'm extremely excited to buy my ticket next month!
Now, onto what you really wanted to know from this update: what projects am I working on and what is my progress!
1) The Salon of Enchanted Beauty
As I mentioned above, this is the series that is at the forefront of my energy and attention. It's a cozy fantasy series of long form short stories following the misadventures of a sorceress named Philliya Wridall as she runs a magical beauty salon.
Status:
Book 1: In editing and pushing for a January 2023 release (I hope!!)
Books 2 - 4: Written awaiting editing
Book 5: Halfway written
2) Märchenverse
The series of sci-fi novels which cover various rewritten and adapted fairy tales from classics to lesser known tales. I do love this series, but pushing it back for now was the right step. I'm still eager to get this done and published! I can't wait to share it all with you. If you are impatient, you can join my patreon to read the original first draft of book 2 in the library.
Book 1: In editing
Book 2: Awaiting a complete rewrite.
Book 3: Writing, floundering, rewriting, etc. Horror is not my strong point when it comes to writing.
Books 4-8: Planned and waiting in the wings to tempt me to focus on them instead of what I should be working on! How rude of them. lol
3) The fanfiction - Kagerou: A Pathfinders Journal
I know, I know. I keep promising that this one will get done, but it keeps getting pushed back in favor my non-fanfiction series since I'm just your basic human who has to prioritize money over fun.
Book 1: In the process of rewriting and editing
Book 2: Planned but no timeline set for actually writing it.
Books 3-6: Possible and advisable if I want to complete the entire adventure path, but I don't want to count my chickens before they hatch.
4) The magic academy (series? webnovel? who knows at this point!)
This one is shaping up to be my longest work ever at a projected 300k+ words if I cover the four projected plot arcs, but it needs a serious world building overhaul before I can dig into rewriting and writing it. Apparently I am not very practiced at building magic systems and this book needs one that's pretty solidly planned out...yay me...
Book ?: Partially written, but needs planning and a rewrite.
5) Survival
Aka the R rated sci-fi book/series I've been trying to write for years. It is also partially written, but needs a major restructuring and planning before I can even attempt to begin again. In other news, my brain has decided it's more interesting to work on plot arc #2 instead of #1. So I have made some progress? Brain! Focus!
So there you have it! Those are the major projects I'm attempting to guide towards publication. That doesn't mean they are the only projects bouncing around in my brain or on my PC, however! I don't lack for ideas (ever), but the other projects are on hold for now so I can try to focus my limited energy and time on the most viable series for publishing. (Though, check out my patreon for glimpses into the archives and chime in on whether a project should be pulled from cryostasis!)
Which project are you the most interested in? Are you leaning towards fantasy or sci-fi?
So long 2022 and thanks for all the fish!
