Tag Archives: work

Reading the tea leaves for 2012

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Well, hello there, readers. It’s been a while! Rather than sit here and give excuses, I’ll just apologize briefly for being not the best blogger lately. It happens. I’ve been blogging for a long time, when you look at the big picture, and well, sometimes there just isn’t a whole lot of time for sitting down and pondering the writing craft these days between family and the full time job and other things. But it’s not like nothing is happening. So here’s a bit of what’s been happening about these parts.

First and foremost, I’m currently heading into week 25 of my second pregnancy. And I’ll tell you: being pregnant does a number on your brain. Not only do you lose gray matter (like, your brain loses weight… so trippy) but hormones coursing through your body can change your personality (not to mention that your kid’s–and by extension your mate’s–DNA floats around in you permanently). For me, I’m under a nice, warm blanket of calm. If there are stresses in my life, I just seem to let them roll off my back. Oddly enough, stress tends to fuel my writing, both fiction and blogging and otherwise. I don’t feel that desperate need to create because, well, I’m creating. Right now. The little one is currently almost a foot long and weighs about a pound and a half. She’s a squirming, somersaulting, dancing little creature who, quite honestly, takes up most of my thoughts during the day. (No, I’m not writing SF right now… why do you ask?)

I’m okay with not writing a ton. Instead, I’ve been reading. As far as publishing and writing go, 2011 was not productive. Not in the output sense. But I haven’t stopped reading. In fact, I’ve read more in the last year than I’ve read in the last 5 years combined (in no small part thanks to my commute and the suggestions of my dear friend Samuel Montgomery-Blinn in the realm of audiobooks). I think of it in much the same way as I do my pregnancy: I’m feeding the creature. The best books I read this last year were Howards End by E.M. Forster (which will forever move me), The Age of Innocence  by Edith Wharton, Who Fears Death by Nnedi Okorafor and The Magician King by Lev Grossman. Yes, that’s an unusual cross-section. But each of those books spoke to me in a really important way that will, undoubtedly, impact my writing permanently.

There’s also the book release. Pilgrim of the Sky has been let out into the wild, flying like the skylark. Overall, I’ve been thrilled with the reception, and have learned (mostly) how to ignore and move on from the less enthusiastic reviewers (how on earth someone mistook my book for YA, I will never know…). Which, thankfully, have been mostly the exception. A first book out there in the real world is a scary thing, but I’m glad to have gone through the experience. I’ve got a post brewing about the book that answers, hopefully, some of the questions/misconceptions people might have. If you haven’t had a chance yet, you can check out some of the reviews posted recently! (There’s a few I know of that are waiting in the wings, and I’m trying not to be impatient!) Additionally, I was interviewed by the Outer Alliance about the queer aspects of Pilgrim of the Sky, and how Maddie’s sexuality fits into the book as a whole; you can hear the interview here. (Additionally you have until the 16th to enter the contest for a signed copy of the book by yours truly.)

Not to mention that, along with the other GeekMom editors, I’ve been working on the Geek Mom book! We sold the book to Crown Publishing a few months ago and are swiftly approaching our deadline. So I’ve been immersed in geeky child rearing, projects, and cooking. Not a bad thing, but definitely doesn’t leave a whole lot of time for even more writing.

The good news is that I’ve settled on my next project (or rather, which project to continue) when February is over and our deadlines are met. Not sure how much writing I’ll get in, what with the brain the way it is, but it’s worth trying. I’ve also started taking a look at some of my back-log of novels and considering What Next To Do. Surely I can’t keep sitting on them. That does no one good!

To everyone who’s supported Pilgrim of the Sky – thank you! I can’t say it enough. My friends, family, and beyond have helped make this experience truly memorable. And it’s just starting, y’know? Here’s to 2012 and beyond.

Marching on…

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Oh, look, I’m starting this post with a pun about the month of March. But yeah. Looks like I went the entire month of February without posting a single darned thing to my blog. Apologies. Sort of. We’ve moved, I’ve been working full-time, and life in general has been speeding by so fast I’m having a hard time keeping track of time, let alone posts. I’m not really apologizing, because it’s not like I’ve neglected on purpose. Anyone who’s sent me email in the last month will probably attest to the fact that response times aren’t really my strength at the moment! But I’m getting there.

Anyway, in writing news:  I’ve tentatively started a new project, gotten some very good insight on an old project (which will, eventually, be revisited), and am preparing for the publication of that other project, Pilgrim of the Sky. In Pilgrim news, I do have some fun stuff to share. Just not yet. Things are looking very positive. The edits to the draft are so far very well received, and I couldn’t be happier on that account. I’ve secured an artist for the cover, too, which I’ll talk about soon. Good things are afoot. Not to mention, here in North Carolina, spring is blooming all around us–the pear trees are just starting to turn, followed quickly by the red buds and dogwoods. I never tire of spring here. The blooms just call to me to be creative, to breathe in the beauty, to go all Keatsian and romantic.

I also finally finished “The One in the Swamp” for the Shotguns v. Cthulhu anthology. I am so excited to be part of this project, as a fan of all things Lovecraftian. I’m even more thrilled that I was able to finagle a dark, weird west tale into the mix, and continue to tell the story of the Sutherland girls. This ain’t the last you’ve heard of them.

Writing as of late has been slow. I’m still struggling to balance work life and booklife. I’m getting an odd distance to some of my older projects, and spending all too much time thinking about what kind of writer I want to be instead of just sitting down and writing. Hence, I chose a more difficult project to attend to next. After wavering back and forth for a few months, I’ve finally settled on writing Glassmere; it’s magical realism, set in the 1910s in Kent. And while that might not sound personal, it’s probably the most close-to-life novel I’ve ever attempted. It’s dark, deep, challenging on every level. It’s going to require research, planning… it’s going to take a while.*

I also have not been reading enough. I’ve had Elizabeth Bear’s All the Windwracked Stars since last summer, when my lovely friend Julia Rios gave it to me. But I haven’t made progress in the book because I haven’t made progress anywhere. I’ve not been reading at all. Period. Which is a grave offense. I can blame work and moving and everything else, but the truth of the matter is that I don’t know how to write well if I’m not reading something, especially when we’re speaking novels. So I’m making time. And it’s amazing how restorative those moments are with the book, how they make me examine my own work as well as the world of storytelling on a larger scale. Marvelous.

At any rate. This week we’re headed to PAX East, and I am jazzed to have a chance to get out a bit, hang out with awesome geeky friends, and let loose. Yes, I work at an epicly cool place. I can’t imagine a better place to work than a video game company. However, work–especially when one is suddenly the breadwinner–has a way of warping life around you and making things rather different than they were before. I need to let my hair down for a few days, and PAX East will be the ticket.

I will try to not neglect the blog for another month. As I mentioned, good things are afoot, and I’ll be chattering more as the month progresses, I’m sure!

* Reading that paragraph I realize that’s the worst sell for Glassmere that I’ve ever seen. Consider this instead: Little Women and The Buccaneers meet The Chronicles of Narnia and Alice in Wonderland. With a bit of Gosford Park thrown in for good measure. The main players are two sisters in their late teens (Evelyn and Julia) and their grandmother and great-aunt. The magical realism part is important, as it’s a major plot function, but the heart of the book is about sisters, family, jealousy, grudges, and love.