Project Update

Hey All,

Now that the Nook release of "The Masque" is behind us, that's one less thing on my plate to work on.  And seeing how that novella was first released on the Kindle well over a year ago, you may be wondering what I have been up to since then, and when you'll be able to read another story.  So today I thought I'd give you a rundown of what my average day looks like, what projects I'm working on, and what's coming down the pipe eventually.  So without further ado...

Project #1 - Book the First
Not to be confused with The Masque.  While The Masque is technically my first "book", it is a novella, short-novel, long-short-story, or whatever you'd like to call it.  At any rate, it's not a full-length novel.  However, Book-the-First, as it shall henceforth be known (at least for the time being) is indeed my first full-length novel.  Book-the-First is 100% completed.  I finished the first draft in 2012, after four years of getting it the distance from my head to the computer screen.  It was pretty rough at that point.  It was pretty much just a mass of text in the vague shape of a story.  The major pieces were there.  There was a beginning, a middle and an end.  All the characters were in place.  But it was a fat kid, and I spent the next year whipping it into shape.  I finished the second draft in May 2013, and it was that draft that really made it the story that I was extremely happy with, and the story that hopefully you will eventually read.  Over the months between then and now, I was completing the third draft, which was actually more like multiple drafts all in one, just polishing and polishing and polishing until it was as perfect as I could possibly make it on my own.  When you spend that long with a single story, eventually you're going to need a fresh set of eyes on it to point out any flaws that you may have missed.

So, Book-the-First is done, and I have commenced sending my submission packet to agents, which is the first step in the publication process.  There's no way to tell how long that process is going to take, as it all depends on who likes the story and is willing to represent it and myself.  As soon as I have updates on that process that I am able to share, I will post about it here.  I cannot wait for you to read this story, as it is probably the one thing in my life that I am most proud of at this point.

Project #2 - The Script
Shortly after The Masque was self-published on the Kindle, it was optioned for film rights by Formation Films in Los Angeles.  Since then, I have been working closely on the script with the director and producer, and it is moving along.  We are getting the script in a place that we are happy with, and that I feel accurately represents the story.  Any more details than that I can't share at this time, but when I do have more information and the freedom to share it, I will do so. 

Project #3 - Short Story
When I was in college I wrote a short story entitled "The Walker's Call".  Over the past several months I have had the nagging urge to take it out of its drawer and dust it off.  So that's what I did.  I got it all polished up and retitled it simply "The Call", and have submitted it to someone who might be interesting in publishing it in their magazine.  When and if I hear back from that submission, I will provide more details. 

Project #4 - The Next Book
Not to be thought of as a sequel to Book-the-First.  Both Book-the-First and The Next Book are stand-alone stories, and are not connected in any way.  This is where the bulk of my time is going at the moment.
HRMmm, what can I tell you about The Next Book?  It is long, and that is good.  I learned so much from writing Book-the-First that I am saving myself untold amounts of time and mistakes in the writing of The Next Book.  I am a better writer than I was, and that is a good feeling.  After a month of vacation where I could not write on a daily basis, I went back and read what I already had (which is about 150 pages, give or take) and was very pleased.  It was better than I remember it being when I wrote those pages, and I sighed with relief.
It is a big, beautiful story, and I am as in love with it as I was with Book-the-First when I wrote it, and I am so happy about that.  If you're not excited and moved by the story you want to tell, then what's the point?
I'm not ready to talk about the details of the story just yet.  But it is a fantasy, and it's the fantasy I've always wanted to read.  There are swords.  And myths.  And fire.  And I think that's all I'm going to say at the moment. 

You may wonder what has taken me so long, and I hope this has helped explain a little bit.  Take into account that I recently got engaged, then got married, then moved.  I mean, that takes up a lot of time and energy.  Not to mention that until recently I was literally tethered to a desk for a mandatory eight hours of daily misery, then you may understand why the writing process has been quite slow.  But it is picking up quite a bit now that I am free of my tether and have the daily freedom to write, imagine, create.  It is...the best feeling.  So hopefully things will be happening more frequently, and I will keep you updated when I lift my head from the page.
   
I do want to take a moment and thank you.  If you are reading this, thank you.  If you have read, commented, liked, shared, tweeted, encouraged or anything of the sort, thank you.  I mean it.  It means more to me than you know. 

Oh, and the Ewok keeps me company while I write, so I thought it was only fair to give him some time in the spotlight.  #yubyub