A lot of people have asked me lately where I’m at with my writing. Since I posted a couple of days ago that I was not going to make the NaNo deadline, it’s a fair question to ask.

Here’s a quick snapshot.

NOVELS

1) I’ve made the decision, and it’s final, to trunk SHADES OF GRAY for the moment. I’ve gotten some really nice personalized rejections. I’ve gotten really close with this one. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s just not going to happen on that book. I hope to someday come back to it. That also means that the work I’ve done on the outline and first third of RING OF FIRE is also on hold. I only wrote the first 100 pages and an outline, hoping I’d be able to do more later. That’s looking more and more like one of the best ideas I’ve had; RING OF FIRE is a great story, but it’s definitely a sequel to SHADES OF GRAY.

2) FULL CIRCLE is still hanging out there. The first draft is pretty much done, but it’s going to need a metric ton of historical research and editing before anyone’s going to be allowed to look at it. I’ve started on it, but there’s a long road to hoe there.

3) I’m still working on the first draft of THE GRIMM LEGACY. It’s slow going, but it is moving forward. For those I’ve vented to, I’ve gotten past the scene that was bugging me. It fell together pretty easily once I finally forced myself to fight through it.

SHORT STORIES

1) POLTERGEIST ON AISLE FOURTEEN is out on submission.

2) DEMON BUSTERS, INC. did take Honorable Mention in the third quarter of this year’s Writers of the Future contest. I did some editing, and it’s back out on submission.

3) I’m in the middle of another first draft of a short story, this one involving a space shuttle covered in advertising, much like a NASCAR race.

BLOG ENTRIES

1) I submitted a guest blog to Lee Lofland’s The Graveyard Shift earlier this year on My Life as a Prosecutor. Lee’s been kind enough to invite me to write more entries, and I’m currently working on another one. I’ll post when it’s done and being posted, with links.

2) I am hoping to update this blog more often than I’ve been doing lately. There just hasn’t been a lot to post, or rather, not a lot that should be posted. There are some details about my job, about my family, or about my personal life that won’t be posted. I’m hoping to formulate a more workable writing schedule soon, and post it, as well as getting some details together about what conferences I’ll be attending next year. More to come soon!