Good morning! It’s been a busy past couple of weeks, both in real life and the fictional ones I get to escape to through writing. Here are some quick updates on each project I’m working on, both for your information and to hold me accountable to finish them amidst the hubbub of everything else.

The Crow’s Gift and Other Tales: all of the stories I wish to include are back from my editor. I’ve gone through and made revisions on most of them. I plan to start piecing the collection together and prepare it for publishing once the novel is with my editor, as the novel takes up a great deal of head space right now. I’m keeping the short stories in mind, though, by submitting some to literary contests and journals as I find them. It’s good practice in terms of putting my stuff out there, getting used to feedback, getting used to receiving rejection, and conceptualizing them for other audiences. Plus, on the chance they win or get accepted, it would be a great experience.

Please Give: my master draft now has less words, but is more complete. I’ve found that the best way to write the pieces I have left is to remove or change the pieces that aren’t working as-is, putting me in an odd overlap of both writing and revision. It’s an odd feeling, but a satisfying one, especially since the changes and additions help me see the story from beginning to end as a cohesive whole – more than I have yet, and seemingly more each day. It’s exciting, and I look forward to replacing my [bracket] notes with actual pieces.

In between those two projects, I’m also writing down lines and ideas for my next pieces. I can’t help but write, and it’s an awesome feeling. It’s a feeling, though, that now needs to reverberate through the stories themselves. TTFN!