Pleased to Meet You, 2010

Ah, the first day of a new year. Smells like opportunities waiting to be seized!

Well it’s time to list the goals I’ve decided on for it, and yes, I know: everyone’s doing this sort of thing today.

It is traditional, is it not?

Some of my goals are carryovers from last year (which I decided on kind of late in the year anyway).

I’ve spent the past two days in a productive flurry, tidying up my sites in preparation. You may, or may not, have noticed my sidebars aren’t quite so crowded now, and that there’s a few new pages here. Or that my Shadow Connor titles are no longer available for purchase (though that may take a few days to become evident at some distribution sites).

They’ve been unpublished because I simply haven’t been able to write the fourth book in the series. I’ve made at least a half dozen attempts, but something just wasn’t right.

Feral Intensity was a test.

In 2007, around about June or so, is when my old desire to write original fiction struck. I hadn’t really attempted much since late 2000/early 2001, when I’d written Sienna’s Journal. Early 2007, overcome with drooling lust for a certain superhero, I’d begun writing *gasp* fan fiction.

I like fan fiction. It’s fun to write and it’s good practice for writing original works. I’d be totally embarrassed to admit just how high of a word count my fan fiction stories amount to. But please, you have heard of Wolverine, right? Whew, baby!

Anyway, my first original bit of fiction in six years hit the web in a limited way. The title was Focus, and I was surprised to discover people really enjoyed reading it. I made writer friends, and we’ve become a happy little group since then.

That was also the year I learned about NaNoWriMo and decided to try my hand at it. Having not written anything over a few thousand words in quite a while, I challenged myself to write a 10k story in seven days.

One of my original characters from an unfinished fan fiction piece proved to have multiple personalities (or she gave birth to two other characters, however you prefer to view it) and one of them suddenly spoke up.

Almost before I knew what was happening, I was feverishly writing down what she was telling me, and Feral Intensity was just there.

Details of that time are a little fuzzy, but I think I wrote first and second drafts of it in about 10 days, despite a weekend trip to Six Flags. Then I set it aside, confident I could manage 50k in 30 days for NaNoWriMo.

I did. I ‘won’ in 2007 with Changeling, which has recently been looked at and hurriedly moved to my slush pile because it sucks so badly.

But Feral Intensity…well, it’s not the Illiad, people, but it didn’t suck. Not only did it not suck, but Shadow was yammering wildly away in my head and there was a whole freakin’ series of stories she wanted me to tell.

So after some re-writing, self-editing and polishing, I self-pubbed it.

I wrote over half a million words in 2008. Self-pubbed six more titles and decided to start my own imprint with the assistance of my beloved writing buddies.
Not only did I finish quite a few writing projects, I saddled myself with a list of more that began reaching past the seventy mark.

Whoa.

Fortunately, 2009 turned out to be a busy year. Though I only published 4 new titles myself, the year has ended with more ebook sales than I’d seen in 2008.

Like a lot more. Like triple! Wow.

Unfortunately, 2009 turned out to be a busy year and my writing sat on the back burners of life quite a bit. My word count suffered; I think I quit bothering to keep track at about 50k or so in May.

One of those busy things was building onto our old house. The addition includes a brand spanking new room that is mine, all mine.

My office; my writer’s haven. Oh, the glory of having a space to call my very own!

During the back breaking labor of DIYing, I amused myself by pulling out my proof copy of Season of Shadows and re-reading those first three Shadow Connor stories.

After two or three re-reads, I had the reason for why book four wasn’t cooperating: neither I or the characters were happy with Rising Moon.

That’s when I began considering the idea of yanking it down and re-vamping the series.

Dangerous territory, people. One of the things you learn as a writer is that sometimes, you just have to put a project down and move on. Stop trying to improve it and go on to writing better with the next one.

Problem is that I can’t move onto the next one for that series.

I’ve learned a lot during the past two years. I know I can do a better job, and I want to do a better job, with that series. Shadow deserves better from me, being my favorite of all the characters who’ve filled the House of Craze.

The readers who purchased those titles deserve better (yes, they’ll all get replacement copies).

While not a choice I’d make for all of my older works, I feel it’s the right one for this series.

I’d say it’s a risk, but the truth is that since 12/02/07 when Feral Intensity was first published, only 179 copies total have sold of those three titles.

Less than 200 in a bit over two years’ time – not exactly a roaring success, eh?

Maybe it is a risk, but it’s one I’m willing to take.

I do have four other titles to finish up: Rift, Hunter’s Edge, Dark Dawn & Arcane Solutions. I’ve already begun re-working Feral Intensity and Lasting Echoes. Rising Moon is waiting its turn for those two to be finished.

My main goals for 2010 are to finish, publish or republish those seven titles. I have smaller goals, but those are the important ones.

This is the year I don’t push myself. My year to be organized and finish projects while falling in love with my characters all over again.

To apply what I’ve learned since Oct. 2007 to everything I write.

Wish me luck.