Waiting for the Dust to Settle
The end of April brought with it the closing of Round 3 for the Open Novella Contest. After the intensity of the last few months, the silence is a strange change of pace.
Now, all there is to do is wait.
I'm a patient person, but as any writer knows, "waiting" is just another word for "working on the next thing."
The ONC Limbo
The deadline for Round 3 passed on the 31st of April, and Memory Letters is officially in the hands of the judges. I’ve been a bit on edge this fortnight, but I’m incredibly proud of the over 32,000 words I’ve put down.
Whatever the result, Jane’s story has found its wings (and its voice, as the audiobook production continues!).
New Tales from the Pond
I’ve managed to complete two new short stories recently, each exploring very different corners of the imagination:
- The Custodian: This is a sci-fi piece about a lone pilot who discovers a ship so ancient that it has either been swallowed by an asteroid or built directly into one. It’s a story of ancient secrets and some truly horrifying possibilities for the man who found it.
- Dust: After my last submission to the Failing Writers Podcast was a bit too long for their "Hypewriter" feature, I’ve penned a new flash fiction piece specifically for them. Dust clocks in at exactly 999 words, or 1,000 if you count the titles. That's safely under the limit! Fingers crossed it makes the cut.
Deep Space and Ancient Rome
My long-term projects are also seeing some major movement:
- Sanctorum’s Veil: I’m continuing the heavy lifting of expanding the original 12 chapters. Now it’s becoming a much richer, more detailed world with every pass. And I'm really enjoying the process.
- The Void Between: I have officially put pen to paper (or fingers to screen ... because i mainly use my tablet) on the first chapter of my new HFY story. This is the first entry into what I’m calling The Voidborne Saga, and it feels great to finally start exploring the tension between the human race and the Renth.
- Forever Jupiter: I’ve been deep in the replanning phase for this one. Transitioning it from a novella into a full-length novel requires a lot of architectural work, but James Hamlin’s journey from a Roman Senator to a 21st-century survivor is a story that feels like it has so much more to give.
