This week, I wrapped up all of the requirements for completing my MFA at Southern New Hampshire University. *pause for celebration* Yes, anyway, that’s enough pausing and celebrating. Too many things on the old to-do list for me to take too long of a break. I will lose momentum, crash, burn, and end up hiding in my blanket fort for the next six months.
For real, though. I did take some time to enjoy the end of school. However, I’m not sure if it IS the end of school. I’ve got more time and money left on the GI Bill, and it goes away at the end of 2024. I hate leaving money on the table, so I’m looking at heading into the SNHU business program and pursuing an MBA. I figure that it can’t hurt to know more about running a business, promoting and marketing, sales, and all the things I don’t have expertise in.
Also, in addition to the crushing imposter syndrome that poked its head up out of nowhere when I hit “SUBMIT” on the final draft of my thesis novel, I also had a wave of “OMG I STINK AT THIS I SHOULD GO BACK TO CORPORATE AMERICA” as I was submitting the final copy edits on Cold Run to my publisher. Why does this pop up at the end of a project (or the end of a phase in a project)? I should be thankful that imposter syndrome doesn’t raise its ugly head when I’m sitting down to write; but it’s still an annoying little beast that I have to close my eyes and navigate around whenever I’m trying to move ahead in my career. Ugh.
But the good thing is that I do have a completed draft of my thesis novel upon which I’ve done first-pass edits. I’ll be getting an edit letter from my professor, who always gives strong feedback, doing another revision pass, and then I’ll be heading into the query trenches. I’m also working on expanding the third book in the Rick Keller series from a novella to a full-length novel, which will not be as difficult as one might think, given that when I wrote the novella, I basically left out the entire middle part because I didn’t feel like writing it and going into all that character development that needs to happen… I’m currently deconstructing Trial Run in Scrivener, and will be working on that as my NaNoWriMo project.
In addition to all of the writing, I’m also head-down, getting ready to get caught up on editing projects for Crone Girls Press. I’ve got several publications to put together for 2023, and these are books that I really want to get out there. I’ve got a lot of excitement to share them, and need to start checking them off my to-do list. I also want to finish drafting out the soup-to-nuts publication process at CGP, mostly so I don’t forget steps, in part because I have mental blocks that keep me from moving forward, especially if I don’t have a checklist, and finally in part because someday I can see myself delegating this process to a publishing partner or associate, and want to make it as smooth a transition as I can.
And finally, I am actively on the hunt for projects that will be suited for Falstaff Dread. I’m not super worried about finding them–there are tons of great horror authors out there and wonderful novellas and novels that need a home. Somewhere, there will be projects that are a perfect Venn subset of author-project-publisher, and I’m looking forward to not only the development and publishing process, but everything that surrounds that process.
Anyway, that’s what’s going on here. If you’re reading this, I hope things are proceeding well with you, and if you’re a writer getting ready for NaNoWriMo, then I hope you are enjoying the calm before the storm, and find me over there at “Siegerat.” Happy writing!
