Vacation!
I’m on vacation. Because I work for myself and can go on vacation when I want. Seriously. Also, I was stressing myself out with made up deadlines because I knew I was going to be gone for almost two weeks in the beginning of April and the writing was starting to be very very not fun. When I did my writing schedule at the start of the year, I left room for 6 months of “off” time because I know how I write and function. I wanted to make sure I worked out a schedule that left me time for the rest of the things in my life I enjoy doing. I’ve gotten a bunch accomplished this year already, I can afford a couple weeks off, especially if I return to the writing revitalized and ready to tackle it. (And I’ll admit, I haven’t totally been on vacation, I’ve clocked a few hundred words on a story because it was there and I wanted to. And my brain is full of scenes and ideas for one of my novels, plus I’ve been reading a lot of thrillers and looking at pacing and mood in them.)
I’ll be at Norwescon from the 1st through the 4th. I imagine it will be a different experience than last year. I’ve sold a story, have a lot more knowledge about publishing and writing, and will actually know people this year. I’m looking forward to it, as well as the workshop portion. I’m curious how the stories will go over, both have now garnered a few very nice rejections from various places, so I’m interested to see what this batch of pros has to say about them.
Then I’m down to Cali to see family, during which I will ride lots of rollercoasters and get zero writing done. But I’m back and resuming mad writing plans as of the 12th.
So, to restate my crazy plan. Get home, write five novels and 16 short stories. That’s it. Though it looks like two of those novels will be done first, since they are getting the most brain time. Also, once I get back I’ll be making my first ever submission to the market that started the whole wanting to be writer madness: “MZB’s Sword and Sorceress”. Finally have a story I think might work, after about 19 years. It’ll be an historic moment. Or something. And if I get accepted I’m pretty sure my head will explode. Good times.