2020: hopefully the year that solidifies some things, hopefully a year that settles into itself. It is only 5 days in and already it feels as if the universe is very much saying "hold my beer" when shown the past 3 years. Selfishly, I just want it all to stay okay enough for me to get my debut novel published and launched in April. If I never publish another novel after that, I'm okay--I will have at least seen one on the shelves.
The novel, Threading the Labyrinth, has been through many changes over the past couple of years: from a PhD-viva-ready novel to one that is publishable and commercially viable. I changed its structure, re-ordered the chronology, deleted a POV character, completely changed the POV of another main character's section, increased the focus on certain themes, and thinned down sections that were over-written. I'm proud of the book, and excited in an anxious way each time a new thing happens. It was announced (didn't feel real); I got edits from the publisher (felt a bit like going back in time to when I was first doing rounds of edits on it for the dissertation); I was sent samples from possible artists (!!!); I found it was online for pre-orders (with a date and a description and HOLY SHIT IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!); and got the news that a launch has been scheduled for an upcoming convention (ohgodpeoplewillbeinaroomwithmeandthebook) . Now I am just waiting for things to be finalised.
So, moving forward, I plan to be here more, to talk about what I am reading, what I am writing, and what I am teaching. I spend so much of my life up to my eyeballs in creative writing it seems weird that I don't talk about it here. This semester (which starts in a couple of weeks) I'll be teaching undergrad publishing, undergrad Writing Speculative Fiction, MA publishing and MA Creative Writing: Special Topic which, this semester, is Time & Narrative. I have the reading list set up for that one--one week will be time travel!! wheee!!--but will be planning the classes as the semester progresses. Stay tuned for more!
The novel, Threading the Labyrinth, has been through many changes over the past couple of years: from a PhD-viva-ready novel to one that is publishable and commercially viable. I changed its structure, re-ordered the chronology, deleted a POV character, completely changed the POV of another main character's section, increased the focus on certain themes, and thinned down sections that were over-written. I'm proud of the book, and excited in an anxious way each time a new thing happens. It was announced (didn't feel real); I got edits from the publisher (felt a bit like going back in time to when I was first doing rounds of edits on it for the dissertation); I was sent samples from possible artists (!!!); I found it was online for pre-orders (with a date and a description and HOLY SHIT IT'S GONNA HAPPEN!); and got the news that a launch has been scheduled for an upcoming convention (ohgodpeoplewillbeinaroomwithmeandthebook) . Now I am just waiting for things to be finalised.
So, moving forward, I plan to be here more, to talk about what I am reading, what I am writing, and what I am teaching. I spend so much of my life up to my eyeballs in creative writing it seems weird that I don't talk about it here. This semester (which starts in a couple of weeks) I'll be teaching undergrad publishing, undergrad Writing Speculative Fiction, MA publishing and MA Creative Writing: Special Topic which, this semester, is Time & Narrative. I have the reading list set up for that one--one week will be time travel!! wheee!!--but will be planning the classes as the semester progresses. Stay tuned for more!
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