So far, it's been a busy month. I just reached the 200 page mark in my revision, read a few good books, started a new novel, and I'm doing my best to stay disciplined now that I no longer have my Stonecoast mentors to hold me accountable. Oh yeah, and I graduated. I'm now officially an MFA. What that means for my future, I've no idea. But it feels nice. I had the pleasure of chatting with an agent who works for the Rees Literary Agency at my last residency in July, and she had some nice things to say about a sample from my novel, though she doesn't represent science fiction. I did, however, get a list of agents who might be interested, which is both surprising and exciting. Speaking of the novel, the revision's coming along nicely. I've got about a hundred pages of heavy lifting left before I do a final read-through and polish. Then I'll start shopping it around.
I'm reading/listening to several good books at the moment. I just finished Infidel by Kameron Hurley, which was even better than the first book, God's War. I also read Overthrowing Heaven by Mark L. Van Name, which I liked quite a bit (thought not as much as the first two in the series), and I'm working on Sandstorm by James Rollins and the audio version of Relic by Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. Also, I'm starting to get into The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall, a strange piece of genrebending metafiction that's not normally my cup of tea but I'm finding quite enjoyable. Up next is High Fidelity by Nick Hornby, Skinny Dip by Carl Hiaasen on audio, and The High Window by Raymond Chandler. On the writing front, I've started work on Argos, the sequel to The Singularity War, and I'm in the note-taking stages of a cyberpunk detective story set on Mars, tentatively titled Shadow Game. I'm trying my best to stay occupied in my post-Stonecoast life and doing whatever I can to avoid the slump in productivity that always seems to be waiting just around the corner three months after residency. More ebook stuff is on hiatus for the time being, until I finish the revision of my completed novel and the outline for Argos. Sometimes I wish I had multiple clones, so I could work on several projects simultaneously, but unfortunately we're not quite there yet.
Not much else to report. As usual, I'm slogging ahead. Gotta keep up the momentum. Oh, and some good news: my friend and fellow Stonecoast alum Zachary Jernigan just sold his first novel, No Return, to Night Shade Books! Can't wait to read it when it comes out next year. Night Shade is, in my opinion, one of the best indie publishers of science fiction and fantasy working today. They really seem to be pushing the envelope when it comes to discovering new and exciting voices. Congrats, man! May you be the first of many! That's all for now...
