Lately I’ve been having a lot of conversations about what I’ll be doing in the next year. In doing so, it’s caused me to wonder if I’m not a little overambitious for everything I’ve got on my list of what’s getting done. I have multiple projects on three different creative fronts, another move, and all the other life things that go hand in hand with being a military spouse.
So many exciting things are coming this year, so I’ve decided to write up a little post telling you all a bit about them.
Design
This is the one I’m super excited about, as the first few weeks of this year have brought on a deluge of amazing things. I knew in December that January was going to be a busy month as I had three or four different people emailing me with “in January, I’m going to…”. What I didn’t expect was some seriously next level awesome by being picked up as a cover artist for Entangled Publishing. And when this was announced, I about hit the roof. If you’re doing a TL;DR on that link, let me sum up for you:
Entangled has partnered with Macmillan and St. Martin’s Press for distribution of its books!
What that means for me is that my designs are going to be distributed by Big 6 publishers! FOR SERIOUS. It might not be my writing appearing on bookshelves and websites around the world (yet), but my art will be! It’s one benchmark on my journey into the world of publishing and I couldn’t be more excited. My first covers for Entangled will drop next week (I’m told). This month I’ve completed four for them and I’m hoping to do more in the very near future.
No matter what happens with that, however, I will continue to provide the same quality covers to my indie authors. I <3 them so much for their support and encouragement that I will refuse to give them up until I’m physically unable to continue the work. Little guys are my heroes!
Voice Work
The end of 2012 saw me doing voice work for both The Dunesteef Audio Fiction Magazine (episodes with my voice still forthcoming), and the Drabblecast, along with another full audiobook in the Emperor’s Edge series. I’m already at work on book 4 in that series, and hope to have it completed and on its way to production before March. Y’know, pending life doesn’t derail me again. Once I’m settled with our upcoming move in February, I have grand plans of diving head first into ACX and building up more sources of revenue there. I’m told my odds of getting work there are pretty good, but I’m keeping my expectations realistic.
I wrapped up another paid gig last week that was a first for me as well. I signed on to record two short stories in the Geek Love erotica anthology. I’ll update when these are available, as I know several folks have been on my case to record naughty words for years. I’ve no idea when those will be available at this point, but I’ve finished the recordings and they’re in the hands of the producer now.
I’ve also taken on another super sekrit project that I’m not going to talk about much yet. What I will tell you is that I’m partnering with an author I absolutely adore to bring to life one of my favorite books of 2011. It will be a project of passion for sure, and I hope it’s ready to share with everyone by summer.
Writing
What many of you may be wondering (I know as I’ve gotten several questions about this lately), is what’s going on with Antigone’s Wrath (or rather Master of Myth, as it’s been redubbed by me). Honestly, I have nothing to report there. It’s still sitting with TOR/Forge, possibly unread, and I haven’t heard a thing on it. All sources say big presses can take six to twelve months to reach a decision on a manuscript, so there are still a few months to go before I’ll consider it a dead deal. If they do decide to pass, I’ll likely be looking at self-publishing routes. This will mean another round of edits, a brand new cover, and another audiobook project. All of these things will be made for sale, rather than free via places like Podiobooks.com. As the Antigone’s Wrath series is a property I’m convinced has good commercial potential, I’m going to go all-in on the paid content. Likely there will be no movement on this until this summer, so don’t expect news before then.
My GFL novella for Scott Sigler is progressing slowly. It’s by far the most complicated project I’ve ever taken on and is requiring a lot of conferring with folks who know all about the GFL universe. Seriously. You should see the notes (notes, people! OMG) I’ve compiled for this thing in order to keep it all straight. Hopefully when it’s finished the story will reflect all the hard work that has gone into making The Thief.
I have several other works in progress on tap to finish this year, and one of them within the month. Last year I racked up a total of 4 new novels started, and I’m going to finish 3 of them in 2013. Antigone’s Wrath 2: Master of Machines is one of them, as well as my NaNoWriMo project from last year, Apprentice (The Theta Colony). The third one (and one I’m not ready to discuss just yet), is unlike anything I’ve written before. I began it last year, blew through 68,000 words on it, then set it aside in favor of working on the AW sequel. My writing is very cyclical, I’ve decided. I’ve come back around to this mystery project at last and hope to finish up the first draft by the 25th of January. The characters in this novel have been with me since I was a teenager and at last they will get their moment in the sun. As with several other of my WIPs, you can see my progress over in the side bar of the blog.
After the mystery project, I imagine I’ll be back at work on Apprentice again, as it’s the next closest to being finished. Judging by my current word count and what I’ve projected as the finished total, I will have massive amounts of editing to do on this one. However, if last year is anything to go by, I may find myself diving headfirst into AW2 again. Either way, I plan to have a minimum of three first drafts completed this year and well on their way to being shared with the world.
So that’s my upcoming creative year. It’s a pretty busy docket so I hope I can fit everything in. As of this posting, I have plans to attend both Balticon and Dragon*Con again this year in order to promote all this stuff and see some of my existing friends as well as making new ones. If you’re at either of these events, please track me down and say hi!
I’m wishing you all the very best for the Year of Awesome!
x
Stuart says
Wow tha tis faboulous. But my heart sank until i read you would still do indie covers. People love the Henry cover and I’m working on book two.
Stuart says
Congratulations. And I am so glad to hear you will still do indie covers. People love the cover for Henrry on Fire. And I am working on the second Henry book. Working title is Henry and the Shadow Man Band
Doc Coleman says
That’s a whole lot of work on your plate for this year. I am prepared to be impressed if you only complete half of it.
Doc