Another year has come and gone. In some ways it was one of the ugliest years I can remember, and 2017 promises to be pretty bad too.
But on a personal, writing-related note, it was pretty good. I had two novellas and two short stories published. I hung out with other writer folks at DSP, YaoiCon, and GRL. And I sold my first novel (and the first in a series, if all goes well).
So what does my 2017 look like? I thought I’d share my goals with you, my faithful readers and fans.
First, my publication goals:
1) Lander: Assuming my first novel, Skythane, does well enough when it comes out in Feb/Mar from Dreamspinner, I’m on the hook for two more, each a year apart. So this week I’m starting on my detailed outline for boom two. I already have the generalities figured out for the trilogy, but now I need to get into the nitty gritty, and make sure I cover all the bases and answer the questions that came up in Skythane.
2) Revolution: This is my tentative title for the followup to Liminal Sky, my sci fi novel that’s much lighter on romance, and that I’m hoping will be picked up by one of my publishers in the next month or two. If it is, I’ll need to kick this one off as soon as I send off Lander to my betas, because it will be due at the end of the year.
3) River City – The Book: I’m more than halfway finished with the first arc of my River City serial tale, and once it’s done, I plan to self publish it – my first self-pub project! I am excited. And scared. But mostly excited.
4) Virus: One of my unfinished novella projects I’ve been kicking around for awhile. This may be my second self pub project.
5) Some Other Novella: Most likely, I’ll end up writing another brand new novella, probably for a Mischief Corner Books anthology. It seems to be one of my writing traditions.
Next, my con goals:
1) DSP: I’m hoping to attend the DSP Retreat again this year in early March in Orlando. It was such a great experience last year – meeting the DSP folks, hanging with writer friends in a gorgeous resort, and hitting all the great seminars they held over the weekend.
2) GayRomLit: This was my first GRL – and it didn’t disappoint. A number of folks who have attended previous ones said this was the best in years, and in 2017, it will be in Denver, a city I’ve been wanting to visit and explore. Hopefully it’s not too cold in October!
3) RainbowCon: This may be the one I am most excited about. I attended the second one of these bi-annual cons in 2015, and this time QSF is doing a full sponsorship – well, at least a full sponsorship of the con refreshment room! Plus, there’s a sci fi theme. Can’t wait to see folks there again!
4) YaoiCon: This one is close by, in San Francisco – just an hour and a half’s drive from our home in Sacramento. I’ll probably be there this year at the Mischief Corner Books booth on Sunday.
Finally, my random writing-related goals:
1) Work on Characterization: This is one of my greatest weaknesses. I am pretty skilled with world building and decent with plot, but my characters aren’t always as three dimensional and fully-realized as I’d like. That’s my writing “stretch” for 2017 – to learn how to characterize better.
2) River City 2.0: I have to decide what the next RC arc is – I may do some shorter story arcs first focused on just one or two characters. before tackling another big arc.
3) Grow Queer Sci Fi: There are so many opportunities here. I want to see QSF become a bigger player while still maintaining its small-town feel, so I’ll be looking out for new ideas to expand the brand. And hey, there’s the “renewal” flash fiction contest in April!
That’s it for me for my writing-related goals. How about y’all?