New Year's Resolutions

Sooo... last year didn't go so well with the whole New Year's resolution thing. I was really only able to keep one of my four resolutions, and even that one only lasted about six months. But with a new year comes a new chance, so here's what I'm going for this year:

1. Publish Pack Supremacy - No, really! I know it's been on my list for the last two years, but this one will be it. Honest! Alright, so I know I'm starting to sound a little like the girl who cried wolf, but hey, it's got to go up eventually, right? K.S. Lewis has it for one last pass, and my other CP has already signed off on it. After that it's just line edits and formatting. I'd really love to have it up by March, so it'll be ready for the Liberty State Fiction Writers' Create Something Magical conference.
2. Consistent blogging... again - I know, I know. I'm starting to get really repetitive. But these are areas I really want to work on. I was able to maintain a consistent blogging schedule for six months last year, and I hope I can make it 10 or 11 this year (there's no way I'll be able to keep up with my blog during NaNoWriMo, so I'm trying to be realistic).
3. Finish writing CH3 - Of all my resolutions, I think this is the closest to a "sure thing" I could have. I wrote over 50,000 words of CH3 during NaNo a few months ago, so if I haven't finished it by November, that'll be my project again. I think this one will require a little less editing than Pack Supremacy did at least.
4. Publish a paperback version of Pack Mentality - This has been something I wanted to do for a few years now, but I put it on the backburner so I could finish Pack Supremacy. Now that that's almost done, it's time to revisit the paperback. I'd love to have a physical copy of my book.
5. Begin to take the business side of writing more seriously - This is the vaguest of my resolutions, and the one that will probably take more than a year to complete. I was told to wait until I had three books published before I really invest time or money into marketing myself. If the rest of my goals go according to plan, by the end of this year I'll have two books published and the first draft of the third finished. At this point, I think it'll be time for me to start making some decisions about it.

I know some people think making resolutions is silly because no one keeps them, and I can't exactly argue, with my track record. But I like taking some time--whether it be at the beginning of the year or at any point along the way--to assess where I want to be and what I need to do to get there.

Did anyone else make some New Year's resolutions?

Apologies, or The Things Sports Do To Us

Sorry about the impromptu month-long hiatus I took. For those who don't follow me on Twitter, I've grown into a pretty big hockey fan in the last couple years, and the Rangers seemed to play every Monday this month, which is when I normally write my posts. But, sadly, I won't have to worry about that again until next year, so starting next week I'll be returning to my regularly scheduled posting.

A quick update on where I am right now: After having two very productive conversations with my beta readers, I'm midway through what should be final round of edits on Pack Supremacy (excepting line edits). I hope to have that done by next week at the latest, after which I can begin preparing to publish. While I waited for feedback, I began outlining Capitoline Hill #3 and continued to work on my outline for Bex Addison. I hope to begin writing CH3 in November, and Bex sometime next year.

I also had the opportunity to attend The Book Con last weekend in NYC. I wasn't able to go to any of the panels, but I visited all the exhibits, had some interesting conversations, got a few free books, and had a great time. (And then I got to see Finding Neverland on Broadway, which was as magical as you'd expect, and I highly recommend it for anyone who likes Peter Pan.)

I hope you all had a good May and are looking forward to June!

Writing Update

Things are still a little on the slow side when it comes to my writing. Pack Supremacy is still with one of my beta readers, and it's due for another round of edits once she's done. I came up with a better ending to the B story, so I'll start working on that once I get all the feedback. Hopefully this will be a shorter round of edits than the last few times.

I haven't done much work on Bex since my last post, but I have outlined more of the third Capitoline Hill book, and I accidentally started a new MG novella project. I say accidentally because it was supposed to be a short story, something I could throw up in a weekend or so. And then I made a map, and then it became a three-book project. But book one is fully outlined, and I've started writing, so maybe I can keep that one weekend from stretching more than a month.

I also spent some significant time this month redesigning my website. I wanted to create something more static, a separate entity from my blog. So if you have some time and are interested, you can check it out at www.tobisummers.com (the permanent link for this blog will now be www.tobisummers.blogspot.com).

And, because it's the playoffs and I'm listening to a hockey game while I write this, LET'S GO RANGERS!!!

Writing Update

There isn't too much to report on the writing front, but I'm trying to write at least one post a month that's focused on my books, so here it is.

Pack Supremacy is with my beta readers right now. One just finished it, and I'm mulling over her notes; the other is reading it now and should have feedback for me soon. I was pleased by the critique I've received so far, and I'm really looking forward to getting the rest. I feel like I'm finally coming in for a landing with this book. Right now my expected publication date is June or July 2015. I'm hoping to have it up on Amazon for pre-order in the next couple weeks.

Meanwhile, I'm continuing to write while I wait for the comments on Pack Supremacy. I've been intensely plotting the untitled Bex Addison project I've mentioned before, as well as Capitoline Hill #3 and another book that I'm not ready to discuss yet. And I'm trying desperately not to work on anything else, which is a lot easier said than done.

Like I said, not too much to report right now. Hopefully I'll have some good news for you about Pack Supremacy for my next update.

Writing Update

Finally, after months of sitting on a round of comments from my beta readers, I managed to get another draft of Pack Supremacy completely edited. Hooray!

I feel a lot better about this version than I did about the previous few. This draft was a relatively major overhaul of the story. Most of the core bits stayed the same, but I dramatically increased a part of Quinn's narrative in an effort to cut down on the amount of time she spends sitting in an office moping and talking to herself. It also allowed me to cut out several scenes between her and another character that really served no purpose.

That said, I always send a draft to my betas with the same comment: "I have no idea if this is good or complete gibberish." It always seems to me like during the editing process I take everything I wrote, throw it up into the air, and hope it lands in a reasonable order. Scenes that used to be in chapter 4 now don't appear until chapter 23. That revelation that Quinn had at the end of the book is suddenly bumped up to about a third of the way through. Because I've read it so many times and I know what's supposed to be happening, I can never tell if anyone else is going to understand who's who and what's going on.

I like to think of writing like a patchwork quilt. You start out with some fabric that's pretty nice on its own, but then, in the second draft, you find other fabric that's also nice and you sew some together. Then you share it with people, and they offer suggestions as to another pattern that might work, and you add some of that. And again and again, until you have either a beautiful quilt or a clashing, misshapen array of fabric squares.

In case you're wondering, I don't quilt. So that entire paragraph might not make sense.

Anyway, this is intended as an update. What's next for me? While I wait for feedback on this draft, I'm going to do two things. The first, like I talked about a couple weeks ago, is to make a few charts and lists for The Capitoline Hill Chronicles, namely a timeline and a character list so I can stop guessing every time I need to address one of those two things.

And the second is a new project, though one I've talked about before. I'm finally going to begin seriously outlining the currently untitled story about Bex Addison. I've been tossing this plot around for a couple years now, and I'm really excited to get started working on it. I'll post more about it goes along.

Every project is a learning experience

I've been putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard for as long as I can remember. I have five completed novels (six, if you count Pack Supremacy), a double handful of short stories, a hundred or so flash fictions (including fanfiction), and folders and folders of half-started projects. I've learned something new with every single one. And I still have a lot to learn.

Sometimes I take my writing abilities for granted. I feel like I can sit down at any time and pound out a story that may not be polished and perfect, but will at least be coherent and engaging. And so I don't think about perfecting my craft the way I probably should. Though I have a pile of writing books, I'm lucky to make it through a couple chapters of them. I don't traverse blogs looking for tips and tricks. I go to one writing conference a year, and that's because it's local and I can sleep in my own bed.

I don't even write as often as I should. It's hard to find time everyday, but not as hard as I've made it out to be in my mind. I could sacrifice an hour in front of the TV or a half hour of reading during my lunch break. I could push myself outside my comfort zone to see what it feels like to write contemporary or epic fantasy or literary.

But even with all my bad habits, I'm learning as I go. I'm noticing it acutely as I edit Pack Supremacy. I finished the first draft of Pack Mentality back in late 2012/early 2013. Since they're in the same series, details I included in PM are obviously incredibly important in PS. And I catch myself thinking, "Oh, I wish I'd done THAT in book 1," or, "I really shouldn't have included that bit so early."

I find I've learned a lot about the process of writing too. I really winged it when when I was writing Pack Mentality. I'm not sure I expected to actually finish it, so I have basically no notes. Which means I'm spending a ton of time checking for timeline continuity and making sure my character descriptions don't change from one page to the next. At some point (probably after this draft is done), I'm going to have to sit down and make lists and charts and maybe even maps because it's just getting ridiculous at this point. But it would have been a lot easier if I'd done this from the beginning.

Hopefully these are things I'll take with me as I work on my future books. I don't always learn from my mistakes, but if I can execute a few of these changes, it will give me room to learn new lessons once I get there.