10.2.25: Spooky Szn Update

It's been a minute here. For the handful of people reading this one, I'm still fully invested in getting these stories out. I've also got a huge new appreciation for all of the authors who have gone on to pen incredible, amazing stories while still working the full-time 9 to 5. It's not easy to do.

• I'm fully concentrating on the rewrite of Sunny Lake. We're currently ~40% or so done with the new version, and aside from some basic tenets, we've had to start from the ground floor, which is why it takes this long. Bad news is that it'll be at least another month before I send out the revised manuscript. Good news is that it's much, much better than the first one. Hopefully we'll have it ready to go before the Thanksgiving season so I can celebrate the holidays with a handful more rejection letters.

• I need to start carrying a pad of paper with me, or at least utilize the "notes" feature on my phone. I can't count the number of times I've had a "EUREKA" moment with a plot idea or a scene setting and just totally forgotten about it. I actually had a dream about something in the story and actually got out of bed to write it down.

• Trying to write stories has changed the way I actually read stories, which I hope is a good thing, because there's no going back. It's a different experience, looking at it from a writer's perspective. I can't say I'd ever really noticed things like recurring themes, sentence structure and pacing, trope repetition, or if third person limited would be a more effective way to spin a viewpoint.

• Thanks to everyone who asks about the book, how it's going , what writing is like, or anything similar. It first and foremost makes me excited to know that people are vested in it happening. It also has the added bonus of lighting a fire under my ass to make sure I keep it up and get it done.

• Lastly, I've started to think that despite my nervousness, having some people who read regularly read some of the chapters and give me opinions is probably a worthy exercise, so if you're willing to be a Guinea pig for me and give honest, candid feedback, let me know! I promise you can't say anything that will offend me, and if you're my friend, you've probably already said something far more offensive than "this character sucks".

Thanks again for reading!

KPS