As those of you who follow me on social media may have noticed, I’ve been off my feet for the past few days after dropping a flute case on my foot from a height of about six feet. (Protip: put on shoes before you start a whirlwind cleaning effort.) Nothing is broken, but I didn’t stay off it for the first few days after it happened, so now I’m on day three of doctor’s orders to do so. Thankfully, it’s much better now, which is good, since I have three days in the office at the EDJ starting tomorrow, and that entails a walk of about a quarter mile from parking deck to cubicle.
After that, though, I have a long weekend for Independence Day, so I’ll be able to rest up more. I can even watch fireworks right from the comfort of my sofa! LOL
I’ll also be able to spend the long weekend writing. I’m working on two main projects right now. One is a best-friends-to-lovers story about high school football players. It would be the first in a trilogy to take them through their senior year of college. All three books are generally planned out, so now all I have to do is write them. The easy part, right? HA. In an attempt to focus, though, I’ve set an initial deadline of July 15 to have a rough draft of book one, so I’ll have something to talk about (if not actually pitch) at RWA. It will probably be VERY rough, but at least it’s something!
The other story is an erotic novella based around fetish play. So since the trilogy is a sweet romance, this is pretty much a 180-degree shift. It’s based on some observations from my trip to IML in Chicago last month, but since it’s not my kink, I’ll definitely be running it by some friends who are involved in that kind of play. (I wrote the first sex scene yesterday, and boy, that thousand words went by FAST.)
Unlike a lot of authors, I always have two (occasionally more) projects going at a time. I just get too bogged down trying to work on one at a time. I try to mix things up, though—in theme, length, style, content, etc.—so they work like palate cleansers for each other. My last two submissions were a sweet contemporary romance novella and an erotic scifi short story, written mostly at the same time.
Speaking of which, those stories are both in the editing/production pipeline. The short is due out later this summer from Wilde City Press, as part of their Charlie Harding Presents line. The novella will be part of a baseball-themed anthology with Kate McMurray, Marguerite Labbe, and Kerry Freeman, coming in the fall from Dreamspinner.
As far as longer-term planning, in addition to RWA, I’ll be in attendance at Dragon*Con (of course) and GayRomLit here in Atlanta, and I plan to be at both North Georgia/Marietta Pride (last weekend in July) and Atlanta Pride (second weekend in October). I’m also on the case for 2014 already, signed up as an author for RainbowCon in Tampa and with a hotel reservation for the RT Booklovers Convention in New Orleans next May. I haven’t decided for sure about RT, but it looks very likely at this point. The dates for Outlantacon aren’t final yet, so I’m hoping for no conflicts!
(Speaking of which, I had planned to go to the Folsom Street Fair against this year, because I had an amazing time in 2012. However, a family event may fall on that weekend, so it looks like I might have to miss it.)
Otherwise, well, life goes on. The EDJ is still there (and really, not particularly evil, except as jobs generally are). Family is doing well. Friends visited last weekend and we had a wonderful time. The weather is hot. Our apartment still needs work. My to-read list is extensive, and my book spending too high (not that that’s going to stop me). And it’s the last day of the quarter, so go out and buy stuff from your favorite authors so their royalty checks will be nice and fat, and they’ll keep on writing. 🙂
shaeconnorwrites 