Next month will mark the 11th year since I started writing seriously. Well, actually next month marks when I started what would become my first novel. I didn't get serious about it until a month later when I realized I'd been working on it more diligently than anything I'd started before. The rest is history, but hey, maybe you'd like to see some of that history.
So, here are my timeline of books written - and partially written - in as close as I can remember to the order I wrote them in:
2004 The Comet - which then became several other titles before being shopped as Spectacle... which then became Fear Itself. (suspense)
2005 Caldera - which is now Nature of Destruction. (suspense)
2006 Be Careful What You Wish For - unfinished (SF)
2006 Blink of an I (dystopian)
2006 Wrongful Termination - written but not edited - working on it (suspense)
2007 Redemption - unfinished (SF)
2007 Nanotechnology - now Bloodflow - written and working on edits (suspense)
2007 Cut & Dried - unfinished (mystery)
2007 RTL (dystopian)
2008 Manhunter - now Dying Embers. (suspense)
2008 Fertile Ground - unfinished but still working on (suspense)
2009 Djinnocide - written all the way through one way, then all the way through another way (both in 3rd person). Rewritten all the way through in 1st person. (urban fantasy)
2010 Unequal - written but not edited, but I'm working on it (dystopian)
2011 Darklings Rise - unfinished (fantasy)
2012 Djinn 2 - written but not edited - will edit in 2016 (urban fantasy)
2013 Sleeping Ugly - unfinished (urban fantasy)
2014 Djinn 3 - written but not edited - due to edit 2016 (urban fantasy)
2014 Arthurian UF - this one is partially done and I'm still really excited about it, but now I'm way too busy. Maybe in 2015, I'll find time.
So there you have it. With a few short stories scattered along the way, and a few miscues on damn near everything, and a few started but never got more than a few pages in, so why mention those.
Several of these have been queried and submitted, to no avail. So that's why I'm moving forward with self-publishing. I believe in my books. All of my books. The reason I'm moving ahead with Dying Embers is that right now, it's the one I thought was closest to being ready for publication (boy, was I wrong... so much editing... ugh) and it's also not currently out with any publishers.
Like I've said before - but it bears repeating - this is MY journey. Every writer is different. For instance, I'm what they call a 'dirty drafter'. I don't edit while I write the first draft. (Well, no more than rewording as I go along if I catch something in the moment - like writing this blog post.) Which is why there's a lot of stuff up there that says 'not edited'. You mileage probably varies wildly.
And it's also why my production looks like it slowed down. I've been trying to edit the things I never really edited. So no new writing for me until I eat my peas. (Yeah peas = editing for me.)
So there ya go. My writing life in a timeline form.
Thoughts? And please keep your snarky to yourself. If you don't understand this is how I and I alone write, keep it to yourself. It won't be posted anyway.
My blog, my rules. I don't come to your house and tell you how to exist. So there. =op
I still feel like I'm missing someone - like the movie Home Alone, when the parents THINK they have all the kids, but they left one behind.
First, do people actually leave you snarky comments? Because you seem to warn us away from them quite frequently, but I can't think of anyone who frequents your blog who would do something like that... *shrugs*
ReplyDeleteAnd second, wow! That's a lot of books! Get to work, missy! LOL ;)
Yep, Nat, they do. The reason you never see them is I don't allow them to post. And I usually only mention it after I've stopped one from going through. They're not from people who usually comment. You guys are cool.
DeleteThanks! I'm working as fast as my little hands and my brain can handle. I need a clone or two. ;o)
I'm a dirty drafter too. Or a pantser, I've heard it called that too. I think it's the best way, myself. I like writing as the ideas come into my head, or more likely as they are inserted by my characters. I'll put little notes into the text that are reminders to go back and edit later. For example, a recent chunk had two buddies clinking coffee mugs to celebrate how long one had been on a job. But I didn't know how long that was. I left a note and moved on. Later I'll go back and figure it out, and hope it doesn't affect anything else.
ReplyDeleteEverybody's got their own style, but I'm glad this one works for you. Everything can be fixed in edits. ;o)
DeleteI shudder when I go back and read some of my early books. I don't think there's enough editing in the world that could help them! I'm a dirty drafter, too, but I'm getting "cleaner" with my language, plotting, and characters. I've learned a lot since that first book of mine was published and I'm a universe away from the first book I wrote.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sticking with it. I love your voice. I enjoy your books. And I applaud you taking this next step! Also, on the snarky? WTH?!?!
I'm shuddering just going back through Dying Embers, Silver. I thought this sucker was the clean one. :headdesk: Getting cleaner with every book is the goal, isn't it? We'll be first drafting publishable stuff eventually. Right? ;o)
DeleteThank you for being so supportive all these years. And stop, you're making me blush. As for the snarky, they're drive-by haters.