*Note: Before I get into the meat and potatoes of this post, let me say that my faith in humanity has been restored as my sunglasses were discovered and returned to me! Today is a good day!

Today begins NaNoWriMo. National Novel Writing Month. V&A Shipping is halfway plotted and I will begin the writing sometime after the day job is over. I will knock out words fast and furious. I’ve reread good portions of V&A Shipping and I even have parts set up for B.T. Justice and Junior (Bring me a Hamburger!) I’m excited. I mean having difficulty concentrating excited.

This is a sequel. The first was a complete story. This will also be a complete story. It won’t start where the last one left off and that will help fill in the back story as to how they got to where they are. This will give me more words to play with as I fill in the blanks, clue the reader in to new crew members, now job roles, changes in the dynamic of the crew.

There’s also another thing this will help with and that’s tie-in short stories to fill in those blanks for the reader. But that’s a discussion for another time.

I will attempt to write 50,000 words this month. What will this do to my annual goal? It will put me around 449,000 words if I only write those 50,000 words. I think I’ll pass that before the end of this month. This means December will be all gravy. I’ll have hit and surpassed that 450,000 word goal. It means I’ve already set up my spreadsheet for next year to hit 500,000 words. I’m excited. I’m anxious. I’m happy.

My intention is to keep upping that goal until it gets too high. That’s when I’ll know where my ‘sweet spot’ is. How many words can I produce in a year. Could I have 12 NaNoWriMos in me? If I can (doing this part time) then I should be able to get some stories out there and into the wild. Get books out there. Get them as ebooks and print editions. Start making a small income from my writing. This is a dream I’ve had for far too long and it’s time I took the reigns and put myself out there far more than I ever have.

Yes, it’s scary. I know there will be difficulties. There will be problems. I will have to put money into edits, cover art, layout. I might have to put my secret projects to the side so I can write more. Why work on those when I have such a huge back catalog of work just sitting and waiting to see the light of day?

I did a mental inventory the other day. Including Astel (which I intend to re-edit and update) I have 4 books just waiting to get out there. V&A Shipping, Of Gnomes and Dwarves, Paradise Palms, Billy Barbarian. That’s 5 books that all can lead to a series.

On the burner I now have V&A Shipping II, I’m going to finally write the sequel for Astel, To Fall From the Sky is over 1/2 way done, Almost-Super Heroes is 1/3 of the way done, Life of Lists is 20,000 words in. I need to finish all of there and then start writing the second books in each of these (well, maybe not Life of Lists). But the point is I’ve already set myself up with a large number of works.

Have I been looking for a publisher or agent? Yes

I sent some of my work off to a publisher. It’s been almost a year and I haven’t heard back. This is publishing. These things happen. I understand. It’s not a fast process. Publishing will always be a slow moving vessel.

That doesn’t mean I need to stand still and wait. V&A Shipping already has an audience and an audience that’s asked for a sequel. I would love to have that one traditional published, and I’ll still give it a chance. I’m patient, but I need to be realistic. I’m about to write the sequel. I need to get book 1 out there for readers so once book 2 is ready, I can also release it. And a tie-in short story…or two. Maybe a tie-in Novella. Who knows.

There’s so much I can do with V&A Shipping that I waiting is hurting me.

I can do the same with Of Gnomes and Dwarves. Both of these universes are fun to write in. I can write the books quickly. I think they are strong stories that readers will enjoy. That’s my goal: write stories that people enjoy.

I’ve said this many times over the years. I don’t write deep philosophical works. I write to entertain. If you get something more from one of my books, awesome! If you read a story and had fun, BAM! That’s what I wanted. If you read something and just didn’t enjoy it or get it, then my writing isn’t for you (more than likely). That’s ok. I know what I write isn’t for everyone. I just need to find my audience.

I’m rambling. I’m excited and I ramble when I’m excited. Just like the new crew member of the S.S. Acid Rat will be. B.O.B. will be a BLAST to write. I can just tell from my plotting. As will the new ship’s computer, Muffin. Oh, the crew is in for a bumpy ride.

I will let you know where I’m at…

Until Tomorrow!

WOO WOO!