So, now that the novel is gone, I was able to catch up on some emails, house cleaning, gardening–all the thinks I’ve been neglecting. And, I sent in a grant application for my research trip in the fall. Catching up!

Got my revisions done on time and the book submitted to Laksa Media Groups. Yay! Book 2 is on its way to the next step!

There are lots of opportunities for writers, but you have to fill out the paperwork.  Updated my Access Copyright info this week. Let’s see if that translates into income next November!

Met with my publisher yesterday, and things are going well. I hand the book in, in two weeks (no sweat) and have to do a bit of work on blurb and website content; he is checking on the cover and website, which should be up by September, at which time we announce the first book. We have tentative launch months for the first three books. Yay!

Got to see all kinds of good friends this weekend at the Nebula Awards Conference, and met some new people as well. Arly Sorg was so kind to introduce me to some cool folks: he has an incredible memory and said some nice things (about everyone!) in his introductions. SFWA is doing amazing work, and the Board is super-organized and active. Touched base with Mary Robinette Kowal, who met Heather at the workshop they both attended this spring. Lots of great panels.

So I finally finished going through the line edits and critique suggestions for my novel, and there are some suggested tweaks that are really going to make this book AWESOME! Thanks so much to Sandy, Jeff and Adria for a super-professional and supportive critique!

Thanks, Randy McCharles for your thrice-annual Writers in the House: this is the first one I have been able to make in about a year, but it was super-productive. I finished the outline for my third novel in the Addicted to Heaven series, including a scene list (each with a “because” or “why now” attached), timeline and information. Lots of back-and-forthing to make connections among different plot threads and characters. It’s ready to use!

“For a Rich Man to Enter” is out on Orson Scott Card’s Intergalactic Medicine Show! Yay! AND!!! It has its own art work! Happy dance!

I love going to the Calgary Young Writers’ Conference each year. Today I had two great groups of kids to teach, and got to see old friends–writers–that I don’t necessarily see on a regular basis. The convention committee is really well organized and it runs so smoothly every year. A highlight.

I have tons of ideas for my next novel, but a lot of thought needs to go into the underpinnings of any new project, because it is the themes that drive everything else. Specifically, how does the theme generate character action and consequence (which needs to be made literal in the climax); how do the character’s driving wants and needs lead to that climactic moment; how can the character’s internal drives be made visible through action, and the external plot (that is, the antagonist’s driving actions) feed the central character’s internal change? I need to know all of this before I can begin to structure what happens.

But the good news is: I know what questions to ask. Now to dive in.