Hello again, dreamers.

I had another productive week. Though I only completed one short story, I’m happy to be continuing my work apace. I’m still averaging about 2,000 words per day, and I’m proud of that. But with most of Beyond Pathfinder complete and several stories out on submission, I’ve begun to shift gears from writing to editing. Recently, I read perhaps the most eye-opening piece of advice on writing I’ve seen in years: edit and revise your work after every rejection. Though the advice was given in regards to querying novels, I found it applicable to my short fiction as well.

I’ve been talking about my short fiction a lot of late, and for good reason: after years of frustration, I’m finally back at it, cranking out new fiction every day. In a way, it feels like I’ve started over with my writing. And when first starting out, just completing a story is an accomplishment. I’ve taken great pride in my recent work; I’ve not only generated four new short stories, all set in the Dotiverse, but I’ve also created intriguing characters, and the stories have taken me in unexpected directions. I’ve always enjoyed problem solving, and good fiction (especially sci-fi) thrives on it. How do I make the story more intriguing? Where do I need to introduce action to break up the drama? How do I draw these characters closer together? Now that I’ve done that, how do I split them up to continue their development?

Of course, the problem solving is only the beginning. It is said that, in order to be successful, a first draft need only exist. And when a writer has just completed a project, it’s hard to feel bad about it. I’ve found I need some distance from a completed story before I can read it objectively, and find the problems. And that has constituted the bulk of my efforts over the past week.

It now feels like, while I’ve spent the past month learning how to write again, I’ve spent the past week learning how to write as me again. I’ve been paring down stories, making lines more concise. I’ve edited for speech, making sure everything each character says conforms to their unique voice. And I’ve been chopping away at worldbuilding exposition, reminding myself that, while I need to know everything, the reader doesn’t.

As a result, I now feel even better about a lot of my recent stories than I did when I first completed them. And I’m eager to share them with the world. But, first things first. Here’s a look at what’s new, and what’s in store for the coming week and month:

New Content: Poseidon

It’s been far too long, but this month I officially resumed my monthly short fiction posts. Poseidon is now available for reading. If you haven’t read it yet, check it out. Poseidon follows Todd Helfrich, the commander of a solar sail spacecraft on a two-year journey to the moons of Jupiter. Hinging on interpersonal drama, the story covers the events of two years in space, and shows how Helfrich’s life changes as he finds love and loss, as he and his crew work to avoid an errant object in the Asteroid Belt. Poseidon is the first of six installments of my Beyond Pathfinder series, set during what I’ve called the Pathfinder Era of my Dotiverse continuity. The events of Poseidon run from late 2094 to early 2097.

Upcoming Content: MERIT 19

I’m pleased to announce that, even though Poseidon was just posted, my next short fiction piece is already complete and edited. Set in 2095, MERIT 19 tells the story of Trey Doyle: the pilot of a short-range supply vehicle running cargo between the space stations in Earth’s orbit. When Earth loses contact with a transport ship inbound from Mars, Doyle is diverted to investigate. Upon reaching the craft, he must work together with its crew to get the ship moving again.

MERIT 19 will be available for reading on this site on June 3.

The Future for Beyond Pathfinder

While MERIT 19 is already scheduled to post on June 3, the future of the series is currently up in the air. The next two installments, Ganymede and Fantoms, are currently under review by different science fiction periodicals. Ganymede is being reviewed by Fantasy & Science Fiction, and while they normally have a pretty quick turnaround, they are currently experiencing a backlog. Fantoms, which I dare say is the best of the four stories I’ve written thus far, is currently awaiting review with Analog, which can take in excess of two months to respond to submissions. This means that, for the time being, the timetable for future posting is unclear.

If either Ganymede or Fantoms is rejected, I’ll have to decide whether to pursue other avenues of publication or simply post the stories to this site. While the stories of Beyond Pathfinder follow a set timeline, and thus I would prefer to post them in chronological order, each story stands alone in its own right. Thus, I don’t necessarily have to post them in any particular order. If Ganymede is indeed rejected by F&SF, I will likely decline to submit it anywhere else. That would mean Ganymede would appear on this site on July 1. If I decide not to continue shopping Fantoms around, it would be posted here on August 5.

In any event, the final two stories, Terrarium and Europa, will almost certainly end up here. Terrarium, which is currently in progress, will be light on action, and thus probably unsuitable for most current sci-fi pubs. Europa will likely be too intricately tied to the events of Pathfinder and Pioneers to be acceptable to most publications. If either or both Ganymede and Fantoms are accepted for publication, Terrarium and Europa will move up into the July and August posting slots. If not, Terrarium will be posted on September 2, and Europa will appear on October 7, completing the Beyond Pathfinder series.

What’s Next

If I continue my current pace, both Terrarium and Europa will be completed within the next two weeks. I have no plans to extend the series; the six stories have been the plan since I first created the concept years ago. And as I typically devote the closing months of any year to novel projects, any subsequent Beyond Pioneers series wouldn’t be posted until January at the earliest. Thus, I have time to figure out my next move.

For now, my only concrete plans beyond finishing Beyond Pathfinder include a final read-through of Pioneers and finding my next novel project. However, as I’ve already said, given how rewarding this experience has been, I’m loath to abandon my short fiction at the moment. I’ve already started getting ideas for potential Beyond Pioneers stories. And as I plan to begin querying Pioneers as soon as possible, any Beyond Pioneers series would be published here. So stay tuned.

It’s gonna be another big week. So keep reading, comment, and dare to dream. – MK