Hello, dreamers. Last week was productive, and I continue to ease my way back into writing in preparation for novel-writing season. However, while I continue to work on my notes for Aquarius 1, there is another, far more pressing task ahead of me.

Return to Pioneers

After several rudderless months, I’ve returned to the task that had dominated spring and early summer for me: making my final changes to Pioneers.

As it turns out, reading for comps research did a lot of good. I find myself approaching this novel from a fresh angle, making changes I’d long struggled with. I’ve begun adding interiority and sharpening POV, while finally leaning into the reality that this is a multi-POV story. It’s going very well. But I’m keenly aware of each passing moment.

I resolved back in January that this would be the year I began querying Pioneers. But with novel-writing season approaching, I’m running out of time. I expect Aquarius 1 (probably) to soak up the vast majority of my time and efforts over the final months of the year. Thus, my current plan is to have everything ready and begin sending out queries next month. And, for those of you keeping track, August is nearly over.

The sheer number of changes I’m making will require additional editing. At minimum, I’ll need a full editing pass (to sharpen sentences), and a proofreading pass. The way I see it, that means I’ll need to finish making all the changes I plan to make by the end of this week. As of this writing, I am about halfway between Phase 2 (out of four). And I expect Phase 3 to require the most significant changes. So this will likely demand the sum total of my writing efforts this week. But if my work over the past three days is any indication, I am ready for this.

If I can complete the principal writing this week, that gives me the next week or two for editing. I will likely combine that with work on my query letter and synopses. My current goal is to send out my first round of query letters by the third Monday in September. Wish me luck.

What’s Next

At the moment, my work beyond Pioneers and Aquarius 1 has been limited to doing due diligence on my outstanding writing projects. It’s a project that’s long-overdue, and it will take time. One consequence of this process is placing the long-planned Turn of the Century project on the back burner. The fact is, launching a self-published ebook series is a significant undertaking, one I’m not sure I’m ready for just yet. The more I’ve looked at the stories, the more I’m convinced I still have work to do before putting them out there. What’s more, I’m not entirely sure it’s the right time for it, given my intention to seek traditional publication over the coming months.

At the moment, I have a tentative plan to turn my editing focus to Turn of the Century once Pioneers is finished. If all goes well, I may still publish the first book, Endurance, sometime this year. But this will only happen after I’ve had sufficient time to advertise and build up hype. The last thing I want is to start flinging books out into the world and have no one read them. Probably not a good look for potential agents. Keep an eye out for further updates.

Lastly, I plan to resume my monthly posts (and possibly a couple weekly posts) next week. Until then, dare to dream. – MK