Hello, dreamers. We’re halfway through December; the final month of what has been, for me, an extraordinary year in writing.

Over the past week, my overarching strategy for this month is finally taking shape. I’ve been working on short fiction again, a process that includes the start of my annual year-end audit of active projects. I have a story in progress, another on the way. And having finished my editing pass on Aquarius 1, I’m ready to look ahead to query prep. It’s going to be a busy month the rest of the way, so without further ado, here’s what I’ll be up to this week:

Short Fiction

Whenever in doubt, I return to short fic, and that’s what I did last week.

After drifting slowly back into short fiction while editing Aquarius 1, last week I worked my way through a new short story. It’s really good, a stark departure from anything I’ve written before. For whatever reason, I’ve found I can only write it in the morning. But day by day I’ve chipped away at it, and I’m confident I’ll be able to knock it out tomorrow morning.

There’s just something about December, it seems. Last year around this time I was writing a story that completely changed my writing style. Now, with this new story, I’m again pushing the envelope. And I’m not even close to being done for the year.

At present, I plan to keep rolling with short fic after this story is finished, barring any major changes to Seven Days on Samarkand (more on that shortly). Over the past month I’ve had more than a few fun ideas for short fiction, and I’m eager to explore a few. All the while, my critique group and beta readers are working through the last of my existing manuscripts. And not a moment too soon, as the January submission window is fast approaching.

Aquarius 1

With mixed feelings, I’ve decided to put my work-in-progress aside for now. Between year-end stuff, the holidays, and query prep, I just don’t feel I have the bandwidth to immerse myself in a novel project the way I’d need to. Having completed my editing pass, I’ll be shelving the story for the time being.

The decision was difficult, even more so than it was around this time last year. Because this time, I really found myself connecting with it. Finally the pieces have clicked into place. I’ve been able to dig into the characters’ heads and produce the kind of voice-y story I’ve grown accustomed to writing. Now, more than ever, I truly believe I’m ready to make this story happen.

Exactly when that will happen is still up in the air, however. Most years I devote the first several months to short fiction, mainly because querying and/or prep are occupying most of my writing time. With my next round for Seven Days on Samarkand on the horizon, this year promises to be no different. However, I may end up going back to Aquarius 1 next spring, once the dust has settled on querying.

For now, as soon as my query prep is complete I plan to dive back into research (so to speak) on the alien biosphere of the ocean moon Thamiyn. As it stands, I’ll still have some space stuff to write when I return to the story, but landing is fast approaching. The second phase of the story will take place primarily on the surface, as Karen Hernandez leads an expedition to study the moon’s ocean. I’m excited to write that, but I wanna make damn sure I get it right.

Querying Seven Days on Samarkand

With January approaching, I’m looking ahead to query prep. I have some big decisions to make.

My first order of business will be to fully assess my manuscript and materials as they currently stand. I have some ideas for how I could sharpen my query letter, and already two members of my critique group have agreed to read the manuscript. However, based on my feedback through the first round of queries, I’m loath to make any major changes to my materials.

That leaves strategy.

As I may have mentioned previously, the feedback I received from first-round agents has left me wondering if perhaps it’s my strategy, not the story or query materials, that is the problem. Conventional wisdom suggests that first-time authors should first seek out new agents. These agents are often aggressively building their lists, and may be more open to new voices and fresh ideas. However, several of the newer agents I queried in the first round told me that though they liked my story, it just didn’t fit with the list they were building.

Seven Days on Samarkand is, I’d like to think, an innovative story. One infused with themes of conservation and hope on a planet populated by alien dinosaurs. But if I boil it down to the basics, ultimately it’s a hard sci-fi space opera in the vein of The Expanse. As with epic fantasy, there is always a market for hard sci-fi and space opera. But as with epic fantasy, that market is usually fairly narrow.

Increasingly, I’ve wondered if I may have been shooting myself in the foot. I’ve feared I should look for inexperienced agents simply because I’m a new voice. But more established agents may be more willing to represent a story like mine: a very conventional story with decidedly unconventional elements.

As such, I’m now thinking I may begin January by querying more experienced agents. Hopefully they’ll be less hesitant to represent something on the scale of my story, and less subject to the shifting trends of the industry (YASF is very trendy right now). With so many agents open, I can always fire off another round if things don’t go over well through the first one.

However, all of this has me thinking about potentially reuniting the two parts of this story again. If I’m gonna go epic, why not go all the way? That said, however, doing so would take a lot of work. I’d likely need to ditch at least half of the new material I’d written during the initial severing last spring, not to mention bringing everything in what is now part two of the story up to my new standards. The word count could still balloon considerably. Even if I found myself with something of marketable length, I’d be facing the problem that led me to split the story in the first place: the complexity of the plot.

I’d thus need to see if there was a way to adequately encapsulate the entire story in a 300-word query letter. I find that less daunting now, having learned a lot about writing query letters. But this would be a monumental undertaking. And the chances of pulling all of this off in a matter of weeks are remote, at best. I could end up needing to fire off my initial queries before work is finished on the manuscript. And if one of those queries led to a quick full request, that…would be bad. So before I do anything, I need to sit down and have a good, long think over this.

Upcoming Content

I’ve been considering several changes to this site. All would be relatively minor, however; mostly related to expanding on my current projects and streamlining my visual appeal. That said, here’s what you can expect on this site through the week ahead:

Wednesday: “WIP Wednesday”

In what will be my final “WIP Wednesday” for the time being, I reflect on writing Aquarius 1: what went well, what I learned, and where I go from here.

Friday: “The Cutting Room: The Readers”

In this month’s post on editing, I answer a simple question: how many people read a story before it ends up in print?

Sunday: “Short Fiction Sunday”

No matter what I’m working on, I devote every Sunday to short fiction. This week, I’ll be reflecting on my short fiction journey, and the value of starting small.

It’s going to be another big week. So read on, and dare to dream. – MK