Writer’s Desk

Hello, dreamers. The past weekend marked another major milestone for me: my first-ever book signing event.

The event took place at one of my absolute favorite bookstores: Joy and Matt’s Books in downtown Cincinnati. The foremost purveyors of science fiction literature in my beloved city did not disappoint, and I’d like to extend my personal thanks to those who came out and bought copies of Writers of the Future, Vol. 42.

But I’m not done. I have more events coming this week. I’m also working my way through a struggle story, workshopping a very promising short story, and tracking multiple submissions and queries. I’ve got my work cut out for me, so without further ado, here’s what I’ll be up to this week:

In-Person Events

If you live in the Greater Cincinnati area and still haven’t picked up your copy of Writers of the Future, Vol. 42, then you’re in luck. This Saturday, May 30, I will be at Tome Books and Novelteas in Anderson Township from 1-3 PM.

I’m really excited about this event. Tome is a lovely bookstore, and the owner Jeremy is a really cool dude who’s published multiple bestsellers. As was the case last week, my illustrator Nathan Deiwert will also be on hand, and he’ll be bringing the original oil painting of his illustration for my award-winning story “In Living Color”!

Two days prior, on Thursday, May 28, I will be taking the time to speak to a group of local spec fic writers who meet biweekly at Tome. I’ll be sharing my experience as a struggling writer and with the Writers of the Future contest. This will be my first time speaking to a group of writers as a published author. I can’t wait.

Short Fiction

Work continues apace on my struggle story. I’m not entirely in love with the concept, but that’s part for the course with these things. For the time being I’ve set aside Aquarius 1 to focus squarely on getting back into the saddle. After the struggle story (which I hope to complete by the end of this week) I may give myself a little time to play with short fiction, getting myself stretched out again so I can go the full seven innings.

At present, I have four active short story submissions; I received a rejection this past week. It was for an anthology I’d just heard of recently through my WOTF42 cohort, and I just tossed a story at them hoping for the best. It didn’t pan out, and that’s not particularly disappointing.

I have much higher hopes for three of my remaining submissions. One of them I queried after this week, though to be perfectly honest there’s a very small part of me that’s hoping for a rejection there. I really like that story, and would be keen to fine-tune it and sit on it while I wait for Uncanny to reopen. But another of them may have me poised to break into yet another of the “Big Three” sci-fi literary magazines.

However, something even bigger may be coming…

As I’ve mentioned, just prior to leaving for Hollywood I finished my most recent completed short fic. It’s long (though I’ve pared it down significantly), but it’s a deep, immersive story, set in the most utterly bleak dystopia I’ve ever written. And so far, all of the critique partners who’ve read it have told me it’s the best thing I’ve ever written. Including those who’d read “In Living Color”.

If this story goes the way I hope it will, I’ll have my amazing critique groups to thank. In modern writing, there exists what I might call a “Critique Economy”. If you give, you receive. Over the past weeks as I’ve struggled to slip back into a groove with my own writing I’ve devoted myself more fully to critique. I’ve read some truly fantastic work, much of which gave me the privilege of reading the latest stories from my fellow Writers of the Future winners.

It’s been great to see what this group of incredibly-talented individuals has come up with since their award-winning pieces. But over the past week, something else happened: they all began reading my story. To date, four of them have provided feedback, with a fifth working his way through as I write this.

I haven’t received this much feedback from a critique group since I wrote “Eden in the Vacuum” (which is currently on submission). And if that experience is any indication, this will likely end up being the absolute best piece of short fiction I’ve ever written. I’m eager to start submitting it, but I don’t want to rush something like this. At present, my plan is to wait until the last member has finished reading, then workshop the story sometime this week before making final edits and sending it off.

Upcoming Content

I’ll start with two major announcements.

First, as of Friday I am now a full member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA). It’s a major milestone: my membership sees me joining the ranks of established professional authors of speculative fiction. I will be adding a badge to my homepage later today.

Second, plans are currently underway for the first comprehensive rebalancing of my public platform since I began writing, way back in 2017. Part of this plan would involve shifting all of my weekly posting to my Substack: Martians and Lasers. If you haven’t already, head to Substack and subscribe here for free.

Please note that this is in the very earliest stages of development, and I’ve yet to make a final decision. However, should I go through with it, weekly posts, including my “Writer’s Desk” newsletter, will no longer appear on this site. Under this new direction, this website would be used purely as a platform for access to my work and announcing events.

Again, this is still in the very early stages, and I may elect to maintain my weekly posts here for the time being. But I felt the need to issue this warning to my longtime WordPress followers. I won’t be going away; you can still find all my weekly posts over on Substack.

With that said, here’s what you can expect from me in the week ahead:

Tuesday: “A Very Minor Celebrity”

So now that I’m a published, award-winning author, I’m kind of a big deal. Emphasis on kind of. Learn more about my experience in the publishing world so far in the latest installment of my running series on my experience with Writers of the Future.

Friday: “D.N.F.”

Available on Substack

In the Writing Community, refusing to finish a book is a cardinal sin. But why? Should readers, whether or not the also write, feel obligated to finish a book they don’t like? This is Substack’s introduction to my running series posted on every fifth Friday of a month: the books I didn’t finish, and why they had it comin’.

Sunday: “Dear Sir or Madam”

In this week’s post, learn more about my querying journey, and how a querying writer knows if their work is too long.

It’s going to be a busy week. So keep reading, and dare to dream. – MK