Hello! I’ve been busy, but I’m still here. I’ll note the general life news below, then move on to writing-related news.

Firstly, I moved into a new apartment last September. (Well. New to me.) The move was exhausting and stressful, but it was worth it. My new place is so much nicer and quieter than my old place, and my quality of life has improved. I genuinely like my home. I didn’t before.

Secondly, my employer moved us all to a new office building in midwinter, so I had to adjust my routines and grow accustomed to the new workplace.

But now all that’s sorted, so I have breathing room to focus on my writing projects.

Based on feedback from my newest beta reader, I revised the first chapter of Novel #1 for pacing and focus. It was too slow, and even though my reader liked the novel overall and found it compelling, it did take her a couple chapters to get into the story. That’s a death sentence for literary agent queries. Agents want stories that draw them in immediately, and they usually only read the first several pages before they decide whether to ask for the full manuscript. It’s also suboptimal from a story quality perspective, irrespective of attracting agents. So I trimmed it down and focused on the impetus for the adventure from the start, then asked the same beta reader and one other to reread that first chapter. Based on their feedback, my revisions worked. Hooray!

Unfortunately, the next batch of queries I sent out did not work. I sent out, oh, six or seven after revisions. Silence and form rejections. At this point, I suspect a marketability problem. I could persist and try more agents, but traditional publishing is looking more and more like a dead end for this story.

I’m considering the self-publishing route. However, if I take this route, I’ll do it my way, which most would consider inadvisable from a professional standpoint. Novel #1 would be the work of my own two hands, from editing to cover art. I don’t plan to commission others for help with those aspects, even though the world is rife with hands more skilled than mine. I won’t pour money into advertising or marketing, either, because I wouldn’t expect to make that money back. If I’ve done the best I could with this story and put it out there, where people can hold it in their hands and read it–even if only a handful of family and friends ever do so–I think I will be satisfied.

I might try traditional publishing again with other novels. Goodness knows I have enough of them hoarded in my laptop, though they’d need varying degrees of polish and rewriting. Many authors go hybrid these days, and traditional publishing has its advantages for projects that fit its market. (Namely: you get help. And money.) At the same time, some genres and stories that don’t fit that market flourish as self-published books–and some would do fine in either. I think most sensible people have let go of the stigma around self-publishing, and self-publishing is more accessible than it used to be. Anyway, for now, I’ll focus on line editing and drawing cover art for Novel #1, then decide what to do from there.

I’ve been enjoying getting back into digital art! Here, I’ll share a sketch of one of my cover ideas:

This was drawn in Rebelle 5, a program I bought years ago. (Rebelle had a sale with a markdown so good it was practically a steal.) The software mimics a painting canvas and pens, pencils, watercolors, oil paints, acrylic paints, and other physical media, but it’s 100% digital. I have a little Wacom tablet that I plug into my laptop to draw with. It’s not quite like pencil and paper, but it still feels far more natural than a mouse. You can see I started drawing colored lines and details over the sketch layer in this. The up-to-date version has completed lineart and colors painted in, but I need to polish details and add biodiversity to the forest. I also don’t want to spoil too much before it’s complete.

This sketch is my second cover idea. My first had her facing the dark depths of the forest, her back turned to the audience and her sword drawn, while a pair of monstrous eyes stared out at her. This first idea was functional from a composition perspective, but it didn’t feel right for my story’s tone or narrative arc. The premise is that she’s going on a quest, venturing into lands she’s never seen, and while the story has fights and bloodshed, that’s not the focus. I also thought this second idea did a better job of conveying my protagonist’s personality.

That’s it for news. I’ll leave you with a quotation from Tolkein:

“‘I wish it need not have happened in my time,’ said Frodo.
‘So do I,’ said Gandalf, ‘and so do all who live to see such times. But that is not for them to decide. All we have to decide is what to do with the time that is given us.’” – J. R. R. Tolkein, The Fellowship of the Ring.

Take care in these turbulent times.