Best motivational speech ever? Possibly.

I don’t know why I get so stressed about this, but the idea of blogging (which I actually enjoy) when I could be writing on my WIP stresses me out to no end. And the longer I take to write, the sadder I am that I haven’t updated. I don’t want to update just to talk about my upcoming stories, I want to explore other topics! Like all the lovely baking experiments I’m always conducting, and how anyone finds time to work, write, raise a daughter, eat healthy, keep a rigorous workout regimen, and still engage in reading all the neat things that are coming out.  And then lovely publications like the Cats in Space anthology from Paper Golem come up and I find its been months since I updated anything. Of course I’m doing stuff on the writing front. It may never be as much as I’d like to do, but I’m managing as well as a working mother with a husband in school can be expected to.

So. Quick rundown:

CATS IN SPACE! I was so excited to be a part of this anthology. Back in August 2012 I had written a lovely little flash titled ‘Star Born, Star Bound’ about the REAL reason feral cats act the way they do, and not too long later, I had the chance to submit it to the Cats in Space anthology that Elektra Hammond was editing. This story once again proves that my stories that sell the easiest are the ones that were pure joy to write in the first place.

Next is ‘Miss Darcy’s First Intergalactic Ballet Class,’ coming in July/August’s issue of Galaxy’s Edge. (I’ll post a link when it becomes available) This story came about after a conversation with Bud Sparhawk at the Tor party during LoneStarCon 3 in 2013. We were talking about how I need to write what I know, and what I know is the crazy stuff that kids do during a ballet class. Alien children can’t be that far off.

The best part about these publications coming out so closely is that a certain cat appears in both stories. I’m excited to write more adventures about poor Felix in the future. His story cries out to be told.

I also returned last week from yet another MegZelCon, the best little con you’ve never heard of. Megan Grey and I had a fabulous time brainstorming and plotting my next project, currently titled Rising Storms. This epic fantasy takes place in a world where the primary transportation is birds, and the rumor is that all great (and not so great) weather can be attributed to storm bottlers. I’m really excited about this novel, and I’ve enjoyed the excitement of world building a secondary world for essentially the first time. Yeah, I’ve done world building for short stories here and there, but really world building from the ground up for an entire novel/series is a first.

So yes, MegZelCon was a success. We wrote, spent time with ‘special guests’ Nancy Fulda, Janci Patterson, and Gama Martinez, played some great games of Munchkin and Labyrinth, watched Netflix’s Daredevil (which has been pretty impressive so far), and in general got re-energized on our current projects. The Hospitality Suite (me) probably baked too many delicious cookies, but MegZelCon comes but once a year, right? Not anymore. We’re now meeting 2 to 3 times a year for these little writing retreats, so now I need to step up my ‘working out away from home’ game.

So that’s the big stuff. I’m still fighting the good fight, sending out my short stories and writing new epistolary flash fiction (more on that in another post). I’ll also start editing my middle grade fantasy novel ‘Rockbottom’ soon. I’m taking all the feedback from my writing group and am figuring out which changes to make, so I’ll be juggling that as well. It’s not like I don’t have stuff to be working on!

In the meantime, sleep is calling my name. Tomorrow is a full day of teaching and child-rearing and writing.