Writing and Events (and more writing)

Blog No. 310

A bunch of my last posts have been all about The Neon Heart, the second book in my Novella Series. With most of my events done for the year, it’s what I’ve been spending my time on most. I am so close to finishing the first draft that I can taste it (though the word count just keeps growing). I’m eager to get it done so I can spend as much time as possible in the editing stage, and so I can finally start my next novel. I do have a potential ChiSeries reading in Peterborough on Nov 15th, but it hasn’t been finalized yet, so I’m not counting on it happening. Other than that, I’ve been pouring a bunch of time and energy into the last ChiSeries Windsor of the year. It’s the big fundraiser and Christian and I are going all out with trophies and everything. I’m hoping we can draw in more people than normal, especially since the whole concept relies on having participants.

We tend to do well with donations since the people who do come to the ChiSeries Windsor readings are very generous and appreciate having the national event in the city. We don’t come anywhere close to the Ottawa events, but we also don’t have nearly the same number of guests. Hopefully over the next year we can continue to increase out attendance. For now, I’m going to keep putting out posters and prodding folks to sign up for one of the two readings. We have Best Worst Poetry (Pretty self explanatory), and On the Spot Stories (where storytellers pick topics and details from bowls and make up stories on the spot). The winners will be decided by our three hand picked judges who will assign points based on the nonsensical rules Christian and I are in the middle of coming up with. Think silly and humorous.

There are still a few details to work out with that, but I have high hopes. Trophies are not cheep and neither are all the other supplementals we’re getting to complete the ambiance. But it will be all worth it for one fun night of laughs and literature. (Ottawa thinks it’s to great. I’ll show them). Other than that, it’s all writing for me. Neon Heart is already four-thousand words longer than planned. I’ll be around forty-thousand by the time I’m finished. I’m not upset about the length. I planned on it being longer than The Thinking Machine. I have lots of room for cuts in my edits, but even then it’s going to be a big step. The story dictates it, so I’m not going to fight it. I just hope it’s not too big a jump for constancy. Plus, I have no idea what the next story in the series will be. I left a lot of options open, but who knows how long any of those could end up being when I actually write them next year.

Meh? I’ll just roll with it when I get there. I’ll try to keep Neon Heart near the upper limits if I can. Anything longer than forty-thousand words will likely be a lot longer and may as well be a novel by that point. Speaking of the novel. I have no idea how long that’s going to be. It’s a larger story that, like I’ve mentioned, will need some more structure than I’m used to. The first draft of Pilot was over eighty-thousands words. I’m hoping this one will be over a hundred-thousand. It’s more in keeping with what gets published now-a-days, and my goal is to get it published. Again, I’m not planning on forcing a length, but if it get considered by someone and they ask for it, I’ll certainly do my best. But I’m getting way ahead of myself. I’m not finished Neon Heart yet. Hopefully I will be in a few more days!