I am seriously starting to believe I am living my life in snippets. I mean, holy crap, it’s seriously already August. AUGUST! What happened in the last month?! Not only that, but what happened to it in general?

To recap, I was reading a guide called “Wonderbook” and I was thoroughly enjoying it. Ask me where it is. I dare you.

I lost it. In my house. But it’s gone. Narnia I suspect.

Moving right along, I smashed out the remainder of my novella, “Birthright” and ended up at over 36k. Then I cut a whole part that I felt slowed the story down too much (actually 5.5k to be exact, in the shower no one sees your tears) and cleaned up what was left. The story is much better for it, but as I anxiously await the response from my other two beta readers, I also feel very exposed. I mean, it’s not every day a straight white guy writes a story about an openly bisexual prince living his life to the fullest when he gives it all up for a prince who he’s had feelings for since he was a boy as that prince tries to figure out his own feelings. Romance? Fantasy? War? What’s not to love? But I’d be lying if I said anything aside from I’m extremely nervous about submitting it to Tor. Or having people read it. Or reading it again for the millionth time. These characters picked me and then I fell madly in love with their tragic (yet triumphant) story. Still doesn’t make me feel any less guarded, if anything else… more so. I suppose I’m just worried what people from those communities would think reading it, as I certainly did my best to deliver a classic story.

Why does my brain do these things to me? Why?

I don’t regret it though as James and Sabian are very much a part of the world I am building, which leads to Jefferson and his story further along. I believe that is why I am even more proud of it. As these characters flesh out my world through extremely important events, I realise my world is full of a diverse range of people; all orientations, races, religions and shades of grey. There are certainly those who are evil and those who are good, but even they have their beliefs challenged and their values questioned. No matter if my world sees the light of day or not, I have written something I am proud of and that means a great deal to me on many levels.

I’m not tearing up… there’s just dirt in my eye.

AHEM.

So, in other news I submitted Chapter One of Jefferson & The Magician’s Curse for my one on one session with editor Zoe Walton from Penguin Random House. It’s in less than two weeks (OMG- *Dies* *Resurrects* *Dies Again*) and I’m really excited just to have thirty minutes of uninterrupted time to get her feedback and talk writing as she helped launch John Flanagan’s massively successful Ranger’s Apprentice series. No pressure, but I may have to turn on the TJ charm… (“What’s that? You’re calling security? No! I charmed too hard!”) Hmm… maybe not.

Also, I submitted to the Australian Writer’s Centre’s Furious Fiction competition yet again (I’m determined to win at least one!) and I have to say that I love taking their prompt and having it break me away from Fantasy. It forces me to think outside the box and take chances with scenes I probably wouldn’t come across in my own stories. That challenge keeps me coming back for more, plus… the allure of the $500 prize doesn’t hurt either!

Oh! Last but not least I attended a wonderful Writers’ Festival roughly an hour south of where I live and I actually really appreciated its local feel. It was big enough there’ll probably be another one, but it was small enough that I got to have a decent chat with two of my favourite local inspirations: Allison Tait and Alan Baxter. Alan ran a workshop on how to write realistic fight scenes and I must say, it taught me a few new things but also told me I was already hitting a few key notes in my writing as well. Allison is always a treasure and her and I probably spoke more about her trip to Canada more than writing. That being said, I get to listen to her chat about writing all the time on the So You Want To Be A Writer Podcast, so that’s absolutely fine by me!

All in all, despite the last month flying by at roughly the speed of light, I am really excited for what lies ahead still; submitting to Tor, food tasting for the wedding, my second writers’ festival for the month and last but not least, my actual wedding next month! Also, I totally forgot to reply to the organisers of the Hachette Manuscript Development prize in regards to if my YA Fantasy would be acceptable for submission. (I will certainly do that in a few minutes) but as they state that they’re not looking for Speculative Fiction, I certainly don’t think my story would be anything aside from Fantasy.

Anyway folks, that’s where I’m at… if you’ve read this far, congrats and thanks, but secondly how goes your writing! If you comment, I will respond! I swear it!