Quick Update
I realized it has been quite some time since I posted anything here. I'm still alive and kicking, though the kicking part is a recent improvement. My broken ankle is pretty much completely healed, and thanks to Physical Therapy, I've gotten back to running with the dog.
Last week I wrapped up the Merlin's Grove novel, and it's still tentatively titled The Overlook (though, if the publisher comes up with something better, I wouldn't hesitate to change it). I'm really happy with how it came out, and I think it's the best thing I've done so far. It wasn't as emotionally exhausting as Stand in Need of Comfort, but it still has a lot of subtle writing in it.
I had to weave together a love triangle, interesting and quirky little things around the small town, a man vs society subplot, and a whole hidden fantasy subplot having to do with ancient magic and Merlin without any one of the elements fully dominating. It was a lot of fun but also much harder than anything I've done before.
I shipped it off to a publisher. Who knows when I'll hear back. If I get a rejection, I may end up self-publishing it. As someone that's gone through a publisher several times now, I think I'm interested in having more control over the process. It would be more expensive to not get the "free" labor (cover design, editing, etc), but for marketing purposes it would be nice to do something like make one of the books free for Valentine's weekend or something. And I don't have that type of control. It's also frustrating to have to wait 8 months or so for them to find an "appropriate" place to slot the release.
I've also been tossing around the idea of publishing a serialized novella where a chapter would come out every other week or so. This way I don't just get a burst of interest in my writing once or twice a year when a new book comes out. I'm not sure where or how to make that work. I could do it through this blog or another one linked from my site, but I'm not sure if that would feel "professional" enough to get interest. I'd put a lot more effort into it than one of these blog posts.
Anyway, if anyone has tried something like that, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
