On Writing, On Waiting, On Stuff

Well, I'm very happy to have just completed the first draft of The Silver Sea this weekend. As well as the huge sense of achievement which comes with completing any such undertaking, I also felt an odd sense of surprise at completing it without any real strenous effort. The best way to describe it is that the novel sort of wrote itself. I never nailed down the plot specifically (keeping only key moments and scenes in my head as markers to guide the narrative to its conclusion), and yet the story just flowed along quite nicely, filled with drama and tension and conflict and surprises; and a bitter-sweet ending which ties into the second volume, which I hope to be writing at some point in the near future. Very very happy with how it's turned out, and although I have forced myself to put it away for a few weeks I am already chomping at the proverbial to get back to it and make it even better.

Good news on the story submission front: The Devil's Bones is now slated to appear in the final print issue of Whispers of Wickedness. It sure was a long wait (I submitted it last hallowe'en) but I'm glad I waited. Since I started out down this road one of my ambitions was to get a story into the print version of Whispers (I have several pieces of flash fiction on the website). Whispers doesn't pay (only contributor copies) but it has some major kudos. A proud moment for me; just a shame it's the last issue.

This coming Friday I will be travelling up to Nottingham for my first major Con. FantasyCon, run by the British Fantasy Society, is one of the biggest events of the year and I can't wait. Nervous, but excited.

Finally, the other day I submitted The Transmuted Engine to the Aeon Award, a short story competition run by the folks at Albedo One. I was lucky enough to have my story Juju make the longlist back in 2005. Fingers crossed this new story does even better.

Comments

Greg said…
Lee,
Congrats on finishing the novel and getting a story into Whispers. It does suck about it being the final issue, but it's a great magazine to be a part of and it had a pretty good run.
4:27 AM
Lee Moan said…
Hi Greg, thanks for stopping by. Yes, 'tis a shame about Whispers coming to an end. I was at the recent British Fantasy Awards ceremony where Pete Tennant and the Whispers review team won the non-fiction award. A proud moment for all concerned and validation for all the years of hard work.
1:23 PM
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