WIP Wednesday: What's Coming Upstream?

This year has seen a lot of developments in my writing! From embarking on my first year as a published author, to really honing my craft by finishing more projects (such as “The Water-Man”, and the 2 short stories I wrote for anthologies—one got pushed back to next year, but you can read “Arthur and The Egg” in the anthology titled DREAMTIME DRAGONS!) and participating in more interviews and blog hops to broaden my network and online presence—and that is what I’ve accomplished solely in the field of writing this year!

This year wasn’t a banner year for the number of Reader’s Reviews I was able to do—there were a few months when I only managed one review instead of two, so it’s just over 20 total. But still! Whittling down my list, I finally got around to at least a handful of books I’ve had on my list since the beginning, and am only JUST getting to them, *four years later*—and I am so flipping excited to see how my TBR list is going to change in the next year! 

As for how this year has gone for my published book, Princess of Undersea—not the best I’ve seen from other indie authors, I will admit. There may have been things I could and should have done differently that might have produced a stronger outcome—getting a Street Team and lining up confirmed reviews would be two things I’ve seen other authors do, that I didn’t, so that is probably why I only got 5 reviews in this first year... but I am not discouraged yet! I am still keeping my promise, saving that ULTIMATE tie-in short story and keeping track of the characters named after my reviewers... there is still room for 5 more names! If you’re one who’s read it already and hasn’t yet gone to Amazon, please take a moment to do so! As a reviewer myself, I know how forgetful I can be sometimes... but the authors I’ve reviewed have always been gracious, for which I am profoundly grateful. 

As for the still-unfinished projects from the beginning of the year... what of them? 

The Amazon Triangle: With 3-5 chapters remaining, I am going to do my almighty best to finish it off in the next two weeks. There's still so much more action to come, it feels like every time I get halfway through my notes for a chapter, I have to subdivide and start the next chapter, so the number of "chapters remaining" doesn't seem to change! But it's coming along, and I'm not giving up. I will see what readers think of the ending on Wattpad, and let that “rest” for the time being. It will just feel so good to have it DONE after plugging away at it for so long!

The Clan of Outcasts: For those still following the story, I haven’t abandoned it! You may have noticed when it would pop up again at least a couple times in the “A to Z Challenge” series, and wouldn’t you know... There happens to BE a character with a name that starts with “Z” in it! (Guess who?) Yes, I will be finishing off TWO Serial Saturday series in just ONE post, and I hope you will find the ending most satisfactory!

As for 2018... 

What's Next?

Potential cover... (Not the final cover image,
because it's not royalty-free, but something like it!)

Beginning in January, I will be “full steam ahead” on my next publication, the first book in a new series! It’s a project I actually wrote a few years ago, my first full-length original fantasy novel I ever actually finished, THE LAST INKWEAVER! I started rewriting it in the month of November and got quite the running start, so I am excited to get the ball rolling on that, and this time around, use what I’ve learned from publishing Princess of Undersea to try and make this launch a little more successful than the last one! Here’s hoping it won’t take me another two years to finish it this time around...

As for Serial Saturdays... I’ve spent so long on doing various permutations of The Suggestion Box and trying to weave a complex story in The Clan of Outcasts that I wondered, as BOTH those series were coming to an end... what was I going to do on Saturdays???? 

Luckily, not long ago, this came across my Facebook news feed:

The minute I saw it, I knew I had my new series. I could only come up with a few details on the spot, with a LOT of assistance from other commenters... but one way or another, you all are getting the story!

I call it “PRISCILLA SUM” (a play on the Latin phrase “procella sum” which means “I am the storm”) and it follows the mishaps and shenanigans of Priscilla, the adopted daughter of a hot-looking, rich, high-profile power couple... but what she doesn’t know is that they are both deities! The wife is a wind goddess, and the husband is a storm god. Priscilla is majoring in archaeology and World History. Her house is full of ancient artifacts that her parents claim to have collected, but the truth is that they are the remnants of actual tributes and dedications that were once made to their god-forms, and some of them have actual magical properties still.

Now, just based on that information, who wants to suggest something that happens in the story? I have some ideas that I can use as a main plot, but I would love to treat this series like a “Suggestion Box” type deal, where you give me ideas, and I credit you when I use them in the story! Please suggest! It makes it so much more fun when I can plug things in! What kinds of struggles does Priscilla have? What friends? What experiences? What kinds of artifacts does she encounter? The more input I get, the longer I can make this series last!

Here’s to lots more fun and games this year!! As always...

Catch You Further Upstream!