Progress Report –Second Quarter 2024
How was second quarter 2024 for writing? So I spent second quarter 2024 writing and editing a ton of short stories. But I am also looking for work. So, that takes precedence.
Second Quarter 2024 Posted Works
First of all, I worked on a number of new short stories. A lot of these had been drafted on paper and so I spent some time editing them.
Then on Wattpad I posted nowhere. Am I completely done with that platform? It’s… starting to look that way. Because, frankly, for the sake of my own mental health, the last thing I need is to post in places which just aren’t the right audience for what I create.
Second Quarter 2024 Drafts
So far, and a few of these are from first quarter 2024, but I forgot to post them (oops!), here’s what I’ve been working on:
• The New Kid – after an Earth-alien war ends, the parties decide on a student exchange. What could possibly go wrong?
† The Walls Came Tumbling Down… Again – when a temporal mercenary upends the timeline so Rome never fell, it’s up to Rachel Shapiro and her work mishpacha to correct the timeline to fix the present day and end slavery.
• What’s an Animal? – the humans of the future have killed or destroyed the habitats of every animal on Earth. The world is divided into uniform grids where people pollinate the plants, because there aren’t any more insects. Until one day a little girl named Cherish finds… something.
† Recruitment Time (I don’t love this title) – time traveler Sharon Ensley was supposed to go to 16th century Turkey. But her path is diverted, and she ends up in New Jersey the day before 9/11. But the events of 9/11 seem to be happening on 9/10, and now include more plane crashes, in NATO countries in Europe. Everything is worse. But how, and why?
• A Fairy Tale for Skeptical Adults – when Flora Levy turns 60, she inherits her great-grandmother Florence’s books. There’s a Torah, a family cookbook, and more. But there’s also an odd book which doesn’t seem to belong with the others. When Flora starts to read it aloud, she summons… someone from the book itself.
Milestones
Also, I have written over 3.5 million words (fan fiction and wholly original fiction combined; there’s slightly more original stuff these days). So right now my stats on Wattpad for wholly original works are as follows:
† Dinosaurs – 42 reads, 11 comments
• How to NaNoWriMo – 26,183 reads, 340 comments (pulled from Wattpad due to their severing their association with NaNoWriMo)
† My Favorite Things (like kibble) – 994 reads, 133 comments
• Revved Up – 59,491 reads, 531 comments
† Side By Side – 21 reads, 2 comments
• Social Media Guide for Wattpad – 16,862+ reads, 592 comments
† The Canadian Caper – 511 reads, 37 comments
• The Dish – 253 reads, 24 comments
† There is a Road – 189 reads, 28 comments
Published Works as of Second Quarter 2024
Also, I am amassing quite the collection of published works! So, here’s everything that has found a home so far.
Untrustworthy, which is my first published novel. So yay!
A True Believer in Skepticism, published in Mythic Magazine.
Almost Shipwrecked, a story in the January 2019 edition of Empyreome, a site which unfortunately is no more.
Canaries, a short story in the March 29, 2019, edition of Theme of Absence.
Complications, a story in the Queer Sci Fi Discovery anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds went to supporting the QSF website.
Cynthia and Wilder Bloom, stories in the Longest Night Watch II anthology.
Props, a story in the Longest Night Watch I anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds go to Alzheimer’s research.
Surprises, a story in Book One of the 42 and Beyond Anthology set.
The Boy in the Band, a story in the Pride Park anthology. So this is an anthology where the proceeds go to the Trevor Project.
The Interview, the featured story in the December 14, 2018 edition of Theme of Absence. So they even interviewed me!
The Last Patient, a story in the Stardust, Always anthology. This was an anthology where the proceeds go to cancer research.
The Resurrection of Ditte, a story in the Unrealpolitik anthology.
This is My Child, a short story published in the April 8, 2019 edition of Asymmetry Fiction, another site which is no more.
Three Minutes Back in Time, a short story published in Mythic Magazine.
Killing Us Softly, a short story published in Corner Bar Magazine.
Darkness into Light, a short story published in Corner Bar Magazine.
WIP Corner
So my current WIPs are as follows:
The Obolonk Murders Trilogy – so this one is all about a tripartite society. But who’s killing the aliens?
The Enigman Cave – can we find life on another planet and not screw it up? You know, like we do everything else?
The Real Hub of the Universe Trilogy – so the aliens who live among us in the 1870s and 1880s are at war. But why is that?
Mettle – so it’s all about how society goes to hell in a hand basket when the metals of the periodic table start to disappear. But then what?
Time Addicts – No One is Safe – so this one is all about what happens in the future when time travel becomes possible via narcotic.
Time Addicts – Nothing is Permanent – this is the second in this trilogy. What happens when time is tampered with and manipulated in all sorts of ways? It’s the ultimate in gaslighting, for one thing.
Time Addicts – Everything is Up For Grabs – as the timelines smack together and continue to diverge, it gets harder to tell the “real” timeline from all the newer fake ones. And what if some of the changes are for the better?
Prep Work
So currently, my intention, for 2025’s NaNoWriMo, is to start to write the third trilogy in the Time Addicts/Obolonks universe. But I need to iron out the plot! So a bit of this year has been spent on that. I have no name for this one yet.
For 2022 – 2024 NaNoWriMo, I have decided to create a prequel for each of the 5 main universes: Real Hub of the Universe, Obolonks, Time Addicts (while the Obolonks and Time Addicts are in the same universe, I just plain want to write two separate prequels!), Untrustworthy, The Enigman Cave, and Mettle.
In 2022, I wrote the prequels for Time Addicts (The Dust Between Our Stars) and The Real Hub of the Universe (The East Side of the Universe). For 2023, it was the Untrustworthy prequel (Unreliable) and Obolonk prequel (Eros vs. Thanatos). And for 2024, it is the Enigman Cave and Mettle prequels.
So, I anticipate a lot of fun and perhaps a little confusion. But it’s all good!
Second Quarter 2024 Queries and Submissions
The older ones have moved. You can find them on my Publishing Stats page.
It’s been quiet. But that has been by design. Right now, I just plain don’t feel like putting myself out there these days. There, I said it.
In Progress
As of the end of second quarter 2024, the following are still technically in the running for publishing:
This list is the name of the story and then the name of the potential publisher.
† I Used to Be Happy – Gemini Magazine
• Justice – Adbusters
† Mettle – RAB
• Soul Rentals ‘R’ Us – A Thousand One Stories
† Who Do We Blame for This? – Sonder Review
But the truth is, I am not kidding myself. Those aren’t going to magically turn into acceptances, I bet.
Second Quarter 2024 – Productivity Killers
So it’s work, what else? I am working on a ton of things and since that is also writing, it can sometimes burn me out. Because second quarter 2024 is evidently not the end of that!
Querying and Publishing Stats
Previous Progress Report Post
Next Progress Report Post