I realize I’ve been quiet for a while…often when I’ve got my head down writing I forget to do most if not all of the other stuff.

Currently I’m not contracted for anything specific, which has left me open to begin completely new stories.  The first is complete - my new SF series opener THE TEKLAVAD DILEMMA is in the hands of my agent and (I think) on the desk of my editor at Penguin who gets first crack at it. The story features a pair of freelance merc sisters, an A.I./human hybrid and an unhinged ‘golem’ neuter in a mystery/adventure that I think should tickle SF fans as much as it tickled me.

While that’s being shopped, I’m ~25% of the way into a second SF series opener (tentatively titled DEAD DROP) that merges SF with more paranormal tropes such as mind reading and divination.  I wouldn’t call it paranormal or fantasy – it’s definitely SF – but I think fans of all three should get a kick out of it.

It’s funny – writing is such a tricky business, almost akin to trying to break into film or pro athletics at least as far as the ratio of hopefuls to actual successes goes…it’s easy to get frustrated, and discouraged if not outright despondent, but even on ‘down’ days I find that when I sit down to write none of it matters.  Inside the moment I just love the act of writing, and I find that I forget all of the other (often negative) stuff that can go along with putting yourself out there for the world to see.  There’s plenty of positive stuff, too, don’t get me wrong – I love interacting with fans more than almost anything else I think – but I think every struggling writer will know what I mean when I say that some days are harder than others.  On those hard days, it’s the love of it that pushes you forward even when you can’t see the road ahead.

Will either of these novels see the light of day?  I hope so – I could write many more entries for either, or both.  If they do see the light of day, will they hit?  Again, I hope so, but there’s no way to know.

What I do know is that whether they do or not, I will keep writing either way.