I haven’t done one of these for …far too long! I’m trying to make myself accountable to myself again with regards to my writing, so here goes my work in progress report for the week 
Over the past week I’ve written for all three of my active projects:
Another Chance is a contemporary gay romance novel with themes of redemption, forgiveness and family. In it, Parker struggles to reconcile with his family while also fighting against his unshakeable attraction to his high school bully, who’s come back into his life to reconcile with him. This is all set against a backdrop of the winter holidays (both Thanksgiving and Christmas), partially because the original story idea began as a simple Christmas reconciliation story that needed a lot more meat.
It’s probably terrible, but I’ve already got plans for a sequel about one of Parker’s siblings. And a title to go with it! :X
The Spiritminder (a working title I’m still unsure of) is a short romantic lesbian fantasy story. I’m writing it with hopes of submitting it to Storm Moon Press for their “Sacrifices” anthology. The Spiritminder tells the tale of a half-elf priestess, Hana, who is destined to be given to a monster terrorizing a small elven village in order to end the carnage and destruction the beast is causing. Along the way she falls for the elf ranger, Rai, chosen by the gods to lead Hana to her fate. It’s more tangled than that may imply, but I never like to give too much away about my WIPs! :B
Along with this, I’ve also done a lot of world building for my high fantasy world, which is on its nth incarnation. This go-round it’s going by the name Aela (pronounced ay-luh), which is taken from the name of the nature goddess. In Aela, gods are real and enjoy guiding (or toying with) the mortals of the world. There is magic, but all magic is a gift from the divine, be it via blessing or lineage. One of the things I’m most proud of is my take on unicorns, which will play a key part in Spiritminder.
Civic Disobedience is a short contemporary gay romance about a guy and his car. A car that seems bent on ruining his relationship with his boyfriend. If all goes well, I’m hoping to submit this one to Dreamspinner Press for their “Don’t Try This at Home” anthology. While I’ve been enjoying writing Nick and Enrique’s story, I’m a little nervous about my narrative choice. It seemed right from the start, but the more I write, the more I worry Nick’s not a compelling enough storyteller. I’ll run it through a couple of my trusty beta readers before I decide to submit it, but that deadline is fast approaching.
There’s also been some brainstorming for two other SMP anthologies: Serve Me and Queer Fear. I think the necromancer story I’ve had rolling around my head for the better part of a year would work great for the latter. Although the idea I have right now for “Serve Me” is rapidly growing out of the realm of short story and directly into novel territory – it too would take place in the fantasy world Aela, although on a different continent from the setting of Spiritminder. I’m not sure yet if I should scale back on that one or run with the big plot. (When I say big, I’m talking demigod with a chip on his shoulder – which would seriously affect the entire scope of the world itself and any stories set on that world after it!)
I also did some editing on my zombie short, Stray, and sent it off into the land of submissions again. It’s funny to look back and see that I wrote Stray back in 2010, but am only now, two years later, sending it out for potential publication. That was probably the last piece I finished before I fell off the “aspirations of publication” wagon.
Just kind of rolling with all this creative mojo, even if it’s mostly plotting related, and pretending I don’t have to wait until January to hear back on my other active submission, Working Stiffs.
