Realms of the Raven

On the fiction front, I am on an email list hosted by author Teresa MacFarland and she managed to set up a series of aspiring authors with some published author mentors. I got a great match, let me tell you.

I have a long term habit of very much second-guessing myself when it comes to how I approach a task or problem. Most of the time if I learn the “right” approach, I later modify it to make it work better for me but with fiction writing, there are as many approachs as there are authors! Some are very heavy on preparation before actually writing. Some are dive in. ACK.

Analysis-Paralysis land for me. How do I start? Where? EEEEP.

So I talked to my mentor, Liz, about some of this and yesterday I put aside my fears for a bit and wrote the first scene to one of the books. I knew the scene because it’s been in my brain for weeks but I think I was afraid to write it down in case I was doing it “wrong”.

Turned into about 900 words and hubby liked it even. I allowed myself one pass through for a bit of polish and descriptives but then put it aside and began writing the next chapter. This one is harder because I’m not quite sure where I’m going so I think I’m going to pause to take out the notebook for this series and draft a short plot sketch so I can see where I’m heading, then back to the chapter.

I can’t wait to get my Tablet PC now. I should be able to order it on Thursday or Friday so may have it by next week. Then I can make all the writing live on it and not have to either hide in the office or fight for control of the laptop. Plus it’s easier to use in bed!

Once again I’ve fallen in the trap of “thinking too much on the way to work” and decided on the way to work on Thursday (I think) that there should be a good book written on chain mail jewelry (one of my many hobbies). I certainly have the expertise to write the book and demonstrate many of the common patterns and techniques. I have resources for reviews and materials. I even have a decent idea of how to present the materials well. Now all I need is a publisher.

So I sent an email inquiry to the first publisher that came to mind (Beadwork’s publisher, Interweave) and we’ll see if I get a response. I did find out a bit later that Lark Publishing is planning to release a book on it in 2006 so maybe I will just skip trying to market to them. I’m trying to not spend too much time on this right now until I know if there’s a buyer possible but I may at least do a draft outline and first chapter in the next few weeks to demonstrate my intent.

Too many ideas, too little of me!