The Plot Bunny Farm

Every now and then, I think I should water the yard. I worry about my blueberry plants (now with a dozen berries!) or the petunia that my daughter’s class gave me. And then, this being Pennsylvania, it pours. We’ve been here almost a dozen years, and I still find it weird — will always find it slightly tone-deaf — that people can worry about a drought if it doesn’t rain for two months (usually July and August). Two months does not a drought make. (It does, however, lead to times when it’s not ridiculous of me to wonder whether I should water the plants.)
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Originally published at Erin M. Hartshorn. You can comment here or there.

I thought I'd sit down and take stock of my current projects. To make life easier on myself, I'm not including short stories -- not the ones that are out on submission, not the ones I want to edit, not the ones I've started writing, not the ones that are just ideas, and not the very long list of ones that are currently just first lines. The last time I did something like this, I did include some categories for short stories. Also note that this is only for works that can be considered active, in some form of the word.

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Novella out on submission:

* Farwalker -- Submitted last year to Science-Fiction at the UPC, where it was short-listed (I blogged about it last fall). Sent it off to Analog, but I was told that works of 20,000 to 40,000 words don't work for them. Now it's off at a market that wants that exact length (and where the publisher has been annoyed by people submitting works that are too short).

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Novella in planning stage:

* Tantalus -- Wrote and submitted this originally as a short story (very short -- submitted it to Nature's Futures). Feedback I got specifically compared it to Conrad's Heart of Darkness and said it felt like there ought to be much more there. Having looked at it, I agree. In fact, I trunked it as a short story. I'm planning to expand this to submit to UPC this year.

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Novels out on submission:

* Christmas Tree Farm (NaNo 2004) -- My cozy murder mystery.

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Novels in the revision pile:

* Sabra (NaNo 2006) -- Redlined a hard copy. Need to enter the edits into the file, then see what jumps out at me that didn't when I did the edits . . . oh, so long ago. Soft SF -- to the point I asked why I thought it was SF. (It is, really, but it's definitely not hard SF.)

* Witchy Woman (NaNo 2007) -- First draft is short. Need to add in a subthread, at least one red herring, a lot more specific description of people and places. Have this planned out (I didn't when I last mentioned the edit), and I'm thinking I'll write the new stuff first, then mush it together with the old and redline at the same time. Urban fantasy, set in Boston.

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Novels in the writing pile:

* M -- A first for me, I'm doing this a page a day (two pages a day this week!) without an outline and watching it develop. Hard SF.

* Jim Bob (NaNo 2009) -- I'm going to be dropping this, at least for the present. Even the 100 words a day isn't working for me. I managed that for three days. It wouldn't be the first book I've set aside for a long time before finishing (see below for further examples), and the wonderful thing is, since I'm not on contract, it's not as though I have a deadline to meet.

* Sundered Sword -- I've blogged a bit of backstory for this, as well as some thoughts on the planning process. I've got a fairly solid outline for the first third, plus about half of the rest, including a fleshed-out ending. Enough to run with and expand along the way as I realize my characters aren't robots and need to be doing other things in the story that I hadn't thought out. I do still need to think about the magic (mentioned briefly in the post about Shadowed Sight). Might start this for Book-in-a-Week for May. (End of March and beginning of April, we're full up on family visitors -- 31st to the 12th. April's BIAW doesn't start until the 12th, so I might manage then, but I'm more likely to use that to get some of the new stuff on Witchy Woman.)

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Novels in progress that may migrate to the top of my writing pile later this year or next year:

* Ivory & Bone -- Urban fantasy set in Berkeley. He gets visions; she gets memories of past lives. Both bonniers and marfisk want me to finish this one up.

* Rob & Jeanie -- Almost a superhero book, but more like "the gods walk among us." Well, no, there are heroes, too. Heroes and god-touched and god-kin. In our world. Last summer, before heading on vacation, I typed up all my hand-written scenes and started adding to them. Vacation, for some reason, left me sidetracked. Another one I'm writing without an outline, but also non-linearly.

* Phoenix Anderson -- Middle grade SF because my kids need something to read, too.

* Shadowed Sight (my 2YN from 2004-2005) -- Woman from a noble family masquerades as common mercenary. Asked for alpha readers recently, and I'm waiting to weigh all their opinions. (Got enough volunteers, thanks!) Fantasy.

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Novels possibly on tap for NaNo this year:

* Four Lakes (NaNo 2005) -- Crackle and company. I may get more inspiration on my pet kraken when we head up to Madison at the end of the month. I think a large part of the problem here is that I had someone else as the main character, so I need to rethink and start over from scratch. Original first couple of chapters: A Boy Named Fran and Marbled Brownie. Humorous fantasy.

* sequel to Christmas Tree Farm Murders

* sequel to Phoenix (if I get that finished)

* book in new cozy mystery series that I got idea for today -- series tied together with quilts as a theme. Yes, there are several such cozy series already; that proves there's an audience.

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Novels on list to possibly outline this year:

* jekylls -- near-future SF thriller

* torties (turtle aliens) -- SF

* Varly Keeper -- low-magic fantasy

* world-destroyer -- SF

. . . and wow. Some of this stuff is going to have to be pushed out to October. Or later. Some of it's non-negotiable. And things that I'm debating have question marks. Grouped by type, not date.

• Finish college index.


• Complete multidisciplinary index.


• Proofread travel book 1.


• Proofread travel book 2.


• Begin proofreading travel book 3.




• Take seven-year-old to library book sale? (9/11 or 9/13)


• Library books due 9/8


• Seven-year-old's soccer starts, runs Sunday afternoons 2-4.




• Birthdays: aunt, uncle, great-aunt, husband, MIL


• Equinox party?




• Dog--vet visit 9/2


• Cloud--follow-up vet visits?


• Me--dental check-up 9/23


• Baby--9-month check-up 9/23




• Garden State Horror Writers 9/13? (Ellen Datlow guest)


• Decide whether to send registration for Philcon




• Finish, edit, get critted, polish, and submit story for Nocturne Bites line.


• Finish, edit, get critted, and polish grammar and structure workshop.


• Do more work at fleshing out genre workshop.


• Finish critting Quest.


• Following along with the "Stars and Planets" back-to-school class would be awesome, but
• I really don't see it being practical.


• Edit any or all of "Soulfire," "Matchmaker," "Song of the Peri."


• Work on Blood Brother expansion.


• Input Sabra edits.