Man, it’s been a while since I wrote on this blog. I guess I’m caught in the semester tailspin or something.
Writing’s going really well, though. I’m about 100 pages into Bringing Estella Home right now, and even though I’m probably a day or two behind where I’d like to be, I’m generally right on schedule to finish it in April.
I say that tentatively because I’m a discovery writer, so I can’t really predict when I’m going to finish it since it’s probably going to do something crazy and surprise me. However, I feel reasonably confident that I can finish this thing by late April.
To help out with this, I’ve engaged in a little friendly competition with Aneeka. She’s finished her 1st draft (‘skeletal’ draft, I guess you could call it) of her next novel, but she’s going to go through and do a major revision. We’re racing each other to see who’s going to finish first!
Hehehe…I am so going to win this. After losing our last contest, I’d better make it up this time!
I had a surprisingly satisfying day today. My classload is really light, but there was one midterm I had to take this week, and I took it this morning. I spent all yesterday studying, which is why I only wrote about 500 words, but I got a 98 on the scantron section so I think I’m in good shape. And really, I don’t have any midterms in any of my other classes (hard to believe, but true), so I think the worst of the mid-semester crunch is past me!
Man, it’s nice having almost no school obligations!
I’m starting to think I should stay here in the US this summer. After all, if I’m trying to get ready for World Fantasy, I should put a lot of work into my stories. If I do stay here, though, where will I go? Maybe I could teach Arabic at one of these summer seminar things. Maybe I could go to the East Coast doing that. Maybe I could stay here in Utah. I don’t know. It’s so complicated…and meanwhile, the clock is ticking.
Another confession: part of me wants to go to Iraq to work for a year right after I graduate. Why? Well, the money would be nice. But really, I’d want to do it because of the way that experience would enrich my writing. Make it a lot more gritty, the conflict that more real. It might even qualify my to write military sf–who knows?
Don’t worry–I’m not crazy enough to listen to that part of my brain. At least, not yet. 😛
