Plans for 2011

There will be publication:

• Yellowcake short story collection (in Australia)—March
• the selkies novel (in Australia)—September
• a quartet of stories from Twelfth Planet Press—not sure when.

There will be writing:

• yes, that quartet—it's one-quarter done, kinda
• 2 other short stories by end January (both drafted)
• one other short story by end February (drafted but in need of remaking, not completely from scratch, but nearly).

From the beginning of February there'll be a fair bit of resting, because that's the end of my contracted/voluntary obligations, and I've been under, well, stupid deadlines since about May this year.

However, I've got this NSW colonial novel that I want to get started on, and it involves a nice distracting pile of research—and no deadline as yet—so I'll probably kick on with that.

Also I might, you know, come up with a story idea or two that's not already promised to someone, and have a go.

But there's also the day-job (3 days a week, confirmed until end of February at this point) and a couple of Literature Board commitments to fulfil (policy meeting Feb, assessment of grant apps, May-June), as well as...


Travel plans

• early March—Perth Writers Festival
• mid-May—Auckland Writers and Readers Festival, with added lollygagging around the North Island, I hope
• June–July—trip to the US, including teaching at Clarion West. A couple of other teaching possibilities are being explored at the moment—will let you know as they're finalised.

All this is in response to Marianne's invitation to share your writing plans on her blog, where she confesses to having so many books on the boil, it makes my head spin. [Update: Tansy shares, too! Also, two posts, both New-Yeary, from Kelly Fineman.]

What kind of a year have you got lined up? Or are you trying not to look too closely yet? :D

Post-Christmas blues

We left all the wrapping paper lying about for a couple of days to make it look as if we still had children, but now it's tidied away, and the presents too, pretty much, and there's only the tree and the hangovers to remind us that Christmas was here. The tree, decorated by our nieces who visited the week before Christmas, is glowing gently in the corner now—it's an artificial one, about 20 years old now, and really on its last legs; it sheds worse than a real one. But it still looks purty strung with lights and beads and all those red, white and gold decorations.

We went around the corner for Boxing Day drinks with Judy and Robin. As a result of some very nice gin and tonics, the novel I'm supposed to finish in the next 5 days looks as if it's falling apart in my hands today. I know it's really not, but it's still a bit frightening. Best to not try and solve anything big, just do some close work on a part of it that I'm okay with.

Thank you, whoever is responsible for this cool, grey, rainy weather.

2 more dayjob days to Christmas

The selkies novel trudges on. It's just applying bottom to seat on a regular basis at this stage. I wouldn't call it a 'death march', but it's definitely a bit, you know, sloggy.

All the short stories I owe in January are tantalising me over the Christmas/New Year horizon. I'm looking forward to them; they're so...short. And different from each other. *whispers* I am a leetle bit over selkies.

Reading:

• The Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, 2010 Edition, ed. Paula Guran
• Steampunk II: Steampunk Reloaded, ed. Ann and Jeff VanderMeer
• Writing Places: TheLife Journey of a Writer and Teacher, by William Zinsser

December, eek! (+ Yellowcake full cover)

I have a thumping great deadline (on the novel revision) on 31 December. I had another thumping great deadline then, which I've managed to push back a month (along with three smaller deadlines *nervous laugh*). I have no choice but to meet the TGD, and I think I probably have paced the revisions okay and won't need to pull any caffeine-fuelled all-nighters to bring it to a satisfactory conclusion.

Reading:

• Griffith Review annual fiction issue
• The Museum of Mary Child, by Cassandra Golds

The day-job is kind of up in the air for next year. At this stage it would actually be nice (and financially not too disastrous) to have January off and deal with TGD2, so you can bet your bottom dollar they'll get the funding to keep me on.

My collection Yellowcake proceeds apace; I've just corrected the final proofs of the last (most changed) story and the end-matter, and Allen & Unwin will send it to the printer this week. And the full cover is done—check it out. A dazzling assortment of quotes on the back!



I can recommend the mostly-reprint collection as a low-stress way to put out a book; most of the revision work gets done bitsily, to small deadlines, over a matter of years, with just this little flurry at the end. All three of my other collections have been sets of 10 originals; their production, while not quite novel-like in its complexity, involved a concentrated editorial period, as well as several last-minute substitutions when stories spontaneously combusted under pressure. Reprints are easier. She says with a sigh of relief.