I Wanna Go Fast

30 Jan I Wanna Go Fast

Today I was in church, walking down an empty hallway and ran into an older gentleman I am friendly with.

“When’s your next book coming out?” he asked.

“That’s the question, isn’t it?” I started. “You see…”

But by that time we had passed each other. He had tossed out a question that, at this point, has a fairly complicated answer. When is my next book coming out? That’s a loaded question.

Here’s the situation as it stands today – I have submitted my second book to my agent who liked it and sent it along to the fine folks at Skyhorse Publishing who put out my debut novel “FantasticLand”. They are currently considering it as they have the contracutal right of first refusal. I should know, if all goes well, in a month or so. I’m hopeful but realisitic about my chances.

Of course, that’s a paragraph worth of explanation and not suited to brief, social interactions but as they say in informercials, “wait, there’s more!”

I wrote a third book. I know, that’s a little much, but I did it. Instead of selling my first book, editing my second and thinking about a third I wrote a third, sold a first and let me my second sit fallow for a bit. That turned out to be a mistake as when I submitted my third novel to my agent, his response was a professional, compassionate “Nope, not this one.” I kind of liked it, but it’s what’s known as a “sock drawer” novel, which means it’s going to sit on my lap top until I figure out what the hell to do with it. In all liklihood I’ll do a limited run for friends and family and I’ll post about it here.

To get this out of the way, the second book is a bit of a departure but still in the horror/thriller genre. I don’t want to get too far into it because…GAH! I WISH I COULD TELL YOU ABOUT MY NEXT NOVEL! But I can’t. I have to wait and, as I’ve said before, waiting sucks.

Publishing is a slow process. There’s submissions and editor’s letters and first drafts and research and second drafts and word counts and third drafts and final passes and it’s a process that moves about as fast as sap rolling down a tree in the cold. Rest assured, I’m writing every week, I’m working on stuff all the time and I will share news with everyone when I get it.

In the meantime, if you’re the type to send good thoughts into the universe, now would be the time. And feel free to ask me about my next book but settle in for the answer. It’s a long one.