Sunday Update: Sickness, Stalling and Shorts, Oh My!

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I fell off the face of the blogging planet for a couple of weeks, not even posting my ROW80 updates. We had a bad cold that took about ten days to work it’s way through our household, including sick days for both my husband and me, and then the requisite catch up on life, work, etc… So the time just disappeared. It’s bound to happen here and there, so I’m not going to spend time stressing about it.

What have I accomplished? Nothing further on Queen Witch. I still need to tear the mid-section of that novel apart, and make firm decisions on what I’m keeping and what I’m putting in the “scrap” document. I don’t like to delete big sections, because I’ve regretted it in the past. There’s often a use for scenes that didn’t make the book: for instance, I might post some of the fun stuff on my blog. 🙂 My problem right now is getting a big chunk of time to work on that section of the book. Things have been so crazy around here… I might have to get creative and come up with a trade for my overworked husband. I shall ponder that.
A few weeks ago I posted a short story I’d found in my writing files. I’d also found a second completed story. When I asked on this blog what folks thought of the idea of combining the two stories into a book, and whether they would pay for short stories in general, I got varied responses that really made me think. One comment struck me as a great idea: Julie Glover said she’d pay for a collection of shorts, stating maybe 3 would be a small collection. I liked that idea so much that I went ahead and made it a reality. 🙂

The third story actually compliments the others nicely, acting as sort of a bridge between them. The first story and title piece, The Harshlands and Eternal Summer, is about a world rapidly changing, and one boy’s choices when he disagrees with the decisions of his elders. The story I just completed is called Mundane and Extraterrestrial Agonies, and it’s about dealing — or not dealing — with grief. The final story (the one I posted here) is called The Giant in the Spruce, and it’s an uplifting, very short story about balance and what’s important in life. Together these three stories feel like a book…so thank you for the idea, Julie!

So that project is now sitting in a file at the moment, waiting for an edit. (And you ask, isn’t everything you’ve ever written waiting for an edit?… Yes, sometimes it feels that way.) I’ll release the book later this month. Fun!! Thanks everyone for your great advice. It’s so nice to have a community to present such ideas to.

I hope everyone has a great, productive week!!

About J.R. Pearse Nelson

J.R. Pearse Nelson is a fantasy and romance writer from Oregon, USA. She lives with her husband and two daughters among the plentiful trees and clouds of the beautiful Willamette Valley. J.R. is always searching for the magic in our world. She weaves tales rooted in mythology, bringing legend to life in modern-day and fantasy settings. J.R. is the author of the Of the Blood fantasy romance series, the Foulweather Twins fantasy series, and the Water Rites fantasy series. You can connect with J.R. and learn more about her fiction at her website. Visit jrpearsenelson.com.
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6 comments on “Sunday Update: Sickness, Stalling and Shorts, Oh My!”

  1. We had a similar round of illness go through our house, never a fun time – glad you are feeling better and moving forward again. The short collection sounds fun and good idea making the stories tie together, which is always a strong selling point.

    Have a fantastic week 🙂

  2. Editing is such a complicated and time-consuming process! I’m trying to edit my latest novel right now and I do get what you’re saying about deleting big sections being hard… Congratulations on the short stories collection! It sounds intriguing :)Oh, and I’m following you on Twitter now. Have a great writing week!

  3. Wow, thanks! Happy to help. I have thought about doing something like that as well. Hope you have great success with your collection. It sounds rather intriguing!

  4. Welcome back to the blogging world! I’m glad everyone is feeling better.

    Before scrapping too much of Queen Witch, make sure you read it carefully and understand why you’re scrapping it. It might fit in better than you think, and maybe you can just make it work. Okay, I’m one of those people who hate to see something scrapped that was worked on so hard. LOL Good luck on editing your short stories and Queen Witch!

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