WIP it good

As my cohort Jason mentioned earlier, it's been a whirlwind journey getting our 20,001: A Steampunk Odyssey anthologie done. We started it in June with a call for submissions, stopped taking new submissions July 31, and cranked out a pretty darned nice product just last week. For two authors just getting started in their careers, that's pretty fast work. Needless to say, we're very pleased.

Also needless to say, we're ready for the next Thing. Both of us put our own writing largely on hold in order to focus on the anthologie, and I think that paid off handsomely. But now it's time to return to our own writing with a focus on finishing off some existing works in progress - WIPs - and maybe kicking off a new one or two.

While Jason is doing the latter, I have a novel called Disbelief that is about 85% done that I am returning to. It's a new genre for me: Paranormal Romance. No, it's not Twilight, and not even vampire-related (well, mostly). I'm actually quite excited to be getting back to it, since I invested two writing retreats into the work this summer, and seeing the result of those wonderful experiences come to fruition is very satisfying. I'm planning to finish it up here in the next few weeks.

And after that? While I always have more ideas than time to work on them, I've been dreaming of a full-on fantasy trilogy. It's a long row to hoe, but having both a novel and an anthologie to my name, I think it's time to set my own bar that much higher. Excelsior!

20,001: A Steampunk Odyssey Now Available

 Ladies and gentlemen, the fruits of our labors are now available. The anthologie is available for the Kindle right now, and on Smashwords for just about every other ereader. It's 10 great short stories, 75,000 words, and it's just $2.99. We here at Kindling Press are terribly proud to make it available to you, and we very much hope you enjoy it.

Daily Vocabulary

iteration: a procedure in which repetition of a sequence of operations yields results successively closer to a desired result; one execution of that sequence; alternately, just a version of something (but usually meant to be part of that sequence just described).  


Many, many iterations passing through the Kindling Press emails these days.  And we are in fact drawing closer to that desired result.  So that's good.  See you tomorrow.

An Interview at Write Cafe

Nancy Wing writes a delightful blog about writing (and coffee consumption) and was kind enough to talk to Kindling Press.  Here she interviews us about KP, and why it exists, and what it's meant to be.  Thanks, Nancy!

"i want to be jk rowling"

One of the nicest features of blogspot is the stats function.

With this handy tool, bloggers can see how much traffic their blog has received, where it came from, and all sorts of interesting data to help improve their traffic. No, nothing personal or identifiable - but occasionally, something unusual crops up and presents itself as worthy of commenting.

In this case, it was a person who was directed to this blog after googling the phrase, "i want to be jk rowling".

Stop and think about that for a moment. J.K. Rowling. Author of the Harry Potter series. One of the best-known authors in the world, not to mention the richest. Somewhere out there, someone wanted to be her. And google, in its infinite wisdom, gave that person a link to the very blog you're reading right now.

I am utterly blown away by that. Who the heck are we, anyway? Kindling Press has existed barely a few months, officially. Its authors have been writing for a while, sure, but neither of us is what you would call a bestselling author. There is no reason on earth why anyone using that web search text should have found our blog.

But then again, that person was looking for something - something we're also seeking. Success. Maybe not J.K. Rowling-grade success, but success nonetheless. We're kind of like that anonymous seeker, in our own way. We're working toward it, building readership, exploring new markets and new opportunities, reaching out to other writers and doing everything we can to show them what we think is our best work. So yes - in our own way, we too are trying to become like J.K.R.

So, to the person who found us with that web search, I say: follow your dream. Never let go of it. And be prepared to work really, really hard. Maybe you won't reach that goal, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth trying for. I certainly wouldn't be here, writing this, if I didn't feel the same way you do.

Thanks for reading.