the fishbone wolf

Took Way Too Long to Write

I started going to critique groups in 2018. In early 2019, I started writing The Fishbone Wolf

In 2022, a developmental editor read the entire story and told me (among other things) that the final third of the story wasn't working. This was the right call, and in 2023, I had the story start-to-finish

Analog

Most of my feedback came from critique groups, but I also hired a few online freelancers and sent drafts to several alpha readers

The hardest part of critiques is deciding what to do with them: about half you can set aside, 35% are worth mulling over, and 15% are pure gold

stupid volcano

Another Story

Back in May 2021, I hit a lull with The Fishbone Wolf, so I started a few sections of Stupid Volcano. Then in March 2022, I got in the zone and knocked out the entire first draft in two months

That draft had been set side while I slugged through The Fishbone Wolf

Cancelled Plans

For 2025, I planned to publish a two-story collection called Lost on Screen

One story was Stupid Volcano. The other had the working title Food Contest. It follows someone who knows almost nothing about food but suddenly finds herself serving as a judge at a national cooking competition

For now, I've set Food Contest aside. One of the most common critiques was that readers needed more time with the main character before the competition began. Several people suggested starting the story a few days earlier so readers could get to know her before everything was turned upside down

Cancelled Plans Again?

At the start of 2026, I began working on a novella with the working title Moon Witch. It's a psychological horror story set against a hard science fiction backdrop. The problem was that both the story and I were progressing... slowly. By May, I decided to set Moon Witch aside as well, joining Food Contest on the shelf

Maybe I'll have these published together

So what now?

I had queued up a nonfiction book about how I caught 100 fish species, weaving gear and tackle recommendations into the stories. I first outlined how I wanted to structure everything. Once I started writing, the keyboard was on fire

This is definitely my next publication. Hopefully I can snag a traditional publisher. If none bite the hook, I'll publish it myself

I'm aiming for a 2027 release