The fishbone wolf

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 last third of the story wasn't working. This was the right call, and in 2023, I had the story start-to-finish

After making the cover, I realized I’d never written a chapter with Luna talking to the seagull. That was the last section I added

Critique groups were my primary source of feedback. I also found online freelancers and sent to a few 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 

I started out as a pantser. I'm now leaning toward plotting

With The Fishbone Wolf, I can make line edits forever, but the story isn't changing. Time to move on to a new project, Stupid Volcano 

For 2025, I was planning to put out a two–story collection called Lost on Screen. The cover above was just a rough draft.

One of the stories is Stupid Volcano

The other had a working title Food Contest. It’s about someone who knows nothing about food but suddenly gets thrown in as a judge at a national cooking competition. They try to bluff their way through like they’re an expert. That one still needs more time, so it’s on the shelf for now.

Back in May 2021, I hit a lull while working on 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. It came out to around 7,000 words

That draft had been set side while I slugged through The Fishbone Wolf. It's now nearing completion. I now use a mix of AI feedback and online freelancers, and I’ve been taking a little vacation from critique groups while still dropping into local writing workshops

I first wrote Stupid Volcano in third-person omniscient, but someone suggested I try it in third-person close instead. Honestly, a great suggestion.

The story will follow a social media troll, a geologist that no one takes seriously, and the third… well, I’ll keep that one a secret for now.

It’s meant to be absurd and fun, and the change in perspective should make it even funnier. Once I’ve got the draft polished up into something readable, I’ll start sharing some examples online. The plan is to have this published before the end of 2025