And I haven’t even begun writing yet! That’s got to be a personal record. :S Even better, I’m getting my ass majorly whupped by a short story that I need to submit to Queerteen Press. Granted, it technically won’t be released till the spring, but still – I needed (okay, wanted) to get it out before Christmas, so I can start working on the new novel without interruptions late December or thereabouts.

I’m stuck with logistics. There are a number of variables (too many, frankly) that are giving me a headache because I don’t know how to sort through them, and that’s because sci-fi isn’t my forte. I’m now also wondering if mecha is geared more toward visual media like graphic novels and animation, not text. It’s one thing to see robots going head to head in space or a desolate land or whatnot. It’s another thing entirely to put those into words, with specifics involving mechanisms and weaponry needing to be “in full textual view” (for lack of a better phrase).

I’m inclined to say “yes” to that. And it’s already driving me nuts. Should I even bother pursuing the sci-fi aspect of the story, or should I just dump that and replace it with something else? I must admit that I’ve gotten pretty damned comfortable writing about magic, but I don’t know if I’m starting to be repetitive with my books now. :S

So at the moment I’ll have to set that aside and go back to that short story. I have to expect a concession down the line if I continue to get stuck and completely rewrite the story line while keeping the major conflict and elements intact. Not sure how I’ll manage to do that, but I have to be open to the possibility that all those grandiose schemes might not bear fruit in the end.

In other news, a new review popped up for Renfred’s Masquerade over at Jessewave’s review site:

The themes of the book are simple — coming of age, coming to terms with who you are, how you view yourself and how the world views you. But the themes are by no means simplistic; never once did I, as an adult, feel that the book talked down to me, thus I would imagine and hope that a young person reading it will not feel that way either. This writer developed the themes by populating this story with interesting, flawed, but very likeable characters. She also developed extremely interesting fantastical settings where it felt as if the author let her imagination run wild. I was a happy reader because of that and I could not put the book down until I finished it. Read more

I’m still waiting to see if anyone picks up on a twist to the story, the clue to which happens in the end, and it’s one of the last things that Renfred says to Nicola. It’s one of those “blink and you’ll miss it” confessions, and it gives you an even better idea of why Renfred did what he did as well as the reason behind his and Jacopo’s falling out.