Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Mini (Work-in-) Progress Reports

I haven't had a ton of time to blog lately, so here's a quick roundup of the projects I've been working on:

Steve

Word count (to the nearest thousand): 60,000
Status: Chilling like a villain (okay, not really like a villain, but it (sort of) rhymed)
Attitude: Not hostile

Also known as THE SOUND OF LIFE AND EVERYTHING, Steve is the little book that could. It recently occurred to me that I started querying this manuscript three years ago this month, and I'm STILL working on it. Okay, maybe I'm not actively working on it at the moment (and I'm pretty sure most of the heavy lifting is behind me), but I still have at least another round of pass pages to review and who knows what else. That said, holding an ARC in my hands for the first time was a really awesome moment, and I can honestly say that I don't hate this story anymore. I plan to give away an ARC or two on the blog and on Goodreads, but I probably won't get to those giveaways until after the holidays. In the meantime, you can pre-order him and/or add him to your Goodreads list, so if you're interested, you can check out the "Books" page above.

Clyde

Word count (to the nearest thousand): 44,000
Status: Waiting for first pass pages
Attitude: Excited to see what happens next

We still haven't settled on a new title for Clyde, but since my last update, I have turned in a revision and finished copy edits, so things are moving along. Though the manuscript hasn't been designed yet, Sourcebooks has added this copyright page to the beginning of the document. Like a caterpillar morphing into a butterfly, Clyde is slowly but surely turning into a book.

Clyde the Second

Word count (to the nearest thousand): 48,000
Status: Working on the second draft
Attitude: Amused

I cranked out a few and have spent the last few months cleaning it up and getting reader feedback. Clyde the Second isn't a straight sequel, but it is a companion novel that takes a secondary character from Clyde and turns her into the main character. It's also a math mystery (thanks for the idea, Liz!) set at a summer camp. I'm still not sure if Sourcebooks will even want it, but I've enjoyed writing it, so that's something, at least.

Well, that's all I've got. What have you been working on in the last few months?

4 comments:

Heather said...

I always love hearing about your projects! Yay!

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Thanks for stopping by, Heather!

Myrna Foster said...

Progress report posts are my favorites. :o) Even when I think I know what's going on, I learn new things.

I'm focusing on picture books (and poems, but mostly PBs) this month, partly because I just finished that MG rough draft last month, and partly because my dad has been having health problems and I've had company in my house a lot this month. The happy news is that I have a new PB manuscript that I'm excited about and will probably query around the first of the year. (And I have one that needs to be a MG novel instead, but that's another story. It'll have to wait in line.)

I'm working on my 2nd draft of the MG space opera next month. But first, I plan on picking some scientific minds over Thanksgiving.

Krista Van Dolzer said...

Myrna, have you been doing PiBoIdMo again? I'm excited that you're excited! And you know I can't wait to read this MG space opera...