It's a fantasy novel. It's just something that's been rolling around in my head for a while, and honestly it came pretty easily. I had set a goal to write about 2 - 3 pages a day. So now I have a good sized orange that needs to be peeled and pressed before it can be turned into marmalade. I would say that much of it, I am happy with, but I have already rewritten a great deal of the first nine chapters, and will probably be doing the rewrites for some time yet. As for the story, I posted about a three to four page snippet on Writerscafe.org in the group Project Fantasy. Sorry for making you run to read it, but I didn't see anywhere in this site to post something that size. It's called the Vanguard of Kiracos, if you're interested.

I am really very shy about my writing, but it is something that I really enjoy. Let me know, if you check it out, what you think of it.

Thx

Heehee...

George and Mindy, welcome!

Brief history: what is now my Deviations series began as a short story in 1985. Feedback from editors and workshop-mates: powerful writing, fascinating premise, but I needed to provide more info. Enter years of multiple-shift work and other diversions. Roughly 2 decades later I pulled out the story draft and the critiques and *thought* I'd expand it into a novel. At about the 200,000-word mark I realized I was writing a trilogy. After I finished writing the trilogy I realized the characters weren't through with me. I'm currently writing the sixth (and I *think* the final) book in the series.

Deviations: Covenant (volume 1) was recently published by Aisling Press, a small press headquartered in the Tampa suburb of Wesley Chapel. I've been told to expect the contract for volume 2 by the end of the year. More info is at:

home.earthlink.net/~emalcoh...ions.html

George, I know what you mean about the 500 pages. My fourth volume is up over 500 pages (roughly 151K words) , so I might need to break it into two books. My other volumes are in the mid-80Ks except for #3, which weighs in at around 115K.

Book #6 recently crossed the 50K mark and still has quite a way to go.

Mindy, I write my drafts the same way and make scads of notes, much of which never make it into the draft. They're a combination of trial balloons, outlines, research notes, and me arguing with myself.

Publishing news: I recently learned that my story "Identity Theft" is forthcoming in The Drabbler #10 (Sam's Dot Publishing) in February. (A "drabble" is a very short story of *exactly* 100 words. The theme for this issue is "Haunted Spaceports.") Other short fiction forthcoming include "Hermit Crabs" in Electric Velocipede #14 (Spring 2008) and "Arachne" in Riffing on Strings: Creative Writing Inspired by String Theory (Scriblerus Press, June 2008. "Arachne" originally appeared in Aboriginal Science Fiction, Nov/Dec 1988.) My cinquain sequence "Evolution" is due out in the Nov/Dec Star*Line along with my cover illo. My article "The Many Shades of Dark Poetry" just came out in Poets' Forum Magazine 19(2), along with 2 poems of mine and one of my mother's -- my mother's was published posthumously (she literally wrote it on her deathbed in 1982). Poetry is still forthcoming in Asimov's, date TBD. (The contract is still forthcoming, though I've got the acceptance in hand.)

I recently responded to a request-for-revision from one anthology: neither an acceptance nor a rejection, but encouraging! Still keeping my fingers crossed on that one. Another anth. bounced back a story that didn't quite fit their niche, but invited me to submit more -- and the bounced story will go to the next market on my list as soon as my printer cartridges come in. I'm usually more on top of the cartridge situation, but I've been a bit distracted...

Good luck to you all, and keep on keepin' on!

Right ON! Yay Kim!

Thank you, kind moderator.