seanan_mcguire @ 2010-07-15T09:17:00

2010-07-15T16:17:50Z

And now it is July 15th—where the hell did the year go?!—and that means it's time for my monthly current projects post. This is the regularly scheduled update which provides the only non-hysteria-inducing answer to the question "What are you working on?" It has the extra added bonus of proving that I am able to stop time, since otherwise, even I don't quite understand how the hell I'm getting everything finished in a timely manner. Seriously, I don't think I sleep. This is the July list of current projects, because I am the gift that keeps on giving.

To quote myself, being too harried to say something new: "These posts are labeled with the month and year, in case somebody eventually gets the crazy urge to timeline my work cycles (it'll probably be me). Behold the proof that I don't actually sleep; I just whimper and keep writing."

Please note that all books currently in print are off the list. The second Newsflesh book (Deadline) is off the list until The Other Editor tells me otherwise. Discount Armageddon is off the list because it has been turned in to The Agent.

The cut-tag is here to stay, because no matter what I do, it seems like this list just keeps on getting longer. But that's okay, because at least it means I'm never actively bored. I have horror movies and terrible things from the swamp to keep me company.

***

Late Eclipses.
October Daye, book four. Urban fantasy/fairy tale noir, modern setting, first-person protagonist. Status: I have received my editorial notes from The Editor, and am in the process of rereading the manuscript preparatory to incorporating them. They're pretty minor this time, and, as expected, they're all right. This is going to be so much more kick-ass of a book once I incorporate the editorial. It makes me dance in my chair.

The Brightest Fell.
October Daye, book five. Urban fantasy/fairy tale noir, modern setting, first-person protagonist. Status: So I tossed out my entire original outline and wrote myself a new one, and suddenly hey-presto, this book doesn't suck! It's like a Halloween miracle in summertime! I'm just delighted with where this is going, new complications, new dangers, and all, and I think everybody else will be pleased, too. This is the book where some things people have been waiting for since the beginning finally get dealt with. It rocks.

Blackout.
Formerly Deadline News. Modern political/zombie horror, near-future setting, first-person protagonist. The third (and final) book in the Newsflesh Trilogy, and the direct sequel to Deadline. Alive or dead, the truth won't rest. Rise up while you can. Status: I have written approximately eight pages, just so the file is correctly formatted and waiting eagerly for my attention when I get the editorial letter on Deadline. I expect to get working on Blackout in earnest sometime in the next few weeks.

Sparrow Hill Road.
Short stories don't normally make this list, but the Sparrow Hill series is a special case, since it's twelve interlinked stories focusing on Rose Marshall of "Pretty Little Dead Girl" fame. The first eight are finished and turned in, and I'm working on the ninth one right now.

Midnight Blue-Light Special.
InCryptid, book two. Paranormal romance/light horror, modern setting, first-person protagonist. Verity Price is back, and she's ready to kick a lot of cryptid and human ass in her pursuit of a career in ballroom dance. If only the Covenant of St. George would leave her the hell alone... Status: I'm about two-thirds of the way through chapter one. DON'T JUDGE ME. I was bored.

Ashes of Honor.
October Daye, book six. Urban fantasy/fairy tale noir, modern setting, first-person protagonist. Status: new outline done, summary done, prepping the last of my foundation work before starting. Toby is not gonna be happy with me.

Sit, Stay, I Hate You.
Coyote Girls, book two. Young adult horror/paranormal romance, modern setting, first-person protagonist. Having survived the events of Lycanthropy and Other Personal Issues, Clady would really like it if her life would settle down and get, y'know, easy for a little while. Clady is not going to be terribly happy with me, either. Status: about halfway through chapter one, semi-stalled while I work on other things.

Deathless.
Dead Girl Diaries, book one. Modern urban fantasy/supernatural romance, first-person protagonist, two books per narrator. (First two are currently Deathless and Breathless, for Patience; they're almost certainly going to get renamed, just to avoid market confusion.) Status: poking in that vague and chipper "I'll be writing you soon" fashion.

The Nativity of Chance.
High modern fantasy ranging across the country, through the wonderful lands of Oz, and through a lot of explosions. Pythagorean philosophy meets the works of L. Frank Baum, alchemy meets modern technology, and a pair of cuckoos meet their destiny. Status: researching.

Chasing St. Margaret.
Chick-lit romance/travelogue, modern setting, first-person protagonist, diary-style. Think Bridget Jones' Diary meets Lost In Translation meets A Twelfth Night. Actually, quite literally, on the last. My dear, sweet, utterly bewildered Margery. Status: finished, pending revisions and rewrites. I think this may be my airplane book for the summer.

Pretty Poison Apples.
The sequel to Nativity of Chance, and that seasonal monarchs book I've been threatening to write forever. Stop looking at me like that. Status: researching.

There are lots of other books floating around here—some finished and slated to be worked on further, others pending getting started—but these are the ones you're likely to hear the most about, at least currently. I'll update this list from time to time, as things move from "project" to "print" and new things take their places on the workshop floor.

Rose-Owls and Pumpkin Girls

seanan_mcguire @ 2010-07-15T09:17:00