Recently I’ve received a few emails inquiring on the status of my novel-in-progress, Kyresa, as well as any other writing I might be doing. I figured I’d provide a quick update for those of you who are following.
After numerous revisions and edits, Kyresa is now in the hands of my five treasured beta readers, who I will fondly refer to as A, B, E, W, and Z. (As a writer, I’m inclined to note that my readers run from A to Z! And thanks A, B, E, W, Z for all your help!) While they are hard at work giving the novel one last go-round, I am in the process of researching and selecting potential agents to represent my work. I’m also working on my “elevator pitch”—that clever, necessary, and useful blurb describing your book in just a few sentences, should you ever be trapped on an elevator or similar thirty-second scenario with an editor or agent of your dreams. It seems like such a simple endeavor, and yet, condensing an entire book and the fantasy realm it encompasses into just a few sentences is actually quite challenging. I’ve come up with a few tentative possibilities so far, so I’m almost there…or will be, once I merge all three emails in my inbox and five post-its on my dashboard together into one nice, clean statement!
Meanwhile, I am also researching literary journals and anthologies for two short stories: “Circubus,” a supernatural fantasy piece, and “Mounds,” a contemporary/mainstream work. I’ve found a few great places for “Circubus” and just sent it to my first choice magazine—cross your fingers! I will be focusing on homes for “Mounds” over the next week.
Once those are out, I will be continuing my work on the second draft of another novel, as well as toying with two prospective short story concepts. All three items are definitely in their very early stages, but I’m excited about them. These will temporarily be put on hold when Kyresa comes back from the fantastic A, B, E, W, Z squad, so that I can wrap up the novel and start to send it out into the world…
Like many things we do in life, it’s all a process. Fortunately, it’s a very enjoyable one! 🙂
Eva Rieder 