(Entries are in reverse chronology)
December 2003
Happy Birthday to me. One of the "presents" I received this month was a favorable mention in Rich Horton's Summary of Strange Horizons, 2003. Also, Strange Horizons: The Best of Year One is now available from Lethe Press.
November 2003
Revising, planning birthday parties, house renovations, revising, a bout of pneumonia, the flu, and more revising. I've reached the point where I just want this draft done.
No matter how busy, I miss my Dad.
October 2003
In memory of my father, J. Robert Witmeyer; born July 21, 1918; died October 1, 2003.
He told good stories.
September 2003
16, 17, 18, 19... Chapters continue to fall before the editing onslaught. I'm pleased with this new version--it's much tighter and more focused. It's as though I've chipped through the old raw mass of stone to find the true story underneath.
August 2003
Oh joy! Oh victory!
I've worked out a new schedule with my supervisor (one of the benefits of being a contractor). I'm now working four days a week, with Wednesdays off for writing. My son welcomes this change, since I also see more of him.
My first act was to rewrite chapter 15, and make noticable dent in chapter 16. More to follow.
Interim Update: And the schedule has changed once again. I start a full-time job soon, so I'm taking a few days off between the old and the new. Time for writing. Time for the boy before he starts fifth grade. Both are Good Things.
July 2003
One common stress point for writers is how to balance your time between writing and other activities. Conventions, birthday parties, summer outings — all these are delightful. At the same time, they've displaced much of my writing time this month. Since I've finished revising the first half of ENEMIES, I will shift tactics and use any any spare moments for mulling over how and where to revise the second half. Battle plans, you could say.
June 2003
Write. Revise. Bang my head against the wall.
On a cheerier note, I just received word that Clean Sheets has accepted my karate story ("Bassai Dai"). And for those who might be interested, I will be at Readercon next month.
May 2003
Revising, writing, and more revising. I finally revised my karate story and sent it to its first market. I'm now slowly working through another draft of my prime number novella. In between, I also wrote more complete notes for two more novellas in the same world. Meanwhile, I started a new job that consumes my weekdays. Writing takes longer, but the sessions are doubly sweet.
April 2003
Writing and more writing. I finished the second draft of my prime number novella, wrote two new short stories, and revised the first chapter of Allegiance. As for ENEMIES, I spent some time considering the opening chapters, and I think I see a way to increase the forward movement and to strengthen the plot transitions without losing what my first readers liked.
In the ego boo category, I had a few very pleasant surprises this past month. Two of my stories, "Chrysalide" (out this month in Polyphony 2) and "Poison" (in Strange Horizons) received good reviews in the April issue of Locus Magazine.
March 2003
Write. Revise. Hurry up. Wait.
February 2003
Life is hectic these days. In addition to my writing, I continue to look for a job, and I've started classes at a local university. Happily, I am still making steady progress on revising ENEMIES. Last week, I completed the structural revisions for chapter 14, marking the halfway point. Characters from PASSION PLAY have now appeared on the stage; the plot lines now intersect, collide, and veer off in new directions.
January 2003
Every January, I reshuffle my existing journal pages and set up a fresh page for the new year. Re-reading the entry from January 2002, I see that I had just started the novel version of PASSION PLAY. Now, a year later, the novel is done and making the editorial rounds. The novelette I wrote last summer — "Poison" — is now online at Strange Horizons. Another novella sparked an idea for a novel of linked stories, set in an alternate Europe. And I have finally made appreciable progress revising ENEMIES.
A good year, indeed. §