New Year, New Ideas

My writing life seems to have a predictable pattern. And I'm falling into the second half of that cycle this January. While I'm trying to focus most of my attention on finishing what I started for NaNoWriMo in November, I'm also plagued with a lot of new ideas.

I watch a lot of TV shows, but I don't make as much of a point to watch movies on a regular basis. I wanted to correct that, so I've been watching movies on Saturday nights (I know, I'm a wild child). And of course watching just one movie conjured up a big idea in my head for a movie script. I wrote out an outline and hope I don't lose steam on this one because I'm pretty intrigued to see where it goes.

An essay idea also crept up on me in the last couple of days. I think that came from reading Slouching Towards Bethlehem over the past couple of weeks. I'm also in the middle of Ariel, so who knows what kind of poetry is going to hit the paper over the course of the month. But it's all good--new ideas are always welcome. I know that with them I will never suffer writer's block.

When it comes to finished work, I'm trying to push more of those finished ideas out. That poetry chapbook is still sitting around, waiting to find a new home. I've looked at dozens of chapbook contests, and I think I've finally found one that will give me the best chance to get my work out there. The only problem? Entry fees. I have a hard time justifying spending the money just for a sliver of a chance. However, the particular contest that I'm ninety-nine percent sure I'm entering does provide a year's subscription to the journal for paying the entry fee, so I don't feel like I'm totally getting ripped off when I don't win--if I don't win. The real scary part about winning is that they provide five hundred copies of the chapbook to the author. Five hundred. That's a lot, knowing that most would sit around and collect dust.

In the midst of sorting out all of the new writing ideas and submissions, I've also added another reward tier to my Patreon page. At the $15 patron level you will get all of the great benefits that the other levels get (exclusive excerpts, digital ARCs, cover reveals, and more), plus now you can get digital copies of my entire backlist. Right now that includes one book of poetry, one novel, and three novellas--all for $15 a month. If you're interested, you can always sign up as a patron today.

That's what my January looks like. What are you working on this month?