I had great plans for April. April was going be the month that I began editing the second book in my trilogy. Currently, the second and third books are in SFD form. They are “Shitty First Drafts” (thank you Anne Lamott!) that need a lot of work. I actually enjoy this part, mostly. I print out the pages. I gather up my colored pens, and I begin rewriting the whole darn thing.
So there I was with pens at the ready and a promise of ruthless revision in my heart, and then one of the Sirens (literally) let out a song that felt irresistible: a call for a short story about Queens and Courtesans, situating them both in their strength. The short stories would be gathered into an anthology that would support the Sirens Conference, an annual conference for women in Science Fiction and Fantasy. Irresistible. So off I went into my imagination in search of a story. It took me a little while to find the spark. In fact, I needed to imagine the whole space opera before I could get to the short story within it. But once I’d managed to envision the bigger story, I had my in. The only problem was that creating new content while editing older material is something that throws a wrench into my creative hyperdrive. I can’t do both. So I committed to the short story and within a few days it was kicking my ass. I stomped around the house, moaning and groaning. I went to the office and sat at my desk sighing and whining. Luckily for my husband and lovely Castro Street Writers’ Cooperative I found a compatible outlet.
Once again, Susannah Conway provided the perfect compliment for my brain to explore creativity in a different form, in the hopes that it will jumpstart this short story which remains determined to make me work for it. I’m excited to see what comes of both image and story.