Six and a Half Weeks

So you don't think I've been lounging around watching soap operas and eating bon bons for the past month and a half . . .

What I Did While I Was Unplugged

Outlined a new novel and wrote draft synopsis

House-trained Skye

Answered angry reader mail about Dream Called Time

Got depressed

Wrote another novel

Answered nice reader mail about Dream Called Time

Got more depressed

Went to hospital to visit sick family member

Got even more depressed

Revised another novel

Dealt with another family member's funeral

Despaired

Worried my friends

Corrected another novel's proofs

Filled an entire hand-written journal with unhappy/unproductive thoughts

Moved my college kid to college

Cleaned the entire house top to bottom four times

Turned down invitations to write for three different anthologies

Missed my college kid

Moved most of the clutter on PBW's front page to other pages

Rescued hurt baby snake from road; buried it when it died of its injuries

Cried

Wondered if it's possible to drown depression in tears

Shipped four boxes of books to soldiers in Iraq and Afganistan

Stopped crying (ran out of Kleenex)

Spent a week dealing with Scribd's scam

Found a troll in my comments

Laughed

Seriously thought about deleting the blog (twice)

Quilted

Asked myself "What's the use?" about a thousand times

Despaired some more

Gardened

Made four road trips, discovered how much I dislike driving through fog on the most dangerous part of the interstate

Painted six terrible watercolors

Hurt my foot while avoiding stepping on Skye (she's fine, I'm still limping)

Saw prototype cover art for the first book in my new trilogy (quite attractive)

Considered writing my very first writing manifesto

Quilted

Remembered while quilting all the stupid writing manifestos I've read

Laughed

Decided my first writing manifesto is "Sorry, no manifesto."

Despaired

Got Skye all her shots

Answered 78 annoyed reader mails demanding to know the reason why my publisher has not converted the entire StarDoc series to electronic format, and when I'm going to make them do it

Laughed

Moderated 172 comments, about 100 of which were SPAM

Seriously considered shutting down the blog and retiring from Publishing altogether to take unexpected/great job offer from old friend

Survived shopping with the other kid for school clothes, her practice driving my car, and the first day of tenth grade

Found out unexpected/great job offer requires relocation of household, politely turned down old friend

Went to two high school football games

Started writing new novel

Stopped despairing so much

Plugged back in for a couple hours here and there

Lurked

Remembered why I do this

Laughed

Started writing this list

Watched the last roses of summer bloom and



Missed you guys. A lot.

So what's up with you? Let me know in comments.

Cherijo Arrives

It's here.



Dream Called Time, the tenth and final StarDoc novel, is now available online and in stores. If you enjoy science fiction, would like to know how I wrapped up the series and support PBW in the process, I hope you'll check it out.

The novel is dedicated to the people who kept me and StarDoc going, and today I'd like to share that dedication with everyone:

This book is for
all the loyal StarDoc readers out there.
It took ten years for us to make this journey
through constant hardships
and endless heartaches,
but while I chose this path,
you never once let me
walk it alone.
Thank you.

Series Separation Anxiety

It's always tough on readers when for whatever reason a writer has to wrap up an extended novel series. Because the fans have followed it for so long and/or are so emotionally invested in the story, they never want it to end. That's why the inevitable finale always seems a bit like a betrayal on the part of the writer, especially if s/he is still around and capable of writing more.

On the writers' side of the equation, investing years in a novel series is no easy commitment. You have to gather and sustain a series readership. You have to keep writing in a universe that is hopefully built in such a way that it will hold your creative interest and not become dated. At some point your sales plateau, and these days if they aren't stellar-quality, publishers lose interest, often in mid-series. We all know the only thing that's worse than the end of a series is one that is left unfinished because the writer couldn't sell any more books.

Most readers aren't aware of what goes on behind the scenes, so it's natural for them to blame the writer. I wish readers did know how hard we fight for our series. When you're cut off without a contract, you feel as desperate as they do (I speak from multiple unhappy experiences.) But for the writer, writing is also a business. You write what you can sell. You don't shut down just because you can't sell what you love to write. If you want to stay in the biz, you write something else.

Today's popular solution for disrupted series is for the writer to self-publish. It's an acceptable compromise; one I've taken a hard look at myself. The problem with self-publishing in print is that it's expensive, time-consuming, and the results aren't always on par with what a traditional publisher can produce. It hardly ever pays what you can make via traditional publishing, so it's also an income drain. Distribution is severely limited or non-existent. Electronic self-publishing is the other option, but that withholds the novels from any reader who doesn't care to read books from a screen or e-reader (I'm one of them) and also usually imposes geographical restrictions that prevent overseas readers from purchasing the books.

At some point the disrupted-series writer generally looks at the growing stack of bills on their desk, throws up their hands, says, "There's nothing I can do about it" and moves on. One of my favorite writers has done that repeatedly, and left me with two of my most re-read series unfinished. And yes, I'm still pissed off about both, to the point of where I've seriously considered writing new books and finishing the series myself just so that I could have the ending I wanted.

Anyway, the point of this post is not to yell at series readers for their devoted loyalty or whine about how hard it is to sustain an extended novel series in today's "what have you done for us in the last five minutes?" Publishing industry. It is what it is, and until someone comes up with a solution that suits everyone, or series novels are outlawed, we have to live with it. If you're pursuing publication, and you see yourself writing an extended series, this is something you really need to think about carefully and make some contingency plans.

I've considered self-publishing more StarDoc novels. There were five I didn't have the opportunity to write or publish, and while I do consider the series finished with Dream Called Time, those lost books are still waiting to be realized. I also doubt I'll be able to turn my back on the StarDoc crew; they've been a daily part of my life for going on fifteen years. It's a big, wonderful universe, and I've never gotten tired of writing about it.

But I'm also realistic. Science fiction doesn't have much of a market share to begin with, and while (thanks to my readers) I have one of the longest-running series currently being published in the genre, the sales are slow and long-term. Those are two things Publishing hates. To give you a comparison, my first Darkyn novel sold more copies in the first six months after publication than the first StarDoc book sold in six years.

In addition to the usual costs of living, medical insurance, the growing list of stuff that medical insurance doesn't pay for, helping out family, etc., I have one kid going off to college in a couple weeks and another who will be following in a couple years. As much as I'd love to be artistic about it, there is no contest between writing what I like most and earning a decent income. Decent income always wins.

That said, you know with me it's not all about the Almighty Buck. Once the StarDoc series is officially finished in print, then I think I'll be in a better place to seriously consider what more I want to do from there. Right now I just have to get over my own separation anxieties, which I admit, are pretty intense. And I thought I had a handle on it, too.

Now it's your turn: what would you like to see writers of extended series do for their readers? What do you think the best solution to the problems involved with publishing extended novel series for the writer? Let us know in comments (also, if you want to vent at me about StarDoc ending, go ahead. Just keep your shoulder handy so I can sob on it.)

Final Pass

This afternoon I finished the copy-edit on Dream Called Time, which I thought would be an ordeal but turned out to be pretty much a breeze. It's funny how some books seem to fight you tooth and nail, and others just stream over you and through you like moonlight and music.

Other than correcting the proofs, the novel is finished, which means today I wrote the very last word of the StarDoc series. As before when I finished the final draft of the manuscript, it was a serene experience.

Today I'm giving myself the day off. I think I've earned one.

If you'd like to see something oh so sweet, stop by the photoblog and check out a couple of truly scrumptious delights.

Future Read

In response to the endless nagging popular demand, I've posted an excerpt from my final StarDoc novel, Dream Called Time, over on the stories blog. Warning, there was no way to post anything that would avoid spoilers from book nine, Crystal Healer, so if you haven't read that one yet you might want to pass.

Got Cover

Here's the cover art for the final StarDoc novel, Dream Called Time, book ten (to see a large version, click on the image.)



Made it to the last book of the series without a single unsightly cover in the bunch, too:



My only regret is that the publisher decided to change the cover design toward the end of the series to "update" it, as the last three covers don't mesh well with the first seven. But I also realize cover art styles and tastes change over the years and cohesion is not a top priority. Hardly anyone gets to write a SF series that spans a decade, either, so I think I'll just be happy and grateful that Cherijo was never depicted headless, semi-naked or dressed in hot pink DayGlo Spandex.