It's still 2018, isn't it?

I haven't written much here, but I have been writing. I successfully completed National Novel Writing Month this past November, for certain values of "completed." I crossed the 50,000 mark a few days early, and closed out at 54,527 on the 30th. However, the novel itself is not narratively complete, so it ended on "To be continued..." instead. (My outline--which I played with for most of the year--was ridiculously detailed.) I plan to work on finishing it over the next few months (there's not enough material left to merit a sequel out of it, plus I have stuff in mind for the next book in the series) and edit into something rereadable.

The revisions on The Two Kinds of Magic are progressing nicely, thanks to a writers' group that specializes in genre fiction. (As I've discovered, getting feedback on an urban fantasy from literary types is Not Very Helpful.) I'm already outlining revisions in my head for parts that they haven't even gotten to yet, based on things they've already pointed out in the parts that they have.

I finished writing (I may have started it last year) a short story called Vexations, which is set in the same world as The Two Kinds of Magic and its sequel, The Suicide Demon. It's an urban fantasy setting where magic exists (covertly), but is limited to only those who have been transformed by it in some way. The plot centers on someone who is transformed rather earlier than expected. I'm not sure if it counts as a short story, because it's 15,000 words (this apparently qualifies it for the title "novelette" that nobody uses) but a little research indicates that there are places that will accept stories of that length. I've sent it to a couple of dear friends to look over and once I've heard back from them (unless impatience gets the better of me) I'll be shipping it out to make the rounds of periodicals and other potential markets.

This coming year I would like to post here a little more often, particularly in terms of 100 Odd Words posts. I used to do them once a week and rather fell out of the habit. It would be good if I could resume it, but I don't have nice, clean Saturdays right now so I'm not sure I can make a steady go of it. But I can at least celebrate my progress on the writing projects I have going right now, and yammer about writing in general, even if I'm not particularly qualified by most standards,

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