My Authorial State of Being
What have I been up to lately? My blog hasn't been very revealing on that front, so here's an attempt to shed some light on my current authorial state of being.
You may have noticed that my fiction output has dropped off dramatically over the past couple of months. There are multiple reasons for that. Losing Freight ended, I completed Year Three of Fifty-Word Stories, and I took a break from the Year of Stories to recharge my batteries. Basically, the natural endings of a couple of projects coincided with some creative burnout. Any reasonable person could have seen that coming, probably: writing 12 unique posts per week (averaging over 8,000 words) across four different "franchises", while also trying to make headway on my novel, was way too much.
I think I can improve on my current output (I'm only working actively on Special People right now), but by the time I'm ready to ramp things up again, some life circumstances may change, and the time I have available for writing may be diminished. So I don't want to make any promises or predictions about timelines on different projects, but I do want to assure people that I intend to finish off the Year of Stories eventually, and put together Fifty-Word Stories: Volume Three, and do enough rewrites/tweaks to Losing Freight and the early Special People story arcs to make them publishable, and...
Yeah. See my problem?
I've also been podcasting every week (and then every other week, except for some recent inconsistencies), but I think it's time to put that little side project to rest. The effort-to-audience ratio isn't high enough to justify it right now.
I want to thank everyone for their support and patience while I try to get some of the big items on my to-do list checked off. I hope you're enjoying the new Special People content I put out twice a week, and as soon as I'm able to start getting more new stories out to you, I intend to do so. Until then, I'll do my best to keep everyone updated on my progress towards the various releases I'm working on.
Year of Stories – Week 15
Welcome to week 15 of the Year of Stories!
Free this week is Jef and the Sad Sack, a 5,300-word sci-fi children's story. Read it now! You can also buy it for 99¢ in the Store.
Synopsis
There is a boy who lives in an attic. His name, when he bothers to remember it, is Jef. No one ever comes to visit Jef except the man at the trapdoor, until one day a spaceship crashes into Jef's attic and whisks him away on a fantastic adventure!
The highlighted Store release for this week is The Valley, a 3,500-word sci-fi/fantasy crossover. Read it now for only $0.99!
Synopsis
In a laboratory somewhere on Earth, a vast scientific project is about to bear fruit. Meanwhile, somewhere else entirely, a girl pleads with an old mystic named Kolio to save her mother's life, or, failing that, at least her soul. In the valley of the lifewater, two worlds collide...
To read previously released stories, check out the Year of Stories page.
Year of Stories – Week 13
Welcome to week 13 of the Year of Stories!
Free this week is Unsettled, a 6,800-word sci-fi action epic. Read it now! You can also buy it for 99¢ in the Store.
Synopsis
Darien Hammond and his wife, Tiffany, helped clear planet Oronado of the incumbent alien Cust almost two decades ago. They laid down roots, started a farm and a family, and settled into their new life. Then the Cust returned. The human settlers are on the run, scrambling into shuttles as their cities and farms are burned from orbit. Can Darien and his family make it out in time?
The highlighted Store release for this week is From, a 3,100-word western-inspired drama. Read it now for only $0.99!
Synopsis
People change. Places change. Dean Cooper knows that as well as anyone. Change is the only constant thing in his life; he accepted that fact a long time ago. But when he decides to stop in at his childhood home one day, will he find its new owners' changes so easy to handle?
To read previously released stories, check out the Year of Stories page.
“We Dragons” on Ray Gun Revival
Before I decided to do the Year of Stories, I spent a few months submitting some of my work to different online magazines, to see if I could get any traction with my short stories via the "traditional route." I received the standard stream of rejections, but I earned a few acceptances, too.
Today my story We Dragons went up at Ray Gun Revival, a "space opera" magazine dedicated to sci-fi short stories.
We Dragons is definitely among my stronger work, in my opinion, so I hope you go check it out and leave a rating and a comment. It's a cool site, and I've enjoyed many stories that have been posted there.
I expect I'll probably include We Dragons in the Year of Stories at some point later in the year, because I'd like to be able to put it into one of the print collections, but I have to read my contract with RGR a little more closely to make sure what the exclusivity period is.
DISCOVERY
Do you prefer to hold books in your hands and see them on your shelf, rather than reading them off a screen? I know I do!
Now's your chance to do exactly that with my newest print offering, DISCOVERY. This is the first quarterly Year of Stories print collection. It contains 13 stories and is about 200 pages long. Here's the blurb from the Store page:
The first three months of Tim Sevenhuysen's Year of Stories project are packed with real human characters making their way through fantastic challenges and strange worlds. From outer space to the high seas, from the far reaches of the future to an ancient kingdom torn by war, your journey will carry you to places of wonder and terror, hope and heartache, victory and defeat.
DISCOVERY contains 13 short stories, notably including Diana and the Animal, A Kingdom of White, Darla, Dragon Hunter, and Unsettled, as released on TimSevenhuysen.com between January and March 2012.
You can preorder your very own copy of DISCOVERY right now for $11.99. The proof is in the mail on its way to me right now, and I hope to officially release the book and start shipping people's orders by mid-March.
If you've been looking for a good way to contribute to the Grocery Fund, maybe this is the right option for you!
If you live in Victoria (or will be in Victoria at some point) and would prefer not to pay shipping, send me an email and let me know you'd like a copy, and we can work out arrangements for how to get the book in your hands. (That goes for friends and family, too!)
The number of preorders I get will affect how many I have printed in the first run, so please place your order sooner rather than later and help me save on the shipping. Thanks!
Special People
Special People is serialized superhero fiction with a fistful of twists.
Special people have special problems.
BECOMING
The second quarter of the Year of Stories has arrived in print! BECOMING contains over 200 pages of great short stories for only $11.99. Order yours now.
DISCOVERY
Prefer the feel of paper to the look of a screen? DISCOVERY is the first quarterly Year of Stories print book. You get nearly 200 pages of exciting fiction for only $11.99! Grab your copy now.
Galloway’s Hunt
Galloway's Hunt is a novelette set in the world of Galloway's Voyage, my work-in-progress novel based on the same title character. Buy it now for only 99¢!
Losing Freight
Losing Freight is a serialized sci-fi novel where you get to vote on what happens next at the end of every page.