I’ve previously mentioned my in-progress short story collection. The idea for “After the Second Wave” evolved from writing two short stories set in similar worlds, re-reading Ghostwritten, and the need to have a tangible target for my writing.
The project has had challenges. I knew, as a fledgling author, I needed help with the stories. Not creating them, but turning them into pieces others would enjoy. Hundreds of rejections (with nary a positive comment) forced me to get real help. I thought I could do it through peer sites (Scribophile) and one-off edits on Reedsy. But the continued rejections said otherwise.
After a frustrating false start, I found Jamie, my writing coach and Andrea, editor. And now the project has real momentum. Two narratives are complete; two additional ones will follow by March.
Next up are the handful of stories I wrote before working with Jamie. They need mass revisions. But, I know the characters and plot and can focus on the writing. Maybe 2 more by end of spring?
Then, onto the best part. The existing stories are set in the first few years of the Second Wave. I’m eager to explore a longer timeline and how our characters fare.
And this only covers the writing part. Tons of work ahead to assemble and publish a book. I’ll start work on publishing when a few more pieces are complete. Until then, the plan is to assemble 8-10 good stories, get 2-3 published on their own, and put together this bad boy.
