I don’t usually make New Year’s Resolutions, but as I enter 2017 without a fulltime job, I realize I have many hours at my disposal to write, seek out jobs or writing assignments, and write while also waiting for Opportunity to seek me out. So, as 2016 was thankfully on its way out the door, I decided that in addition to whatever else is on my plate, I will also write one short story a month.It certainly helps that so far this month I have two short stories to work on. The first is my contribution to eSpec Books’ follow-up to their The Side of Good/The Side of Evil. This time they’re collecting stories featuring minions and sidekicks.
For years, I’ve always been curious about the type of person who willingly signs on to work for Advanced Idea Mechanics or Hydra or Spectre, etc. Most people don’t go to college and major in villainy. Some have no choice when they don’t measure up for anything else and they aspire to more than some local street gang. Some, should they have a desired expertise, probably get recruited. Others get duped. But really. In comics and movies, bad guy operations seem to have an excess of cannon fodder and we never really get to know how they wound up there.I tried to pitch something like this to Marvel some time back and it sadly didn’t even merit a response. But the notion has remained with me, so I used that as a starting point for my minion tale, which is currently with a Beta Reader.
Next up is my contribution to Crazy 8 Press’ fifth anniversary anthology, due out in time for Shore Leave in July. Russ Colchamiro volunteered to take the reins on this one and yesterday I received some very thoughtful notes on tweaking the outline. The research has been completed so I just need to consider his feedback and then start writing.As for the remainder of the year, I’m not sure what story ideas will present themselves or what I will do with them when the year ends. I do know I want to get back to the character I introduced in “Solo”, which appeared in Mob Magic. I even began thinking about the plot of the next installment a week or two back so that’s probably my February offering.How will this turn out? I don’t know, but I like the challenge I have set for myself. It’s practical, doable, and will leave me something for the future.
#Tags: eSpec Books, Mob Magic, slider, writing