Love and Spaceships, Volume 4
I will finally have something you can read! But it's not what you think.
Hello, friends! It’s been a while since I gave a publishing update, so let’s do that first. I’m so excited to report that, while my agent Cathie doesn’t rep sci-fi, there is another agent at the agency who does—Bonnie. And she read Planet of Souls and loved it! It went on submission a couple of weeks ago and is now in the hands of 6 publishers. I’m thrilled for this book of my heart to find a home. Fingers crossed! Here’s my latest mood board in on it. Thank you to Mark and Lisa for their Midjourney skills on the faces!
I also finished Draft 3 of the sequel, and it’s in the hands of critique partners now. People… it may be even better than the first one (grins maniacally). My storytelling skills have improved and all the critiques and workshops are paying off.
As for Hashtag, Celebrity Crush, it’s still on submission. The HarperCollins strike really slowed things down this past fall and winter, but publishing seems to be picking up again. Editors have made really positive comments about it, but no one’s made an offer, and the space for rom-coms is competitive right now, so that’s that.
I also sent Cathie another rom-com manuscript that’s super high-concept and set in the Keys with a Florida Woman theme and the humor of Parks and Rec. I’m really excited about this one and am in the process of turning it into a script. I pitched it to Script Pipeline’s pitch contest. That’s super competitive, too (it’s ALL super competitive). Winners will be announced on July 31st.
(Actual footage of writers trying to get book deals)
In other news, I’ve partnered with my nephew, Nick Fong, to write serialized fiction on Kindle Vella based on his board game Rolling Empires. It’ll be a fantasy adventure with elves and wizards, love and betrayal, and a creepy thing in a cage. (EDITED to say we decided not to go with Kindle Vella because it isn’t available in Canada. We’ll be releasing it on Royal Road instead, but only after it’s complete, so you’ll have to wait a little while longer.) Here’s a mood board for it:
Also, May the 4th just passed, and here’s the funniest thing I saw this year…
This is definitely NOT the way.
In personal news, my oldest biological daughter is graduating this year. It’s weird. And bittersweet. And also so fun to see her launch into her life. My late teens and twenties were full of adventure and friendship, and I wish the same for her—safely, because OOF the stuff I did… (some of you were there to witness it).
Anyway, that’s all for now. I appreciate all of your support on this long and tedious publishing journey! I’ll take all the prayers, good vibes, manifestations, etc. With AI in the picture now, what was already hard just got even harder. Still… writers gotta write.
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