Not dead!

[ursulav]

I’m not dead! Really! The Hugo nomination did not kill me! It’s just been a whirl of trying to get crap done, murderous allergies, appalling taxes-I owed more than my CAR cost! And when did the state suddenly turn into a starving wolverine?-and more trying to get crap done. I’m in the death march stage of art for Book Eight, I have to start writing

Comments

[keleri]

Too bad you can't claim the studio beagle as a tax break.

[tuftears]

Curiosity prompts me to ask, isn't your agent responsible for sending manuscripts out to potential markets now and if so, shouldn't she be getting the rejection letters, not you?

[ursulav]

Oh yes, she gets them! But she forwards them on to me (at least some of them) if they're a market we've talked about, and if there's some feedback in them.

[tuftears]

Sounds fair enough, good to know she's doing stuff and that you are looking toward Life After Dragonbreath!

[gwalla]

Fingers crossed for Regency Ninja and Little House...

[talyxsaunt]

I've been dying to tell you that I really envy you your Worm-eating Warbler. That is my nemesis bird. I have actually stood right next to someone who had one in his binoculars' view and failed to see it. I have chosen the wrong group when a group split up. Etc. So good on ya'.

[ursulav]

That was the very first bird we spotted at High Island--and if it makes you feel any better, I have NO luck with orioles. Whole flocks leave town when they hear I'm coming. "Man, there were tons here yesterday..." is a cry I have heard too many times.

[shatterstripes]

Man publishing is scary stuff.

Out of curiosity, are you aiming for another series as your post-Dragonbreath project, or are you firing off ideas for lotsa standalone books with the vague idea that you might tell more stories in their worlds if they get bought and they present themselves to you?

[ursulav]

We're trying to pitch another series, for the most part. Publishers like series, particularly with kid's books, since if you can hook 'em somewhere, hey, subsequent volumes are printing money as far as the publisher is concerned.

And honestly, I like serieses (seriesi?) because it's job security and keeps me off the trying-to-pitch-a-book stage for a couple of years. Although I might not go ten books on the next one...that's a long time to spend with a set of characters.

[shatterstripes]

I can certainly see the appeal from both the publisher's end and the creator's end! Sometimes I wish I could come up with something I found compelling enough to stick with for a decade.

Good luck with the pitches.