The Waiting Game

So… for a while now I’ve written largely about stuff not so much related to the writing process as things I’ve been doing and people I’ve met. So I thought I’d take a look at the writing side of things again. Mainly the waiting. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… the publishing process takes a long looooong time. I’m not talking about the writing process, although I’ve had some personal stuff that has slowed that down recently. I won’t get into it here, but let’s just say that it’s a bit overwhelming when folks take the step from saying that they prefer not to read something to declaring it evil and sinful and casting aspersions on the writer personally. It’s Fiction, folks.

But enough about that.

Back to waiting.

And waiting.

And waiting.

So far, it hasn’t gotten any easier. Sending off the second manuscript evoked the same feelings and fears that the first one did. Will they like it? Will they want to change it? And so on and so forth. At least now that I've been published, there is a reasonable assumption that the second book will at least be opened and read.

I'm a trifle obsessive and I stress about everything... What if the first book isn’t selling well enough for a second book? Even if I had the sales numbers, I wouldn’t know whether they were good or not. What if they want a second book, but they want it to be about cross-dressing penguins? I’d do my best, but I don’t have any cross-dressing penguins plots lying around waiting… (okay, so maybe I have one *now*, but it’s not a necessarily good one).

And I always wonder what I should do while I wait.

Should I keep working on book three? Should I write something else? Both?

Patience appears to be the only answer… patience and perseverance. Which is why I just finished a chapter of the third Void City novel last night in which I give away half of the secret behind Talbot’s parentage and what he really is. By the end of book three, most of the cat will be out of the bag on that one. (Ack! Bad pun!) My other projects are still proceeding as well- because in the end, if you’re a writer, that means you have to write.