First the good news — I just finished up tweaking and fine-tuning chapter 22 of my YA fantasy novel, which leaves me just two chapters and a two-page epilogue to go. I plan on sending the whole works off to my agent on Labor Day, so I feel confident I’ll hit that goal. Very cool!

I’m feeling good about the way this book has shaped up, and I find myself coming up with more ideas and angles to flesh it out in those odd times while my brain is otherwise occupied, like driving to and from work or lying in bed, trying to sleep.

Other good news — my story “A Feast at the Manor” will be reprinted in the “Fat Man at the End of the World” anthology. This is a unique anthology, and I’m looking forward to the other stories, because the main requirement for all the stories is a main character who is okay with being big. That certainly fits my protagonist in my story — he’s a hefty techie who trundles off to a two-week retreat with his voluptious wife to lose some pounds, but he could care less. He just wants his wife to be happy and love herself again.

More info about the anthology can be found here and here.

This reprint comes on the heels of the reprint of my fantasy story “Coal Ash and Sparrows” in the Iowa Anthology, coming soon. What really tickles me about this reprint is that the story ties directly into my current novel, The Secret History of Magic. In fact, the story covers some of the events in the chapter I just finished revising this morning (but from the point of view of a different character). Best of all this anthology will help out people hit by the floods this summer in Iowa, and they still have some openings in the antho for stories — check out the details here.

And finally, the not-so-great news. My upcoming novel A Gathering of Doorways was reviewed in this weeks Publishers Weekly. That in itself is Good News. But the reviewer just didn’t dig it. “Unconvincing” was a word used more than once in the review. Ah well. I still love the novel. Here’s a link to the PW site — feel free to scroll and read, if you dare… At some point I’ll add that to my Reviews page. Maybe.

Such is the rollercoaster, whirlwind life of a writer. Many ups and downs, lots of time spent with the warm nose to the cold grindstone. Speaking of — back to my current novel, where lots of stuff is about to be blown up!