Blog – Kit Campbell Books

Moving On

Ah, squiders. I am so tired. Why? No one knows, but it’s just as well that Nano collapsed and I’m not trying to fit in 50000 words.

(Also have had a couple of nights where I’ve woken up in the middle with existential dread. That’s fun.)

I did finally write a draft of the query letter. I spent like two hours pulling my hair out and writing the most convoluted sentences known to man one day, and the next day I sat down and wrote a complete letter in about 15 minutes.

Not perfect, not anywhere close, but it exists now, and it’s always easier to edit something that exists than create things from scratch, or some such.

I also updated the synopsis and finished out my chapter list, which is a tool I’ve been using for critique so people can keep track of what happened in earlier chapters, and I figured if someone wants a longer synopsis, it’ll work for that as well.

I’ve got the query/synopsis up for critique on one of my Discord servers, where we’re having an interesting discussion about some of the metadata wording.

But now that the query is done(ish), I do find myself kind of twiddling my thumbs. The query (and probably the synopsis) will take a few iterations. And then I need to make a list of agents to query. At this point, I’m wondering if I should just wait until January to actually query because I’ve heard it said that things shut down across the holidays, but I will double check that before I make any decisions.

I think…I think it’s time to move on to a new project. I can still spend some time on the submission materials. Rework the query here. Make the agent list there. And then I’m not just sitting around waiting for feedback and going insane.

Next on my list is the revision for Rings Among the Stars, my scifi horror novella from a few years ago. I’d like to get going on this anyway, so I can run it through the winter critique marathon (and have something to give my in-person critique group come December). Part of me is like, oh no, not another revision, I spent the last year and a half on a revision, but this one won’t be as intense for any number of reasons, including but not limited to:

It’s 30K and not 120K
I wrote it recently when I knew what I was doing and am not trying to fix pacing and other issues introduced twenty years ago when I wrote the first draft
SPACE ZOMBIES
Single viewpoint
Horror is great for traumatic times

Step 1 will be looking at the feedback I got last time it went through the critique marathon and putting that onto the paper copy I printed out God knows how long ago. Then my own readthrough and notes, which will help me establish what if any major revisions are necessary, and put together a general editorial plan.

So that’s the plan for the next few weeks. Around making agent list and reworking the query.

Happy Tuesday, squiders.

WriYe and Bucket Lists

Happy Wednesday, squiders! I continue to procrastinate writing my query letter so here we are. (Hopefully today, though. Fingers crossed. Of course, I could be doing that instead of this BUT ANYWAY)

(I did submit a novella to a publication, though, which is new for me, so fingers crossed on that.)

Here’s November’s WriYe prompt, by the way: What’s on your writing bucket list? Which one is the most achievable?

Hm. I did do a series of posts, oh, two years ago I want to say? About stories I’d like to write in the future. Hold on.

Dual Timelines
Interlocking Lives
Nakama
Fantasy that’s really Scifi

(It was three years ago.)

I kind of feel like this prompt is more about like, the process of writing instead of story ideas. Like, more of a bucket list like: finish a draft, publish a story, etc, etc, et al. BUT ANYWAY.

I don’t know that I really have a bucket list. Obviously I have goals but “bucket list” implies more…finality? I don’t know.

Or maybe more generality? Like, a bucket list item could be “have a short story published” but a goal is “publish this short story in particular.”

I hope I’m making sense.

From a bucket list standpoint, I’ve done a lot of general things. I’ve sold short stories, published novels, taught classes, and been on panels at conventions. I’ve checked a lot of the “I’m an author” boxes. And the ones I haven’t, things like “become a bestseller” or “have a movie optioned” depend on other people. I’ve talked before about how frustrating it can be to have goals that rely on other people, and how you lose control because you can’t control what other people do. So while I would like those things, certainly, I still don’t think I would put them on any sort of bucket list for those reasons.

If we go back to those posts from above, I would say the Fantasy that’s really Scifi is the most attainable (and, as I mention in that post, City of Hope and Ruin fulfills it in some ways). I’d like to work on a science fiction series soon, which could lead into the Nakama one. The interlocking lives and dual timelines are still probably outside my reach, but I bet I could do them if I really tried.

But we’ve got to finish what we’re working on first. The freaking submission materials for Book 1. And then the revision on my scifi horror (and I need to get on that too so I can get it to my critique group in December and probably run it through the critique marathon in January). And then maybe something new?

We’ll have to see where we are.

What’s on your bucket list, squiders?

WriYe and Playlists

Hey, squiders. Sorry for the radio silence. This week has been…well.

I realized I never said anything about MileHiCon. It went really well! I got things done, my panels went well, I had more people than ever come talk to me after panels, book sales were good (and I had decent online follow-through sales), I got to catch up with friends, and all-in-all fun was had.

(I am definitely out of Hallowed Hill now though.)

Next year they’re moving to a hotel much farther away, however (and it looks like some other cons are as well, which makes me wonder if the hotel did something or is going to do renovations or something) which will be problematic. I drive back and forth from home right now, which takes me about 20 minutes each direction and allows me to be flexible if I need to head to the con or leave early for other engagements.

Something to worry about more in the future, though.

Anyway, I realized I missed October’s WriYe prompt, which is: Your favorite writing playlist. Who’s on it?

I do listen to music when I write/revise, but it’s extremely variable. I used to (and still do sometimes–I’m in the very beginning stages of making a Book 2 playlist, which has about 3 songs on it at the moment, but it’s pretty low priority because I don’t foresee myself actually working on Book 2 until something happens with Book 1–so of course my mind is super focused on it) make story specific playlists, which can be hit or miss, because sometimes it takes a while to find enough songs to fill it up, and it can very much be a procrastination activity. And often a song goes with a specific scene or character, which makes it not necessarily useful for the book at large.

Often I just listen to a particular type of music. Sometimes I go off of tone (so, for example, listening to atmospheric instrumental music if I’m writing horror, or epic metal if I’m writing fantasy). Sometimes I just listen to music that helps me focus, especially if I’m revising.

I use Pandora primarily when listening to music, because I can just pick a tone or genre that feels like it will work for whatever I’m doing, and it will go on by itself without me needing to do a lot. I use the free version, so I do get some commercials, but it’s not as bad as YouTube has gotten.

And I do use YouTube as well occasionally, mostly for things like “3 hours of summer coffee shop sounds” that are just making noise in the background, which tends to be helpful if I’m revising and need to focus a lot on actual wording in the story. There’s a Skyrim one (pomodoros in the College of Winterhold) that I’m digging lately.

As for who is on my playlist(s), the songs tend to be whoever I’m listening to anyway. I’ll hear a song on my normal stations and make a note of it for when I put together playlists together. Right now I’ve been listening to a lot of dance music, so that tends to be what’s getting put on this particular playlist.

(This does tend to date some playlists over time, since my music tastes do shift over time and I’ll go through different phases.)

If you make playlists, how do you do it?

NaNoNoWay

Happy Halloween, squiders! I’ve been listening to Spooky, Scary Skeletons on repeat because it’s my favorite spooky song.

With October ending (sad), normally at this time of year we’d at least talk about the possibility of doing NaNoWriMo, but with the recent scandals I, like, many people, have decided to distance myself from the organization.

I assume they’re going forward business-as-usual, but I unsubscribed everywhere and don’t know. But part of me very much wants to peek, not unlike looking at the social media of an ex in the hopes that they’re unhappy.

(So far I have not.)

If you’ve been around the blog for a hot minute, you’ll know I had been doing Nano forever, having started back in 2003 when there were approximately 5000 of us total. And that when I lived in the Bay Area, I used to volunteer and help pack merch before the organization got big and they hired other people/companies to do that. And poor Chris. It’s got to be hard to watch something you invented get big and then go down in horrible flames.

My local Nano group has gone independent, like many, and they’re holding a kickoff party tonight, like they always do. They’re offered alternative programs for tracking word count and whatnot, which I’ve not had a chance to look at yet, but should just because it’s always good to find tools that will help your process.

I often go to the kickoff party even if I’m not doing Nano, just because I like the fellowship and I used to collect the Nano stickers each year. But I’m torn this year. It really is like breaking up from a longterm relationship. I had done Nano for so long, and I met so many of my writing friends during the event.

But I can’t decide if I should go tonight. I’m not going to attempt a Nano-like challenge, partly because of my personal baggage, and partially because I have to get these submission materials done. Is it worth it to go? Will people want to commiserate? Will it be weird, with people pretending everything is fine?

I checked the sign up, and only 11 people are currently signed up. Not sure how it normally goes. Maybe everyone decides last minute. Maybe a bunch of people come without signing up.

I should decide, though, and let them know if I’m going to come. But I really can’t decide what the right choice is.

What do you think, squiders?

The Random Number Generator Most of the Way Through

Good afternoon, squiders. MileHiCon starts in about an hour, and I’m not quite ready, so that tracks.

Sigh.

I did get moderator questions for all my panels (including the one I’m moderating, so obviously someone else is writing them for all the panels, and if it’s the same person for all of them she should ask for some help) so at least that got done without me actually doing it.

I have found all my supplies and/or made and printed new ones. The panels continue to be a bit underprepared for. Ah well. Perhaps we will have time later. Or we’ll wing it, which can go poorly or fine, from past experience.

Now. It’s the 25th, so we have about 20 days of active data on our random number generator experiment. How are we feeling?

Well, in general, I’d say it was a success. I started on my SkillShare class, which I had been avoiding for months, and made progress on all the other goals (though I did not finish any of them). And circumventing the “I have a lot to do, which should I work on right now?” issue definitely improved my overall productivity.

Now, the cons. Well, I made progress on everything, some things were easier to make progress on than others. The submission material goal had time spent on it but no real progress (and someone mentioned I could comp authors and not specific books if I was having a hard time finding a fit which, omg, is so much easier, I’m going to do that), and the short story only got a couple hundred words each time because I had to reorientate myself each time. SkillShare had definite momentum. The drawing goals worked the best, because I could spend more time on each of them when they came up (I can watch my spouse play Assassin’s Creed and draw, for instance, but I cannot watch him play and also write) and because they’re mostly for fun.

So, we’ll definitely finish out the month, but we’ll need to make some changes for November so the submission goal gets done. Maybe cancel other writing goals until it does, or get rid of the drawing goals (which are definitely easier and I will default to if left to my own devices). Maybe just do the submission goals.

I’ve got a week to figure it out.

No Nanowrimo this year, or ever again probably, for obvious reasons. My local group has rebelled, so I may still go to the kickoff next Thursday. The submission materials MUST get done so I also don’t get to switch to anything new, which makes the timing not great.

Ah well.

Wish me luck for this weekend!

Oops, I Should Have Prepped

Morning, squiders.

Hey, guess what is this weekend? It’s MILEHICON.

Guess what I am not ready for? Also MileHiCon.

When we talked on the 8th about getting ready for MileHiCon, I was like, oh, I don’t really need to get going yet. I have time!

And that, my friends, was wrong.

I forgot that all last week I was off cavorting through New Mexico (we got some rain but were not especially close to Roswell), which was more exhausting than expected. So now it is too late to order more books (I only have two copies of Hallowed Hill, oh no) or bookmarks, or anything really, except perhaps print out some fliers, which I still need to make and/or find.

So, hey, yeah, I should have started that week.

(I also thought I had one more week in there. I think it’s because Halloween is the middle of the week this year, so MileHiCon is 25/26/27 instead of, like, 27/28/29. Only a few days difference but making a lot right about now.)

Here’s my prep list, if you recall:

Check book stock and order more if necessary
Research and prepare for panels
Follow up with author co-op table sign up if haven’t heard by Friday
Figure out if I have any Writers’ Motivation fliers left over from last year and if not make more
Bookmarks??? (And if so, of which book(s)?)
Make sure we have Venmo, Square, et al set up and ready to go with all the pieces
Business cards??

So, I have checked my book stock. All hunky dory except HH, as mentioned above. That’s not great, as that’s my newest. Maybe I can put it on sale online and have links available.

They added a panel on me on the latest revision of the schedule (Friday evening), and it looks like I need to come up with the moderator questions for the panel I’m moderating? Normally they’re given to me, so I need to get on that so I can get the questions back to the coordinator and she can get them to the panelists.

Co-op table is ready to go.

I have two more places to look re: Writers’ Motivation fliers (but also I think I have the file and can just print more as necessary).

No bookmarks, not on top of things.

Venmo is fine, Square is essentially fine, I just need to find my card reader (two–three–possible places). Prices are the same as last year so it’s all programmed in.

I think I know where the business cards are too. Just need to grab them.

So, new list:

Make questions for moderation panel (the horse one) and send to coordinator
Get business cards and square reader and put them with the books (also newsletter sign-up sheet)
Find Writers’ Motivation fliers or make more
Make sale codes for HH, links for Deep and Blue
Prepare for other panels

AH!

Anyway, talk to you guys later! Procrastination is bad!

Promo: The Roots Run Deep by C.M. Forest

Good morning, squiders! In honor of spooky season, I have a horror short story collection for you today! I also asked the author’s opinion on the core of a horror story, so read below to see their answer!

THE ROOTS RUN DEEP

C.M. Forest

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GENRE: Horror Short Story Collection

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

BLURB:

Dug from the twisted mind of C.M. Forest, the acclaimed author of Infested, comes a collection of 15 horror stories that will drag you into the abyss of fear and despair.

A fast-food playland with a nightmarish secret, a greenhouse with a bug problem, a busload of kids lost in the woods, a trip through the solar system to investigate a strange comet, and many more.

Brace yourself for an unrelenting journey through a world where evil knows no bounds, and darkness consumes all.

~~~~~~~~

EXCERPT:

The truck door swung open with a painful groan. Gordon kept his gaze locked on the barn as he climbed out. A cool breeze wafted across the field to grab and tussle his long, unkempt hair. Ahead, the barn door swayed as if in anticipation.

In the bed of the truck were two gas cans. The fuel sloshed as he pulled the red, plastic containers free. The weight of the cans felt comforting as he approached the structure.

He caught the barn door with his foot and kicked it open enough to enter. He thought he might feel a twinge of nostalgia, or maybe even horror, at returning to the old building, but the truth was, it looked just like every other barn he had ever been in. Spinning the caps off one of the cans, he began dumping the gasoline.

A low, creaking sound pulled him away from his work. He stared around the darkened structure, trying damn hard to convince himself it was just the wind, but failing. Despite his darkest imaginings, he could not wrap his head around what could be living within the old, warped walls of the barn. What malevolent force was animating the ancient boards and struts?

When nothing materialized from the gloom, he returned to his business.

With both cans empty, Gordon stood in the door and fished around in his pocket for his lighter. As soon as it was free, he began thumbing the flint wheel. A few angry sparks jumped from the end, but the flame was stubbornly absent. Once again, he heard the creaking. This time, it seemed to come from everywhere all at once. With his lighter forgotten, Gordon stared ahead as something started moving, opening, along the floor. A spike of cold fear chilled him to the bone. He turned to run.

~~~~~~~~

GUEST POST:

I asked: What is the core of a horror story, in your opinion?

And the answer:

That’s a hard question to answer. I think horror, and why it works for any individual person, is subjective. Some people believe that for a scary story to work, there needs to be violence, blood, and gore. Pure carnage! Others would say it is all about the characters. Are they relatable? Do we fear for their safety? While a different group would say it all comes down to the atmosphere of the story. The growing storm of unease. Personally, I learn toward that option (I’m not saying the others aren’t important, just that they aren’t the core of a horror story for me). When writing a story, I try to build a spooky atmosphere. If done correctly, it creates a great deal of tension and dread in the reader. Once you’ve instilled those feelings in the audience, the ability to scare them becomes much easier. From there, I’m able to find the right characters for the situation. I’m able to add in the violence, gore, and mayhem.

~~~~~~~~

AUTHOR Bio and Links:

C.M. Forest, also known as Christian Laforet, is the author of the novel Infested, the novella We All Fall Before the Harvest, the short story collection The Space Between Houses, as well as the co-author of the short-story collection No Light Tomorrow. His short fiction has been featured in several anthologies across multiple genres. A self-proclaimed horror movie expert, he spent an embarrassing amount of his youth watching scary movies. When not writing, he lives in Ontario, Canada with his wife, kids, three cats and a pandemic dog named Sully who has an ongoing love affair with a blanket.

Website: http://www.ChristianLaforet.com

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorchristianlaforet

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/christianlaforet/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/c_laforet

TikTok: http://www.tiktok.com/@christian_writes_horror

~~~~~~~~~~~

GIVEAWAY INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE

The author will be awarding a $15 Amazon/BN gift card to a randomly drawn winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

See you next week, squiders!

Still on My BS

Good morning, squiders, hope your week is going well! My birthday was quite nice, and now I have new books, yaaaaay.

On we blindly stumble with our random number generator. Progress continues to be made. My SkillShare class is ready for me to make the slides, I’ve written 1.5K on a horror short story (possibly terrible, but we shall see when we’re done), I’ve done 5 pages in my trip book and drawn two character drawings. Progress!

The Book 1 submission materials continue to be a sticking point, but at least we are looking at them. I went through the potential comps my Discord person sent me to see if they seemed like they would work and identified one of them as a possibility (of course, now I must read said book). Still, ideally I would have two comps (assuming this one will work), so the search is ongoing. I cannot seem to find any YA fantasy books published in the last three years that involve prophecies at all, so that’s not great.

All I’m looking for is dual viewpoint, involves a prophecy, and may or may not involve a sentient forest. Nothing much, I know.

Still, I cannot get hung up on comps forever, so I did hunt down my synopsis (four years old, apparently). It’s actually in pretty good shape. The wording is a little awkward and a couple plot points need updating, but it should be pretty easy to fix up. Of course, in theory I should have shorter and longer versions of said synopsis (I do have a chapter list, with summaries of each chapter. I don’t know if that will work for a longer synopsis or if it needs to be more stylized) but that may be a problem for future!Kit.

You’ll note that actually writing the query letter has yet to come up.

I’m thinking I need to rework the steps in the spreadsheet for the Book 1 submission materials, to cover the extra steps I’m finding I’m needing. But I also need to not dwell on the comps so much. It’s an avoidance technique as much as anything else, but with the added insidiousness of seeming like productivity.

Also, I need to get on it, or I’m not going to be able to move on to my next edit in time for my December critique meeting.

Squiders, if you’ve queried recently, how did you pick your comps?

Why is Writing a Query Letter so Hard?

Happy Friday, squiders. It is almost my birthday, which continues to be a day I look forward to, despite the inescapable march of time.

My random number generator continues to work well! I’m getting a lot done, and I’ve managed to close half of the tabs I had open (which was admittedly beginning to stress me out) as I’ve completed various tasks. But one thing is not getting done, even though I am spending time on it when it comes into rotation.

And that’s the query letter for Book 1.

This came up as the thing to do on Wednesday, so I dutifully opened my query document, read through the examples I had put in there and the notes I had written at the top from when I did a bunch of research a few weeks ago, and copied a template I’d had recommended to me to use for a first try.

And then I promptly spiraled.

You see, the first thing on the template is the housekeeping–genre, word count, comps, why you’re querying the agent, etc.

The last time I seriously queried (a decade ago?) the housekeeping went at the end. So I went onto my publishing Discord server to ask if the housekeeping was, indeed, going at the beginning these days. And they confirmed it did go at the beginning, and then we got into a side conversation about whether or not I could query as adult fantasy and not YA fantasy (a little wishy-washy, but I think we decided that it had to be YA), and then we got into a second side conversation about potential comps, during which one member very nicely talked to me in DMs about what the book is about so she could recommend some YA fantasy that might work, and during which I discovered that I am bad at explaining things succinctly and also that I don’t know how to explain it in tropes.

Which was stressful but perhaps understandable, as I have been working on the book for twenty years and it has gone through some fairly major iterations during that time. I may reread the draft again and write tropes down, because I know we are selling things that way these days.

Anyway, she made a couple of suggestions for comps that I need to look at, and I also made a post in my online group that runs the marathons to see if anyone had any comp ideas, and emailed my in-person group to ask the same.

And I realize the comps are, like, lower priority than the query itself. But my mind has fixated on them. And drawn a complete blank. I read YA fantasy (though perhaps not as much as adult fantasy) but I may need to read specifically for comparison sake for a month or so, or look at other media (like TV or movies) that has the right tone or themes.

But I also know that I can, you know, just write a kickass query. People have successful queries all the time without comps.

Now, if my brain would just catch up on that idea.

Hope your autumn is actually autumning, squiders! See you next week!

Random Number Generator Follow-On and Oh, Hey, It’s MileHiCon Time

Good evening, squiders! I hope your week is going well.

So far, this random number generator plan I mentioned last week is working great. I’ve outlined my SkillShare class (something I’ve had on my to-do list for, like, two months), made great progress on my trip book and character drawings, and have finished my edit and sent it off to my final beta.

And I’ve actually made a lot of progress on other goals, like reading and playing video games.

I do think I was psyching myself out. Because when I was making my daily to do lists, I was listing drawing AND editing AND writing AND outlining, and so it’s no real surprise that I was having a bit of issues with prioritization and focus.

Now I’m just putting “Creativity” on my to-do list and doing whatever the task for the day is, and not feeling guilty because I’m not getting to it all.

So, fingers crossed, but so far, so good!

Also, now that it is October, the best of all months, it means MileHiCon is coming up. It’s a bit inconvenient this year, because EVERYTHING is on top of it, and I have a training that I’m going to miss part of, and then have to leave the convention early for, so that’s grand.

I have three panels this year: We Named the Dog Indiana (I’m assuming on naming things), Everything Dinosaurs (self-explanatory), and then I’m moderating a panel called Horses (Because We Can). An interesting selection, as always, and no straight writing ones this year. Ah well.

Normally I wait a little longer to start MileHiCon prep, but it won’t hurt to start things early instead of stressing myself out.

So, to do list:

Check book stock and order more if necessary
Research and prepare for panels
Follow up with author co-op table sign up if haven’t heard by Friday
Figure out if I have any Writers’ Motivation fliers left over from last year and if not make more
Bookmarks??? (And if so, of which book(s)?)
Make sure we have Venmo, Square, et al set up and ready to go with all the pieces
Business cards??

I feel like I’m forgetting something but we have time. Especially if I start working on stuff.

MileHiCon is one of my favorite times of the year, and I’m a bit sad that I have to truncate it this year because of the aforementioned training (but also annoying that I will have to miss part of the training! who plans this stuff) but it is what it is.

Anyway, hope you’re doing well! See you Thursday-ish!

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Books by Kit Campbell