E.S. Raye

I’m just going to say it: April has the potential to be a very big month for my (still relatively early) writing career.

Let’s get the things I’m anticipating out of the way, first.

Contest & Awards

NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge

I am writing this on Monday, April 6th, and it will post to my blog the next day, April 7th. The first round of the NYC Midnight Short Story Challenge is set to be announced on the 7th. The problem is, they don’t list (nor do I remember, despite participating for the last four years in a row) if that announcement comes at 12:00 AM, or 11:59 PM. It could go either way.

My sci-fi/noir short story, “Lines of Demarcation,” is one of my favorites that I’ve written for the challenge over the years, and I think it may be my strongest first round story yet. Still, I’m looking forward to expanding this one to at least twice the two thousand words the contest limited me to. I think this sequel to “The Stuff Legends are Made Of” from RARE has got legs.

Laramie Awards

I am also waiting (not so) patiently for April 18th, when Chanticleer Book Reviews announces the winners of The Laramie Book Awards, which “recognize emerging new talent and outstanding works in the genre of Western, First Nations and Americana Fiction.”

There are nineteen novels, including my own Gas Giant Gambit: A Tall Tale From Beyond the Cygnus Rift, vying for the top spots in seven categories:

• Western Romance
• Adventure Caper
• Classic
• Civil War/Prairie/Pioneer
• Contemporary Western
• Americana
• First Nations

Gas Giant Gambit was entered in the Adventure Caper category, but I do not know where the other eighteen novels fall. I do know they are not evenly spread among these seven categories, and, based solely on the vibes the titles give me, I have a feeling Adventure Caper is one of the more competitive categories.

Then, from the category winners, a Laramie Grand Prize Winner is named.

While I am trying to be realistic about the chances a science fiction novel (even it if is hard space-western) may have to win the top prize, I do think GGG may have a chance to win its category.

Regardless, I was chuffed when my publisher told me they had submitted GGG for this award. I was excited when I made the long list, and felt validated when I made the short list. I never expected to get any further, and now I’m wondering if I could win, so who knows what might happen!

Keep your fingers crossed, and follow me on social media for updates!

General Writing News

April also has some fun in store for my day-to-day writing.

Short Story in Blood Moon Rising Magazine

Starting the month off strong, my short horror(ish) story “The Séance” is set to appear in Blood Moon Rising Magazine #103, coming later this month. I don’t have an exact date when the issue will be released, but I have reason to believe it will be around the 13th. I’ll update this blog when it goes live on their website.

As for the story, it’s short, and I don’t want to give too much away, so, this will have to do:

A young woman is unwillingly dragged into a roadside psychic’s storefront, and learns an ancient secret from her family’s past that forever changes the way she sees the world.

Anthology Submission

I recently submitted a short scifi story to an anthology that accepts only one story per issue. In a sort of reverse of Perseid Prophecies–where I accept six contemporary short stories each issue, and add one classic scifi tale from the publish domain–this anthology is made up of all classic scifi, with only one contemporary story.

I have no way of knowing how many submissions they receive, but regardless, what an honor it would be to be included next to the great science fiction writers of old!

I have been led to believe a decision on my story will be made before the end of the month.

Finishing Shallow Trenches/Open Skies

This may be tempting fate, but I’m really hoping to finish the first draft of my current work-in-progress, the scifi/WWI epic Shallow Trenches/Open Skies. I’ve made several predictions about this already and been wrong every time, but I can see the end now, and am on pace to finish up around May 2nd. I’m hoping I can push that back into April. We’ll see.

The first act is very World War I. Trenches, horses, mud and clay. The second act has a growing element of War of the Worlds and Close Encounters of the Third Kind style scifi, until, in the third act, we go deep into true science fiction.

It’s a lot of fun, and the finale promises to be exciting to write!

New Project – Finally Outlining The Cobalt Fist

And finally, to wrap up my big April, I’ve got a new project on my mind too.

I’m finally going to get back to outlining my massive, seven book scifi/fantasy/superhero/comic horror/Alternate WWII history series I call The Cobalt Fist (just a working title, haha).

What I have in mind is a massive project. I want to outline each of the seven books, as well as the series as a whole, using my ring technique, and I don’t want to start writing book one until everything is completely mapped out. I want readers to notice things in book seven foreshadowed in book one. I want callbacks. I want prophecies. I want it all.

For that reason, I’m not actually planning on The Cobalt Fist being my next book. In fact, I will outline the book I have planned next once ST/OS‘s first draft is done–likely in May–while I give my mind a break from the trenches of Belgium.

But outlining the whole of The Cobalt Fist is going to take so long I’ve decided it’s time to start now, and work on it while I write other things. That way I can hopefully start on book one when the first draft of the book I’m outlining in May is done.

Does that make sense?

I’ve never juggled this many major projects before, but I think I can do it!

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Here’s hoping your April is as exciting as mine!