(Almost missed the deadline…it’s been a weird couple of days here)

Hello! “Valentina’s Feast” continues the slog forward, with this being both the longest and the shortest party I’ve even been victim to, and I’ve decided to try to continue forward with another project on Sundays. I’m doing at least a thousand words on a Hallmark romance called “Romance with Advantage”. This is going to be something new for me, in that I’m not completely familiar with romance. While, yes, “Feast” is billed as a “splatterpunk romance”, it’s relying more on horror than romance. “Advantage” is pure, sacchariney romance – chaste, even. The big moment in this piece is a kiss between the MMC and FMC.

You may wonder why I seem to flit from genre to genre. Going from horror, to fantasy, to romance and (hopefully) on to sci-fi. To be honest – I just enjoy writing. While, yes, I am trying to find a genre that is profitable for me, I’m also trying to write things that I would like to read, and I have varied interests. I also like mixing genres. I’ve also got a horror / steampunk novel deep in the works which I need to get back to in the beginning of the year (provided we live through it!).

I also know that this means that the High and Holy Branding that writers seem to live or die by will be hard for me. I don’t want to be known as a horror writer, or a fantasy writer, or a romance writer. I just want to be known as a good writer. So far, my benchmark for good writer is this:

• Make a living, or a substantial part of it, through writing.
• Getting fan mail.
• Having people cosplay the characters.

OK – these are odd benchmarks, I admit and only one of them really, really counts. The other two are just a hallmark of fame. I don’t think the first one is unobtainable. I just need to settle down and get productive. The other two? Well…I do put an email address in the back of every book, and I’ve been thinking about getting a mailbox for letters (people still do that, right?). I’m thinking about drawing the line at my Discord server.

Yes! I have a Discord channel for writing (R. K. Clark #3098) and I’ve considered doing a live write and chat thing with Scrivener since I can live stream writing on it. I thought that was kinda weird, but if you think about it – there are some artists who live stream their art sessions. Why should writing be any different, and I need to get used to talking to people as I intend on getting more interviews as more books come out.

Well – speaking of deadlines, I need to finish breakfast and getting ready for my Dreaded Day Job. Hope you all have a good day!