Infinite Windows on hiatus

Infinite Windows is on Indefinite Hiatus. Infinite Windows was the publisher of my serialized novel The Rotated. The serialization hasn’t finished yet: it’s only about a third of the way through. This means that I’ll be looking for a new publisher.

Infinite Windows has been a cool site, though not without some glitches and problems over the years. What I enjoyed about the publication was the longer stories that Dan took on – especially, of course, some of my own – so that as well a flash fiction, there were some more immersive stories published on the site.

It was at Dan’s encouragement that I pursued The Rotated as a novel. He published the original flash fiction version of The Rotated in June of 2009, but then asked me what else was there to the story, to the concept and suggesting (quite rightly as it turned out) that it felt like there could well be a novel.

So I set to and wrote the novel. It grew and changed, remaining aligned to the original story, but naturally different in scope and development. Initially, as I drafted the novel, I thought that the flash fiction story would play out as a scene within. It didn’t work out that way, but the scene is still a microcosm of several chapters, and perhaps is a sense of how things might have gone differently.

I feel a little sad at the hiatus, which could well be an end, but pleased with my stories, and the novel, that appeared on the site. I’m working on a query letter – which is proving harder than writing the novel itself – to send to agents as I try to find a new publisher for The Rotated.

The Rotated part five, and a new short story – on Infinite Windows

Part five of my serialized novel The Rotated is now up in the November issue of Infinite Windows. Car chases, flashbacks, even a little more explanation of ‘rotating’. It’s all very fiery and fast.

This month’s issue also includes my story Pipes and Bones – a hard sci-fi adventure set in the same world, with some of the same characters, as my story Skinny Joe, which came out in the June 2009 issue. I have more stories to come in the same location – gradually I hope it unfolds and more about the world – Daron – is revealed over time.

Final note – keep an eye out for part 3 of The Rotated

While I’m on hiatus the third part of The Rotated, my novel, should appear in the September issue of Infinite Windows – probably around September 1st. Check it out – if you haven’t read any yet, start with part one in the July issue.

There is probably a way to make this post on or around the day, but I’m staying simple and lean for the moment. For the briefest second I thought about writing twenty-four posts ahead of time and letting them out a day at a time, but you know, I just don’t have that much interesting stuff to say – I’ll stick to the fiction.

Catcha later in September

Novel draft done at 11.41pm, December 31st

Whew. It’s pretty loose, but the first draft is done. That’s 6200 words today – which is more than I would normally manage on a day set aside for writing, let alone a day with fifteen dozen other things going on. So I have a full draft of The Rotated, now the real work begins as I try to knock it into shape. So good to have belted it out before 2010 starts. Gonna take a little break from it for a couple of weeks and work on some other stories, then come at it fresh. Mood, elated, exhausted.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Taking a break from the writing, we went to see the Swedish film The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. A wonderful and engaging piece of film making. I love the atmosphere of Scandinavian films – the long shots of cars traversing lonely desolate highways and how the locale a climate become almost a character in the film. We saw Jar City, from Iceland, on DVD a few weeks back and in many ways it’s a similar film – a mystery, with great twists and turns. Both remind me in some ways of The Sweet Hereafter, a film which startled me when I saw it, and which lingers in my mind.

Novel update – it’s about 8.15pm here, so there’s three and three quarter hours until the end of the year. Will I make it? I think there’s still a couple of thousand words to go … so I’m not out partying

Novel update

Okay, another 1500 words in the last 24 hours. It seems slow, but I feel like I’m threading a dozen needles here as I bring all the threads together in a finish that will make sense. It has diverged so much from my original outline (for the better, I think) that there are many more aspects to manage than I’d first expected. Perhaps another 3000 to finish it off? Mood, excited, tense, despondent, elated.