Seriously, I should be doing a lot more about the CVS 2.0 stuff than I am, and that really sucks.  We have this great mutual support idea where we’re all going to go out, finish up big projects, then start being a visible force at Capclave and Balticon, and what have I done since then?  I’ve reopened Conqueror Worm and started doing some editing on it, but haven’t gotten very far, and realized that I need to completely throw away Chapter Two and start over with it.  Why?  Well first drafts are great when you’re just getting ideas down, but when you go back and start making sure everything is accurate…and you have two historical characters who were both teatotalers sitting down and splitting a bottle of cognac…well, that’s what I like to call a serious “second draft issue”.  And since this is the second draft.

I’ve also discovered, through his letters and other non-fiction writing, that a certain character of mine who shall remain nameless was a racist, xenophobic luddite.  And another character of mine is a Slavic inventor.  Which I’ve also got to take care of this draft.  And a certain horrific otherworldly realm of horrors and nightmares that shall remain nameless is presented as, if anything, silly in the first draft.  I always knew that was the problem, and was kind of hoping that would be the focuse of my second draft, reworking those sections, but with the need to potentially change the whole interpersonal dynamic between two characters…this is going to be a hell of an edit.

But really, I’ve gotten almost nowhere, and for that I blame the fact that I’m running off to get married in two weeks (my god, is it only two weeks?) and just haven’t had my mind in the game.  Hopefully when I get back, I’ll be more focused, and more ready to really tackle CVS 2.0 and the big editing pass on Conqueror Worm.

Oh, finally got my Writers of the Future rejection for Belmeth, a few weeks later than usual and after the submission deadline, but I didn’t have anything else ready to go anyway.  What with focusing on Conqueror Worm, my short story career right now will probably be to just cycle Belmeth, Sleep, and Div0 to a few different markets, possibly to include Escape and Pseudopod, which someone got me hooked on (though good timing, since my favorite radio station just got taken away, screw you very much CBS Radio).  The same someone that really needs to make a blog post about her vision for CVS 2.0, since she’s one of the ones who started it, dagnabbit.