Oh yeah, writing stuff too... I have to say, it's hard to stay focused on stuff like that when the youngster is sick. But I keep plugging away, because, well, I can't just stop. My mental health would deteriorate fast...

So, I'm still polishing the baseball novel, just because I can't help myself. I've got the opening half pretty much nailed down; now I'm just going back over chapters and making sure I've set things up in the best way -- trying to avoid that plodding effect that creeps up in novels, especially in the middle.

What's so cool about this novel is that most of the middle of the book is taken up with a trip the team takes to Cuba in December 1917, so instead of sagging in the middle, this one really takes off. Right now I'm doing my best to get the team down there sooner, instead of twiddling their thumbs up in snowy Kansas.

I'm also trying to come up with ideas for the anthology I've been invited to contribute a story (my third antho invite of the year -- not bad! And the last two have been to Martin H. Greenberg anthos, which are some of the best out there, I think. And I just got the PDF proof of the other antho I'm in next year, Jigsaw Nation, which has some great stories in it I'd love to read, if I had the time).

This new story idea's all about heroes before they became heroes. I have an older idea I might use, because it's already started and I'm curious to see how it might turn out. But I may either start completely from scratch, or do a sort of prequel story featuring a character from one of my novels. Still playing around with that concept...

And finally, thanks to a heads-up from the always-alert Jason Lundberg, I've been thinking a lot about screenplays again. He shared a link to a fascinating short film Alive in Joburg (click the link for the movie on the right -- requires QuickTime). This movie which made my jaw drop a bit while I was watching it -- not only because it has such cool aliens and effects and world-building, but also because it reflects so many aspects of my Wannoshay novel about aliens. Very interesting. And it made me think about how to adapt that novel into a screenplay.

That could be my next-next-next project, after I finish the current novel tweaking, the new story, and the draft of Sixteen Miles (can't wait to get back to writing that longhand).

So many projects and idea, so little time... Ah well, could be worse. I could be stuck for ideas. That hasn't happened to me in a loooong time, luckily. Later!