2011 Planning

Most of the planning at this point is being done for Timid Pirate Publishing. As a collective with several moving parts, the more foresight, the better. But I’m also doing a bit of planning for myself, particularly in regards to vacations/conventions (Norwescon, yes; Horror Con, maybe; World Fantasy in San Diego, I hope so; Foolscap, wouldn’t miss it!). I also have to figure out my own writing schedule for the next novel, writing duties I’m committed to for Timid Pirate (more on that in a bit), and the editing/submission grindstone for the novel I’m about to finish and the mystery novel I did a few years back.

For Timid Pirate, I’ve had to do some serious calendar work and note-taking. We have a lot of irons in the fire for next year.
Biopunk is slated to come out in early April, and there are promotional hoops to jump through. Plus, we’ve extended the deadline to February 1, so our reading and editing time has been shortened by a month-and-a-half.

But on to the fun Cobalt City developments!

We’re starting things off right in January with the release of the Cobalt City Adventures audio drama. These short podcasts will be 5-7 minutes long, and will tell a six-part story in monthly installments. Our first one is nearing the end of the recording phase, and stars Velvet and The Huntsman in a tale called “Hollow Offerings.” I’ll be writing another 6-part story to start recording in the spring.

Also starting in January, we’ll see the first of the Cobalt City Neighborhoods project. This series of original stories, featuring well-known characters from the Cobalt City universe will be available free online on the fifteenth of every month. The purpose is to expose the character of the city’s diverse neighborhoods, leading up to the next anthology. I’ll be writing some of them, but also hope to get other authors to contribute their vision of the city. If you’re interested, drop me a line!

Speaking of the next anthology, the theme will be Dark Carnival. Unlike the two previous anthologies, this will be more tightly constructed. Working from a central plot hook, the stories will involve a sinister carnival that sets up in Lafayette Park once a generation. To eliminate overlapping character usage, we’re going to stagger the submission process. Starting in the spring, we’ll open up submissions for 3-4 specific characters a month. We’ll only take the best story for any given character, but if your story is rejected, you have time to submit for another character in a following month. The actual call for submissions (and the schedule) will go live in December at the earliest, but no later than January 1st.

2011 is going to be a busy year. I can hardly wait to get started!