I have been busy busy busy these past few days. You may (or, more likely, may not) have noticed?

First, for those of you who must have regular updates on things I’m doing, I’m on Twitter @WarpCordova. I usually blather about nothing but once in awhile I put up something of use. I also have interesting #InHell tags for stuff tied in with the Lawyers in Hell material, such as “#InHell, horses ride you!” and so on. Lots of fun for me and sometimes I even have some funny ones.

Secondly, outlining and character development for Failsafe has been going quite well. I actually think that the progress I’ve made, coupled with the coming of winter, means I’ll finish two or more books by February… just in time for Mysticon, which (barring horrible weather preventing me from making the trek) should be a lot of fun.

This is the first story I’ve ever really developed the character in conjunction with the story. I usually have the story in mind first, have it plotted mentally, and am just waiting for the right person to come along and star in it. That’s how Corruptor came into being, at least. Same with Wraithkin, now that I think about it.

Next, real world work (RWWOMG) has been kicking my butt. It’s hard, after expending 40+ hours a week at work, to come home and work some more on book projects. It was just by the skin of my teeth that The Cold made it to the editor before I imploded from stress (from the story, not work). Granted, with the state the economy is in, I’m very happy to have a job at all (and one where I like almost everyone I work with… not a “dumb” one among them) , especially one with a 401K, stock options and health insurance.  But it still consumes much energy that I would love to dedicate to writing, especially with the release of the next Heroes in Hell book coming up in the next year (my story, In the Shadow of Paradise, is awaiting approval/acceptance. Even if it isn’t “picked” for the book, I’ll have my hands full with some of the other stuff involved), and fuel is easily burned.

Oh, for those of you who are curious: Casper still thinks he can take Garfield in a fight. Caught him chasing lights from cars last night… on the ceiling. Yes, my cat defies gravity. Your theory, Newton, has been failed. By a cat. Who can beat up Garfield.

Lastly, John Scalzi wrote an article the other day about a group of people who seem to be attacking Writer Beware, which is a group I highly recommend for any and all authors out there. This group called The Write Agenda seem to have blacklisted quite a few people who dared either be a SFWA officer/member, or anyone who has ever spoken out against vanity presses (or, more likely, scammers posing as publisher/agents). This has, quite naturally, touched off a firestorm (as is wont to do in this age of instant communication) and placed many authors on their “banned” list. One of the names on the list is none other than Lee Martindale, who was on a panel with me at FandomFest this past July (you know, the Con from Hell?). Lee is an amazing woman who more than once reminded me that since I’ve made a sale, I need to quit calling myself an amateur. It’s a good read, and I would recommend you to look it over then, if you have the money, go out and buy these authors on the scammer’s “banned” list. Here’s a link to this group’s “blacklisted/banned” page. Try not to hurt yourself laughing, please. I don’t want to hear about the hernias I caused.

Okay, allotted non-fiction writing time has ended. Time to do real work.