Bloody Hard on a Man

 I've now entered The Bonesmile into the open submission portal at Angry Robot. I'm usually pretty critical of my own work, veering between an occasional "This is great!" and the more frequent feeling that "This is a bit rubbish." But Bonesmile, I think, is a good book. It has two strong central characters, very different from each other, and a gaggle of other interesting people and groups too. It also has a good plot, with plenty of twists throughout. In short, a nice little adventure story, rolling along at a cracking pace.

 I'm finding more time to write now. Since Caz moved down to Yeovil with me I've been able to stop driving back to Barnstaple two or three times a week. It's a 90 minute trip and that adds a lot to the day, once there and once back. Of course it's not all easy. Sometimes Caz calls out for me to come feel the baby kick and I always go, I love that.

 She also just rang my mobile phone by sitting on hers. I'm not making this up. It's bloody hard on a man who's trying to work.

 Still... things are easier. Hence more time to write, and I'm burrowing back into the stories again, Angry Robot's open door period is a great boon, something to focus on as I pick up the threads. There's also HarperCollins' open Wednesdays, which works the same way, and which I'll give a try tomorrow. I'm going to submit The Death of Ghosts as well, to one or the other, and probably Blessed Land too. No sense passing up an opportunity.

 All this means I can't publish those books on Amazon or Smashwords, not while they're under consideration elsewhere. So I'm thinking about maybe putting out a short story, something that links to an earlier novel. Possibly to Troy, or to The Risen King; there are plenty of things left to see in the lives of Alar and his little band. But I'm not sure how they'd fit into a short format. A novel, yes, though I think Risen King has such a complete story arc it might be a shame to tinker with it. This needs thought. I'm good at thought.

 But not now. I have a baby's kicks to feel, don'cha know.