January 2012! This is the first progress report, but I will only cover this month. Going into the gory details of everything that I’ve posted or drafted up until now would just be tedious. It can always be found through my own site.

January 2012 Posted Works

On Ad Astra, I posted nearly all of Fortune (except for the Afterword, plus a few chapters from before the start of the new year).

Paving Stones Made From Good Intentions

Plus I posted the response to the Pathways challenge, Paving Stones Made from Good Intentions. I was pleasantly shocked to eke out a come from behind victory. This is my first win (and the fourth challenge I had entered on Ad Astra). The story will be featured and I get to choose the February challenge topic. I was particularly proud of this because (a) it was a difficult group of entries and (b) it features my original character, Doug, at an early stage of his life. The story works as a prequel to Reversal.

Prompt Responses

In addition, I responded to some weekly free writes. For the TGIF prompt, I released Friday Visit, which is a kind of prequel to Together. For the AWOL prompt, I wrote Demotion, which is a prequel to three works that are still in rather early stages, and are based on the E² episode. This ficlet is also a missing scene from the Hatchery episode. The Politics prompt brought forth a ficlet called Debate, which is a prequel to the next Daranaean story, currently in progress.

More Postings

Meanwhile, on TrekBBS, I added several pieces. Currently, I am posting Reversal (the PG-13 version). I also responded to their New Beginning challenge, with Coveted Commodity. Voting is up; I have voted there, too. Thanks to all voters.

On Fanfiction.net, I added Waiting and am currently spinning out the PG-13 rated version of Reversal. On that site, because I can upload documents, I am posting small uploads of three chapters at a time, so the posting there of Reversal is often behind what’s happening on TrekBBS.

I did not add any long works to Trek Empire, as I am waiting to see if the word limit for posts can be increased. Right now, it’s rather low, and this would make it difficult to post a story like Reversal, which is over 30 chapters long. I added It Had to Be You, as it’s a short one-off, and it takes place in the mirror universe.

Finally, I got TrekUnited a bit caught up with some of my one-offs and smaller stories. Dear Captain was very well received. I also posted Apple.

WIP Corner

Right now, I am working on E² stories. There are going to be three books, and I have a good 90% or more drafted of the first one. The second one has a few chapters but is stalling a little. I’ll play with it more when inspiration strikes.

I also have a Daranaean story which, unfortunately, has also stalled. I wrote Debate as a prequel to it, hoping that it would nudge me to do more. So far, nothing yet. I also have an Interphases story which I haven’t touched in a while. That’s one of these stories where I roared through the beginning, know the ending, more or less, and can’t figure out how to connect the two. I’ve found that sometimes it helps to just go ahead and write the ending or at least draft it and then fill in the middle. That may be what I do with the Daranaean story as well.

I’m also drafting blog posts, and that’s interfering just a little bit with writing fiction. But I’ve also found that writing begets writing. Something will push through this little blockage and I’ll be typing away madly soon enough.

Prep Work

There are some things that I do that aren’t writing but relate to it. I converted A Long, Long Time Ago to HTML formatting and created an Ad Astra series called Times of the HG Wells. Plus I played around with Gimp to see if I could make a slideshow about In Between Days. I think it was all right for a first go, but it was a large file and the slides went by a bit too quickly. In addition, I need to adjust placement a bit. I’m really not a visual artist, so everything I do with visuals ends up being a struggle, but I try.

This Month’s Productivity Killers

My contract was not renewed in January 2012, so I’m hunting for work again. There’s always a big push so I am actively doing that. I’m also laying the groundwork for my taxes, but I don’t have all the materials yet. I’ll probably finish them in February or March. The filing date will depend upon whether a refund is in store (doubtful) or we have to pay.

Another thing about being at home is the phone/outside noises. Even with a space heater going (and providing white noise) and the windows and storm windows all closed, I can still hear occasional jackhammering outside. This, plus a ringing phone (and I have to get up to answer it, as it could be career stuff) tends to make me lose my train of thought.

Walking helps to get it back, and then I need to transcribe it. This process tends to work for me, where I think and type, then go out walking, come up with some more ideas and then record them later in the day. I don’t measure progress by number of words, as I place a value on economy of words, but I do try to crank out some pages, at least in draft form, mainly to see where I am with things. Currently, page production is down a bit. I am also working out plot ideas in my head, so some things are not being written, but that doesn’t mean I am not working on them.