I Started Writing A New Novel
—I Started Writing A New Novel—
On January 16, 2024, following the rejection of my first full manuscript request for NIGHTLIGHTER. It’s apart from the Junk Disko Universe and follows the son of a Danish immigrant as he traverses the Baltic Sea aboard a surreptitious penal vessel masquerading as a Panamax MAERSK freighter. It’s got legs, and I’m having a lot of fun researching and writing it.
Much of the past three months has been the result of converting the negative to the positive—using sad news as the creative, energetic means to produce something new. I’m proud of myself. I have the tendency to dwell on the negative—the rejections, the daunting, soul-sucking process of querying—a vice I’ve been working to remedy. But, as of this writing, I’m at 37k words with steady motivation. I’m aiming for 80k. About halfway done in three months. Not bad.
Last week I reconnected with Editor Amy, and, much to my excitement, she’s agreed to work with me again. We’re scheduled to meet next week and I anticipate we’ll get started shortly thereafter. I’m excited to brainstorm and revise before I’ve even finished the book—a new process for me.
I’ll be honest: working on this new novel has been a refreshing detour from the JD Universe. Not that I’m sick of it. No, not at all. Just that it helps to diversify my creative projects and gives me something else exciting to work on while I, somewhat blindly, try to navigate the query trenches. It’s also given me the excuse to research my Danish roots. Much of the publishing industry, I’ve learned, champions own-voices narratives. While this book doesn’t quite fall into that category, it certainly explores some of the ethnic and cultural complexities the Danish people—through my lens, anyways—have endured. It’s also been empowering to see these shelved story ideas come to life. So many collect dust on the iPhone Notes app; this one just so happened to pique my interest a few short months ago. (I have a few others currently marinating up in the old noodle.) If I can produce 1,000 words a day I can hit about 70k by the end of the month. We’ll see if I can crack that egg.
In other news, I’m attending my second writing conference this weekend—this one live, in LA. I’m meeting with six agents—all on my list—to pitch NIGHTLIGHTER. I’m nervous-excited, two emotions that aren’t always mutually exclusive. I’m hoping for the best, expecting the worst (or however the cliché goes). Maybe I’ll post again with an update in a couple of weeks.
There’s more I’ve got to say, but I’ve probably lost your attention by now. That’s okay. As a teacher, I’m used to it.
Peace and love,
-Taylor
TJH -- 05.02.2024