Older, Wiser, and Twice as Feral or... 💖⚙️📚
The importance of the right kind of feedback + TeslaCon news and publishing updates!
Hello!
I hope you’re doing well! I finally feel like I’m catching up with my work post-convention season (for me, anyway. There are still plenty of cons happening this summer!) While I’ll miss going to steampunk events until the fall, I’m thrilled about the progress I’ve made so far with The Hazel Fae’s revisions to expand the story into a full-length novel. Plus, I received happy publishing news and updates on my panels for TeslaCon!
Before I get to all that, I have a story about an unfortunate incident that happened years ago that resulted in much more positive shenanigans recently.
During the Nebulas, I was invited into a critique group and I said yes. If you’re not familiar with the concept, it’s a small group of writers that swap their work and exchange feedback. While this new group has been a fantastic experience and they have been helping me get the novel version of The Hazel Fae ready for beta readers, I was having some nerves about joining in.
Years ago, before I was published, I had a bad experience in a different writing group when one of the members bullied his way into reading one of my messy first drafts when I had clearly told him I wasn't ready for anyone to read it yet. It was a deeply uncomfortable, awful experience and I wouldn’t wish it on any budding writer.
While it’s vitally important for creatives of all kinds to get feedback on their work so that they can improve, there’s an appropriate time and place for it. I personally don’t let anyone look at an unedited draft unless I have a VERY specific question about the plot or characters. My first drafts are me telling the story to myself. Sometime, my first drafts even resemble a zero draft: more closely resembling a rambling outline. It would hinder the creative process to have critical feedback on those early stages while I’m still working on my idea. I find the true story during the revision process.
When I talked bout my old writing group last week less publicly, I said that I'm older, wiser, and twice as feral as I was back then, so I won't have to worry about a repeat of that incident now. A friend said she wanted “older, wiser, and twice as feral” on a shirt, so I did a silly thing and made it happen:
When I commit to a bit, I really go for it!😂 I opened up a shop on Redbubble as a joke, but I really did want a shirt and sticker of the quote, too, because it makes me laugh. You can check it out here. I may eventually add shirts and stickers for my books, but not until I’m further ahead in my revisions.
Earlier this week, I received confirmation that I'm on three panels in addition to having a table for my books at TeslaCon this November! 🎉🎉🎉
Panels:
⚙️ What if? Alternate History and the Media
🔱 Plato and the Story of Atlantis
🌊 Gadgets and Gizmos of the High Seas
I love getting to share my notes and research with others. If you have questions about any of those topics, let me know!
Finally, I have one more bit of news that I’m hoping to share more about within the next few weeks! I got exciting publishing news that I have to be a little bit vague about for a new project that I haven’t even hinted at yet ANYWHERE. This one is a surprise and I can’t wait to tell you about the whole thing soon!
(I swear, so much of publishing is holding onto happy news and keeping things vague. Feeling a bit like River Song from Doctor Who and her glorious curly hair full of secrets 😅😂)
In the meantime, I’m swapping newsletter mentions this week with Michelle Deerwester-Dalrymple. Check out her twisted Beauty and the Beast retelling here:
Happy reading!
Kelsey
