So here’s another one of those regular writing status updates I’m so fond of.

Unfortunately I got a polite rejection on the full manuscript of the novel I’m been sending around. That really, really sucks and it basically ruined my weekend. I would have been completely willing to rewrite a big chunk of that book and let the agent have another go, but such an opportunity was not offered, and I think that’s just because the agent saw a setting issue that they might have seen as insurmountable. It’s a shame. I liked the agent’s details on his agency’s site and elsewhere.

Either way, the feedback was valuable, so I’ll focus on that. And, in true “trust but verify” fashion, I’m getting second opinions. And third opinions. And fourth. Responses based on these will really determine what kind of ‘nother-draft I’ll do to this piece. I’ll stop sending the novel manuscript around until I get this determined. Or not. I’ll have to decide.

On an upside, there’s a number of cool things in the works for me. My short fiction collection that will hit your Kindle or Nook at some point will be edited soon and off to be prepped soon after. It’s going to be a bargain collection of solid fiction, some of it award-nominated.

I’m working on one ridiculously-fun short story right now, one of those I was red-hot to write, and as you might have noticed I’m going to start doing reviews of short fiction here and there. This is mainly done because writing is damned-lonely work, and can be disheartening pretty much all the time, so if I can encourage writers of the stories I like to keep at it (or heck, even writers of the stories I don’t like), I’ll be quite happy about that.

Hence closes this boring update. More commentary next time.

Stay tuned.