Christmas came early this year. After a year in the query trenches, my grimdark cosmic horror fantasy The Mystery of the Pale King has found a home at Timber Ghost Press, to be released fall 2024! Thank you Cody Langille for believing in my story (and the sick description I linked to above).
I’m still processing the fact that I am, by decree of Stephen King, “talented” and can actually claim the title of “author.” Get fucked, imposter syndrome.
Growing up, I always appreciated when authors opened up about their processes and struggles. Not only was it valuable insight, it made me feel less alone when those same struggles came for me. To that end, here’s how the novella came together:
March 2022: The idea occurred to me during the 2022 Futurescapes Workshop (great experience that I recommend for any genre writer). I was taking a break from the gargantuan project that is my first novel and wanted to write something (much) shorter but still utilized themes and techniques I developed over the the course of writing that first book.
During the workshop, we talked about “comps” aka X-meets-Y comparisons to similar works an author uses as shorthand to pitch their projects. James Cameron’s Avatar is Dances with Wolves-meets-Fern Gully, dozens of movies are Die Hard-in/on-X, and so on. I started coming up with a few hypothetical comps to see if I sparked to any. Without going into the specifics (you’ll have to read the story for those), the comp I came up with that got me most excited was Gilles de Rais-meets-The King in Yellow. Those who know, know.
April – November 2022: At first, I tricked myself into thinking I could finish it in two months. I was a sweet summer child. It actually took me seven months to finish the first draft, blowing past several arbitrary deadlines set down by publishers I’d found who received unagented submissions (that is, amateurs). Wary of the kind of editing sinkhole I’ve sunk into on my novel, I set a Nov. 30 deadline to edit the whole thing, based off one such publisher’s deadline.
Dec. 2022 – Dec. 2023: A year of queries ensued. All told, I submitted the story 14 times. The breakdown comes to eight rejections, five withdrawn, two full requests, and one acceptance (obviously). Below I mention the comp and sprinkle in a couple others.
It will always be a numbers game when it comes to submitting. All writers can do is write the best story we can and put it in front of as many eyes as possible. But make no mistake: the rejections can be exhausting.
As you might guess, I’m feeling a mighty bit better about 2024 and, with the wind in my sails, it is beyond time to get the monkey off my back – my epic fantasy The Darkest Fate. I am 20% through the third and hopefully final draft and then out on its own query journey. Meanwhile, work on the murder mystery comic The Butler Manor Murders will pick up again after the holidays once my artist buddy finishes other obligations. Can I fit in the half-hour comedy pilot I’ve wanted to write for a year? The fact that I’m even thinking about it is heartening and maddening and I couldn’t be happier about it.
Happy holidays and stay tuned more soon about The Mystery of the Pale King.
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