Sadly little to report this first quarter of the year! Mostly edits and taking feedback from beta readers.
Firstly, The Virtue of Battle has had a round of beta reads, with some feedback. Largely on pacing and how the story flows, so I’m hoping to grind through those second round edits this quarter. I’m writing a new prologue to help establish some of the opening scenes in the book. That, I think, will act as a better hook for the readers rather than a bit more political and world building talk. So far other readers agree.
Secondly, second round edits have been completed for most of the Gateway to the Stars anthology. I’m happy with 90% of it, and so far can’t complain. The final story though My Valentine is going through yet another redraft to the point I’m considering scrapping it altogether and replacing it with more of a brief vignette similar to 2069 in the second person to try my hand at the story again later. So far I’ve yet to make up my mind, but with a self-imposed deadline looming in the background, well, I need to do it quickly!
Otherwise, I’m shopping for cover artists for each volume, needing different styles on the front for them. One is an action packed political and military scifi piece, while the other is just more of a series of short stories establishing a vision of our future in the Solar System some time from now! So slightly fewer explosions. As laid out in the 2023 review though, not all the stories are so peaceful!
I’m also hoping to shop some of my existing short stories and pieces around. One of my oldest pieces Priests of the White God is a bit long for most anthologies or magazines, but I have hope it might be accepted somewhere. Another existing novella Integration is a softer science fiction piece which has been waiting for another submission elsewhere. I’m hoping to shop it around this year as well! Those are two finished and polished pieces that have, I think, some future merit.
Otherwise, stay tuned for more updates on these projects as the future goes forward!
Matthew Stienberg 