2nd One Out

After sending Remnant on its merry way, I set up another one and sent it out.  Drug War is a little longer, so it's headed for a different publishing house.  (I'm putting these eggs in different baskets.) This one has about the same reporting time, so I should hear back in a few months, if all goes according to Hoyle.

In the meantime, I'm working on other projects.  I have a couple works in progress that are in the editing stages.  I thought one was finished, but then I reread it and found a plot hole I could fly a 747 through.  Oops.  I'll fix it then get some advice from an online critique group I've started working with.

Unfortunately, the school year has started and that cuts way back on my writing time.  Teaching is not the 7-3, 5 days a week for 9 months a year that many think it is.  During the school year, pulling an 80-100 hour work week is average.  So, my writing time is down to Sunday afternoons and perhaps a few minutes in the evenings if I'm not completely swamped with paperwork.

I have a good class this year, really.  They're awfully chatty, but they'll learn that there's a time and place for all things.  Most of them read at or above grade level and the ones who don't are awfully close.  Half of them can't spell to save their lives, but we'll work on that.

I teach 4th grade self-contained, which means that I get all subjects for the same bunch of kids.  There are advantages and disadvantages to that.

The good news is that if I have some really nifty lesson planned and I need more time than the allotted amount on the schedule, I can reshuffle my schedule a little without affecting anyone else.  Less time is lost to transitions, too, and the greater stability helps some kids. 

The bad news is that I have to teach all subjects, not just the ones I'm more skilled at.  I have to be a master at all things instead of just teaching the things in my specialization.  This increases the prep time for each teacher.

I've done this whole self-contained 4th grade thing for 2/3 of my career, so while I wouldn't have chosen this for myself, it's not a new phenomenon.

Trying it again

I seem to be the master of choosing publishers that go out of business.  That's happened a couple different times so far, but I suppose that's the hazard of submitting only to little(r) publishing houses.

So, now I'm sending one of my novels, Remnant in the Stars to another publisher.  They have quite a few works out and some listed as in progress, so that gives me some hope that this one won't go out of business.

Stay tuned.  I'll let you know how it goes.