Come Selahway With Me…

So now that SH Roddey’s let the cat out of the bag, I guess I’ll say something, too…

So there’s actually a secret project that’s been in the works for a few weeks now. Amid all the frustrations and workload of the summer, Susan and I both found ourselves in the position of having some weird short pieces back in our possession. After a few convos about not knowing what to do with these or where to send them, we decided to put together a pamphlet of our writing prompts and shorts for conventions. And then we realized something really quick…

We had a lot of stuff. Now these aren’t bad things, but they’re not necessarily pieces that fall definitely into one genre or another. Some are little scenes or mini-stories, some get the idea rolling and drop you off the cliff at the end, and others are just plain weird. There are the barest hints of ideas that are there to make you think (or at least that was the intention) and there are some that were written on a whim and a dare.

I’m not harping on the industry, but when you start regularly submitting, you realize something really fast. Submission guidelines often say they want new takes on things, and I truly believe they do, but that doesn’t mean they want to take too big a risk. After all, different places are known for different things and have a reputation to maintain. I get that, no blood no foul, no hard feelings. Still, I hate the thought of things wasting away on a drive somewhere, things that I really enjoyed writing even though they’re not a huge word length or they’re not hard sci-fi, definite horror, or complete fantasy. Susan felt the same (as is often the case. It’s really weird, but some days I feel like I have this southern symbiotic part of me that I never knew existed until a few years ago).

We suddenly realized we had a book on our hands. We also realized after the tiring spring/summer we’d already had, we were both came to try to do this one ourselves. Partially we wanted it out by Fandom Fest, partially we felt like we knew what we had on our hands where others might question our sanity, and partially because…well, it’s an adventure, isn’t it?

So we’ve been compiling, choosing, and (in her case) formatting this beast. I’m in utter love with the idea, like I’m just plain in love with ideas (much to her chagrin. She keeps saying she feels the need to keep up with me and I keep saying my brain is just bizarrely wired to see possibilities in like everything).

So at any rate, sometime in the upcoming weeks there will be a book out called Lost in the Shadows. I love the title for a variety of reasons, and I think it encompasses this project well. It’s so easy to wander around ideas and get overwhelmed, to play and not know what to do with them. My contributions are my attempts to pay tribute to the little meanderings my brain takes throughout the day, the little journeys to some place that’s part of the real world and part of the not-so-real world, the mental trips into the shadows and back again.

I can’t wait to share it with all of you, so keep your eyes peeled for upcoming details!