Claire O'Dell—Living in an Alter­nate Future

Last year was filled with amazing. A Study in Honor got all kinds of buzz. I signed with a new agent, who went out and sold my pirate novel plus a sequel. I finished the sequel to ASiH, now titled The Hound of Justice, which I might love even more than the first book. And by finished, I mean written, edited, copyedited, and proofread. Lots of work, but oh so satisfying.

2018 was also the year my husband and I to Japan for vacation. Japan…So many kind people, so much good food, so much history. We loved it so much, we’re going back this year. This was also the year I went on a solo vacation to Heidelberg, where I’d been an exchange student many decades ago. This was a low-key visit—I wandered about the Altstadt, checking out what had changed and what had not, eating all my favorite German food, sitting in the sun at the Marktplatz, drinking good coffee and watching kids play.

So what about my goals for 2019? I have two Must Dos and one Want To Do:

• Finish edits for A Jewel Bright Sea (pirate#1)
• Write a complete draft for The Empire’s Edge (pirate#2)
• Write a synopsis and sample chapters for a possible third book in The Janet Watson Chronicles

And in between, there will be the usual copyedits, and the usual promo for all three books. Because, yes, that’s right, I will have three new books out this year!

Last year…last year was challenging. Nearly every day I woke up dreading what stupid, cruel, destructive act Trump had committed overnight. I did what I could, with monthly contributions to good organizations such as Black Lives Matter and Planned Parenthood. I voted in local elections, because those are the building blocks for state and national politics. And I wrote. I wrote because I needed to. I wrote, because my fiction is part of speaking out against the horror show that is the alt-right.

And with writing, came a number of wonderful things in 2017. Not!Sherlock sold to Harper Voyager. I cannot express how much joy this gives me—that Janet Watson and Sara Holmes will see the world. That my editor gave me feedback to make the book better, stronger, and more true to itself. That my publisher came up with the perfect cover art for both my characters and their story.

So what did I accomplish last year? None of my modest goals, as it turns out. A Study in Honor and one sequel sold in January, with the editorial letter following soon after that. I spent several months carefully reworking the plot and prose to address my editor’s concerns. By June, the manuscript was formally accepted. Around the same time, I started work on a detailed synopsis and sample chapters for the sequel. Once my editor approved those, I dove into the rest of the new book. This past month, I broke through the 50K mark, with around another 30K to go.

And let’s not forget the dayjob. In March, I hired an awesome developer, who has the skills and experience we so desperately needed for that position. He’s also a nice guy, and we get along very well. At the same time, work has not slowed one bit. The finance director has dozens of ideas for more reports, more applications, more processes he’d like to see automated.

What about this new year? This year, let’s try just two goals:

• Finish Not!Sherlock#2 by the contract date
• Write a synopsis and sample chapters for a possible third book in the series

And that’s it. Oh, sure, I’ll be doing the usual promotion work associated with a book release. And sure, I hope to get more writing accomplished, but I can’t tell yet, what that “more” should be.