Autumnal Musings and Goodbyes

Jack 2006 – 2017

Early in the morning of October 9, my wife and I had to say goodbye to our dog, Jack, who had been suffering from a cancerous tumor. Despite the fact he was a 120+ lb dog, he's always been my little guy, happy to be anywhere, as long as he was at my side. In years past, that was often on the hiking trail. In recent years, it was more often on the carpet alongside my writing desk. It's bizarre and sad working from home now without him here anymore, but I'm glad he's not suffering anymore, at least.

The science fiction and fantasy community also suffered a loss this October with the passing of author ElizaBeth Gilligan. I met Beth last year at a convention, and she was kind enough to invite me to join her local writers group. As part of that group, she provided invaluable feedback on my work-in-progress, The Beasts of Qaza, and I had the pleasure of reading her work-in-progress, a sprawling fantasy novel about a tribe of women wylf soldiers. She and her husband were also gracious enough to give me advice on being a parent and a writer. I regret that Beth didn't get a chance to meet my daughter after she was born, and my sympathies go out to her husband and the rest of her family. Beth was a kind and wonderful person, and she'll be missed.



These two events made for a sad autumn, and I was further dispirited to discover that it's been two years since Souldrifter was released, and that I still don't have a completed new novel to my agent. I have plenty of excuses, of course—moving to a new city, transitioning from teaching to freelancing full-time, abandoning a near future sf novel, ghostwriting someone else's novel, and oh yeah, having a baby—but excuses don't make for a successful career as an author.

So, it's back to it for me. I've got The Beasts of Qaza to finish and then I'll be jumping straight into writing the third and final Dreamwielder book. To that end, I'm doing NaNoWriMo this year to get some momentum going. If you're doing it, too, buddy me up. Here's my NaNoWriMo profile.

In the interim, expect more articles and interviews with new and exciting SF/F/H authors here on the blog, along with the occasional update on my end. I'm looking forward to what will hopefully be a productive winter and spring. I'm finally starting to find my footing being an author/father, and now that I've finished with the ghostwriting project I was working on, a big chunk of time has opened up in my schedule. So here's to it.

Onward!

-Garrett Calcaterra