Saturday was my last appearance for the year, and there’s one thing I learned.

I need a better pitch.

My pitch leaves too much to the imagination. I need to tell the plot of my novel in one sentence.

But I noticed, too, that Homecoming is not my baby anymore. I ran out of passion for it at Comicon. I need to bring out something new. War Mage might fit the bill, but I’ve been sitting with that story for over a year, and it feels old. Grimaulkin is shiny and new (to me) and is what I want to press forward. I got some good pointers from some beta readers, though I need to rewrite it in spots. It’s fresh and new enough to me that the rewrites are still enjoyable. War Mage would be on its 8th rewrite. Personally, I think that’s way too much and far too long for a rewrite. War Mage has turned into work, not play.

I was asked to do some erotica, and I had started an erotica/romance series called Brothers of the Zodiac. I separated them into four novels, three signs each, instead of the initial separation of just 12 short stories. The first novel will be Water, with the signs Scorpio, Pisces, and Cancer. The Brothers are guardians from the goddess Ishtar, who takes warriors from the underworld and brings them back to life. They are supposed to help and support humanity in some way. The only way they can die is if they “find love in the eyes of another man.” Obviously gay erotica. I tried the write straight erotica, but I don’t have a good grasp on female characters.

Unfortunately, both Water stories (Cancer and Scorpio) I’ve done so far equal only 12,000 words. I have to pad the stories, making them at least 20K words a piece. Scorpio is the origin story. My plan is to have them all across the timeline of Western history, and, of course, their story will lead up to their deaths.

Hopefully I can work up the passion, the enthusiasm, for these stories.