I'm diligently working on III Crimsonstreak, but I took a brief pause Friday to work on some short fiction. I have probably 30 short stories sitting around right now. They're not doing anything for me. I basically have two options: I can self-publish them or shop them around. My gut is that I'll do the latter. I have nothing against self-publishing, but right now I don't want to invest a ton of time in cover art, editing, and formatting. I'm really more focused on my novels.
That said, I want to pursue short fiction with more vigor. I took the first steps toward doing that by editing and submitting two stories to a venue where I've been published before. I won't know for a few months if those stories are accepted. I'm fine with that for the time being. If I make good progress on my third Crimsonstreak book, I'll take a step back and submit a few more short stories.
I like the challenge of short fiction; you have to do everything you do with a novel only in a more compressed format. Every word is so, so precious. You have to draw characterizations and motivations in just a few sentences. I think short stories are a great training ground for novelists.
