What's next?

Sure, I guess I should be promoting the heck out of my book that hasn't been released yet. But here I am looking ahead to what comes next.

My first desire had been to find an agent and be published with one of the big dogs in NY. And I still would love to move in that direction because heaven knows the idea of writing for a living and not having to do anything else would be heavenly. (not that you can't make money with the smaller epublishers...you can...but the idea of perhaps hitting it big and getting some large advance is a pretty nice dream)

When I got the offer from Samhain I knew this would be a step in a long journey. A way to improve my writing with the help of a real, live editor who liked my stuff. But after I signed that contract I started to think about how best to handle the next step. Do I write another book with Samhain in mind? or do I take what I've learned, write another book, and go for the NY deal once more?

I have a series idea. Something that's been stewing in my head for about a year. I've added bits of detail over the months. Created a complex set of characters and started to think about the plot for the first book. Because heaven knows if you want a series to go for a long time, you need a lot of characters to work with. Plus, it just makes the world you've created feel that much richer.

When I mentioned that I had a sci fi idea in mind, my editor perked up. When sci fi books come through submissions at Samhain the editors fight over them. Apparently, this is a hot genre with few good stories?

I can see why, though. Women and sci fi....yes, there are plenty of us female sci fi fans out there, but not nearly as many as I'd like to think. Not sure why that is. I've been a huge Star Trek, Star Wars, (put your sci fi tv show or movie here) fan for years. And I'm no basement-dwelling geekoid with a million cats surrounding me. I'm your average normal married chick with kids.

I think I like the possibilities presented in sci fi. Space exploration scares the heck out of me...the lack of oxygen, the huge giant vacuum right outside the safety of the spaceship, the unknown.

Unlike paranormal stuff, which to me is completely made up, science fiction could possibly be true! There could be alien races out there we know nothing about, and worm holes, and fantastic devices that will be invented (isn't there a book or a website somewhere that details the things in Star Trek which came true?).

My science fiction idea is not outer space based. It's planet Earth based. I suppose it does have the potential for some outer space stuff...but I will admit, I am not scientific enough to pull that off. I would probably write science fiction that deals more with the characters and their actions vs. creating super cool futuristic alien gadgets.

There are a couple of female sci fi authors whom I look to for hope in the genre: Linnea Sinclair and Ann Aguirre. They've done quite well bringing female voices to the very male-dominated science fiction realm. And they are bringing something I think is lacking in science fiction...a real FEMALE perspective. Linnea Sinclair is known for blending romance with science fiction. Which is totally cool!

Anyway, I'm not quite ready to tackle my idea. I feel I need to do more research in order to get a grasp on my plot. And then what I will do with the book is an unknown at this point.

Any female fans of sci fi out there?