short fiction and bought things Periphery includes my story "Silver Skin," along with ones by authors such as Gwyneth Jones and Nicola Griffith. I never imagined I would be sharing pages with them, years ago when I first read Jones'
White Queen and Griffith's
Ammonite and
Slow River!
I feel just a little bit sad that I won't have time to write short stories for a while. I know some writers write short pieces interspersed with their novel-writing, and I've done it myself, but I don't think I can manage it while I'm on deadline. Particularly for a novel that's already bought.
That just sank in last night. The WWI werewolf book is
already sold. So long as it's pretty much what the publisher wants, I don't have the nagging worry of grabbing an editor's attention in the first few paragraphs, the first page, etc. to stand out of a pile. She will read it.
They trust me to write it. All I have to do is write the thing.