I’ve been a bit absent from publishing my writing, so I thought I’d share a quick update on what’s happening.
Personal Updates
Ian and I just bought a house in Wales! We’ve been busily scurrying around, trying to find cheap second-hand furniture we can afford. But we’re happily settling into our new home with our beloved (sassy) cat, Navi.
Writing Updates
Short Stories
Firstly, I wrote several short stories while I was in my Fantasy & Sci-Fi Writing course at Cardiff Uni, but because I wanted to submit them to literary magazines, I couldn’t publish them here. So far, I’ve had one short fantasy story published in Peasant Magazine, and I hope to submit more soon!
I’m also joining a Novel Writing course at Cardiff Uni in October, and I’m excited for that to start.
Novels
I’ve had a very productive half-year of writing! I’ve completed two projects:
- THE RELUCTANT MENTOR – An Adult Fantasy satirising the heroes’ journey from the perspective of a failed wizard mentor who wants to retire.
- ELEPHANT HANDBAG – A Literary Fiction novella about a woman overcoming a traumatic assault.
You can check out all my long-form writing projects here. In total, I’ve written 4 books and 1 novella since 2020. I’m still planning my next project — I’m between wanting to try out Women’s Fiction or a Middle-Grade Fantasy about dragons, so we’ll see! I’m taking a short break as we sort out real life and I focus on querying.
Agent Querying
Pursuing traditional publishing is a complex and long process. I’m currently “querying” literary agents — a person to represent my writing and present it to publishers — and this involves sending out personalized query letters, a synopsis, and usually a sample of my manuscript. It can take months to hear back from a single agent, and most authors face a plethora of rejections before even being asked for a partial or full manuscript request (where the agent reads your entire novel and decides if they want to represent it).
Like I said, it’s an incredibly long (and often discouraging) process full of rejection and rework. But I’m pursuing it. What can I say? I’m a sucker for punishment.
Hopefully More Updates Soon
Thanks for your attention! Lord knows I need it from time to time. If you want to stay updated on my ongoing writing, I tend to be more active on my author Instagram @alexisveenendaal, but you can find all my links here: linktr.ee/alexisvauthor
