Writer's Wednesday: What Now?

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A couple of weeks ago I sent my current draft of A Coastal Corpse off to a couple of readers. I didn't feel quite ready to send it to lots of beta readers, but needed some help and/or assurance that I haven't written a complete train wreck. So, the question is, as I wait for feedback, what do I do? I'm kind of flailing around, messing a bit with ideas for the next novel in the series, and another story that might be a long short or even a novel, wholly out of my usual style so I'm not sure if I can do it. I'm also not quite sure it it's historical fiction, fantasy, or SF, so there's that little problem.

What do you do when you're at a hiatus in a large project? Take a vacation? Do promotional work (like that's going to happen--I've pretty much proven I'm not going there)? Write short stories? 

My instinct is to get to work on shorts and flash fiction, and try to sell some stories. It's getting started that seems hard.

Share your strategies--and if you know of calls for stories in the mystery, SF or fantasy genres, let me know!

P.S. I already did the "gone hiking" thing, where I got the germ for the next novel. 

P.P.S. If you are interested in beta reading after I deal with the current round of feedback, let me know. The book is a cozy mystery with a senior female protagonist, lesbian, set on the coast of Maine.


©Rebecca M. Douglass, 2022
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