My most recent Work In Progress — or WIP, as my most influential professor was keen on saying — has finally come to close. The story finished itself this afternoon at approximately 1:34 PM, Mountain Time. It stands at a tentative 70, 000 words, because who knows what might be shaved off after editing.

I’m currently celebrating with an ice-cold beer on this abominably hot Boulder evening. What could be better? (Except maybe a publisher awaiting a phone call….)

The project is, as of yet, untitled, but I’ve learned to count on my wife for that small detail more often than not. Contrary to previous works, I’ve decided to market this particular project as “Young Adult Fiction,” owing to its rather Wellsian attributes (if I may be so bold), not to mention its marked absence of any “adult” material that might be deemed unsuitable for a younger audience. This is, as I’ve said, a departure from my usual, but it’s no less exciting to think that I might have broken my mold just a bit.

There are several projects already awaiting my attention, as I very rarely have only one thing on my plate at a time. It just happens that some stories come like an open tap, and others tend to trickle until the plumbing is fixed.

Thus it’s with a mixture of sadness and relief that I bid my last WIP goodbye for the time being, just till it’s properly aged. Until then my feelers are extended farther than usual and my receptors are set on ready.

In the meantime, check out this link to another of my favorite sites, Shelfari.