A Cauldron of Cats – Day 1

I’m now a full time writer. A professional full-time writer.

That doesn’t mean I’m making a living off my writing yet (that’s the goal!), but since I’ve sold some stories and earned some income from what I’ve written, that makes me a professional.

I remember when I first joined a band a few years ago. I play guitar and sing. My friend plays lead, we found a drummer and bass player and voila, we were a rock band! We practiced some rock and pop classics from the 70s and 80s, found a bar who took a chance on us, and did our first gig. They paid us $200 bucks and when my friend handed me my fifty, he said, “Congrats, you are now a professional musician.”

And I thought: Dang straight.

So if you get paid for something, you’re a professional. That was a paradigm shift for me. And may be of help to other writers. A lot of us suffer from “imposter syndrome” because of a lot of myths and falsehoods we buy into. So knowing I’m a full-time professional writer makes a difference in how I approach my daily task of writing.

What’s my daily task? Well, today was Day 1 of writing daily in my ‘semi-retirement.’ (See my previous blog post.) That being said, my plan – as best as I’m able – is to write six sessions of 500 words each for a total of 3,000 words a day. I’ll write five days a week, which means I’ll pound out 15,000 words a week. That’s 40,000 words a month, a short novel, which is the typical story length I like to read and write.

A book in a month.

That sounded doable when I sketched out my writing schedule for the rest of the summer and fall. But what to write? I have a lot of interests. I dabble in a variety of genres. Probably too many!

·        I’ve written a few short thrillers, collaborating with J. A. Konrath on a couple of his Jack Daniels stories: Abductions and Beat Down; and my own crime thriller, Drinking Games.

·        Science fiction within Hugh Howey’s Wool universe: The Last Prayer; along with some speculative fiction found in my Tule Fog Tales and At Last series.

·        Epic fantasy adventure, The Sword of Otrim; as well as a Mesoamerican fantasy, Ulemet and the Jaguar God (my one story on Audible, which I’ll have to rectify).

·        Middle grade alt-history/steampunk adventure series with T. M. Hunter: Escape! and Runaway! (with episode 3, Eureka!, coming later this year).

·        Supernatural thriller (Christian horror, if you can handle that!) with Stoney M. Setzer: Accidents (with more Tremble Town episodes coming next year).

·        I even wrote an Amish romance under the pen name Joyce Daley: Thee Will I Cherish. (Hey, I like romance and plan to write more!)

But maybe my favorite genre right now is the cozy mystery/adventure featuring cats with a bit of magic and speculative elements. Yes, that’s a niche! In fact, my “best seller” (other than my Wool fan fiction and Konrath collabs) is a magical cat mystery called Ma Tutt’s Donut Hut.

It came out in 2014 and I’ve been meaning to finish Book 2, Ma Tutt’s Secret Spice, for ages! So what did I do last year? I wrote a different magical cat novella titled, Cat PotionNo. 9. It was a Kickstarter project with the promise of sending out a sequel to my high-tier backers.

I know, I’m crazy.

So that’s what I’m writing right now. The sequel to Cat Potion, called A Cauldron of Cats. It’s related to Ma Tutt, in the same universe, but whereas Ma takes the POV of the adults, Mister is often from the perspective of, well, Mister. Lots of cat talk and magic and fun.

My plan is to add to both series this summer and fall, and by Christmas have three books in each series. To hold myself accountable, I’m blogging each day about my progress. I hope you enjoy following along. Should be a lot of fun, watching a new full-time professional writer stumble along as I write a  brand new book in front of your very eyes.

Or something like that.

Here’s what I accomplished today. I completed four sessions of 500 words each for a total of 2,000 new words. The story is now through Chapter 2. Last fall, after I published Cat Potion, I’d written a prolog and part of Chapter 1 of the sequel (about 1,800 words), but then let the story languish.

Today, I read through what I’d written, added in about 400 words here and there, then pushed forward with those four sessions. Let’s call it 2,400 words, then, for today. Didn’t hit my 3,000 word goal, but overall, I think a pretty good start to a new book.

Tomorrow, I’ll let you know if I picked up steam and hit my daily writing goal.

Today's Writing Tip...

If you’ve made money as a writer, you’re a professional writer.

Progress...
Writing: A Cauldron of Cats by Lyn Perry
* Introduction - Becoming a Full-Time Writer

* Day 1 – 2,400 words, story is at 4,200 words

~*~

Follow along each day as I post my progress in writing A Cauldron of Cats, Book 2 in my Mister the Magical Cat Series (available for pre-order now; affiliate links used throughout). You can also "Tip a Buck & Get a Book" and I'll send you Book 1 now, Cat Potion No. 9. 

Lyndon Perry is a speculative fiction writer living in Puerto Rico. He's a former pastor and current husband, father, coffee drinker, and cat-wrangler to Charlie, a 19 year old orange and white tabby who serves as the inspiration to Mister the Magical Cat. You can find him a variety of places online. Check out his various Linktree Locations and say hello!