Ever feel over-extended?

I finally finished the Paul Dini interview last night. I have literally been working on it for months. Not continuously, mind you, but months nonetheless. I sent the proof off to Mr. Dini around midnight for his review. And I'm thinking, "All this effort, and I'm not even going to get paid for it." It's an 8,000-word interview that will likely run in two parts on RevolutionSF. I wanted to do the Dini interview, but didn't have a dependable comic market to sell it to, and my regular SF markets that pay were iffy. Hence, it's a freebie for RevSF.

And I realized I'm doing lots of freebies. Not as many as a few years ago, but every book review I write entails no compensation, unless you count the review copy of said book. And even the things I do get paid for don't net me that much, normally. I've got interviews with Lois McMaster Bujold and Jacqueline Carey waiting my attention. Combined, they'll probably bring in a few hundred dollars or so. A few more if they're repackaged in another collection ala Voices of Vision. The income from my nascent comics career is negligible, and my short fiction income is only marginally better. I'm getting some small degree of attention as fiction editor at RevSF, but again, there's no income there. And it's a major time-sink as well. To put things in perspective, I haven't posted an update to my onetime major hobby site The Unofficial Green Arrow Fansite in more than eight months.

I have two solid short stories started that need completion, and two other strong ones that need ruthless rewriting. And I haven't been able to get around it those tasks because of my other projects, much less start some of the other short stories clamoring in my head to get out. I am sincerely starting to wonder if "Hannibal Crossing the Rockies" will ever see the light of day. Writing reviews (which keeps my name in circulation) and interviews (which brings in dependable cash and offers some networking potential) are both time consuming, and are cutting into my more important fiction writing time. I think my only option, if my career is ever going to rise above this holding pattern it's in, is to swear off interviews and reviews as soon as my current commitments are fulfilled. And once the current four short stories have been suitably attended to, swear off short fiction as well.

I've had various novels languishing at this end for far too long. Voices of Vision is nice, as are the short story publications I land every so often, but if I'm ever going to be worth my salt in this field, if I'm ever going to have a supplemental income that is more than a footnote on my tax returns, I've simply got to get off my duff and commit myself to getting the novel done. There's no excuse anymore. I'm 34 and have farted around far too long.

Let's just see how long this commitment lasts.

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