Whipping the WIPs into Some Kind of Order

I was tossing and turning a bit last night, waking from restless sleep with the tight jaw that comes from grinding my teeth. The day job isn’t particularly stressful at the moment and I actually have a handle on holiday shopping, so it took me a little while to figure out what was keeping my brain whirring into the darkest hours of the night.

Then I realized the problem. Even in my sleep, I’m keeping track of plots. I have the weight of several fictional worlds on my shoulders at the same time–no wonder I’m making my chiropractor rich.

And due to an innocent email exchange with one of my girlfriends, I had new plot bunnies breeding. (Dear friends of writers, you send a link to a weird news article or fascinating scientific tidbit, you’re essentially giving us more books to write. We both love and hate you for this.)

So, in the interest of keeping me from jumping on those exciting new potential novels, I’m making a public reckoning of the books I already have in progress.

Shaman’s Seduction: Duals and Donovans Book 3. Currently undergoing a major rewrite at my editor’s request.

Out of Control: BSDM contemporary. Half drafted, though with huge holes, both in the story arc and details involving the H/H’s professions. He’s a mathematician, she’s a glass artist, and there’s a lot of [research needed] in sections of the book where they actually, oh, work.

Water’s Edge (working title): Duals and Donovans Book 4: about 20 percent drafted, but got derailed by Out of Control. And one of those nature articles my friend sent me last night introduced a whole new plot wrinkle. Luckily it’s one I can make fun and sexy.

New Orleans Heat (really terrible working title): Erotic paranormal. Only a couple of chapters into this one, but it has a jazz musician sorcerer and an FBI agent who does sex magic (they’re a couple, but they share—yay bisexual menage!), a very lucky woman who turns out to be a magical catalyst as well their potential new girlfriend, and some bad guys doing potentially lethal weather magic. FUN! And an excuse to listen to a lot of jazz and cook Creole food. (I’m now repeating to myself: Not yet, Teresa! At least get Shamans’ Seduction back to the editor before jumping too deep into this one!)

And Dayle and I are talking about getting back to writing as Sophie Mouette, after a distressingly long hiatus while Life Got Crazy [TM] for both of us. That means adding at least one more book (probably the half-written erotic paranormal crime caper, but maybe a shapeshifter steampunk or a contemporary romantic comedy—we’re nothing if not versatile!), and a holiday novella, to the list of books to write in 2013.

Add promo for Knowing the Ropes, a couple of short stories rattling around in my head, and a welcome but poorly timed urge to write poetry again—and a day job that keeps me from doing any of this between 8:30 AM and 5:30 PM (if I’m lucky enough to get a seat where I can actually open my computer on the train home—often it’s more like 7:00) and it’s no wonder my head is swimming sometimes.

What do you have in the works right now (writing or other fun projects)? Do you also suffer from the “ooh-shiny” syndrome and start more fun projects than you can easily manage?