Some of them are for tie-ins, some of them are for original novels, some of them are for gaming companies wanting to break into publishing fantasy novels that would complement their game systems (not exactly tie-ins, not exactly original). But, all of them want proposals and discussions before actually starting to put words on paper. This is quite a bit different than what most agents/authors talk about (doing the novel on spec. and then trying to find a home for it), although in some ways I think there's merit to selling the concept first.
But, that didn't stop me from writing Harbinger. I spent about eight months writing that book and I have no idea whether or not anything will ever come of it. But, then again, there's something to be said about getting to where you can say, "The End". Lots of things never get past Chapter One, even more flame out about mid-book when it's easy to convince yourself there's something more entertaining you could be doing. Even if I never sell Harbinger, I'm still going to be proud of the work and effort that went into the manuscript and I can definitely see the improvement between Chapter One (October 2004) and Chapter 37 (December 2005). I just hope my enthusiasm holds up when I start the revisions I know I need to make.
I've gotten quite a bit of writing done on Dragon Couchant here and there, mainly at lunch . . . close to 4000 words worth, but if it's not typed into the laptop, it doesn't count. Hopefully, I'll get everything transcribed over the weekend and get back into a rhythm again.
Well, time to hit the sack.