My mission, if I decide to accept it—Oh, wait, I already did (#SFWApro)

As I mentioned last week, McFarland had some questions about my plans for my proposed time-travel book. Monday I emailed back my answers. Today, they emailed me back to say they liked the answers so go to it (contract is in the mail—I’ve done three books with them already so I’m not worried about starting work before it gets here).
The biggest change is that I’d intended to focus on American films and TV to keep the size reasonable. They asked if I’d have a problem expanding it to the rest of the world, and I said no. So I can now go up to 130,000 words if that’s what it takes, and include British stuff, anime, and films from the rest of the world. A lot more work, but I think it’ll be a much cooler book.
The premise is that I’ll be taking a look at time-travel themes such as love across time, do-over films and repeatedly adapted classics such as Connecticut Yankee. That’ll make it more interesting, I think, than straight film-by-film synopses. I’ll also have cast/credit lists, like any good film book.
I spent well over an hour this afternoon finding out which movies and TV shows I can find on Netflix. I’m not completely done, and I discovered several I hadn’t known about such as It Happened Here (alt.history in which the Nazis conquer Britain), Flint the Time Detective and GI Samurai. Good thing I’ve got so much space to work with. And man, will Netflixing movies save on costs!
Other than that, the week was productive, but a little frustrating. One thing about doing my Demand Media work, getting paid promptly is proof I’ve accomplished something. Without it, everything felt indeterminate and unfinished, mostly because it was unfinished.
I worked on several short stories, for instance, but they’re still early drafts so they feel very poor. I know they’ll improve but they’re a long way off yet.
I got another 14,000 words done on Brain From Outer Space, which was very pleasing. But that too is still a long way from polished and there are things I don’t like about this draft. On the other hand, it’s holding together better than any draft since I moved up here (that’s not meant to imply cause and effect, only a convenient time marker).
I did research for some possible magazine queries and got two off. One came back (already had one on the same topic) and the other I realized after sending it had a huge, glaring typo. Fortunately there are other magazines in the same market, but that’s so damn embarrassing!
I also applied for a couple more freelance gigs. As these rarely turn into profitable ventures, I usually feel like it’s more something I should do than an actual accomplishment (even the ones who’ve put me on their list of possible writers haven’t sent any work my way yet).
On the plus side, I found a market for Questionable Minds, which has been lying fallow for a while, so that will go out soon (it’s one of those that wants hard copy, so I have to get it printed and mailed).
I also began experimenting with my camera—yes, I still have an actual camera—to see if I can improve my photography. I’ve been reading this website and it’s already taught me a lot. My camera can do many things I didn’t know about, though I’ve yet to try most of them.
So: Plenty of work, but the big feeling of satisfaction didn’t come until the end. I may have more to say about it after I draw up my time-plan for the book on Monday.