Collection Idea

So for a while, I've been tempted to make one of my "novel" projects to write a collection of short stories. (I might even try to sell them as a collection first, though I know the places that pay money upfront for them are slim ... and most of them are looking for novella-length totals, which is way under what I'd end up with.) A large part of why I haven't put this high on my list (and anything but "top of the list" doesn't get written with novels, sadly) is because I am about two years back on story submissions and I have a log of 40+ short stories that haven't seen the light of day yet. So the last thing I need right now are more of them. (Yet I keep writing them. I'm an idiot.)

The idea is ... I have a world concept that involves three types of magic, with four disciplines within that. I also have a timeline (that needs a lot more detail - I just have "kingdom A, kingdom B" right now) that goes from pre-historic up to the equivalent of modern times, with some incorporation of rise-and-fall, growth of religion, major historical figures, etc. So I wanted to write a story following a sorcerer of each flavor of magic, set in a different era (undecided whether it would be chronological or back and forth).

A possible pay-off of this is a potential collection title is "Earth, Wind and Flesh" which is to my mind pretty cool.

But like I said - I need to come out of this with twelve more short stories like I need a hole in my head. Indeed.