Writing projects…
Authors like to talk about their works-in-progress (WIPs). I’d rather call them writing projects. Most of writing is DIY, up to a certain point (unless you’re James Patterson using co-authors to keep his book assembly line going). An author assembles a story like a DIY home construction project, without instructions or blueprints, of course.
I usually forget about how I assemble each of my stories—the process and the motivations. (No, I’m not going senile. I’ve just written a lot of stories!) Remodeling a kitchen or bathroom is a project that needs some kind of plan. A story, especially a novel, is no different, even if you’re a seat-of-pants writer like me, creating the story as I go with only a general plot and themes in mind. This is why my novels have end notes, a commentary that’s as useful and interesting for me to jog my memory later as it might be for readers who have finished the book. Unlike most authors, I include them in almost every book. As a reader, I appreciate it when other authors do the same.
Also unlike most authors, I often have several projects ongoing. That helps my writing because I come back to a manuscript fresh each time. (I suppose blogging can accomplish the same thing, but a blog post usually isn’t a story.) Multiple projects also help me do the content editing for each one.
So what are my current projects?
“Friday Fiction.” When I start a story, it can become short fiction (a short story or novella) or a novel, more often the former now (dashes are over more quickly than marathons). I now give away my short fiction, either in some blog posts or as free downloads (see the “Free Stuff & Contests” web page at this site for a list). You’ve seen the beginning of the novella “The Prodigal Son” (archived in “Friday Fiction,” of course). This will be followed by “Poetic Justice” and “The Conference,” two more British-style mystery novellas.
The Denisovan Trilogy, Books Two and Three. Book One is already published, so these two are projects. I want to know what happens to Kayla Jones as much as some readers do. For me and them, A.B. Carolan needs to get his butt in gear! These novels, unlike the first, will take place “out there somewhere,” not on Earth—stories about the descendants of ancient hominins in space, if you will.
The Last Humans: Long Days (tentative title). Readers of the first two novels probably realized there might be another novel in the making to complete the trilogy. Penny Castro has more battles to fight, this time with what remains of the Russian government. (Because of Amazon’s error made by confusing the first two books, my motivation here is a bit low. Unlike the second, you can bet I won’t put this third novel for sale on Amazon!)
More than Human: The Complete and Unabridged History. This is a big project. I want to expand and continue the saga of Homo sapiens 2.0 and their Mensan buddies found in More than Human: The Mensa Contagion. We left it with humans and Mensans in a starship heading for a star near Sol yet not visible to the unaided eye. As with Kayla Jones, I want to know what happens with Captain Kensha, her XO Sara, and the starship’s crew. Maybe you do too.
“Esther Brookstone Art Detective.” You now have five novels in this British-style mystery and thriller series. In the middle one, Death on the Danube, principal characters Esther and Bastiann got married, but they even had a mystery to solve on their honeymoon cruise down the Danube. I didn’t stop there. Two more books involve crimes on Esther’s home turf. I have some tentative ideas for more novels; we’ll see if they gel. These novels are my longest to date, so the next one would be long too…a real marathon I’d have to run again.
I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to complete any of these projects. I might even lose interest in some of them. I hope readers will be understanding. After all, I haven’t signed a contract with a traditional publisher to deliver a finished manuscript for any of these future stories. (I’ve experimented with traditional publishing, but I shall not repeat that experiment. I’ve been burned twice now.)
In this post, I just wanted to let readers know that I’m working on several projects. My addiction to storytelling continues, at least for now. (Amazon and other bad players make my motivation more difficult to come by with time, though.) I’m sure that I’ll leave this “mortal coil” with projects uncompleted. That’s inevitable…and the curse of any storyteller.
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Comments are always welcome.
Rogue Planet. Perhaps you’re familiar with my Chaos Chronicles Trilogy Collection. Did you know several stories are set in that same sci-fi universe, including the Dr. Carlos tales and A. B. Carolan’s first three YA sci-fi mysteries? Rogue Planet is another one, and it has some Game-of-Throne aspects while still being hard sci-fi. A young prince’s planet is ruled by an oppressive theocracy that has led to a quarantine by ITUIP (Interstellar Trade Union of Independent Planets). He strives to defeat the theocracy’s leader and bring the planet back from the galaxy’s Dark Ages.
Around the world and to the stars! In libris libertas!
