Preliminary ruminations

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Another series in the making; this coaster is the first of six, all of which were machine-quilted yesterday, woo-hoo!

I just finished reading through my recently completed novel. Or draft of a novel, or rough draft manuscript; different terms for the same thing, the basic completion of a story. I'm pretty pleased with it, which is always a good sensation, also aware of at least a couple of chapter starts that require reworking, as well as other issues every first draft possesses. I'm VERY HAPPY and equally relieved that one of the last chapters over which there was much hand-wringing is actually....great, lol. Great in that for how long I spent on it, those hours were not wasted. For me, rough drafts come together fairly quickly, big revisions occurring later. But a couple of the final chapters were like pulling snot from my guts, yet worth the relative discomfort.

So what happens next? Well.... Tomorrow we're hosting friends for lunch, but Wednesday is a calm morning, probably perfect to open up the manuscript currently deigned as Book 2, despite being written in February. But if I'm being honest, the first chapter of what I'm hoping to label Book 4 emerged last May, wow, that's been a year, hmmm. Anyhoo, this series has a chaotic start in how it is spinning from a small ball of yarn into whatever it's going to end up as, but that's okay. As long as I keep drafts marked correctly.... Oh wait, I think the solo chapter has been assigned Book 3, gotta check that before I wreck all these fine intentions....

L. O. L. These ruminations aren't merely attached to the draft I just finished; a series requires a modicum of consideration, even if the writing flows from a place hard to quantify. Yet if this series is slated for more than 3-4 novels, then yeah I should really line up as many ducks as I can grab. Rubber ducks are better than real ones, in that if I drop some, and invariably I know I will, rubber bounces while an actual duck would probably.... Okay, so I'm not gonna grab any kind of duck, but I might look over the brief outlines I wrote a month-six weeks ago when turning a half-completed book and one separate chapter written last year into a series, ahem. That's a big investment of time, not to mention a large commitment to an expansive cast that is only going to grow. And let me honestly say what stirs the most consternation isn't not finishing this series, but leaving that cast out to dry. I want to do right by these characters, but if I get hit by a bus tomorrow, oh well.

Yet only I will feel the pain, both from abandoning these fictional folks as well as severe injuries or possible death resulting from said demise in being run over. I learned a very valuable lesson when I wrote The Hawk, releasing it in serial form while still writing it, which was: DON'T START A LONG PROJECT AND PUBLISH IT BEFORE IT IS FULLY WRITTEN. Yeah, I *probably* stuck with The Hawk in part due to that method of writing, but OMG was the pressure on myself pretty dang unpleasant. Not that I didn't enjoy writing it, but wow. Just WOW. Lesson learned, won't do that again.

Also in full disclosure, merely mentioning I'm working on a series is fraught with tension, not because I really think I'm gonna get hit by a bus tomorrow or anytime soon, but only in that this series is basically a book and a half, plus a first chapter. Lots of ideas, plot twists, characters, but rather thin in the actual complete draft department. Yet, I can't sit here and deny it exists, even if 90% of it is all in my head. Or maybe 80%. Much of it, okay MOST OF IT. Most of it floats in my brain but dude, it also lingers at the edges of my fingertips, itching and aching to be written. That's an AWESOME sensation, but at the same time it's unrealized, ethereal. I have an ethereal series wafting or more rightly wrapped tightly around me, crying for release.

AAARRRGGHHH!!! What to do... Well, I have a quilt to mail, a coaster to package up, some letters to the grandkids to write. Laundry in both the washer and dryer, and I think I just heard one of those appliances chime. Weeds to pull, lunch to figure out, a cuppa to brew and enjoy, this post to finish. In conclusion, let me say that I am grateful for these novelistic notions regardless of how little is set into virtual stone. The essence is firm enough, hopefully that will translate into further episodes. And no getting hit by a bus or other large transportation device. I just wanna spin a yarn, tell a story, write a novel. On Wednesday maybe, I'll give it another go.

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