The never say never conundrum

-

What I'm planning to write tomorrow, fingers crossed for a wordy NANOWRIMO start!

Several years ago I made a decision that for a good while caused me a lot of consternation, a choice that I said I would never make again. Well, I'm strongly considering going back on that pledge.

I'm thinking about publishing the first of a series without having subsequent novels written.

Quick backstory: in writing The Hawk, I released the first 40K fully aware that I wasn't done, nor would I be able to gauge when I would be done. I did that because I rightly, if not painfully, assumed it would perhaps be the only impetus to keep me writing until the story was DONE. But OMG what pressure, tension, commitment! How many times did I say to myself, "You will NEVER DO THAT AGAIN!" Um, many. Yet here I am, giving serious thought to doing it again.

Why, you might ask. Good question! Well see, there's this intriguing novel I've dug up from 2013 and....

Really, that's the reason? Huh. (Never say never again, let me just note.)

But this is a great story, and has the potential to be an amazing series! And if I release this first book, well then of course I'll write the next one. Of course I will. 

Uh-huh. Of course.

I worked on this novel extensively over the summer, mostly because I wanted to do something different amid prepping That Which Can Be Remembered for publication, a series I completely finished before releasing it, might I add. I overhauled said novel, titled The Earthen Chronicles Book 1 (an apt title for the first of a series) in a big way, which is appropriate since that draft is over nine years old, lol. Having just finished another round of revisions, I changed/added where I had made notes a few months ago, tightening the prose ever so slightly. My only hesitation in choosing to publish the book is that I don't have the necessary attachment to a couple of characters, who received some major overhauls. Yet I'm not hoping to release this story tomorrow; further edits would enhance their personalities, as well as plumping up some other thin characterizations.

All of this comes on the eve of my return to NANOWRIMO with a completely different story, hahaha! Not to mention one last book in the TWCBR series to be published in December, which will require a final revision before I upload it. If the NANO book, titled A Rose Blissful, comes out well, I might release it, but that wouldn't be well until sometime next year, leaving plenty of room in my schedule to write Book 2 of The Earthen Chronicles. Weak characters notwithstanding, something about it makes me want to share it, which wasn't why I initially published The Hawk, merely as insurance to make sure I finished it. Which I did indeed do, hehehe.

Writing is a vital element of my well-being, and that I can publish is so liberating. Hopefully I'll be feeling the same way in six months regardless of which fate I choose for The Earthen Chronicles. Meanwhile I have a Mandolin quilt almost completed! Time to close this entry and move on with other joys.

Popular posts from this blog

Fits, starts, and restarts

-
Image
Two examples from two different skeins of yarn where breaks in the colour scheme occur. Very indicative of my current mood, lol. This is a funny novel, for all the hemming and hawing going on. Never before have I written, then purged scenes with somewhat of an abandon. I truly don't know what to make of it, chalking it up to age, grieving, the weirdly long winter (even though it's spring), or my new computer keyboard, which is small but adequate in a strangely truncated manner. I'm enjoying the writing, but the story keeps veering off on tangents I'm not comfortable with, in that too much is being revealed too soon, bleh. Future and Past Me's are steering clear of this manuscript, perhaps because what came before it was so out of the blue, so cathartic, and this prequel is just as outta my backside as any I've ever written. But I am writing, let me restate that, despite restarting a chapter here and there. I'm not getting much else accomplished, other than s
Read more

Orphan blocks are not like unfinished novels

-
Image
It's a busy day, getting ready for guests that will enlighten our lives for the next week. However my feet are a little weary, so why not ramble here for a bit, giving those dogs a rest as well as set upon a discourse about the above title before I forget why I thought it was important (lol). I don't even know why I first pondered this, maybe an IG poster mentioned them, which made me think of my orphan EPP blocks. I don't have many machine sewn blocks without a home, but plenty of English paper pieced designs linger in a tote, patterns I liked and HAD TO MAKE. I used plenty of them on a Turning Twenty quilt, decorating some plain tone-on-tone prints and that was a great manner in which to employ less than a quarter of what remains, ahem. Oh and I used some on a t-shirt quilt that I made in conjunction with a friend, who had lived in Hawaii for a few years and wanted to put her aged shirts to quilty use. But still many remain, although I have a plan for them, hehehe. I am h
Read more

Following one's heart

-
Image
Fascinating from the back, as though a map to an unknown destination. It was an early start today, half a chapter written, then texting with my youngest daughter and enjoying photos of her sunrise a few hours east of us. I woke to clear, starry skies, but clouds have since moved in, rain forecast for the next few days. Maybe in a few days I'll have completed my novel; it's VERY CLOSE to being done, but I said that in a recent post, The End dangling like a carrot merely an arm's length away. Meanwhile I've been stitching together Cornflower blocks each evening. The photo above was snapped last night, what I see as I sew. MANY papers to remove, but I'll deal with that later, lol. I'm also working on another quilt, hehehe, more about that in a day or two. And the last ones for this year are washed and waiting to be given to my granddaughters on Christmas, which is just a little over a week away! I considered today's title right after reading through the sevente
Read more