Springtime

Hello! Whoa, that last blog post was heavy. Yes, 2023 was rougher than we expected, our legs cut from under us, you know how it goes, medical surprises and other emergencies.

But the storm passed and things are better now. Golden sunshine and gentle breezes abound. I thought I’d give a quick writerly update and bump that downer post down a notch.

So, here’s an update!

My science fiction projects are on hold for now. I want to get the final part of the trilogy ‘right’ and I think this means understanding how our real-life real-Earth commitments to capping emissions and slowing warming play out. If we begin to make progress (which means addressing not only emissions but also social issues and economic models), then the final book in my trilogy takes one form. If we abandon targets, because of the leadership and such, it takes another.

There’s also a third novella to come. This one is to do with the Gaiaenans, who were mentioned in Vengeance. You can think of Gaiaenans as flower-children on steroids. People who are so in tune with the natural world that a wound to the planet manifests on their bodies. Picture Commander Spock, on the Genesis planet, and you’ll be on the right page.

I’ve been building the Gaiaenan enclave and developing a few characters there. It’s in early stages, but the story will include the event Melville references in Vengeance when he suspects the Gaiaenans attacked Combustion.

So, those stories begin to slowly trickle into shape. In the meantime, I’ve been working on an entirely different project. I’m taking a stab at historical fiction.

Each project I’ve undertaken is meant to help me grow. Aerovoyant taught me to put a novel together. It used a strictly alternating viewpoint structure with a female and a male lead. Telomeric used the same narrative approach but allowed the story to dictate the viewpoint … less formal back-and-forth … and I think I ended up with five viewpoints in the end, although one enters quite late and has limited page time. Seven Strengths (single viewpoint) dove into coming-of-age tropes and how to write a shorter piece. Vengeance was quite a departure for me. It uses the involved author, quasi-omniscient style. Throughout these projects, emotion and immersion and likability and agency continue to be areas I try and try and try to get better at.

So now I’m reading and writing historical and learning what I can there. I’m writing in first person, present tense, but also doing my best to move the camera back and forth in time through memories and hopes and dreams. I’m also learning about the back-and-forth timeline trick you see in some books. How does an author decide when and how to move in the timeline? Some of the novels I’ve read provide good pointers. With any luck, this project will go to beta readers by year’s end and I’ll get back to the world of Turaset.

A few other catch-up odds and ends: I’ve got a couple author events lined up. Look for details in a few weeks. There’s also a conference in LA I hope to attend. And tons of historical research ongoing, and this is fantastically fun.

2024 is bright. Have a great week.