I’ve always maintained that having secondary projects are an important and valuable thing for a writer to do– usually as something else to work on when the words aren’t flowing on the primary. And that’s a system that’s worked for me.
Right now, my head is wanting to run down the road after ALL THE PROJECTS and I wonder how much of that is because it’s January and I’m hopped up on allergy meds all the time. Focusing on one is a bit of a challenge right now. I think, though, once I clear a few things off the decks, then I’ll have a better sense of the landscape and how to focus on multiple things at once.
One thing I am doing right now is focusing on some shorter form work. Now, I’m still rather longwinded, so I’m talking novellas, not short-stories. Most of them that I’ve been fiddling with are on the fringes of the greater Maradaine sequence. This includes:
- A story that shows some of Reverend Pemmick’s backstory, namely how he knows about Kellirac.
- A story focusing on the island Kaiana was born on, after the Druth abandoned it to the Poasians.
- A story following Phadre and Jiarna as they go to their new academic appointment.
That’s a sampling of what I’m working on right now, as well as edits on the next two novels, drafting the novel to come after those, and…
There’s a lot on my plate, and my brain wants me to eat it all at once.
If that’s a metaphor that makes sense.
Anyhow, that will give you some sense on what to look for in the future. But not to the detriment of the planned novels. Everything is on track for those. More soon. For now: back to work.
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