New year, new projects
Happy New Year. So here we are, 2018. No flying cars yet or jetpacks (or underwater cities), but at least it's not Blade Runner territory, either. Not yet...
I ended 2017 with the publication of book #2 of the Tethys Trilogy, Thalassa: Aqua Incognita, the sequel to Thalassa: The World Beneath the Waves. It took me a while to get there. There were plot-knots to solve of course, and matters technical (how to navigate various changes of perspective), and also just the day-to-day problems of writing part-time. But it's done and I'm pleased with it - or I would never have let it loose. I also sneaked out a second revised edition of Thalassa: The World Beneath the Waves, and 2017 also featured the surprise publication of The Outlaws of Kratzenfels. This time last year, I had no idea I would write it; the whole thing was a bit of a blur between February and May. So, that was 2017: what's next?
Foremost, but I suspect not first, the third (and final?) book in the Tethys Trilogy (Thalassa: Fire and Flood) needs work. I have no idea when it will be ready. It exists mostly as fragments, notes, half-written scenes, and vague hints of things. This is how it works for me, and I need to let the plot stew to come up with something worthy of Moanna and co. (and you the readers, of course). It will be a while, probably 2019. But who knows? It took me a wholly unexpected - and somewhat breathless - 169 hours to write Kratzenfels, after all.
There is more to come from Kratzenfels and the wider world of Elbora too, I hope, though again I think 2018 is unlikely to see anything. And among the numerous other half-chewed-at projects, from both before and after Thalassa, there is one that I'm itching to get at. It's another post-apocalyptic tale, set in a mostly (but not completely) retro-tech world, very much in the vein of one of my favourites: Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines. I can't see much of the plot yet - I'm blinded by excitement at the setting - but I know it's out there somewhere. I just need to stumble around enough and I'll trip over it.
2018 may well turn out to be the Year of the Stumble, with more thinking and plotting and less actual writing (or at least, publishing), but as one wise old muppet once said: always in motion is the future. See you there, and don't forget your jetpack.
I ended 2017 with the publication of book #2 of the Tethys Trilogy, Thalassa: Aqua Incognita, the sequel to Thalassa: The World Beneath the Waves. It took me a while to get there. There were plot-knots to solve of course, and matters technical (how to navigate various changes of perspective), and also just the day-to-day problems of writing part-time. But it's done and I'm pleased with it - or I would never have let it loose. I also sneaked out a second revised edition of Thalassa: The World Beneath the Waves, and 2017 also featured the surprise publication of The Outlaws of Kratzenfels. This time last year, I had no idea I would write it; the whole thing was a bit of a blur between February and May. So, that was 2017: what's next?
Foremost, but I suspect not first, the third (and final?) book in the Tethys Trilogy (Thalassa: Fire and Flood) needs work. I have no idea when it will be ready. It exists mostly as fragments, notes, half-written scenes, and vague hints of things. This is how it works for me, and I need to let the plot stew to come up with something worthy of Moanna and co. (and you the readers, of course). It will be a while, probably 2019. But who knows? It took me a wholly unexpected - and somewhat breathless - 169 hours to write Kratzenfels, after all.
There is more to come from Kratzenfels and the wider world of Elbora too, I hope, though again I think 2018 is unlikely to see anything. And among the numerous other half-chewed-at projects, from both before and after Thalassa, there is one that I'm itching to get at. It's another post-apocalyptic tale, set in a mostly (but not completely) retro-tech world, very much in the vein of one of my favourites: Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines. I can't see much of the plot yet - I'm blinded by excitement at the setting - but I know it's out there somewhere. I just need to stumble around enough and I'll trip over it.
2018 may well turn out to be the Year of the Stumble, with more thinking and plotting and less actual writing (or at least, publishing), but as one wise old muppet once said: always in motion is the future. See you there, and don't forget your jetpack.
date
newest »
newest »
Can you say any more about the post-apocalyptic novel, anything specific?Also, if there is no master plan, any chance of more short stories like The Long Thirst, filling in bits of Tethys/Red Horizon/Kratzenfels? That'd be great :)
Not much to report right now. I'm having fun - in those precious few minutes I get here and there - having a dabble. Sometimes that's writing scenes or ideas, sometimes it's an idle up-soak of trivia..., er I mean research (e.g. the potential for Saturn-like Earth rings and the properties of aerogel). Since publishing Aqua Incognita, I haven't felt the need to forget Tethys entirely for a while - I want to know what happens next! So I'm keeping my eye on the ball there. But I do have some vague ideas bubbling away about pre-Federation Thalassa, both the very beginning and the first survivors, and later on, during the period cheerfully referred to as the Chaos. We'll see what becomes of all that.
I'm a bit late to the party, but Goodreads now allows Kindle Giveaways (huzzah!). However, Goodreads has restricted both print and Kindle Giveaways to US residents for the present time (boo!). Oh, and they charge for reminding winners to rate.
Consequently, I am going to try to find another way to run Giveaways, probably ebook only, and probably to people who actually agree to rate/review. Just right now, the Goodreads Giveaway policy isn't inclusive enough for me to consider it.