One Story At a Time

It's so hard when there are so many stories logged away in my imagination and I love them all the same!  After much soul-searching and emailing with my editor, I've decided to put off Manic Knight yet again.  I just can't do it justice and get the next book in the Ophelia Dawson Chronicles in a timely manner too.  The Chronicles are a series and it's a good idea to get books in a series out in a quick lock-step, so readers don't forget in between because each story is connected.
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Manic Knight could be the start of a series too.  I got more ideas.  However, it's a different kind of series, more episodic so each book would stand completely alone.  It's like comparing the Star Trek movies (same characters, same 'universe,' but different stories each,) with the Star Wars movies which are all interconnected stories in one big saga.  I like both kinds of series. 
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One thing I learned from my daughter is how the saga is constructed.  She's totally into Harry Potter.  I love that 'universe' too, but she knows where all the type-ohs and kissing scenes are by book, page number, paragraph, and sentence.  Anyway, she pointed out to me that the Harry Potter novels are all like one humongous novel and structured accordingly.  So, I went through and discovered she was right.
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This means my next step in the Ophelia Dawson Chronicles needs to be me beating out the entire series like it's one big screenplay, ala Blake Snyder's Beat Sheet from SAVE THE CAT!   That's how to bring the saga around to a satisfying conclusion.
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I'll miss Manic Knight.  It's been waiting its turn for several years now.  But, I will get to it one day.  Here's Alicia Keys to accentuate my sigh-   'No One'
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And here's 'How Harry Potter Should Have Ended.'  You'll know why we love this one by the second to last scene when Snape says, "No, I mean a reeeeeally long story."
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YsYWT5Q_R_w