WIP: Tying myself in knots��� the intricacies of writing a long, complex story in a time of lockdown no less

 (*WARNING SPOILERS*)
WIP news: I���m writingthe third (last) little LC book. Or at least that���s what I���m supposed to bewriting. Someone asked me once when I said ���supposed to be��� if that was what mypublisher was demanding, darned publishers. I���m one half of Sixth ElementPublishing so I decide. Mostly, but that���s another story. This is what I loveabout indie publishing. We get to write what we want, what we love. But again,that���s another story. If you want to hear about that, it���ll take rum. A lot ofrum.
Back to the WIP: ifyou���re up to date with the TG books, this is the one that follows Redemptionand is the third story LC tells to Spacey in the middle of Darkest Fears (TG#5)when they���re fleeing the Bhenykhn and drifting in space. It jumps two yearsfrom Redemption to the tab for the amulet when LC is sixteen. And here is thetricky bit that I���m dancing with at the moment. I have a load of stuff thatdeals with the fallout from Redemption and that story also needs to be told��� byHil, strangely enough.
And��� unlike the lasttwo books of the main series (#4 and #5 which both left me reeling and needinga break), the end of #6 has left me twitching to get right on with it all, and Ihave NG chatting away inside my head. I love being with NG. I love being withall three of them, and that���s the dilemma. I have Hil, LC and NG all demandingmy attention. As well as two munchkins who are currently homeschooling (to behonest, we���re loving it��� we���re not following the rules, not sticking to theschool���s provided schedules and worksheets, not spending six hours a day inlessons, but we���re having lots of fun just being together, with lots oflearning way off the usual (packaging up books and printing stamps to post themout to writers = business studies, it does), and we���re still managing some Mathsand English in there too because, y���know, I don���t want to be told off when theydo get to go back to school). And I have Harvey Duckman beckoning, which is sucha lot of fun. I���m going to get another TG story into one soon, I promise.
Soooo��� WIP? I shouldbe able to knuckle down and write all of it. I���m having to go back through allmy notebooks and all eight books that are out there, fact checking, continuityand timeline checking��� And I have my notebook with me always, in the sunshine-soakedqueues at Tesco and the Co-Op and Boots the Pharmacy, (as well as themunchkins, I���m looking after three key workers who are socially isolating andtwo over 80s, who are all doing brilliantly). It���s a strange time and I know alot of creatives who are struggling with all this extra time at home and thepressure to be creative and produce.
I think I need towrite what I need to write, and just see what happens, because that���s how myThieves��� Guild stuff started, twenty-eight years ago.
So, whatever you���redoing right now, wherever you are, do what you need to do to be okay. That���sall any of us can do right now.
Take care and stay safe!Hope to see you at a comic con somewhere as soon as we all can.CGH
ps. Hil is winningright now��� He was always the one that got me through the hardest times.
pps. If you���rewriting scifi, fantasy, steampunk or horror and feeling isolated, we���re here.Let me know if you want a chat or a zoom (email or find me on Twitter or Facebook)<!-- /* Font Definitions */@font-face {font-family:"������ ������"; mso-font-charset:78; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:1 134676480 16 0 131072 0;}@font-face {font-family:"Cambria Math"; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1107305727 0 0 415 0;}@font-face {font-family:Cambria; panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4; mso-font-charset:0; mso-generic-font-family:auto; mso-font-pitch:variable; mso-font-signature:-536870145 1073743103 0 0 415 0;} /* Style Definitions */p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-unhide:no; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; margin:0cm; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:"������ ������"; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;}a:link, span.MsoHyperlink {mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-parent:""; color:blue; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;}a:visited, span.MsoHyperlinkFollowed {mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; color:purple; mso-themecolor:followedhyperlink; text-decoration:underline; text-underline:single;}.MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; font-size:10.0pt; mso-ansi-font-size:10.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt; font-family:Cambria; mso-ascii-font-family:Cambria; mso-fareast-font-family:"������ ������"; mso-hansi-font-family:Cambria;}size:612.0pt 792.0pt; margin:72.0pt 90.0pt 72.0pt 90.0pt; mso-header-margin:36.0pt; mso-footer-margin:36.0pt; mso-paper-source:0;}div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;}. We���re all in this together. Takecare!
ppps. This is not theonly blog post I���ve written since the last one��� let���s see if this one makes itout there without being deleted.
pppps. ���although Idid write one for Mark Hayesthat did see the light of day! (and he used my China photo!)



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