It’s been a while since I checked in, so probably past time to do that. It has been an absolutely insane couple of weeks this summer. Between races, surprise qualifications, performances, and oh yeah, work!, I’ve had so many demands on my time. For the first time ever I dropped my academic courses this quarter because there just isn’t enough time to do everything if I want to give it the proper attention. Back in late June we hosted a major conference and things haven’t slowed down really at all since then.
On the positives: I finished two more chapters in book 2 since June. We’re nearing two thirds complete now. Progress is slower than I would have liked, but it’s still progress and I am really excited for the scenes I’m working on at the moment. I qualified for the USA Triathlon National Championships at the Olympic distance, and despite some anxiety about the race itself, I was very happy with my showing. I also qualified for the Ironman 70.3 World Championships next month, so there’s still quite a lot of stress preparing for that. Next month I’m heading to Denmark for work. My favorite and most productive place to write is on a plane, so I’m anticipating a lot of progress during those flights!! And finally, my circus company really started to take off this summer, so we’ve had a lot of fun recruiting performers and flying at various local events.
On the negatives: Much slower progress on book 2 than I had anticipated. I was quietly hoping for a fall 2021 release, still untitled by the way, but that is looking highly unlikely. The story arc I’m working on at the moment is not flowing as smoothly as I would like. It’s important so I want to get it right, but the characters are fighting me a little and altering my original plans, so I had to take a step back and think through things a bit. We seem to be back on track now, but not all of the characters have had a chance to start cooperating again so we’ll see. And finally, guys the situation in Afghanistan is really weighing on me. I’ve experienced such a tumult of emotions, it’s hard to express the impact and influence that’s having on my daily mental outlook. That’s all I’m willing to say about that right now.
WIPs: Now for something different. When I get really, really stuck on my main project (She-Wolf Book 2) I’ve been turning to other stories to channel my creativity and stave off the inertia of not writing at all. One of these WIPs is likely to be a publication effort after Book 2 comes out. I will be trying my hand at more of a YA, paranormal romance style story. I’m not ready to share the plot quite yet, but think Outlander meets ACOTR. Some of you know my family is Irish, so I’ve been over to visit a few times. Once, I had a really strange, paranormal type of moment visiting a particular dolmen. That experience, coupled with some old faerie stories from the Mythological Cycle that I’m fond of, have inspired a concept that I’m slowly chipping away at. On the side of that, I’m playing with another story idea based on a dark angel type character I made up years and years ago. That one will be more in the realm of high fantasy. Not sure how much of a true publication project that one will turn out to be, but we’ll see what happens as it evolves.
I think that’s all the news that’s fit to print. I plan on releasing a chapter 1 preview soon for She-Wolf Book 2, so be on the lookout for that!