It’s hot. I’m irritable. We’re taking care of business in the big city, which is going okay but the higher humidity mixed with heat is making me ache.
However, I’m also experiencing the “end of book; beginning of series” phenomenon with The Cost of Power. I’ve said before that this book (now books) would wrap up the whole Martiniere Multiverse thing. It seems to be happening as I realize the scope of what I’ve been doing with this book is much larger than two books. Three seems about right. I’ve brought in an element of science fantasy to mix with the other stuff and…I dunno, I might just call it science fantasy western with romantic elements. Nothing like throwing every concept possible into the stew pot, right?
Coincidences also add to the worldbuilding. I just read a neat little paper about conspiracy theories and the political roles they played in the 18th and early 19th century. Talk about the universe displaying synchronicity, because some of the threads in Power trace back to that era and specifically around the French Revolution. This was the perfect time for me to come across that paper. But…and this brings us back on track with accountability…it also points to the need that is arising for me to sit down and plot out what threads I have at the end of Book One that need to be carried forward…and some notions about when I’m going to tie them off. Some will happen in Book Two, others in Book Three.
There are also going to be significant research needs. I’m just not sure how much of the 18th/19th century I’m going to bring into this story. It might be fun.
This is pointing toward a need for at least a temporary office reorganization. I need space to spread out and think, then type notes into the laptop. I’ve been feeling restless about my office setup for some time now, but I don’t have a lot of options at the moment. I have two desks and hate both of them. One is totally unusable, so serves as a table for stacking stuff. I can’t use it for my computer effectively, and it’s too high for me to do paperwork/note taking/planning work. The other would probably be okay for paperwork, but it’s better than the other one for computer work, though that’s not saying much. I don’t see much possibility for resolving the desk situation soon, so…temporary alternatives.
Well, I guess the card table moves into the office for a while. I used it during the drafting of the main Martiniere Legacy at this point in time, for similar reasons. So why not do it now?
The other piece is that I’ll need it shortly for planning the Goddess’s Vision series, which is also nagging at me. Serial writing has somewhat taught me how to juggle two projects. I’m almost at the point of saying “no more Kindle Vella projects” as the bonuses appear to have played out–oh well, it was a good run and for once I grabbed onto something in publishing as it was a rising trend, and got at least a little bit out of it. In that case, I’ll be playing off the Martinieres and the Goddess books against each other for a while.
It is turning into the hot season. Cocooning in that office while scheming on writing plans sounds pretty good.
Meanwhile, this has been a productive week, overall, even with the traveling bit. Fabulist and Fantastical Worlds is now uploaded and on pre-order from all of the usual ebook distributor suspects. I’ve developed a low-key promo campaign for it. I’ll also put it up on Ingram for paperback orders closer to the release date (August 15th).
I have promotion booked for next month.
I finished a bunch of small projects around the house, including some office reorganization that has sparked these thoughts off. I took care of several tasks related to managing a volunteer organization’s committee and writing a press release for the same organization.
All in all, it’s not been too bad a week for getting stuff done. But I need to be able to just wheel around and move cards and paper and write notes on the easel.
Yep. Planning time ahead.
