Thanks to unemployment, there are two more completed novellas sitting in the queue. One of these takes a character from MILLION DOLLAR DEATH and a character from A RANDOM SEQUENCE on a journey to career reinvention and true love. The other one is … well, let’s just say it went places I never expected it to.
That first novella didn’t cause me any trouble. The primary critique from my beta reader was that my hero’s career arc wasn’t well founded. So I fixed that. (It is so good to have a beta reader who will call me on my BS.) Anyway, that one even has a cover and will launch soon. Watch this space! And then go buy a book, please. I am unemployed. TYVM.
That other story, though … yikes. To give you a hint: all of my novellas and novels to date are primarily driven by two people who are either beginning a relationship or in a relationship. Novella #27 is not that. #27 started with the beta reader’s request for a story in which things Don’t Work Out. And oh boy do they not work out.
There are four people involved in the central character’s emotional life. There is She Herself, a strong character who I love (also new: this is the first time one of these novellas has a single point of view). There is the guy she has a relationship with for most of the story. They have a lot in common and they last a long time, but it is never easy. Then there is a second guy, who one would not think would become a love interest for She Herself, but that is what happened because this thing ran away with me. And then there is a third guy, who makes his entrance after the first guy is history and who is essential to making things work with the second guy.
I have, in short, written a menage story. If that is your catnip, watch this space (again).
And it gets better (or worse)! Those three characters basically demanded a full-length follow-up novel. (They are Bossy and Troublesome.) The novel has a different point of view; it is written through the eyes of the two men in the relationship, and it deals with how to have that kind of relationship. I wrote their novel in June in a mostly-successful attempt to not freak out about continued unemployment. The plan is to publish that novel (#N9) toward the end of the year. I already have another completed novel (#N8) in the queue which will very likely launch this month, or possibly in August.
Anyway, the latest news on writing is a) I’ve done a lot of it and b) novel #10 is rampaging along with the most emotional story I’ve ever done.