Is it update day? Mid-week check-in for ROW80?

Oops.

Well…

This weekend I was bemoaning the difficulty of finding writing time, paired with the fact that my schedule is loose enough that the time exists…somewhere. In particular, My afternoons consist of playing Mommy-chauffeur. The four places I need to be are spaced an average of an hour and a half apart. So, I’m by no means rushed, but I have always found it difficult to take advantage of small bits of time. If I can keep my head more or less in the story between mini-writing sessions, I can do it. If something (like my teenager) pulls me out, I need more warm-up time to get back in.

A couple days ago I started trying to fit in at least a little bit of writing when I first get up, before the chauffeuring begins. It’s worked so far. The weird thing is I’ve started two separate novels. (Both in Kingdom Come, my polyamorous SciFi-Rom world.) The first was intended to be a simple, engaging, stand-alone story set in the world. I wanted to pants the whole thing.

But then something in me said “write the last book.”

That sounds cryptic. The Kingdom Come novels do not have a huge overall story-arc, but they do have certain things that tie them together. I have been making notes for a story tentatively called The Red War that would bring together some of the minor characters from the previous stories. Those characters started banging on the inside of my skull, demanding to be let out.

So I did. I set aside the other story and dove into The Red War. Not sure what will come of it… whether it ends up being the debut, followed by some quasi-related prequels, or whether I’ll find an agent and/or publisher for the others before The Red War is ready.

Whatever happens, in a few weeks I intend to have a complete rough draft sitting on the shelf.