This is the story of a story.

In the future, I plan to release a couple chapters of the next (or, the remainder of the last) book. While I would like to quote excerpts like I have in the past, I may find myself revising the past slightly based on some necessary edits.  I doubt it would require rewriting or revisiting past blogs, but if you’ve read my blogs and happen through them a second time a see a change, you’ve been warned.

The real problem with ‘part two’ is setting a publication date.  I have a few in mind, but I’m still bad about procrastination, and while the outline is largely done, I would still prefer to give it one (or three) more looks before I publish.

I’ve recently renewed these efforts simply because I had more time to do so.  But not that much time though.  Yes, I still live on Earth, I see what has been happening recently, and I was briefly and more directly affected by everything.  At present, though, I’m still working, so unlike many others, I don’t have a lot of unexpected free time.  The previous upheaval a decade ago I got to be one of the first to enter premature retirement, and while I wasn’t the first to lose my job today, I don’t try to think of this as a sign I won’t.

This makes finishing my book both a priority and not a priority.  If I publish it soon, there are a lot of potential readers I could briefly court; However, I would also need to be comfortable with the final draft (which, I’m not).  I also don’t consider publication a priority simply because I’m not going to replace my working income with my book.  Even with the incentives in place for those who enter premature retirement, I would actually be better off working.  Therefore, my vocation takes precedence.

So, instead, I’m still struggling to muddle through this edit as quickly as I can, while simultaneously trying to restart my blog. I will say these will not be the weekly updates they have been in the past.  Telling everyone I’m still plugging away is pointless.

Instead, I’ll try to blog about what is coming next, and briefly update everyone on this.  The first thing is I’ve decided to write (after part two) a novelette series of these books.  It may represent a less intimidating introduction to the series since you could pick one up and read through a portion of the story without the deep dive of the novel.  But, I’m also adding the details I couldn’t add in the completed novel.  And while some might wonder how much I left out, I’m estimating around 120k words.  The combined book is currently about 240k words, so the book(s) would have been roughly 50 percent longer.

I also realized after one reviewer commented that the pacing seemed too fast for him to comprehend, and this could be because there was an expectation of a more in-depth narrative, explaining every transition and why it took place, or a need to spell out details I thought were obvious but clearly weren’t for this reader.  Most readers haven’t had this challenge, but it is worth considering their viewpoint since they are also readers and may prefer to enjoy a more leisurely pace. The novelette series is that, but more.

The Novelette Series

First, it gives me the chance to clarify the beginning of the story.  One of the things I could see is that I was starting right when things were getting, well, haptic for Richard, and I didn’t give a frame of reference for why this situation was all unusual.  Even after reading part two, you may think this is just how things are for this prince in his kingdom. It also may not explain why certain places as the story progresses are more favored by his people over others.  Certain parts of Earth or other planets, etc.

Second, I can better explain Richard’s relationship to the various other parts of his kingdom, their relationship with Earth and with others, since this can help set apart why they react a certain way to provocations, and why others may choose to help (or not help) when problems arise.

Third, I think once part two is out, I think a fresh start for the series will help it progress. I’ve been more hung up on part two of this book because of what comes next, not so much this book.  I’m realizing that I left out so much that is critical to the very next book (the that if I started writing it now, it would be filling in all the blanks where the last two should have, and thus accomplish more with less.  And we’re not even talking about story revisions.  It’s mostly just forgetting to explain why this is, what this is, and where this is.  The where ended up being the hardest because I realized that certain events, it wouldn’t make sense without knowing where things are and why they’re important.  Also, mapping things out in three dimensions can be hard to render on paper, so I had a fun time figuring out how that kid kept all this stuff straight in his head when I feel like a 3d modeling program is a prerequisite for talking about this.  Oh well.

So let’s look at that first point: What is Richard’s life like before all this crazy happens? Hopefully, I’ll have finished the short story that addresses that for my next blog.

Thanks for reading!  Please like and share! You can follow on Facebook, Tumblr, and read excerpts from The Silent Invader @RB_Thurman (and follow!), in addition to the chapters I add here. If you prefer, you can also read my posts on Goodreads.  Your comments are always welcome below.  Also, sign up now to receive notifications for when the next blog arrives.