How I Figure it All Out

I'm moving through audio edits again, staring at the dates of the audio narration and trying not to feel guilt over not getting them done sooner. I recorded Zarmina's World in late October, and here it is, early April, and I'm just now getting to the edits!

The work on Cottage East has taken so much more time, and a hell of a lot more money, than I ever anticipated, but there you go. Such is the way of these things, and a good reason why I wouldn't want to do home renovation for a living.

At least now we have new water lines going into the house and I know, without a doubt, that I won't have to worry about the water lines for that house for the rest... of... my... life. Weird to say, but true. The lines will last at least 50 years, possibly 75. So they will outlive me and that's really all I care about right now!

This morning, as I plugged along on edits for Chapter 16 of Zarmina's World, a story connection that has been circling in my mind finally cemented itself in place. A hidden benefit of narrating my own books has been catching all the tiny little things (word choice, reading flow, details, and more) of the story that ProWritingAid misses. But the actual editing of the audio is also beneficial for the generation of new stories. These are usually short stories that I add to my newsletter, and in the past two days, I've had three spring into my mind. All stories that fit within the Gliese 581g universe. The last one, the one that popped in this morning, was the final connection in my head between G581 and a new, interrelated sci-fi series I've had bouncing about in my head.

If you look under Bonus Content in the menu above, you will see The Book of Z - a thought/creativity experiment that I began years ago and stopped as I wasn't sure where it was going. Well, another link in the chain came along a couple of years ago when I began yet another "journal" I call The Book of Bree. I quickly realized the two were related, connected, in some way. Two "journals" by two very different characters separated by centuries. And now, today, I have a connection point that links the Book of Bree and the Book of Z to the Gliese 581g series.

And I had to, just had to, run over here to this blog and tell you.

Maddeningly, that is where it begins and ends. If only because I haven't figured out where to slot that set of stories in. I will. Eventually.

This is literally how I figure things out - storylines, problem-solving, etc. I set the question to spinning in my brain and return to it every once in a while. Do I have an idea of a solution? Great! I'll run it down until it peters out or I hit another roadblock. Then I turn and work on something else until an answer pops up. And when the answer comes clearly into view, well, if I can't act on it, I write down as many notes as possible and then let it marinate longer.

This is all a very long-winded way of saying that I have a sci-fi series in mind, and have for a number of years, that will occur in the decades after the events in the Gliese 581g series. One that tests humanity even further.

When that series will arrive is beyond my ability to predict - but it is coming. The Horde will likely be the series name and I believe it will entail at least two books (The Book of Bree and The Book of Z), possibly three.

"So, that's it, Christine? Resurface after a month and tell readers you are writing a new sci-fi series but have no plans for when that will be released?"

Yup. Welcome to my world. Carry on with your bad selves and enjoy spring!