The Writing Bug
Okay, so I've been struggling along with the rewrite, and while I gnash my teeth and complain a lot, I'm actually pleased with what I'm producing. Even if it is much slower going than the first draft was. *rolls eyes*
But I'm reading my f-list this morning, and I see that one of my favorite authors, ilona_andrews, has a new e-novella coming out from Samhain Publishing. While sad it isn't about Kate and Curran, I will read anything Ilona writes, so I promptly go to check out the price and release date. And while I'm there, the writer part of my brain is thinking. Things like "I keep hearing about this Samhain Publishing." Hmmm. Let's click on 'Submissions'. So I do. And see that they're having open submissions for a space opera anthology until August.
I read what they're looking for, and I swear, for just a second my stomach hurt. ("I’m looking for fast-paced, action-adventure space opera romances. Don’t know what space opera is? Think Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica or my personal favorite, Firefly/Serenity.") <-Emphasis mine.
You guys. I could do this! I gave up writing shorter works some time ago, when all my short stories kept being the first chapters of novels. But I've been thinking about shorter works again lately. If I can write fic, I can write short stories and novellas. And wouldn't it be fun to explore some aspects of these universes I'm writing books in that I don't get to explore in the books? AND this is for a novella: 25,000-30,000 words.
So. Telepathic space pirates. The trick is, it has to end with at least a "happily for now" on the romance angle. My telepathic space pirates are a mercurial, volatile lot, who don't always know what happy is until it bites them on the ass, and sometimes not even then. The question is, what do I write about? Not Mercy, clearly. She's all tangled up in three books either written, or being written, or planned to be written. But there are SO MANY other possibilities. I could go back in the pirates' history and write a short story about almost anyone - Doc and his wife, for example. She might be dead in the current timeline, but they were happy once. (Oh, wait - you guys didn't know he was married at one time, did you?) Raisa and her Consorts. Okay, so they all died, too, but she made it pretty clear in her conversation with Mercy that she loved her Consorts. (I'm sensing a theme here. Hmmm.) Or, I could write about the Queen of Evil (I'm stealing that term from you kistha) Lilith, aka Mercy's grandmother, the last Queen the pirates had (also now dead. And kind of evil.) OR, I could write about Mercy's parents. (Also now dead. But they totally loved each other, and at least they died together!)
Huh.
See my problem? Well, I don't have to reveal that the characters with their happily-for-now are doomed, right?
I could also write about a side character in the current timeline, like Atrea. But that gets a little more problematic, when it parallels events I'm currently writing about in Nemesis.
This might be why my reaction to "I can totally do this!" was a hurt stomach.
So. Beta readers, what sort of novella would YOU like to read from Mercy's universe? I could, I suppose, make up entirely new characters (actually, I have a whole ship full off somewhere else I haven't even tapped yet.) I have too many ideas right now. Help me focus! I would really like to do this.
But I'm reading my f-list this morning, and I see that one of my favorite authors, ilona_andrews, has a new e-novella coming out from Samhain Publishing. While sad it isn't about Kate and Curran, I will read anything Ilona writes, so I promptly go to check out the price and release date. And while I'm there, the writer part of my brain is thinking. Things like "I keep hearing about this Samhain Publishing." Hmmm. Let's click on 'Submissions'. So I do. And see that they're having open submissions for a space opera anthology until August.
I read what they're looking for, and I swear, for just a second my stomach hurt. ("I’m looking for fast-paced, action-adventure space opera romances. Don’t know what space opera is? Think Star Wars, Star Trek, Battlestar Galactica or my personal favorite, Firefly/Serenity.") <-Emphasis mine.
You guys. I could do this! I gave up writing shorter works some time ago, when all my short stories kept being the first chapters of novels. But I've been thinking about shorter works again lately. If I can write fic, I can write short stories and novellas. And wouldn't it be fun to explore some aspects of these universes I'm writing books in that I don't get to explore in the books? AND this is for a novella: 25,000-30,000 words.
So. Telepathic space pirates. The trick is, it has to end with at least a "happily for now" on the romance angle. My telepathic space pirates are a mercurial, volatile lot, who don't always know what happy is until it bites them on the ass, and sometimes not even then. The question is, what do I write about? Not Mercy, clearly. She's all tangled up in three books either written, or being written, or planned to be written. But there are SO MANY other possibilities. I could go back in the pirates' history and write a short story about almost anyone - Doc and his wife, for example. She might be dead in the current timeline, but they were happy once. (Oh, wait - you guys didn't know he was married at one time, did you?) Raisa and her Consorts. Okay, so they all died, too, but she made it pretty clear in her conversation with Mercy that she loved her Consorts. (I'm sensing a theme here. Hmmm.) Or, I could write about the Queen of Evil (I'm stealing that term from you kistha) Lilith, aka Mercy's grandmother, the last Queen the pirates had (also now dead. And kind of evil.) OR, I could write about Mercy's parents. (Also now dead. But they totally loved each other, and at least they died together!)
Huh.
See my problem? Well, I don't have to reveal that the characters with their happily-for-now are doomed, right?
I could also write about a side character in the current timeline, like Atrea. But that gets a little more problematic, when it parallels events I'm currently writing about in Nemesis.
This might be why my reaction to "I can totally do this!" was a hurt stomach.
So. Beta readers, what sort of novella would YOU like to read from Mercy's universe? I could, I suppose, make up entirely new characters (actually, I have a whole ship full off somewhere else I haven't even tapped yet.) I have too many ideas right now. Help me focus! I would really like to do this.