Normally summer is the time where I get done a ton of things and really hit a creative streak, but this summer seems to have bogged me down. I thought I’d just unpack what’s been happening so that I can get my drive back in gear. The Zoom meetings and constant video chats are killing me, guys!
Not to say I didn’t get anything done this summer! The heat has just made it feel exhausting to do anything. (I’m from Maine. I’m more built for winter, Nor’easters, and beer by the fire.)
I’ve got 20,000 words drafted on Orc Spawn 3, currently untitled, which is about 1/4 of the way through the plot. I know where I want to go, but I am seeing very small read-through from book one to book two, and I think I know the cause. My current plan is to tweak the finale of Initiation to fix an error that should have been dealt with a while ago, then fix all the ripples that make their way through Betrayal. Nothing major, but it should make the ending of the book stronger. I also have to get better at adding links from book to book.
Next up, I started a spin-off of sorts in a futuristic version of my Aberrant world. This one was created out of quarantine and my imagination needed something new to try. I am about 35-40,000 words into that book (of an estimated 60,000) and I have an outline. I don’t think it’s good to go as-is – certainly it still needs the ending. But, I did a ton of world-building and it could be better sprinkled throughout the chapters. So, that’s also in progress.
Then there’s my many ideas for more Aberrant sequels. The first couple of books have seen a surge in interest lately, and I’m encouraged to keep it going. Nothing is set in stone, and I haven’t even started typing for it yet, but I fully expect to begin the fifth book in that series by winter.
Other than that, I have a few secret projects that I’ve been tinkering with that may or may not be finished by the end of the year. The only thing really holding me back right now is a tentative move from one apartment to another (always stressful, even under normal circumstances) and a day job that is extremely busy – thankfully! It’s a wonderful problem to have, so I need to get my morning routine back, or figure out how to skip all my Youtube watching and do a bunch of writing at night.
If you’ve stuck with me, new or old, please know that I appreciate you more than you know. Especially during this time of limited social activity, every page read keeps me moving forward, the same as all the books that I’ve read during this time have given me the escape that I needed. There is a lot more left to write, and I’m not stopping any time soon.
Franklin Kendrick 