When I find a book I like, characters I enjoy following, a writing style that speaks to me—I want more. I want to follow the hero, hiss the villains, tag along on “the further adventures of . . . ” So why, when I sat down to write my second novel was it nothing like the first?
A little background. I never expected my first novel, Khe, to find the kind of reader-love that it did. Set on an alien world, there are no humans in it, and the characters are both similar and very different from us. A major theme is infertility—not a terribly common subject for a scifi/fantasy book. And then there’s the issue of the book being neither truly science fiction nor truly fantasy, but a hybrid. Still, it managed to resonant with and please a number of readers.
Khe is a stand-alone story. It was always meant to be a single story, not a series. Early readers immediately started asking if there would be a follow-up book. I kept saying no. Then my son got me interested in what happens to Khe’s world after. He had some ideas.
Khe was published in September. In November, I started NaNoWrMo—a sort of killer double-marathon for writers. Instead of running 52.4 miles, the many thousands of participating writers worldwide try to write 50,000 words in thirty days. For non-writers reading this—that’s a lot of words. Two weeks in, I’d written 40,000 words of a second Khe book. Two-and a half weeks in, I had a serious case of pneumonia that landed me, exhausted, in bed, with a large bottle of antibiotics on the nightstand. (The doctor called it Community Acquired Pneumonia, which basically means that since I hadn’t been around anyone with the disease, the doctor had no idea how or where I’d gotten it.) Once I’d recovered, I realized that I’d spent two weeks and 40,000 words trying to force a story that wasn’t ready yet to be born.
What I wanted—what I needed—was distance. Pneumonia was a gift. It let me realize that I didn’t know yet what happened to Khe and her world after the first book ended, that I was trying to force a plot, and that I really wanted to do something else next.
I started on what became Shadowline Drift. A story with humans (mostly). Set on Earth. Rather than being a dystopian science-fantasy, Shadowline Drift is a metaphysical thriller. But—I began to notice what was similar in the two books. Both were about transformation. It was a light bulb moment. I knew then that the second Khe book would be about transformation as well, not just of the characters, but of the society and her world. And about the unintended consequences of what happened in the first Khe book. I’ve just finished the draft of Khe: Ashes and Rain. I’m grateful for falling sick, and for writing something else in between. There’s a lot to be said for not rushing forward just because you have a bit of momentum. Sometimes you need to step back, change direction, and take the longer path to where you are meant to be.
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I have been doing something of the sort, in a slightly different manner and without the pneumonia. Not yet sure how it is going to work out, and at the present moment, I am kinda stuck to move my plot forward. So I took a break to write a brief non-fiction book, ‘Safe Computing’ aimed mainly at helping senior citizens understand computers and the web.
My first Science Fiction book, ‘Chromosome Quest’ is a classic hero’s journey story, a bit tongue in cheek skewering various Science Fiction sacred cows up to and including the popular meme of the ‘Singularity’. In it I trot out many Science Fictional staples of the 40’s and 50’s and play with them. It even has Daleks!! I try to keep the humor restrained, subtle even, not slapping the reader in the face with every joke. I hope the result is not too subtle, but I am hoping, for example, when early in the tale I drop the name of a well-known figure, the reader will know who he is and his connection to the upcoming McGuffin when it is revealed.
The sequel, ‘Chromosome Conspiracy’ goes off in an entirely different direction, completely eschewing almost every element of the first book, bringing the primary action back to Earth, and poking fun at a number of other modern memes.
The brief outline of the third book, tentatively titled ‘Chromosome Warrior’ swings back toward the first, but only part way, taking the action off-planet again, but without the more over-the-top elements (i.e. no Daleks!). We’ll see how that works out, as it’s still in the early thought-process stages!
I have found that taking a break from the Science Fiction to write something completely unrelated helps recharge the imagination. Whether the result is something the readers will like (and more importantly, BUY) remains to be seen. But so far I am having fun doing it.
I agree. While I think NaNoWriMo is a great endeavor, there are times when it is better to let it pass on by and cheer from the sidelines. I am glad you recovered and got another great book out of it.
Thank you, N.E. WHite. Nathan Gregory–if it isn’t fun, it isn’t worth doing. Especially since writing well, it turns out, is a whole lot of work! I completely agree that there are times when the best thing you can do is something else. Your non-fiction book seems to be doing the trick for you. Your scifi books sound fun–and variety is a good thing, don’t you think?
I agree completely, I write for fun, for myself. I write what I would like to read. It is of course my hope that others will find it enjoyable enough to buy a few copies. I just completed and sent to Amazon my second ‘Chromosome’ book, Chromosome Conspiracy. I am feeling rather pleased with the result, and hope others will agree.
And it definitely was HARD WORK!
I had mapped out a third book in the series, but am not really intending to write it just now. I want to do something entirely different, perhaps something non-fiction. At the moment I am unsure.