As I sit here at the end of a weekend chock full of painting the kid’s playhouse, reorganizing the utility room, and mowing the stupid lawn, I should be going to bed. Instead, I’m writing a blog. Why? Because I have no common sense, that’s why. I’ve had a lot stewing in the pot lately on the writing side of things (when I can magically fit it in, that is), but nobody really to talk to about it. So I’ll talk to whoever happens to read this.
My plan for this year was pretty straightforward. First, I would release THE HOLLOW-HEARTED, which is halfway released—waiting on a final correction on the cover wrap so I can get the paperback version out into the wild. Next in line would have been doing self-edits on Book One of the Eyes of Odyssium series (previously referred to in blogs as Book Four), THE HOUSE OF FALLING RAIN, and the follow-up short story, A SONG OF SILENCE. Maybe, just maybe, I could even release them by the end of the year. Then, I’d outline Book Three, and start writing that one in early 2017 (sounds so FUTURE-Y!).
Well, a few wrenches got thrown into the works. The big one turned out to be A SONG OF SILENCE. In typical “me” fashion, that short story turned into an 18K novella. Seeing as it is technically Book Two of Eyes of Odyssium, I didn’t want to leave people out who collected only the paperbacks, of which I know a few. A SONG OF SILENCE is a story that had inspiration coming from multiple sources, including a dream/nightmare I had one night. Because of that, it’s a little more special to me, and with my focus shifting back toward novels rather than short stories/novellas, I didn’t know when I’d be able to get a paperback version of SILENCE out there. It was too short on its own for a paperback release and perhaps even too non-essential as far as Salla’s overall story goes, but it was special, dammit!
So, I started percolating ideas to extend it a little bit, maybe just enough to get it as long as HOLLOW-HEARTED. I toyed with the long-gestating idea of doing the first ODYSSIUM COLLECTION, but didn’t have enough short material in my back pocket, or at least stuff that fit chronologically in with what I wanted to release at the moment. Then, a friend of mine mentioned hopefully that maybe in the near future his favorite character, Arjay, might come back. Though I always intended on continuing Arjay’s story, his return wasn’t slated for the Eyes of Odyssium series, but rather another one further down the road—and by down the road, I mean YEARS down the road. I said I’d think about it.
And think about it I did. Driving around the next morning with a brainpan filled with nothing to begin with, I wound up with a pretty solid concept of what an Arjay short story could look like by 10:30am. That idea spawned off two other stories that will wind up in a future anthology, but the spigot was on and the faucet was flowing, so I kept going. I remembered an idea I pitched to a friend for a comic that didn’t get made. I thought of bonus content, and a vague idea of something that will have quite a different tone from the “normal” Odyssium stuff. Including two “bonus content” additions, I have seven other stories to accompany A SONG OF SILENCE. And due to a situation beyond my cover artist’s control with the print edition, THE HOLLOW-HEARTED will be one of those stories. It wasn’t an easy decision, but its inclusion in the anthology will be its official mass paperback release next year, I’d wager. BUT, as mentioned earlier, it’s available on eBook now. That, and THE HOLLOW-HEARTED will get a limited run print release to be sold at conventions and from those who buy from me in person.
Now all I need is the time to write all those other pesky stories to go in the collection…