It's the start of a new year and perhaps a good time to take stock of the writing projects I have at various stages (including some that are "just a gleam in the author's eye"). It's a way of taking stock and reminding my back-brain of what to think about. It looks like I've successfully gotten back in the habit of writing fiction every day, so...wandering through my writing folders, I can come up with this list:
Alpennia Stuff
As regularly noted, the next Alpennia novel will be my venture into the Young Adult realm: Floodtide (basically, all the teenage characters in the series get to have adventures together, seen through the eyes of Rozild the laundry maid and aspiring seamstress). The main series novels that follow that will be Mistress of Shadows (Barbara is posted to Paris to run Princess Annek's spy network and Serafina goes along to...well, let's not spoil everything, shall we? Let's just say that readers of Mother of Souls are aware that there are a number of dangling loose threads in Paris.) This will be followed by Sisters in Spirit (the question of the Alpennian succession is complicated by a number of things, most of them having to do with people falling in love with the wrong people). I'm starting to think that there may need to be another book roughly falling in the same time span as Sisters but have only the vaguest notion of what goes on in it, other than that important stuff needs to happen. Those events may instead be covered by a collection of shorter works. Then the concluding main-series novel (title as yet undecided, but I've started thinking of it as Heirs of the Deluge) covers the Alpennian revolution and its resolution. In addition, I have plans to write the 15th century "real" story of the famous thaumaturgist Tanfrit, which stands entirely outside that main serquence. Of all of these, I have Floodtide outlined in detail and have started writing bits of it, but haven't seriously plunged into it as a main project. The rest are only notes, vague outlines, and initial historic research. (Setting a novel primarily in an actual real-world city will be a new challenge.)
But I have a number of shorter Alpennian pieces that are intended as character sketches or bits that fill in background that doesn't really fit well in the main series. As noted, this may be how I fill in the necessary gaps in the overall plot arc. How I supply them to readers is still up in the air. At the moment, the ones that have actual text written are:
- A story involving the girlhood of a character who will appear in Sisters in Spirit that gives me an opportunity to explore what mystical talents look like in Great Britain. It's partly just an excuse for me to write about the Welsh Magical Mine Disaster Rescue Choirs.
- An as-yet-untitled story being written for submission to a specific market about Jeanne de Cherdillac's affair with a French opera singer (and spy) during the Napoleonic occupation of Alpennia. This is Jeanne during her wild youth after the tragic loss of her first love.
- The story of Jeanne's tragic first love (and how she ended up marrying an older French vicomte), told via a framing story that happens right after the end of Floodtide.
- A story about Celeste the dressmaker's daughter, looking at the difficulties of studying mysteries among the working class, and providing a chance to have fun working out more of who she is and what she wants.
- What may be a suite of related stories (or may be that nebulous extra novel) of what's going on in Alpennia during the action of Mistress of Shadows, specfically involving Margerit's crisis of faith, Anna Monterrez's contemplation of her future, and possibly Iulien Fulpi's first real Rotenek Season. In this context, I also really want to give Antuniet some more page-time.
Non-Alpennian Stuff
- The collected Skinsinger stories from the Sword and Sorceress anthologies (plus new concluding novelette), which is my goal to self-publish as my only major 2017 release (since I'm not far enough along on Floodtide to have it scheduled for 2017). I'm working on revisions and massaging the whole-series continuity. Need to get back to searching for a cover artist. Need to research the practical logistics of distribution of self-published e-books. Current title is Skinsinger: Tales of the Kaltaoven.
- A fluffy little historical romance short story, inspired by a Starbucks Coffee shopping bag, about a mermaid and a lonely Nantucket Quaker woman in the 18th century. Tentative title "Light in the Water." Half-written.
- A contemporary fantasy short story about the meaning of inspiration and a depressive writer's encounter with a harpy moonlighting as a muse. Tentative title "Expiration Date." Half-written.
- A somewhat unclassifiable time-slip fantasy novel about a real 18th century novel, the fictional post-doc struggling to finish her analysis of it while job-hunting, and the trip she and her girlfriend take across Europe (and sideways through the centuries) in the wake of the fictional characters. Tentative title Whimsical Creatures. Outlined, but not ready to seriously write yet.
- The 3rd and 4th short stories in my "Queer Mabinogi" quartet (begun with "Hoywverch" at Podcastle.org). Mostly waiting for story #2 ("Hyddwen") to sell somewhere, since I'm having a hard time feeling inspired to continue unless people are actually interested. Both are fairly well outlined but waiting on the actual writing for details.
- Lesbian historic romance novel set in 1st century Roman Britain. This would be a complete rewrite of a manuscript I wrote back in the 90s that I collected some rejection slips on. I'd set it aside entirely for a rewrite but got re-inspired when I completely re-envisioned the two protagonists based on some of the research from the LHMP. Previous title The Rebellious Heart which may or may not stay.
- Lesbian regency romance (no magic! not Alpennian!) that I'd been playing with a few years ago and that recently whacked me upside the head with some new angles that have me all inspired. Class conflicts, long-lost relatives, gender disguise, bluestockings, multiple generations of passionate friendships between women (some erotic, some not), and a rejection of traditional genre paradigms. No working title yet. Again, this was pushed back into focus by LHMP research that grounded the story more solidly in the ways that historic lesbians could have plausible happily-ever-afters.
Any of it sound interesting?