I don’t often post about “upcoming” projects because they have a way taking on a life of their own while unfolding in slow motion.  What I say at one point might well be invalidated by what happens a week, a month, or even several months down the line.

Similarly, it is difficult, especially in the early goings of writing whatever is my latest novel, to predict a time when said work will be “done”.  For Ghost of the Argus, the fifth and concluding chapter to the initial “larger” Corrosive Knights saga, I figured going in the novel would take around a year to write, revise, and release, which was approximately the time it took me to write my previous novels.

That initial assessment wound up being overly optimistic as the novel took twice as long, two years, to finish up.

The reason?  Unlike the other books in the series, I wanted this one to give the readers a lot more.  It had to have a great conclusion to that initial Corrosive Knights story line while featuring new and familiar characters all doing interesting things and not simply standing around.

It is perhaps because of the intensity and length of time involved in writing that book that, shortly before putting the very final touches on it and while driving home one day, the next book in the Corrosive Knights series came to me almost completely.  Bear in mind, up until that moment I had absolutely no idea where I would take this series following Ghost of the Argus.  Further, whenever ideas come to me for books, I usually start with a beginning and end and have to figure out the middle the hard way.  Here, the novel’s near entirety had appeared to me like a fever dream.

But it didn’t stop there.  A couple of weeks later, after beginning that novel, I had the idea for a novel that should precede it.  In this case, a more typical creative process occurred.  I had my start and ending and needed to write the middle.  However, it was clear to me this book would appear as Corrosive Knights #6 while my fever dream novel would be #7.

Which meant I was now writing two novels instead of one.

But there’s more!

Previously I mentioned that I had the concluding Corrosive Knights novel in a rough/framework format and wanted to get that one done -at least have a solid first draft- as well.  So I have three novels in the works.

A week ago, another thought came to mind.  There is a story in my short story collection Shadows at Dawn that I’ve always felt needed to be expanded into a full novel.  Once completed, this novel would stand alone and be unrelated to the Corrosive Knights series.  Frankly, after writing five Corrosive Knights books and having #’s 6, 7, and (a potential) 8 in the works, I longed to write something unrelated to that series.  So strong were my ideas that I rushed to the computer and started writing.  Next thing I knew, I had four potential books in the works.

I can’t help but think that the intensity and focus of work on Ghost of the Argus was so all consuming that once that novel was done and my mind was freed up, the story ideas roared out.

So that’s where I am, working on four different novels at the same time.  My plan, subject to change, is as follows: I’m going to write a strong first draft of each of these books, alternating my time each day to focus on them and not get “locked in” on any one.  Once I have the first drafts done, we’ll see which of the four books I decide to polish up and finish off (my guess at this point is it will either be the stand alone story or what will be Corrosive Knights book #6).  If I really get moving, there might be several novels available a lot quicker than they were before.

I’m keeping my fingers crossed that this will be the case!