The written form came out a long time ago, but it's the podiobook I'm talking about. As far as I'm concerned, since I do all my stuff in written and audio form, a book ain't done 'til the fat man sings. Or more correctly, when the fat man is done singing. Or even more correctly, when the fat man is done ponderously yammering. Chapter 25, the final installment, came out on the 30th of November to the Patreon folks, and will be in the regular Stardrifter feed soon. I had a notion to think back on the process a bit, with your kindly indulgence, since it was far from straight-forward.
First off, as you know, this yarn is broken up into two parts. This wasn't the original plan, and I held onto that conviction for far too long. More about that in due course.
The tale began as a series of images in my head...scenes, if you will: how it ends; certain battles along the way; certain conversations between Ejoq and other characters. In fact, the conversations usually dominated. I knew that I wanted it to be my "war story", even though that descriptor might be a stretch. Keeping it on the fringes of military science fiction was intentional. Nothing against that sub-genre, but in my opinion, military scifi books are best produced (and really, consumed) by real-life veterans. Such novels are usually filled with jargon, situations, and future variations of hardware, all from modern military services. I'm not a veteran; I have no knowledge like that from which to pull, and therefore, no affection or nostalgia for an actual tour of duty in my past. And Ejoq is no military man, anyway.
So, the problem was, how do I write a war story, from a combatant's point-of-view, when I don't really know anything about it? Research could help, but in a way, that would have been counter-productive, since my main character is as ignorant of formal military procedures, hierarchies, and weaponry as I am. Well…because he's a commercial gunner, maybe he'd know something about the weapons, but the rest of it should have been alien to him.
I suppose I could have had him hire on to a commercial cargo ship, supplying some combatants in a conflict. Now that I think about it, that would have been the most logical and straight-forward approach. ("L'esprit de l'escalier" isn't just reserved for witty comebacks, I guess.)
Anyway, lots of personal stuff got in the way of this one, to say nothing of the pandemic. I was looking through my notes the other day, and saw that it took me five years to get this one out, which is ridiculous. Volume 02 will be out and done, including the audio, by the end of 2024. That’s my goal. Enough of this acting like time is cheap. What an odd habit to have fallen into!
As I say, the book was initially going to be a single volume, but it ballooned in size and scope, to the point where it was unwieldy to both write and read. I couldn't keep the plot straight in my head, and began to lose track of what was happening where. Its sheer size was weighing down the entire process, and I confess that production ground to a halt for a bit.
Enter my friend Keith Hughes, fellow author and (long suffering) correspondent. I was complaining about all this at one point, and he offered up the most elementary of solutions, suggesting that I break the tale into two parts. Others had mentioned this before, but I guess I needed to hear it from another writer.
Even then, it was far from a simple process, requiring a dedicated draft just to manage the organizational challenges of splitting a sprawling yarn in twain. Some things worked as is, other things needed to be excised, fleshed out, or transplanted. It wasn't a simple process, slowing things down even further, but it was absolutely necessary.
That said, Volume 02 still needs a lot of work. But while I might stare at that mountain with bald trepidation, I'm not confused by the requirements. This is the primary difference between the two novels, and I can take advantage of the fact that the truly heavy lifting is already done. Sure, Volume 02 needs to be granularity re-worked, and really, requires a whole new ending, but, going into it, I’m already aware of these things. I have direction, right from the start.
If you don't hear from me between now and 2024, I sincerely hope your New Year is happy and hopeful. I'll be hitting the ground running, and will endeavor to keep you updated. No promises, but I’m going to try.
Thanks to each and every one of you for sticking with me through a difficult process. And it’s not over yet. Not even close!
-David