Hello, dreamers.

I was hard at it again last week. After deciding to go back to notes and background on Aquarius 1, things have become more fluid. As I finish edits for Pioneers and prepare for querying, I’m re-evaluating long-standing projects and deciding what to do next. For the moment, I’ve refocused on short fiction, and plan to continue what I’d call “untargeted writing”: trying new things until I find something I want to write.

However, I have plenty to do. So, that said, here’s what I’ll be working on this week:

Pioneers

As the clock ticks down to querying, I’m immersed in final edits of my seminal work, Pioneers. This has turned out to be a big project, as I’m making a few major changes. I’ve completely re-written the ending, and returned a previously-removed subplot to the story. This, plus a comprehensive edit, has been done in preparation for the biggest change I’ve made to the story since I completed the first draft.

Those fortunate enough to have read Pioneers as beta-readers will remember the early chapters well: prior to arriving at the planet, the crew must navigate around a long-period comet diverted from its path by the arrival of an advance probe. Now, I like this opening. Readers have liked it. But I’ve had concerns about it for a while now, for three key reasons:

1. It violates convention. Randall Holmes is the protagonist of Pioneers. Most of the story is about him. But, since he’s not part of the crew, he isn’t revived until they’re clear of the comet. That means the main character isn’t even introduced until the very last paragraph of the seventh chapter. Current fiction convention dictates that the MC must be introduced pretty much immediately, ideally in the first paragraph. While I believe I can get away with this, given how it fits with the story, I’ve known from the beginning it’s a big swing. And since this is my first attempt at traditional publishing, I’m not sure this is the best way to open the process.
2. It’s a non sequitur. Much as I love this series of chapters, the fact is, the comet pass has very little bearing on the overall plot. Other than a brief mention in the third chapter of Phase 2, nothing further is said about it. I fear most readers will probably have forgotten about it entirely by the end of Phase 2.
3. It’s a red herring. Look, I love the crew of the Susan Constant. I think they’re great characters. But since they’re responsible for running the ship, not setting up the actual colony, the fact is that after the beginning of Phase 2 they have very little bearing on the story, playing background roles at best. My fear is that by having the opening chapters revolve around the crew, fleshing out their characters, I’ll allow the reader to bond with characters who they might be disappointed to hear little about further on. Ultimately, I’ve come to fear the opening is unintentionally misleading.

To that end, I’ve decided to create a separate, re-worked version of my manuscript, which omits the comet subplot entirely. I’m calling this the Pioneers RDV (“Reader’s Digest Version”). My plan is to remove the comet subplot, while working the few crucial pieces of character development it contains into subsequent chapters. My hope is that this process will be completed tonight, tomorrow at the latest. That will allow me to pass the new version off to beta readers before the end of the week, keeping me on track for querying. I’ll be discussing this more in my upcoming inaugural “The Cutting Room Floor” post.

New Content

Keep an eye out this week, dreamers. After taking a week mostly away from this site, I’m coming out with new content.

WIP Wednesday this week will focus on Karen Hernandez. So, who is Karen Hernandez? Learn more about the MC of Aquarius 1: the first marine biologist in space.

Science In Fiction: this month’s piece is “The Three-Body Problem”. Could life exist in planetary systems with two, or even three stars? Or more? See how binary and trinary systems we know of function, and what that means for the modern sci-fi writer.

And of course I’ll be posting my weekly flash fiction. And there’s more to come.

Other Projects

As I’ve said, I plan to devote my efforts over the near future to short fiction, though I’m evaluating other projects as well.

As I tend to most years, I plan to devote the next few months to working on short fiction. In addition to hopefully producing more content for this site, I’ll also be working on my next short fiction collection, Turn of the Century. I also plan to work several completed short pieces into novellas, which will be self-published.

All the while, I’ll be working on expanding my notes and background for Aquarius 1, as well as delving into intense research. If all goes well, I plan to begin writing again in April, from the top. It’s going to be another busy week, dreamers. But I’m happy to have you along for the ride. For now, keep reading, and dare to dream. – MK