Hello, dreamers. So, The Ursa Frontier is out on query. Now, I have to ask the all-important question: what’s next?

As it currently stands, The Ursa Frontier is intended to launch a series of novels that will encompass at least five installments, plus various tie-in novellas. Ultimately, the Pioneer Era arc will lead into a new series (as will the planned parallel series, The Aquarius Program). Once all is said and done, I will likely have three series comprising around 14 novels, possibly more.

Lately, while looking ahead, I found myself being pulled in all kinds of directions. It’s not terribly easy plotting out long series of novels that all tie in to one another, forming a seamless overarching narrative that will span across potentially hundreds of years in my fictional future. I need to narrow my focus. So, I’ve decided to spend the better part of the next several months charting my next steps. I’m calling this long period of brainstorming, plotting and researching, “The Pioneer Sessions”. With any luck, by late April, I’ll have a clear direction, and can devote the summer to research for the next book.

Week 1: Macro to Micro

One of the things that helped in writing The Ursa Frontier was the existence of a ready-made fictional universe. I didn’t have to worry about being tripped up in continuity, devising technology on the fly, or any of that other stuff because I had a clear framework in which to create.

Well, despite that, the mere act of writing The Ursa Frontier changed a lot of my fictional universe. Those changes started small, confined to the story itself, but have since rippled outward, altering the Dotiverse in ways that will have a profound effect on future stories. So, my first task, which I’m tackling this week, is to step back and look at how the bigger picture has changed. I need to go macro with my plot.

My first step has been population. In my work, I’ve already established that extrasolar colonies began springing up in the 2110s. But given the impact they’ll have on the coming novels, I need to know just how built-up these colonies are. So this week I’ll be researching population growth rates, estimates for colonizing Mars, and the like. My goal is to figure out just how many people are living away from Earth at this point.

It’s a narrow thing to focus on, but crucial. Eventually, each of these exocolonies will develop their own unique culture. I need to know how far along they are. The work continues, so until next time, dare to dream. – MK