The Cycle Begins Anew...

Well, I've done it. Ten months of slacking was nice and all, but it had to come to an end at some point. I've finally stopped procrastinating and typed out the prologue to my second novel.

Writing is hard work, and it's not uncommon for aspiring novelists to go "This is enough for now, I'll do more tomorrow," then repeat that the next day, and the next day, until they eventually have an abandoned project. I've been guilty of that in the past myself. With "But Whether Men Do" I resolved to write at least a little every day, no matter what. It could be ten pages or a single paragraph; the actual amount you do each day isn't as important as the routine itself. I'll be repeating this rule here.

I won't lie, I'm pretty nervous. There are all sorts of concerns running through my head. I'd like to think in the relatively short time since I became a published author I've grown as a writer. At the same time, though, the more progress I make, the more progress I also realize I still haven't made, if that makes sense. There's a whole lot I'm worrying about as I start this book (one of them being whether I can commit to this routine again, since it's been so long), but what can I do but carry on?

I'm not sure how long it'll be until you can actually see what I'm working on, of course. For reference, I started what would eventually become BWMD on July 1, 2008, and the book was released on July 25, 2010. The process as a whole took a little over two years (754 days, if you want to be exact). Maybe this book will take less time, maybe more. It's not really a goal of mine to finish sooner. I'm trying to make a better book, not a faster book. Still, I think it'd be interesting to time my progress, so let it be known that work on this new novel began on May 12, 2011.

Lastly, of course, I'm sure you all want details regarding my next book, and unfortunately I have to disappoint you here. My book's at too early a stage for me to safely reveal anything, but I promise as soon as I feel it's safe for me to divulge some information, I will. Still, it'd be unfair to leave you with nothing, so here's all the wonderfully vague things I'm comfortable with sharing at the moment.

1. It'll be completely unconnected to But Whether Men Do, and will in fact be robot-free. Maybe I'll toss in a quick reference because I'm a sucker for all that Wold Newton shared universe stuff, but nothing significant.

2. There will, however, be a thematic similarity to BWMD. I'll talk about this more later.

3. It is science fiction.

4. It won't be published by FutureWord. I haven't picked a new publisher yet, but I'm not going to worry about that until the book is finished (or at least reasonably close to it).

5. It begins with somebody watching a very bad TV show. The opening is intentionally as poorly-written as possible, and I love every word of it.

6. Like BWMD, my book will open with a quotation. Here's the quote in question. Make of it what you will.

"FUTURE, n. That period of time in which our affairs prosper, our friends are true and our happiness is assured." -Ambrose Bierce

Anyway, stay tuned to this blog for more updates. Also, "like" my Facebook fanpage if you haven't already. It's the best thing on Facebook!

Expect more news soon.