Author's Check-in #11

[Jim Gamma]

Wow, we finished up ten of these already? We're a prolific lot!

Going to start working on my Hyperlight Guide after book 8 is done. This universe is getting messy and complicated. As I do that, I shall be doing a Director's Cut of the existing material. No major plot changes, but a few tweaks to make sure it all lines up.

[Jim Gamma]

I've added an extra chapter and diary, but RJ you don't get to see this one early, as it's from Susan so I'm fine using British English for it.

Word count excluding dramatis personae is 119,462. Currently the DP is on 564 words, so I've broken the 120k mark on this one.

[RJDiogenes]

That Hyperlight Guide will be interesting.

I'm a little over halfway through blab's book, but I'll probably sneak in diary entries as I go along-- that way I will hopefully forget Spoilers by the time I read the novel.

[Jim Gamma]

So title for book 8... The Darrix Contagion? Or The Selenean Contagion?



Book 9 is going to be at Easter 2023 and will focus on the kids again.

I've moved 100 characters into the new Guide, 300 more to go. After that I need to do a full reread and fact check.

[blablover5]

Got the edit notes back fast for Power. So eeek!

[RJDiogenes]

I just realized it's been more than a month since Daily Science Fiction emailed me about "Repent, Ellison."

So title for book 8... The Darrix Contagion? Or The Selenean Contagion?

Both sound good, but I lean toward Selenean.

Book 9 is going to be at Easter 2023 and will focus on the kids again.

Cool. Is that the first time you've pinned down the date?

Got the edit notes back fast for Power. So eeek!

Edit notes?! How dare they?!

[Jim Gamma]

I've pretty much used 2021 as my starting point from book 1. By book 7 we're in late 2022.

I have 185 characters left to transfer to the Guide. Then I need to go through all the books and tighten a few details up, and finally do a second edit of book 8.

[RJDiogenes]

I came across another promising market: Galaxy's Edge. It's been around about five years and it's edited by Mike Resnick. The latest issue has stories by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Robert Silverberg, and Nancy Kress, and a review of past issues shows lots of other A-list contributors, including Jack McDevitt. They're opening up submissions on September 1st.

[Lupine]

^Maybe I'll throw "Top Dog" at them.

[Jim Gamma]

I'm at 47 characters to move across. Hopefully I'll get it completed tomorrow, then I can start working on the Director's Cut and at the same time go through and flesh out the Guide.

This time, I'm going to set up a timeline. It's so confusing - I have so many eras to worry about... Ancient Selene, 1940s, 1990s, 2020s, 1200s (with Sands of Mexar)...

[Lupine]

^I do that. I also keep a "Planet Catalogue".

[Jim Gamma]

All characters moved across. Now fleshing out species descriptions.

[blablover5]

I finally decided to download GIMP and in playing around created this. It's so creepy.

[RJDiogenes]

^^ It's like a Kreepy Kaleidoscope.

^Maybe I'll throw "Top Dog" at them.

Give it a shot.

^I do that. I also keep a "Planet Catalogue".

I want to create a global encyclopedia of all my stuff, including characters and locations and events, as well as other incidental elements-- there are various things, such as fictional books, that I've referenced in multiple stories that I want to keep track of.

[Lupine]

^I've thought about that as well, but it would be a substantial undertaking.