May at the Desk
May was a busy month. I am settling into a monthly rhythm here. One newsletter, then a recap on the blog a week or two behind it. Here is what May held.
My youngest son and I camped near Cherry Point with his Trail Life troop. A dozen teen boys stormed the base to watch the Blue Angels.
An Air Force F16 showing off to a Navy crowd.
I grew up an Air Force brat, so I have been to my share of air shows. This was my son’s first. I let him run with the boys while I wandered the flight line and soaked up the atmosphere. I finally saw an F16 in flight for the first time.
The book that stopped me
I started the next Strand novel, Patronage, in April. It stopped me about halfway in.
I opened with the two minor viewpoints that carried Strand: Upheaval. Write what you know. Then I started the main storyline and ground to a halt.
I am a plotter. I like to know where a story is going. The trouble is my characters do not always agree. When that happened before, on Gambit, I had to step away. This was a hard stop too. I could spin in my chair while the character and I settled our disagreement, or I could pivot. There Jonathan Strand and I sat, eyeball to eyeball. A battle of wills between a real human and a figment of my imagination. Neither of us willing to yield.
So I pivoted.
Part of this year’s writing goals are the reader magnets that newsletter subscribers like to read. In late May I sat down to plot two of them. One explores the period of divergence for a possible alternate World War 2. The other is a prequel to a fantasy series I have been baking for a couple of years. I have not quite settled whether it lands as low fantasy or dark.
That is the whole trade. A little patience now for a book worth your time later.
Seeking reviews
Strand: Discovery is out and I am gathering reviews. If you have read it and want to help, you can claim a review copy on Booksprout.
From the desk
- Three of the four Strand quartet books are complete, and three are live. If you have not started, begin with Discovery.
- The next Strand novel, Patronage, is underway. The structure is built and the minor viewpoints are drafted. The main thread is back on the bench, cooling off. More when it earns it.
- Two reader magnets are in the works, including a dark fantasy novella set in the Company of Heretics milieu. Both will be free to newsletter subscribers when they are ready.
- Company of Heretics Book 1 is still targeting later this year. The worldbuilding came together this month and I am happy with where it landed. An artist is helping me with the fantasy map.
- On the nightstand: dark fantasy and other authors who take the topics I want to explore seriously, plus reading on military innovation in the early modern era, roughly 1550 to 1650. That last thread helps explain the early American militia system.
- I published two blog posts in May. The first covers how real history feeds fiction. The second argues why fantasy keeps getting religion wrong.
That is May. The desk is quiet this month for the right reason.
More next month.
Buzz Words is my monthly newsletter. One essay, first Tuesday of the month, on history, warfare, institutions, and the worlds I am building. Subscribe at merovex.press/newsletter.