La Vie Boheme

Winding down

Weirdly, I have the sensation that The Exile's Daughter is winding down. It's not, not really. I mean, I still have at least five or six chapters to write, and those are the big climactic ones. But there's a realization that I'm honestly close to finishing it. It's an amazing feeling. I can already feel myself starting to detach from it in a way, getting ready to say goodbye maybe, starting to think about what projects might be next. While I seriously question the wisdom of diving into another novel right away, those are the only ideas I have simmering on the back burner.

So what's next? I don't know for sure. I know I want to follow Stephen King's advice in On Writing and let the manuscript sit for a while before starting to edit. I'll hand the first draft out to several folks with strict instructions not to give me critiques for at least six weeks or so. After that, we'll see. I never really finished editing The Host, so this is new territory for me. Another reason to avoid starting a new novel. I'm not sure I want to wait three or four months to start editing this one--and I sure as hell don't want to try editing one novel while writing another one. I'll bet that way madness lies.

Second draft, third one? Whenever, when it's ready, I'm going to quit farting around and start seriously looking for an agent. I said I was going to do it with The Host, but didn't, largely because I didn't think it was good enough. I think this one is good enough. Plus, I have considerably fewer distractions to keep me from successfully editing Exile, I think.

One thing I can tell you for sure: my next big project WILL NOT be the sequel. I need something in between. I just don't know what.