Keyboard Is A-Clattering

I think I’ve figured out the problem I’ve been having with my latest book and has been draining away my productivity.

I’m working on the sequel to Chaos Wolf, currently titled Chaos Kin.  Now that Jordan has survived becoming a werewolf, she now has to learn to live as one.  I’m building out the plot based off a loose idea I had, but I kept hitting blocks.  It’s not writer’s block, because I would not keep on writing like I did.  It was just an overall sense that Things Were Not Right. (Yes, I think about it capitalized. When I start thinking in ALL CAPS that’s when shit has hit the fan.)

I knew what the problem is.  I have set of one paragraph synopses for each of books I plan to write. They are bird’s eye views of what the book should be. Unfortunately it’s the blurriness of a seagull flying through a typhoon instead of the clarity of an hawk swooping on mouse. And for some reason, I couldn’t gain that clarity, no matter how I focus on it.

I’ve tried my usual tricks.  Write the back matter.  Use index cards. Bug my fellow writers with ideas to see which ones resonate.  And none of it was working. There was something wrong, but no matter what I tried, I could not define the problem. 

At least my subconscious was whittling away at it.  It finally carved out the core issue.  Now I have to figure out what to do with it.

Chaos Kin wasn’t always book two in the series.  I have another book that has a very rough first draft done, called Chaos Hunt. I thought the two would be interchangeable with minor alterations. Apparently they are not.

The sticking point is that  part of the plot of Chaos Kin revolves around a debt of honor that Alpha Shane owes Jordan due to the events of Chaos Hunt. He’s forced to protect her, despite their personal clashes. Since Chaos Hunt hasn’t happened, that plot doesn’t make sense. So my options are to come up with another reason for him to owe her a debt, or switch the books back to their original order. In the interests of regaining lost momentum, I’m going to flip order back.  Plus it gives my subconscious more time to untangle the plot threads needed for Chaos Kin.

And that is only part of the writing I need to do.  In addition to those two books, I need to get Skin Deep back on the schedule, as well as Lucy Harker, Vampire Hunter.  But that’s not the most pressing.  Top priority goes to researching and writing at least four Things That Go Bump posts for October and working on an essay I’m hoping I can have done by the beginning of November.  I also have a few co-written projects whose details aren’t ready to be publicly discussed.

Between now and January, my keyboard is going to get quite a workout.