Just a quick housekeeping note before I get into today’s blog post: it’s Camp NaNo once again, which is another way of announcing I’ve begun writing another book (yay!). That also means that my posts are likely going to be shorter than normal since I’m stretched a bit thin for the next few weeks. On the plus side, though, you’ll have a front row seat to how the writing is going — and maybe a few hints about the content, too. As always, thanks for being a fan and hanging in there with me.
So yes, it’s the first Camp NaNo of the year. As I mentioned in some earlier posts, I’d been dithering over which of my main characters would get the starring role for the next book; after a great deal of internal debate, Vasily wound up winning that argument. I’ll eventually post an updated précis for this new endeavor on my website; even though I already have one, I usually find that I wind up tweaking the description as the book develops, so I’ll likely wait until the plot has settled down a bit more before sharing that with the world. What I will say at this point is that our intrepid Southern California investigator will be tackling an unusual Robin Hood preying on the adult children of the wealthy in Orange County. Set a few months after Requiem, I really like how the story is playing out so far; I’m also delving a bit more into Vas’s growing relationship with Alejandro, leaning into some of the elements I first teased back in Bygones. I love how they have continued to evolve as a couple and can’t wait to see where it goes in this book.
As with past years, if you would like to follow along on my progress writing this new book, you can check out my NaNoWriMo profile. You may need to create an account to view the page; I’ll of course also keep you up to date here on the blog, too.
My first book, Blindsided, is currently being featured in Amazon Prime Reading. If you are a member of Prime and don’t already own a Kindle version of that book, it’s a perfect opportunity to be reminded of how the story got started before Focus hits the shelves next month. I usually scan through my prior books before starting work on a new one; often I pick up on small character traits that have developed more thoroughly as the series has grown. And yes, I do come across sections here and there I would love to adjust slightly, knowing what I now know about these characters. I suppose that is one aspect of publishing that appeals to me the most: once the book has left the barn, it is, as they say, what it is.
As Arizona transitions from March to April, it feels almost as if we are skipping right over Spring; this week alone, we have temps at the beginning of the week in the low 60s, but by next week, we’ll be in the mid-90s. That shift always seems to coincide with the departure of our winter visitors; I don’t blame them for wanting to get to more temperate climates, but wonder if they know what they are missing. The desert in summer is one of the most beautiful landscapes I’ve ever seen, with amazingly subtle variations in brown and green that have taken me years to fully appreciate. We get some incredible monsoonal thunderstorms from July to late September, too, giving us spectacular skies and brilliant overnight light shows. It truly is a site to behold.
Just before settling in to write my latest book, I took some time away from the computer to build a LEGO set my wife had gifted me this past Christmas; the picture of the completed kit headlines this post. I’ve not done one in a while, and found myself recalling the joy of endless hours pouring through the piles of bricks to find just the right one to complete whatever I was building. Finding a home for the finished product will be interesting — I think, though, a spot on my desk at the office is the most likely candidate. Next up: a LEGO re-creation of the classic Atari 2600 Video Computer System. Wish me luck…